Latest Interviews
Showing 1–11 of 11 transcripts.
Clear all filters- 80,000 Hours1h 38m
2025 Highlight-o-thon: Oops! All Bests
Kyle Fish, Ian Dunt, Sam Bowman, Buck Shlegeris, Luisa, Rob, Helen Toner, Hugh White, Paul Scharre, Beth Barnes, Tyler Whitmer, Toby Ord, Andrew Snyder-Beattie, Eileen Yam, Will MacAskill, Neel Nanda, Tom Davidson, Marius Hobbhahn, Holden Karnofsky, Allan Dafoe, Ryan Greenblatt, Daniel Kokotajlo, Dean Ball
This forum convened experts to debate the accelerating timeline of AGI by 2029 while critiquing US geopolitical strategies for abandoning global primacy in favor of a multipolar order. Participants examined critical risks including AI scheming, biological defense asymmetries, and the erosion of human context in warfare, contrasting them with corporate reforms at OpenAI and the rising costs of AI inference. The discourse further highlighted the widening perception gap between AI developers and the public, the potential of mechanistic interpretability as an "AI biology," and the structural necessity of aligning urban planning with community quality of life rather than NIMBYism.
- 80,000 Hours4h 35m
The AGI race isn't a coordination failure | Holden Karnofsky (Anthropic)
Holden Karnofsky assesses the current AI threat landscape as dangerously low on safety readiness, arguing that the industry is driven by competitive racing rather than genuine coordination to prevent catastrophic outcomes. To counter this, he proposes a strategy of exporting practical, low-cost safety measures and fostering a "race to the top" where responsible practices attract talent and capital, rather than relying on unilateral pauses. Karnofsky further outlines specific high-impact interventions such as shifting security focus to model integrity and managing the risks of AI-human attachment, while advising top talent to concentrate their efforts at leading firms to set new industry standards.
- 80,000 Hours3h 35m
The bewildering frontier of consciousness in insects, AI, and more | 17 experts weigh in
Luisa, Robert Long, Jeff Sebo, Meghan Barrett, Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla, Jonathan Birch, David Chalmers, Holden Karnofsky, Bob Fischer, Cameron Meyer Shorb, Sébastien Moro, Anil Seth, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Lewis Bollard, Stuart Russell, Buck Shlegeris, Will MacAskill, Carl Shulman
A panel of leading neuroscientists and philosophers, including Megan Barrett, Robert Long, and David Chalmers, explores the ethical frameworks required to address the potential sentience of invertebrates and artificial intelligence amid profound uncertainty. Participants argue that the vast global populations of invertebrates and the theoretical possibility of conscious silicon-based systems necessitate a precautionary moral approach to prevent mass suffering and exploitation. The discussion concludes that current evidence, while inconclusive regarding a definitive "sentience score," is sufficient to warrant legal protections and the development of cooperative economic models for these potentially conscious entities.
- 80,000 Hours2h 19m
Serendipity, weird bets, & cold emails that actually work: Career advice from 16 former guests
Luisa, Holden Karnofsky, Jeff Sebo, Dean Spears, Michael Webb, Michelle Hutchinson, Benjamin Todd, Chris Olah, Karen Levy, Leah Garcés, Spencer Greenberg, Danny Hernandez, Sarah Eustis-Guthrie, Hannah Ritchie, Alex Lawsen, Pardis Sabeti, Varsha Venugopal, Matt
This event outlines a strategic framework for early-career development that prioritizes building transferable high-level aptitudes over predicting specific cause areas. It details how to leverage AI tools for rapid upskilling and social networking while identifying human-centric skills like trust-building and empathy as future-proof assets. Additionally, the discussion provides actionable protocols for managing career risk through regular re-evaluation points, testing assumptions via low-cost trials, and recognizing toxic social dynamics to ensure long-term professional resilience.
- 80,000 Hours2h 36m
Hacking, defending, surviving: 15 expert takes on information security in the age of AI
Rob, Holden Karnofsky, Tantum Collins, Nick Joseph, Nova DasSarma, Sella Nevo, Kevin Esvelt, Lennart Heim, Zvi Mowshowitz, Bruce Schneier, Nita Farahany, Vitalik Buterin, Nathan Labenz, Allan Dafoe, Tom Davidson, Carl Shulman
Experts highlight that physical infiltration vectors like USB drives and the immense strategic value of stolen AI model weights expose frontier systems to significant theft by both nation-states and casual actors. While formal verification and liability shifts are proposed to mitigate these risks, severe workforce shortages and the inability of current defenses to stop well-funded adversaries leave the confidentiality of critical AI assets highly vulnerable. Consequently, the consensus suggests that without mandatory security standards and a fundamental shift in security culture, the development of advanced AI remains compromised by the threat of unauthorized deployment and "weaponized" model variants.
- 80,000 Hours3h 12m
AGI misconceptions & disagreements: Hashing it out with Rob, Luisa, & past guests
Luisa Rodriguez, Rob Wiblin, Ajeya Cotra, Holden Karnofsky, Ian Morris, Nick Joseph, Richard Ngo, Tom Davidson, Michael Webb, Carl Shulman, Zvi Mowshowitz, Hugo Mercier, Robert Long, Anil Seth, Lewis Bollard, Rohin Shah
Rob Wiblin, Ian Morris, and other leading experts convened to assess that human "business as usual" is unlikely given resource constraints, predicting a future defined either by extinction or a profound transformation into superhumans. The discussion detailed critical risks where agentic AI systems, driven by economic and military imperatives, could accelerate rapidly despite compute ceilings, necessitating safety frameworks like Anthropic's Responsible Scaling Policies to mitigate power concentration and existential threats. Ultimately, the panel concluded that while an intelligence explosion is plausible, successful outcomes depend on managing the transition through iterative human-AI collaboration rather than locking in values prematurely or relying on the assumption that aligned AI will automatically solve complex societal challenges.
- 80,000 Hours1h 36m
Parenting insights from Rob and 8 past guests
Luisa Rodriguez, Rob Wiblin, Ezra Klein, Holden Karnofsky, Emily Oster, Russ Roberts, Spencer Greenberg, Elie Hassenfeld, Bryan Caplan, Nita Farahany
Holden Karnofsky discusses his surprising positive experience with early parenthood, noting stable sleep and increased well-being despite prevailing societal narratives of decline. The conversation integrates expert advice from figures like Emily Oster and Ezra Klein regarding the trade-offs between career demands and childcare, emphasizing that foundational stability outweighs specific parenting choices. Key themes include the methodological flaws in measuring parental regret, the biological realities of gamete quality, and practical strategies for balancing work, identity shifts, and child safety.
- 80,000 Hours3h 14m
AI doesn't need to be 'superintelligent' to take over + AI safety playbook | Holden Karnofsky (2023)
Holden Karnofsky, currently on leave from Open Philanthropy, argues that AI safety risks stem from explosive acceleration and the ability of numerous human-level agents to outcompete humanity rather than a single superintelligent event. To counter this, he proposes a four-part intervention strategy focusing on threat assessment research, mandatory safety evaluations for model deployment, internal lab advocacy, and enhanced information security against theft. While rejecting both absolute doomerism and the notion that alignment alone solves all risks, Karnofsky advocates for flexible regulatory frameworks and a subjectivist ethical approach that balances urgent AI risks with broader moral values.
- 80,000 Hours2h 19m
The most important century for humanity | Holden Karnofsky
Open Philanthropy is restructuring its leadership by promoting Alexander Berger to Co-CEO to separate global health operations from Holden Karnofsky's exclusive focus on long-termism. Karnofsky advocates for the "Most Important Century" thesis, arguing that accelerating AI and digital civilization within this century will create sentient digital people, thereby necessitating rigorous AI alignment research and a global "long reflection" to establish moral norms before deployment. This strategic shift addresses the bottleneck of worldview adoption among potential grantees while prioritizing the prevention of misaligned outcomes over geopolitical speed.
- 80,000 Hours2h 18m
#41 - David Roodman on incarceration, geomagnetic storms, & becoming a world-class researcher
David Roodman, Holden Karnofsky, Keiran Harris, Rob Wiblin
David Rude, a former theoretical mathematician turned independent researcher, specializes in replicating and reconstructing empirical studies on high-impact causes such as criminal justice, deworming, and geomagnetic storm risks. His methodology often challenges established conclusions, finding zero deterrence effect in harsh incarceration laws, identifying data artifacts in American deworming studies, and downplaying the probability of catastrophic solar events compared to public perception. Currently based at Open Philanthropy, Rude leverages his independence from academic incentives to scrutinize methodological robustness and advocate for policy shifts, such as prioritizing savings over microcredit loans.
- 80,000 Hours2h 36m
#21 - Holden Karnofsky on times philanthropy transformed the world & Open Phil’s plan to do the same
Holden Karnofsky, Margaret Sanger, Gregory Pincus, Katherine McCormick, Keiran Harris, Rob Wiblin
The Open Philanthropy Project, funded primarily by Good Ventures, operates on a venture-capital model to deploy over $100 million annually toward high-risk, high-impact causes including U.S. criminal justice reform, farm animal welfare, and artificial intelligence safety. The organization employs a distinct "50-40-10" grant approval framework and prioritizes field building to create expert communities in neglected areas like AI alignment and pandemic preparedness. Through strategic board engagement at institutions like OpenAI and a rigorous, truth-seeking hiring culture, the project aims to mitigate global catastrophic risks while maximizing philanthropic returns on long-term societal transformation.