Jeremy Nixon is a prominent AI researcher, entrepreneur, and the co-founder of AGI House, a leading "hacker house" community for artificial intelligence developers in Silicon Valley. He studied Applied Math, Computer Science, and Economics at Harvard and was previously a researcher at Google Brain.

This footage was shot for a documentary project, "Dreamers and Doomers," about the SF Bay Area and the dawn of AGI.

• (00:00) - Dreamers and Doomers: Jeremy Nixon at AGI House – #105
• (01:47) - Introduction and Welcome
• (05:56) - Jeremy Nixon's biography
• (08:48) - AGI House and collectives
• (43:59) - AI and Scientific Research
• (45:52) - Existential Risks and Doom
• (54:14) - AI and Human Progress
• (01:26:42) - Job Automation and Society
• (01:31:35) - Future of AI and Technology

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Links:

Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future

https://www.amazon.com/Breakneck-Chinas-Quest-Engineer-Future/dp/1324106034

Dan's 2025 annual letter

https://danwang.co/2025-letter/

Related episodes:

Jian Lian on Industrial Maximalism, Manifold Episode #99

https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/jian-lian-on-chinas-industrial-policy-and-global-strategy-99

• (00:00) - Introduction and Welcome
• (02:14) - Breakneck - Dan's huge book
• (05:00) - China's Technological and Political Landscape
• (21:07) - Industrial Maximalism and its Discontents
• (47:59) - Chinese Researchers in Silicon Valley and Tsinghua
• (51:09) - Excerpts from Dan's 2025 annual letter
• (52:56) - China's Market Competition and Innovation
• (56:34) - AI, Automation, and Future Risks

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Steve and Alf discuss geopolitical events of 2025 and what they expect in 2026.

Links:

Manifold episode with Han Feizi, Letter From Beijing

https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/letter-from-beijing-with-han-feizi-72

Previous crossover episodes:

Weeks Where Decades Happen

https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/seeking-truth-from-facts-weeks-where-decades-happen

AI, China, Tariffs, Geopolitics

https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/seeking-truth-from-facts-ai-china-tariffs-geopolitics-84

• (00:00) - Geopolitics 2026, crossover with Seeking Truth From Facts podcast – #103
• (02:10) - US-China Economic Tensions
• (05:45) - Technology and Strategic Shifts
• (08:48) - Trump's Geopolitical Strategy
• (17:43) - Middle East Developments
• (28:41) - US-China Competition and Taiwan
• (33:44) - Venezuela and International Law

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.