History of Diffusion

About History of Diffusion

How did diffusion models go from an obscure research idea to the foundation of modern generative AI? In History of Diffusion, BCV partner Slater Stich sits down with the researchers who shaped the field—Jascha Sohl-Dickstein, Yang Song, and Sander Dieleman—to trace the origins, breakthroughs, and future of diffusion-based AI. From the 2015 paper that started it all to the latest advancements in generative models, this series unpacks the key ideas, challenges, and moments that led to diffusion’s dominance in AI. Whether you’re deep in machine learning research or just want to understand the tech behind tools like MidJourney, DALL·E, and Stable Diffusion, this is a must-listen.

Publisher

BCV

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Feb 2025

Latest episode

14 May 2025

Latest episodes

3 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 May 2025

   History of Diffusion - Sander Dieleman

   Research Scientist Sander Dieleman joins BCV Partner Slater Stich to unpack the core mechanics of diffusion models and explore why diffusion has become central to generative AI. https://baincapitalventures.com/ (https://baincapitalventures.com/) X: @BainCapVC @slaterstich

2. 

   9 Apr 2025

   Yang Song

   Before diffusion models powered tools like DALL·E and MidJourney, they were a niche research idea. In this episode, BCV partner Slater Stich talks with Yang Song about the early bets, surprising math, and big breakthroughs that made diffusion the backbone of generative AI—as well as what’s next. https://baincapitalventures.com/ (https://baincapitalventures.com/) X: @BainCapVC @slaterstich

3. 

   15 Feb 2025

   Jascha Sohl-Dickstein

   Diffusion models now dominate generative AI, powering MidJourney, DALL·E, Ideogram, Stable Diffusion, and more—but just a few years ago, they were an obscure research idea. In this episode, BCV partner Slater Stich sits down with Jascha Sohl-Dickstein, the researcher behind the foundational 2015 paper that introduced diffusion as a generative model. BCV.com (https://baincapitalventures.com/) X: @BainCapVC (https://x.com/BainCapVC) @slaterstich (https://x.com/slaterstich)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 2 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

5

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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