I’ve recently been rereading Steven Levy’s “Hackers” with my daughter. Levy describes how Brautigan’s 1967 poem “All watched over by machines of loving grace” was inspiring to the California “Hardware Hackers” of the 1970s and organizations such as Community Memory. In 2026, the phrase “all watched over by machines of loving grace” conjures an image … Continue reading All Watched Over
It’s 2030 and we fucked up. How did it happen?
[Loosely based on a lecture I gave in the recursive conference with the same title. Don’t take “2030” literally¹—it could also be 2035 or 2040. As always, opinions are my own and do not represent OpenAI or Harvard.] It is quite possible that AI will usher in a golden age for humanity. As Amodei writes … Continue reading It’s 2030 and we fucked up. How did it happen?
Celebrating 100 Years: Avi 70 + CSDM 30 (June 14-18, 2027)
[Guest post by Amir Shpilka and Irit Dinur] https://www.ias.edu/math/events/celebrating-100-years-avi-70-csdm-30 The Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Mathematics is pleased to announce a conference celebrating Avi Wigderson’s 70th birthday and retirement, together with 30 years of the Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics program (CSDM) at IAS. The conference will honor both Avi’s extraordinary scientific legacy and … Continue reading Celebrating 100 Years: Avi 70 + CSDM 30 (June 14-18, 2027)
Call for workshop proposals: FOCS 2026
[Guest post by Sam Hopkins] We invite groups of interested researchers to submit workshop proposals for FOCS 2026 by July 31, 2026. The FOCS 2026 workshops provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss important research questions, directions, and challenges in the field. Workshops often serve the vital purpose of introducing researchers to new areas … Continue reading Call for workshop proposals: FOCS 2026
AI is a Meteor. Don’t be a Dinosaur.
This is a linkpost for my Harvard Crimson op-ed for its commencement issue. I will not reproduce the whole text here, but my advice to the class of 2026 is in the following parts: My advice for the Class of 2026 is to embrace AI as a technology, but treat it critically as citizens....Throughout your … Continue reading AI is a Meteor. Don’t be a Dinosaur.
The state of AI safety in four fake graphs
Here is a quick overview of my intuitions on where we are with AI safety in early 2026: So far, we continue to see exponential improvements in capabilities. This is most visible in the famous “METR graph”, but the trend is clear in many other metrics, including revenue. If you squint, you can even see … Continue reading The state of AI safety in four fake graphs
Mass surveillance, red lines, and a crazy weekend
[These are my own opinions, and not representing OpenAI. Crossposted on Lesswrong] AI has so many applications, and AI companies have limited resources and attention span. Hence if it was up to me, I’d prefer we focus on applications that are purely beneficial— science, healthcare, education — or even commercial, before working on anything related … Continue reading Mass surveillance, red lines, and a crazy weekend
Trevisan Award for Expository Work
[Guest post by Salil Vadhan; Boaz's note: I am thrilled to see this award. Luca's expository writing on his blog, surveys, and lecture notes was and is an amazing resource. Luca had a knack for explaining some of the most difficult topics in intuitive ways that cut to their heart. I hope it will inspire … Continue reading Trevisan Award for Expository Work
Thoughts on Claude’s Constitution
[I work on the alignment team at OpenAI. However, these are my personal thoughts, and do not reflect those of OpenAI. Crossposted on LessWrong] I have read with great interest Claude’s new constitution. It is a remarkable document which I recommend reading. It seems natural to compare this constitution to OpenAI’s Model Spec, but while the documents … Continue reading Thoughts on Claude’s Constitution
TheoryFest 2026 Call for Workshops (guest post by Mary Wooters)
TheoryFest 2026 will hold workshops during the STOC 2026 conference week, June 22–26, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. We invite groups of interested researchers to submit workshop proposals! See here for more details: https://acm-stoc.org/stoc2026/callforworkshops.html Submission deadline: March 6, 2026
