Lex Fridman Podcast

Peter Steinberger is the creator of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent framework that’s the fastest-growing project in GitHub history. Thank you for listening Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep491-sc See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/peter-steinberger-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: Peter’s X: https://x.com/steipete Peter’s GitHub: https://github.com/steipete Peter’s Website: https://steipete.com Peter’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steipete OpenClaw Website: https://openclaw.ai OpenClaw GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw OpenClaw Discord: https://discord.gg/openclaw SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine. Go to https://perplexity.ai/ Quo: Phone system (calls, texts, contacts) for businesses. Go to https://quo.com/lex CodeRabbit: AI-powered code reviews. Go to https://coderabbit.ai/lex Fin: AI agent for customer service. Go to https://fin.ai/lex Blitzy: AI agent for large enterprise codebases. Go to https://blitzy.com/lex Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to https://shopify.com/lex LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex OUTLINE: (00:00) – Introduction (03:51) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (15:29) – OpenClaw origin story (18:48) – Mind-blowing moment (28:15) – Why OpenClaw went viral (32:12) – Self-modifying AI agent (36:57) – Name-change drama (54:07) – Moltbook saga (1:02:26) – OpenClaw security concerns (1:11:07) – How to code with AI agents (1:42:02) – Programming setup (1:48:45) – GPT Codex 5.3 vs Claude Opus 4.6 (1:57:52) – Best AI agent for programming (2:19:52) – Life story and career advice (2:23:49) – Money and happiness (2:27:41) – Acquisition offers from OpenAI and Meta (2:44:51) – How OpenClaw works (2:56:09) – AI slop (3:02:13) – AI agents will replace 80% of apps (3:10:50) – Will AI replace programmers? (3:22:50) – Future of OpenClaw community

Nathan Lambert and Sebastian Raschka are machine learning researchers, engineers, and educators. Nathan is the post-training lead at the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) and the author of The RLHF Book. Sebastian Raschka is the author of Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch) and Build a Reasoning Model (From Scratch). Thank you for listening Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep490-sc See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/ai-sota-2026-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: Box: Intelligent content management platform. Go to https://box.com/ai Quo: Phone system (calls, texts, contacts) for businesses. Go to https://quo.com/lex UPLIFT Desk: Standing desks and office ergonomics. Go to https://upliftdesk.com/lex Fin: AI agent for customer service. Go to https://fin.ai/lex Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to https://shopify.com/lex CodeRabbit: AI-powered code reviews. Go to https://coderabbit.ai/lex LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine. Go to https://perplexity.ai/ OUTLINE: (00:00) – Introduction (01:39) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (16:29) – China vs US: Who wins the AI race? (25:11) – ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Grok: Who is winning? (36:11) – Best AI for coding (43:02) – Open Source vs Closed Source LLMs (54:41) – Transformers: Evolution of LLMs since 2019 (1:02:38) – AI Scaling Laws: Are they dead or still holding? (1:18:45) – How AI is trained: Pre-training, Mid-training, and Post-training (1:51:51) – Post-training explained: Exciting new research directions in LLMs (2:12:43) – Advice for beginners on how to get into AI development & research (2:35:36) – Work culture in AI (72+ hour weeks) (2:39:22) – Silicon Valley bubble (2:43:19) – Text diffusion models and other new research directions (2:49:01) – Tool use (2:53:17) – Continual learning (2:58:39) – Long context (3:04:54) – Robotics (3:14:04) – Timeline to AGI (3:21:20) – Will AI replace programmers? (3:39:51) – Is the dream of AGI dying? (3:46:40) – How AI will make money? (3:51:02) – Big acquisitions in 2026 (3:55:34) – Future of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, xAI, Meta (4:08:08) – Manhattan Project for AI (4:14:42) – Future of NVIDIA, GPUs, and AI compute clusters (4:22:48) – Future of human civilization

Paul Rosolie is a naturalist, explorer, author of a new book titled Junglekeeper, and is someone who has dedicated his life to protecting the Amazon rainforest. Thank you for listening Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep489-sc See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/paul-rosolie-3-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: Junglekeeper (new book): https://amzn.to/4q7vpAp Paul’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/paulrosolie Junglekeepers Website: https://junglekeepers.org Paul’s Website: https://paulrosolie.com Mother of God (book): https://amzn.to/3ww2ob1 SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine. Go to https://perplexity.ai/ BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. Go to https://betterhelp.com/lex LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to https://shopify.com/lex Fin: AI agent for customer service. Go to https://fin.ai/lex Miro: Online collaborative whiteboard platform. Go to https://miro.com/ MasterClass: Online classes from world-class experts. Go to https://masterclass.com/lexpod OUTLINE: (00:00) – Introduction (02:34) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (12:00) – Uncontacted tribes in the Amazon Jungle (19:46) – Intense new encounter (42:52) – Never-before-seen footage of tribe warriors (56:08) – The mysteries of the jungle (1:10:43) – Tribe’s diet: Monkeys, turtles, and turtle eggs (1:20:19) – Jane Goodall (1:26:31) – Advice for young people (1:35:45) – Cartel, Narco-traffickers & assassination attempts (1:57:45) – Climbing the giant tree (2:08:43) – Giant anaconda (2:26:01) – Rescuing a spider monkey (2:32:05) – Dangerous animal encounters (2:42:13) – Writing, journaling, and great writer inspirations PODCAST LINKS: – Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast – Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr – Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 – RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ – Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 – Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips

Joel David Hamkins is a mathematician and philosopher specializing in set theory, the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of infinity, and he’s the #1 highest-rated user on MathOverflow. He is also the author of several books, including Proof and the Art of Mathematics and Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics. And he has a great blog called Infinitely More. Thank you for listening Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep488-sc See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/joel-david-hamkins-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: Joel’s X: https://x.com/JDHamkins Joel’s Website: https://jdh.hamkins.org Joel’s Substack: https://www.infinitelymore.xyz Joel’s MathOverflow: https://mathoverflow.net/users/1946/joel-david-hamkins Joel’s Papers: https://jdh.hamkins.org/publications Joel’s Books: Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics: https://amzn.to/3MThaAt Proof and the Art of Mathematics: https://amzn.to/3YACc9A SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine. Go to https://www.perplexity.ai/ Fin: AI agent for customer service. Go to https://fin.ai/lex Miro: Online collaborative whiteboard platform. Go to https://miro.com/ CodeRabbit: AI-powered code reviews. Go to https://coderabbit.ai/lex Chevron: Reliable energy for data centers. Go to https://chevron.com/power Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to https://shopify.com/lex LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex MasterClass: Online classes from world-class experts. Go to https://masterclass.com/lexpod OUTLINE: (00:00) – Introduction (01:58) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections (15:40) – Infinity & paradoxes (1:02:50) – Russell’s paradox (1:15:57) – Gödel’s incompleteness theorems (1:33:28) – Truth vs proof (1:44:52) – The Halting Problem (2:00:45) – Does infinity exist? (2:18:19) – MathOverflow (2:22:12) – The Continuum Hypothesis (2:31:58) – Hardest problems in mathematics (2:41:25) – Mathematical multiverse (3:00:18) – Surreal numbers (3:10:55) – Conway’s Game of Life (3:13:11) – Computability theory (3:23:04) – P vs NP (3:26:21) – Greatest mathematicians in history (3:40:05) – Infinite chess (3:58:24) – Most beautiful idea in mathematics