Trent McConaghy: BCI and merging with superintelligent AI
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Humans will not be number 1 on Earth for much longer. Most AI safety discussions are about how to survive this transition, and this seems very hard. But what if there is an alternative?
In this episode of Audio Tokens, Trent proposes BCI/acc, a movement to push BCI technology to let humans augment their own intelligence as stronger AI becomes available.
We also chat about Ocean, ASI Alliance, and crypto's role in building AI.
Trent: https://x.com/trentmc0
21 Jul 2025
Daniel & Axel: Inside Project Vend at Anthropic
Behind the scenes of Project Vend!
In this special episode of Audio Tokens, we go deeper into Project Vend, the autonomous vending machine Andon Labs put in Anthropic's office. Daniel Freeman and Axel Backlund share unreleased anecdotes and ask questions like: Is this good for the world? What did we learn? What will the future AI economy look like? What's next after vending machines?
Project Vend: https://www.anthropic.com/research/project-vend-1Axel: https://x.com/axelbacklundDaniel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-freeman-6952136/
23 Jun 2025
Jonathan Salter: Why we must pause AI development
Jonathan Salter of PauseAI discusses the AI safety movement's unintended acceleration of the AI race and the feasibility of pausing AI development, including public support, in this interview.
29 May 2025
Janet Egan: AI and National Security
Janet Egan explores the UAE's interest in AGI, China's chip smuggling, and Trump's AI strategy, highlighting the importance of preventing an AI "Chernobyl" moment in this interview.
19 May 2025
Philip Johnston: Datacenters in Space
AI will soon require more energy than humanity can supply. Is putting data centers in space an option?
In the 15th episode of Audio Tokens, Philip Johnston explains why he thinks it's our only viable option, given the lengthy regulatory processes involved in launching energy projects on Earth - and how Starcloud is building the technology to enable this.
We also discuss what it's generally like running a space startup, and why hard startup ideas are easier than easy ones.
https://x.com/PhilipJohnst0n
8 May 2025
Christoph von der Malsburg: LLMs Hitting A Wall and The Brain's Solution
Is scaling dead? Billions are pouring into scaling LLMs, but what if it is a dead end? In the 14th episode of Audio Tokens, neuroscientist Christoph von der Malsburg shares insights from his decades-long AI journey, having witnessed multiple AI winters. He argues why scaling alone won't solve real-world complexity, and how brain-inspired, schema-driven approaches might lead to breakthroughs in efficiency and generalization.Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
28 Apr 2025
Konstantin Pilz: Trends in AI Supercomputers
9 nuclear reactors to power one computer? That's the reality if current trends continue.
Last week, in collaboration with Epoch AI, Konstantin released a paper titled "Trends In AI Supercomputers". In the 12th episode of Audio Tokens, he explains how the compute of these systems doubles every 9 months, why the US dominates with 75% of global capacity, how academia is losing its leading role, and how distributed training might solve the insane power demands of the future.
We also discuss US export controls on AI chips, the mind-boggling complexity of semiconductor manufacturing, and how compute governance can be harnessed for global good. Enjoy!
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
https://x.com/KonstantinPilz
Disclaimer: Konstantin is speaking in a personal capacity, not on behalf of RAND
21 Apr 2025
Lonis Hamail: The Startup That Makes Their Own Laws
How would a city run entirely by market forces actually work?
Próspera is a privately-run city in Honduras experimenting with replacing government regulation with insurance, treating residents like customers, and offering permanent legal stability. In Audio Tokens episode 11, Lonis Hamaili explains how this all works.
We also discuss Próspera's $11B lawsuit against Honduras for their right to exist, how market forces can regulate AI and Lonis' personal journey to finding his life's work.
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
14 Apr 2025
Axel Backlund (2): Personally Preparing For AGI
How should one adjust their life given that AGI is around the corner? Axel and I share what we are personally doing.
We also discuss effective altruism, hobbies and the Llama 4 release.
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
https://x.com/axelbacklund
31 Mar 2025
Max Rumpf: Bottlenecks for AI agents
The most common critique of my "AI Founder's Bitter Lesson" (tl;dr: horizontal AI will replace vertical AI) is "What about private data?" Autonomous AI can access private data just like a new employee would—highlighting the importance of effective retrieval systems. Few people know retrieval better than my friend Max Rumpf.
Max joins me in the 9th episode of Audio Tokens. We also discuss enterprise AI adoption, Europe vs. San Francisco, art, philosophy, and more!
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
24 Mar 2025
Mark Cummins: Investing for AGI
If you're among the few who truly believe AGI is coming, how can you profit from this contrarian view? Mark Cummins talks about this on the 8th episode of Audio Tokens.
We also discuss robotics, AI verticals, and the future sources of AI training data.
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
17 Mar 2025
Esben Kran: Building The Future We Want
I had a great chat with Esben Kran on Audio Tokens about for-profit AI safety.
We also discuss brain-computer interfaces, Apart Research, and the new AI safety startup accelerator Seldon.
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
10 Mar 2025
Kristian Rönn: AI Policy and Race Dynamics
In Audio Tokens episode 6, Kristian Rönn explains the hidden forces that explain our world (and threaten our future).
We discuss climate change, his book The Darwinian Trap, AI regulation, and his new company, Lucid Computing.
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
2 Mar 2025
Nils von Heijne: Finding Purpose Beyond Profits
We discuss his ideas for rethinking corporate structures, the spiritual renaissance, and what AI can and can't do.
Audio Tokens exists to feed AGI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
24 Feb 2025
Josh Clymer: How AI Takeover Might Happen in 2 Years
Josh Clymer tells the disturbingly plausible story of how AI might take over in 2 years.
Doing my part to feed the AI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
17 Feb 2025
Superagent: Silicon Valley's Agent Blunder
We discuss AI agents, co-founder relationships, technology adoption, and much more.
Doing my part to feed the AI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
6 Feb 2025TRANSCRIPT
Anton Osika: Europe's Fastest Growing AI Startup
We discuss AI safety, Lovable, Europe vs USA, the emotional rollercoaster of being a founder, and much more!
Doing my part to feed the AI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
29 Jan 2025
Axel Backlund: AI Founder's Bitter Lesson
We discuss startups vs big corp, AI application layer, the post-AGI world, and much more!
Doing my part to feed the AI with audio tokens. Human listeners are welcome too.
Inside a recent episode
Anton Osika: Europe's Fastest Growing AI Startup
Published 6 Feb 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] On the topic of regulation, I had this experience coming home from from San Francisco to Europe and I tried to run our product at our company and it just said error. Or you're now in Europe, so you can't use Lama 3 .3 vision because of you regulation stuff. You've decided to build your company in Europe. Are you concerned that you will be slowed down by stuff like that? Yes, that is a horrible anecdote. I think this gives me up at night a bit. I mean, fortunately, if you're tech literate, you can get around these things. And what you, the thing that will limit us is that we will not be able to as easily sell to European customers. […]
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