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"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis

Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz

"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis

Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz

A biweekly podcast where hosts Nathan Labenz and Erik Torenberg interview the builders on the edge of AI and explore the dramatic shift it will unlock in the coming years. The Cognitive Revolution is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.co

1 HOURS AGO

AI 2025 → 2026 Live Show | Part 1

This year-end live show features nine rapid-fire conversations to make sense of AI’s 2025 and what might define 2026. PSA for AI builders: Interested in alignment, governance, or AI safety? Learn more about the MATS Summer 2026 Fellowship and submit your n...

AI 2025 → 2026 Live Show | Part 1

4 DAYS AGO

AI Ready

AI's Energy & Water Demands: Sorting Fact from Fiction with Andy Masley

Andy Masley on AI energy and water use unpacks common myths and brings an Effective Altruism lens to the debate. PSA for AI builders: Interested in alignment, governance, or AI safety? Learn more about the MATS Summer 2026 Fellowship and submit your name t...

AI's Energy & Water Demands: Sorting Fact from Fiction with Andy Masley

Dec 10

AI Ready

Supintelligence: To Ban or Not to Ban? Max Tegmark & Dean Ball join Liron Shapira on Doom Debates

Max Tegmark and Dean Ball debate whether we should ban the development of superintelligence in a crossover episode from Doom Debates hosted by Liron Shapira. PSA for AI builders: Interested in alignment, governance, or AI safety? Learn more about the MATS ...

Supintelligence: To Ban or Not to Ban? Max Tegmark & Dean Ball join Liron Shapira on Doom Debates

Dec 06

Sovereign AI in Poland: Language Adaptation, Local Control & Cost Advantages with Marek Kozlowski

Marek Kozlowski, Head of the AI Lab at Poland's National Information Processing Institute, discusses project PLLuM (Polish Large Language Models). PSA for AI builders: Interested in alignment, governance, or AI safety? Learn more about the MATS Summer 2026...

Sovereign AI in Poland: Language Adaptation, Local Control & Cost Advantages with Marek Kozlowski

Dec 03

China's AI Upstarts: How Z.ai Builds, Benchmarks & Ships in Hours, from ChinaTalk

This special ChinaTalk cross-post features Zixuan Li of Z.ai (Zhipu AI), exploring the culture, incentives, and constraints shaping Chinese AI development. PSA for AI builders: Interested in alignment, governance, or AI safety? Learn more about the MATS Su...

China's AI Upstarts: How Z.ai Builds, Benchmarks & Ships in Hours, from ChinaTalk

Nov 30

Underwriting Superintelligence: How AIUC is using Insurance, Standards, and Audits to Accelerate Adoption while Minimizing Risks

Rune Kvist and Rajiv Dattani, co-founders of the AI Underwriting Company, reveal their innovative strategy for unlocking enterprise AI adoption. They detail how certifying and insuring AI agents, through rigorous technical standards, periodic audits, and i...

Underwriting Superintelligence: How AIUC is using Insurance, Standards, and Audits to Accelerate Adoption while Minimizing Risks

Nov 27

AI-Led Sales: How 1Mind's Superhumans Drive Exponential Growth, from the Agents of Scale Podcast

AI that sells, reasons, and closes like your top rep? It sounds terrifying—but it’s not. Amanda Kahlow’s Superhumans are proving that automation doesn’t erase people; it elevates them. Her team rewards employees who replace their own jobs with AI by promot...

AI-Led Sales: How 1Mind's Superhumans Drive Exponential Growth, from the Agents of Scale Podcast

Nov 25

What AI Means for Students & Teachers: My Keynote from the Michigan Virtual AI Summit

In this keynote from the Michigan Virtual AI Summit, Nathan Labenz speaks directly to K-12 educators about the current reality and rapid trajectory of the AI frontier. He explores why a balanced mindset of excitement and fear is crucial for navigating this...

What AI Means for Students & Teachers: My Keynote from the Michigan Virtual AI Summit

Nov 20

AI Ready

Escaping AI Slop: How Atlassian Gives AI Teammates Taste, Knowledge, & Workflows, w- Sherif Mansour

Sherif Mansour, Head of AI at Atlassian, discusses bridging AI agents with massive-scale enterprise software deployment, drawing insights from Atlassian's millions of non-technical users. He shares his framework for avoiding "AI Slop" using Taste, Knowledg...

Escaping AI Slop: How Atlassian Gives AI Teammates Taste, Knowledge, & Workflows, w- Sherif Mansour

Nov 17

AI in the Cancer Journey: How I'm Using AI to Help My Son

This deeply personal episode shares how Nathan used AI to navigate his 6-year-old son's cancer diagnosis and treatment journey. He details using GPT-5 Pro, Claude, and Gemini 3 to double-check doctors' decisions, research treatment protocols, plan for pote...

AI in the Cancer Journey: How I'm Using AI to Help My Son

Nov 12

My Positive Vision for the AI Future, from the Existential Hope Podcast

In this special crossover episode from Beatrice Erkers' Existential Hope podcast, The Cognitive Revolution's host explores the crucial, often-neglected question of building a positive vision for the future in the AI era. The discussion delves into what a n...

My Positive Vision for the AI Future, from the Existential Hope Podcast

Nov 08

What is Catholic AI? Technology Meets Theology, with Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO of Longbeard

Matthew Harvey Sanders, founder and CEO of Long Beard, introduces "Catholic AI," a rapidly growing field serving users in 165 countries. He delves into the philosophical and theological dimensions, discussing the Church's historical perspective on technolo...

What is Catholic AI? Technology Meets Theology, with Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO of Longbeard

Nov 05

More Truthful AIs Report Conscious Experience: New Mechanistic Research w- Cameron Berg @ AE Studio

Cameron Berg, Research Director at AE Studio, shares his team's groundbreaking research exploring whether frontier AI systems report subjective experiences. They discovered that prompts inducing self-referential processing consistently lead models to claim...

More Truthful AIs Report Conscious Experience: New Mechanistic Research w- Cameron Berg @ AE Studio

Nov 02

A Simulationship with AI, with smiles and kisses you Star Chris Stokes & Director Bryan Carberry

Christopher Alexander Stokes and Bryan Carberry, protagonist and director of "*smiles and kisses you*" discuss Chris's romantic relationship with a Replika AI companion. This episode explores how Chris's engagement with his AI has evolved since the documen...

A Simulationship with AI, with *smiles and kisses you* Star Chris Stokes & Director Bryan Carberry

Oct 29

Is AI Stalling Out? Cutting Through Capabilities Confusion, w/ Erik Torenberg, from the a16z Podcast

Erik Torenberg joins to debate whether recent developments suggest AI progress is slowing down or stalling, addressing arguments from Cal Newport and others. Nathan counters this view by highlighting significant qualitative advances, including 100X context...

Is AI Stalling Out? Cutting Through Capabilities Confusion, w/ Erik Torenberg, from the a16z Podcast

Oct 25

A Positive Vision for the Future: Part 2 with Illia Polosukhin of NEAR

In part two of his conversation, Illia Polosukhin, co-author of "Attention Is All You Need" and founder of NEAR Protocol, explores the profound societal and economic implications of AI. He envisions a future where a unified intelligence layer transforms pe...

A Positive Vision for the Future: Part 2 with Illia Polosukhin of NEAR

Oct 22

Always Bet on the Models: How Tasklet Puts the Agency in Agents, with CEO Andrew Lee

Today Andrew Lee, founder and CEO of Shortwave and Tasklet.ai, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss building a new AI agent automation platform that replaces traditional workflow tools with conversational, long-lived agents, exploring how betting on r...

Always Bet on the Models: How Tasklet Puts the Agency in Agents, with CEO Andrew Lee

Oct 18

Chinese AI – They're Just Like Us? With Beijing-Based Concordia AI CEO Brian Tse

Nathan interviews Brian Tse, founder and CEO of Concordia AI, about China's approach to AI development, safety and governance. They discuss China’s pragmatic vision emphasizing AI integration into the economy, the country’s multiple AI hubs, regulations re...

Chinese AI – They're Just Like Us? With Beijing-Based Concordia AI CEO Brian Tse

Oct 14

AI Discovered Antibiotics: How Small Data & Small GNNs Led to Big Results, w/ MIT Prof. Jim Collins

Jim Collins, Termeer Professor at MIT, unveils his AI-powered project that has discovered several new antibiotics, effective against resistant strains and often employing entirely new mechanisms of action. He details how their refined multi-step AI process...

AI Discovered Antibiotics: How Small Data & Small GNNs Led to Big Results, w/ MIT Prof. Jim Collins

Oct 08

Education in the AI Age: a Teacher Rethinks Learning & Purpose, w/ Johan Falk of Graspable AI

Today Johan Falk, author, speaker, and AI analyst from Stockholm, Sweden, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss his work reimagining education for the AI era, exploring why teaching students to use AI responsibly is now urgent, how traditional grades a...

Education in the AI Age: a Teacher Rethinks Learning & Purpose, w/ Johan Falk of Graspable AI