Learn how the smartest people in the world are using AI to think, create, and relate. Each week I interview founders, filmmakers, writers, investors, and others about how they use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Midjourney in their work and in their lives. We screen-share through their historical chats and then experiment with AI live on the show. Join us to discover how AI is changing how we think about our world—and ourselves.
For more essays, interviews, and experiments at the forefront of AI: https://every.to/chain-of-thought?sort=newest.
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Four Predictions For How AI Will Change Software in 2026 (00:37:08)
Tomorrow is the first day of 2026, and to give our listeners a view of the trends that’ll shape the year ahead, Dan Shipper had Every COO Brandon Gell on AI & I to discuss their predictions for what’s next. They discussed how software will be built, who will build it, and what it will take for truly autonomous AI agents to become a reality.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps: 00:00:00 — Start00:01:05 — Introduction00:01:34 — Reflections on Every’s growth over the past year00:09:38 — What changes when a company grows from 20 to 50 people00:11:55 — How agent-native architecture will change software in 202600:17:13 — Why designers are slated to become power users of AI00:23:24 — The new kind of software engineer who will direct AI agents00:33:42 — Why the next wave of AI training will focus on autonomy
Best of the Pod: Reid Hoffman on How AI Is Answering Our Biggest Questions (01:01:12)
Learn how to use philosophy to run your business more effectively. Reid Hoffman thinks a masters in philosophy will help you run your business better than an MBA. Reid is a founder, investor, podcaster, and author. But before he did any of these things, he studied philosophy—and it changed the way he thinks. Studying philosophy trains you to think deeply about truth, human nature, and the meaning of life. It helps you see the big picture and reason through complex problems—invaluable skills for founders grappling with existential questions about their business.I usually bring guests onto my podcast to discuss the actionable ways in which people have incorporated ChatGPT into their lives. But this episode is different. I sat down with Reid to tackle a deeper question: How is AI changing what it means to be human? It was honestly one of the most meaningful shows I’ve recorded yet. We dive into:- How philosophy prepares you to be a better founder- The importance of interdisciplinary thinking- Essentialism v. nominalism in the context of AI- How language models are evolving to be more “essentialist”- The co-evolution of humans and technology Reid also shares actionable uses of ChatGPT for people who want to think more clearly, like:- Input your argument and ask ChatGPT for alternative perspectives- Generate custom explanations of complex ideas- Leverage ChatGPT as an on-demand research assistantThis episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about some of the bigger questions prompted by the rapid development of AI.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Launch your site for free at framer.com, and use code DAN to get your first month of Pro on the house!Timestamps:00:00:00 - START 00:04:35 - Why philosophy will make you a better founder00:08:22 - The fundamental problem with “trolley problems”00:14:27 - How AI is changing the essentialism v. nominalism debate00:29:33 - Why embeddings align with nominalism00:34:26 - How LLMs are being trained to reason better00:44:52 - How technology changes the way we see ourselves and the world around us00:46:24 - Why most psychology literature is wrong00:52:46 - Why philosophers didn’t come up with AI00:56:30 - How to use ChatGPT to be more philosophically inclinedLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Reid Hoffman: https://twitter.com/reidhoffmanThe podcasts that Reid hosts: Possible (possible.fm) and Masters of Scale (https://mastersofscale.com/)Reid’s book: Impromptu https://www.impromptubook.com/The book Reid recommends if you want to be more philosophically inclined: Gödel, Escher, Bach https://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567Reid’s article in the Atlantic: "Technology Makes Us More Human" https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/chatgpt-ai-technology-techo-humanism-reid-hoffman/672872/The book about why psychology literature is wrong: The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich https://www.amazon.com/WEIRDest-People-World-Psychologically-Particularly/dp/0374173222The book about how culture is driving human evolution: The Secrets of Our Success by Joseph Henrich https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691178431/the-secret-of-our-success
Attaining A Jhana Live: How Anyone Can Achieve Super Wellbeing (01:15:52)
We recorded someone guide himself into a Jhana live on our podcast. And he narrated the whole process from start to finish.Jhanas are meditative bliss states and they traditionally require thousands of hours of practice. But Stephen Zerfas and his team at Jhourney are changing that—creating retreats where most participants hit a Jhana in their first week.Dan Shipper went to one of their retreats earlier this year, and it was by far the best he’s been to. So we had Stephen on AI & I to show us how he gets into a Jhana and what the future of super wellbeing might look like.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperTimestamps:Introduction: 00:00:56A primer on Jhana meditation: 00:01:18Zerfas guides himself into a Jhana: 00:05:47Why Jhana is about resting into what already exists: 00:36:04Approaching meditation with play and curiosity: 00:39:30The potential pitfalls of Jhana meditation: 00:45:04How to hack your personality through memory reconsolidation: 00:48:21Why Jhana won't let you numb yourself to real problems: 00:53:10How Jhana meditation has changed Zerfas: 00:55:36How Jhourney is using AI to make Jhanas more accessible: 01:09:41Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Stephen Zerfas: Stephen ZerfasJhourney: https://www.jhourney.io/The Donella Meadows book Zerfas refers to: Thinking in Systems: A Primer
She Turned Her Whole Life Into Training Data—For an AI Baby (01:13:34)
Sarah Rose Siskind is incubating two types of intelligence at once: her unborn child, and FetusGPT—an LLM trained on nothing but what she hears and says throughout the day.This includes Seinfeld episodes, YouTube videos about lemurs, eight hours of snoring per night—and even conversations with me, all condensed into MP3 and text files that are used to train the AI. Since FetusGPT is learning English from such a narrow, idiosyncratic slice of the world, it mostly babbles right now, and if she swears, it picks that up too.FetusGPT is one zany example of how Siskind uses humor to make a bigger point: AI is what we make of it. It’s an approach that feeds through her comedy writing and work as the founder of science and technology communications agency Hello SciCom.We had Siskind on AI & I to talk about how she uses AI in her creative process as a comedian, and the unexpected support it's become, both practical and emotional, as she navigates pregnancy.Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperPitch is the AI presentation platform that helps professionals collaborate on, create, and deliver winning slide decks — all while staying on brand: https://pitch.com/use-cases/ai-presentation-maker/?utm_medium=paid-influencer&utm_campaign=every Timestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:01:54 - Introduction00:02:03 - How Siskind is running an experiment between her unborn child and an LLM00:07:34 - A demo of Siskind’s FetusGPT00:15:16 - Siskind’s pick for the funniest LLM00:17:12 - How Siskind uses AI in her comedy writing00:24:41 - Dan and Siskind use ChatGPT to write a joke together live on the show00:37:21 - Why AI is useful even when you don’t use its output directly00:44:15 - How Siskind used a ChatGPT project to biohack her energy levels00:57:09 - A question we fundamentally couldn’t have asked in pre-ChatGPT times01:05:29 - How ChatGPT is a source of emotional support for Siskind in pregnancyLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Sarah Rose Siskind: https://sarahrosesiskind.com/Siskind’s agency HelloSciCom: https://www.hellosci.com/Siskind’s book recommendations: I Forced a Bot to Write This Book, The Let Them Theory, Artificial Intelligence: An Illustrated History
Why Opus 4.5 Just Became the Most Influential AI Model (01:25:10)
The world changed last week—Opus 4.5 is the best coding model Dan has ever used.It can keep coding and coding autonomously without tripping over itself—and it marks a completely new horizon for the craft of programming. The dream is here: You can write English, and make software.We had Paul Ford on AI & I to talk about it. Ford is the co-founder of Aboard and also a prolific writer. He authored one of Dan’s favorite pieces of technology writing What Is Code?—so he’s the perfect person to unpack this with him.We talk about the wonder—and genuine unease—that comes with using tools this powerful. We also get into what people who love technology should care about as the ground under us shifts faster than we can imagine.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperHead to ai.studio/build to create your first appReady to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Launch your site for free at Framer.com, and use code DAN to get your first month of Pro on the house!Timestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:01:57 - Introduction00:03:28 - How Claude Opus 4.5 made the future feel abruptly close00:08:12 - The design principles that make Claude Code a powerful coding tool00:10:57 - How Ford uses Claude Code to build real software00:20:12 - Why collapsing job titles and roles can feel overwhelming00:22:56 - Ford’s take on using LLMs to write00:24:09 - A metaphor for weathering existential moments of change00:25:45 - What GLP-1s taught Ford about how people adapt to big shifts00:49:36 - Why you should care what your LLM was trained on00:52:15 - Ford prompts Claude Code to forecast the future of the consulting industry00:59:18 - Recognize when an LLM is reflecting your assumptions back to you01:12:39 - How large enterprises might adopt AILinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Paul Ford: Paul FordFord’s company Aboard: https://aboard.com/The piece Ford wrote for Bloomberg in 2015: What Is Code?Alan Kay’s concept of a personal computer for children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook
Best of the Pod: Would You Shut Down Your Most Successful Product? The Arc to Dia Story (01:23:44)
If you had millions of people using a product you spent years building, would you kill it?That’s exactly what The Browser Company did with Arc.Originally recorded in July before The Browser Company’s acquisition by software giant Atlassian earlier this year, we’re republishing this episode because its lessons are truly timeless. Today, the team continues to operate independently under Atlassian’s umbrella.The internet backlash when the company killed Arc in May 2025 was intense, but cofounders Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal saw that AI was about to make the web something you talk to, not just click into. The best home for that assistant was the thing that's already between you and the internet—the browser. And they realized they couldn’t just duct-tape it on to Arc.One year of heads-down work later, the team launched Dia in beta, and people are raving about it. Dia is a sleek, fast, browser with AI at its core—it gets better with every tab you open, becoming more and more helpful with time. And even though it’s still early, Josh and Hursh’s big pivot looks like one for the ages.In this episode of AI & I, Josh and Hursh spoke for the first time in a full-length podcast about their pivot from Arc to Dia. We talked through their decision-making process, the very public backlash the company faced, and the grit it took to stay the course. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:00:48 - Introduction 00:02:22 - The story of how Dan might've been the CEO of The Browser Company 00:09:40 - The moment Josh and Hursh knew they had to walk away from Arc 00:16:59 - How to handle the weight of the unknown in a pivot 00:23:24 - The prototype-driven culture that kept The Browser Company alive 00:25:06 - Why having a product loved by millions of users isn't enough 00:32:12 - The architectural decisions underlying how Dia was built 00:46:04 - How Dia almost shipped without its best feature 00:50:45 - The best ways people are using Dia in the wild 01:07:27 - How Josh and Hursh think about competing with incumbents 01:17:13 - How romanticism informs the product decisions behind Dia Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Hursh Agrawal: @hurshJosh Miller: @joshmMore about Dia: https://www.diabrowser.com/Writer and investor M.G. Siegler’s essay about the AI browser wars: https://spyglass.org/ai-browser-wars/Note: This episode is a rerun from our archives.
Best of the Pod: Claude Code - How Two Engineers Ship Like a Team of 15 (00:53:00)
If you’re using AI to just write code, you’re missing out.Two engineers at Every shipped six features, five bug fixes, and three infrastructure updates in one week—and they did it by designing workflows with AI agents, where each task makes the next one easier, faster, and more reliable.In this episode of AI & I, Dan Shipper interviewed the pair—Kieran Klaassen, general manager of Cora, our inbox management tool, and Cora engineer Nityesh Agarwal—about how they’re compounding their engineering with AI. They walk Dan through their workflow in Anthropic’s agentic coding tool, Claude Code, and the mental models they’ve developed for making AI agents truly useful. Kieran, our resident AI-agent aficionado, also ranked all the AI coding assistants he’s used.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperHead to ai.studio/build to create your first app.Pitch is the AI presentation platform that helps professionals collaborate on, create, and deliver winning slide decks — all while staying on brand: https://pitch.com/use-cases/ai-presentation-maker/?utm_medium=paid-influencer&utm_campaign=every Timestamps:Episode start: 00:00:00Introduction: 00:01:16Why Kieran believes agents are turning a corner: 00:03:18Why Claude Code stands out from other agents: 00:06:36What makes agentic coding different from using tools like Cursor: 00:11:58The Cora team’s workflow to turn tasks into momentum: 00:15:20How to build a prompt that turns ideas into plans: 00:23:07The new mental models for this age of software engineering: 00:34:00Why traditional tests and evals still matter: 00:39:13Kieran ranks all the AI coding agents he’s used: 00:42:00Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Try Cora, our AI email assistant: https://cora.computer/Kieran Klaassen: @kieranklaassenNityesh Agarwal: @nityeshagaThe book that helps Nityesh form mental models to work with AI agents: High Output Management
Building AI Agents to Launch a Million Businesses (01:05:49)
Henrik Werdelin wants to launch a million businesses that each make $1M—and he’s doing it with AI.After helping launch Barkbox and Ro Health through his incubator Prehype, Henrik is distilling everything he knows into Audos, a platform that helps you use AI agents to turn your idea into a profitable, lasting company.We had him on AI & I to talk about “portfolio entrepreneurship”—a new breed of entrepreneurship shepherded in by AI, where founders build families of products around the same customer, instead of one moonshot idea. It’s a philosophy we hold close to our hearts at Every.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperHead to ai.studio/build to create your first app.Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Launch your site for free at https://www.framer.com/*, and use code DAN to get your first month of Pro on the house!*Pitch is the AI presentation platform that helps professionals collaborate on, create, and deliver winning slide decks — all while staying on brand: https://pitch.com/use-cases/ai-presentation-maker/?utm_medium=paid-influencer&utm_campaign=every !Timestamps:00:01:33 - Introduction00:02:50 - Dan and Henrik on the new breed of entrepreneurship that AI makes possible00:11:08 - Why Henrik believes the future belongs to a million $1M companies00:16:14 - How to build “relationship capital” with your customers00:21:35 - Why “customer-founder fit” shapes lasting companies00:23:01 - Everything Henrik learned about himself from a decade of building companies00:31:44 - How Henrik finds focus and meaning in the daily chaos00:34:17 - How Henrik is parenting two kids in the age of AI00:50:33 - The way AI can fix what social media broke00:56:59 - What happens when AI agents become part of how we tell storiesLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Henrik Werdelin: Henrik WerdelinTry Audos: AudosHenrik’s new book: Me, My Customer, and AI
What Jason Fried Learned from 26 Years of Building Great Products (00:58:27)
37signals makes tens of millions in profit every year but Jason Fried isn’t all that interested in running a business.Instead, he cares most about making great products—like Basecamp, HEY, and Ruby on Rails—products that are centered around a single, coherent idea. These products are complete wholes, where each piece matters—like a Frank Lloyd Wright house or a vintage car.But how do you create products like that?In this conversation, we talk to Jason about what two decades of building 37signals has been like—and how to build products that have soul.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperListen to Working Smarter wherever you get your podcasts, or visit workingsmarter.aiTimestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:00:32 - Introduction00:02:06 - What architecture, watches, and cars teach us about software00:10:54 - How Jason thinks AI plays into product-building00:20:58 - How developers at 37signals use AI00:25:47 - Jason’s biggest realization after 26 years of running 37signals00:29:58 - Where Jason thinks luck shaped his career00:32:41 - What Jason would do if he were graduated into the AI boom00:37:22 - Dan asks for advice on running a non-traditional company like Every00:46:39 - Why staying true to yourself is the only way to build something lasting00:49:38 - Wholeness as the north star for building products—and companiesLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Jason Fried: Jason Fried (@jasonfried), Jason FriedMore about 37Signals: 37signalsThe book about architecture by Christopher Alexander: The Timeless Way of Building
How Salesforce Is Using AI to Power the Enterprise (00:14:11)
This episode contains sponsored content in partnership with Salesforce.At Dreamforce 2025, Every CEO Dan Shipper sat down with Silvio Savarese, chief AI scientist at Salesforce, to discuss how one of the world’s largest software companies is shaping the future of AI for the enterprise.Together, Dan and Savarese explore how his team at Salesforce develops AI solutions that now power more than 13,000 businesses—including OpenAI, Dell, and FedEx—helping them become truly Agentic Enterprises that operate with greater scale, speed, and precision. Examples include a large language model built for Salesforce developers years before ChatGPT’s release, and Agentforce, the company’s agentic layer that enables a hybrid future of work where humans and AI agents collaborate to achieve more than either could alone.They also discuss how Agentforce gives enterprises a deeply unified AI platform that connects their data with agent functionality—making it both powerful and practical. The conversation touches on how Salesforce builds trust with enterprise customers amid the jagged frontier of AI by ensuring consistency in results, while continuing to push the boundaries of what agents can do autonomously. Savarese shares how enterprise-grade simulation environments help them strike that balance, and reflects on how AI agents will ultimately transform how businesses and individuals alike get things done.@Salesforce #SalesforcePartner #DF25Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperTimestamps:00:00 – Start01:16 – Inside Salesforce’s early AI innovations02:50 – How Agentforce works and what it can do07:03 – The real challenges of deploying AI at scale08:57 – Why Salesforce builds simulation environments for AI12:35 – The future of agents and enterprise AI
Inside Claude Code From the Engineers Who Built It (01:10:11)
At Every, the team credits Claude Code with transforming the way they work.They now ship to codebases they barely know, each new feature makes the next easier to build, and even non-technical teammates confidently use the terminal.To explore how this happened, AI & I host Dan Shipper invited Claude Code’s creators—Cat Wu (@_catwu) and Boris Cherny (@bcherny) from Anthropic AI—to discuss what they’ve learned from building one of the most beloved AI engineering tools in the world.This episode is a must-watch for anyone—technical or not—who wants to understand how to use Claude Code like the people who built it.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share.Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperBuild your first AI-powered app at ai.studio/build.Timestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:01:26 - Introduction00:02:25 - Claude Code’s origin story00:07:03 - How Anthropic dogfoods Claude Code00:14:06 - Boris and Cat’s favorite slash commands00:15:49 - How Boris uses Claude Code to plan feature development00:21:53 - Everything Anthropic has learned about using sub-agents well00:26:16 - Use Claude Code to turn past code into leverage00:33:14 - The product decisions for building an agent that’s simple and powerful00:36:38 - Making Claude Code accessible to the non-technical user00:45:12 - The next form factor for coding with AILinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Cat Wu: cat (@_catwu)Boris Cherny: Boris Cherny (@bcherny)Claude Code: https://www.claude.com/product/claude-code
Spiral: Designing an AI Ghostwriter With Taste (01:07:37)
Good writing has always been downstream of good thinking. The average language model can help you write faster—but can it help you think better?Danny Aziz wrestled with this question while building the new version of Spiral, an AI writing partner informed by our editorial taste at Every that launched yesterday.The result is a product—and a philosophy—built by the ultimate craftsman who believes you can lean into AI without blunting your edge with slop. We had Danny on AI & I to talk about using AI without losing your craft. We get into the hidden alpha in AI tools that slow you down, how to code with AI without losing your craft, and everything Danny learned about cajoling AI to write well.You can try Spiral here: https://writewithspiral.com/If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperReady to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Launch your site for free at Framer.com, and use code DAN to get your first month of Pro on the house.Timestamps:00:00:00 – Start00:01:00 – Introduction00:05:26 – How Danny used Spiral to prepare for this podcast00:08:29 – Why slowing down makes AI writing better00:13:42 – The agents working under the hood for Spiral00:14:46 – How Spiral helps you explore the canvas of possibilities00:24:41 – Why Danny pivoted away from the old version of Spiral00:31:51 – How to use AI without losing your craft00:34:55 – Danny’s workflow for building Spiral as a solo engineer00:40:39 – Code with AI while staying in control00:45:26 – What Danny learned about getting AI to write well00:47:52 – How Danny used DSPy to give AI taste00:56:16 – Dan v. AI Dan: Can the machine match the man?Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Danny Aziz: Danny Aziz (@DannyAziz97) / XGive Spiral a go: SpiralThe article Every published about DSPy: I’ve Stopped Writing Prompts—DSPy Does It Better
We Taught AI to Play Games—Now It’s a $3.6 Million Company (00:58:22)
This episode is a little different from our usual fare: It’s a conversation with our head of AI training Alex Duffy about Good Start Labs, a company he incubated inside Every. Today, Good Start Labs is spinning out of Every as a separate company with $3.6 million in funding from General Catalyst, Inovia, Every, and a group of angel investors from top-tier AI labs like DeepMind. We get into how Alex learned some of his biggest lessons about the real world from games, starting with RuneScape, which taught him how markets work and how not to get scammed. He explains why the static benchmarks we use to evaluate LLMs today are breaking down, and how games like Diplomacy offer a richer, more dynamic way to test and train large language models. Finally, Alex shares where he sees the most promise in AI—software, life sciences, and education—and why he believes games can make the models we use smarter, while helping people understand and use AI more effectively.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share.Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperTimestamps00:00:00 - Start00:01:48 - Introduction00:04:14 - Why evals and benchmarks are broken00:07:13 - The sneakiest LLMs in the market00:13:00 - A competition that turns prompting into a sport00:15:49 - Building a business around using games to make AI better00:22:39 - Can language models learn how to be funny00:25:31 - Why games are a great way to evaluate and train new models00:26:58 - What child psychology tells us about games and AI00:30:10 - Using games to unlock continual learning in AI00:36:42 - Why Alex cares deeply about games00:44:37 - Where Alex sees the most promise in AI00:50:54 - Rethinking how young people start their careers in the age of AILinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Alex Duffy: alex duffy (@alxai_)Good Start Labs: https://goodstartlabs.com/, good start (@goodstartlabs)The book Alex is reading about the importance of games: Playing with Reality: How Games Shape Our WorldThe book Dan recommends by the psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott: Playing and Reality
Box CEO Aaron Levie on Why AI Agents Won’t Take Your Job (00:52:55)
Aaron Levie is AI-pilled, but he’s one of the few CEOs who sees a future where AI agents work for us, instead of replacing us—helping us to do more than we could before.Aaron’s been the CEO of Box for 20 years–long enough to see a few tech revolutions up close—and taking the company AI-first gave him a glimpse of what the next one means for us. We get into why jobs aren’t going away, the new shape of work, and what it takes to build an AI-first company from the inside.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share. Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperMeet NotebookLM, the AI research tool and thinking partner that can analyze your sources, turn complexity into clarity and transform your content: https://notebooklm.google.com/Timestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:01:30 – Introduction00:02:36 – Why AI won’t take your job00:06:42 – Jevons Paradox and the future of work00:10:40 – How Aaron’s experience with the cloud era shapes his view of AI00:19:44 – Why every knowledge worker is becoming a manager of AI agents00:25:21 – What Aaron’s learned from bringing AI into every corner of Box00:33:57 – What’s overhyped in AI today00:43:31 – How Aaron balances everyday execution with innovationLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Aaron Levie: Aaron Levie (@levie)Box: https://www.box.com/Dan’s essay on the shift toward the allocation economy: "The Knowledge Economy Is Over. Welcome to the Allocation Economy"Dwarkesh’s podcast with Richard Sutton: https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/richard-sutton
MCP Servers: Teaching AI to Use the Internet Like Humans (00:51:39)
If your MCP server has dozens of tools, it’s probably built wrong.You need tools that are specific and clear for each use case—but you also can’t have too many. This creates an almost impossible tradeoff that most companies don’t know how to solve.That’s why we interviewed Alex Rattray, the founder and CEO of Stainless. Stainless builds APIs, SDKs, and MCP servers for companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. Alex has spent years mastering how to make software talk to software, and he came on the show to share what he knows. We get into MCP and the future of the AI-native internet.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share.Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:- Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe- Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperReady to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Launch your site for free at Framer.com, and use code DAN to get your first month of Pro on the house.Timestamps:00:00:00 - Start00:01:14 - Introduction00:02:54 - Why Alex likes running barefoot00:05:09 - APIs and MCP, the connectors of the new internet00:10:53 - Why MCP servers are hard to get right00:20:07 - Design principles for reliable MCP servers00:23:50 - Scaling MCP servers for large APIs00:25:14 - Using MCP for business ops at Stainless00:28:12 - Building a company brain with Claude Code00:33:59 - Where MCP goes from here00:41:10 - Alex’s take on the security model for MCPLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:- Alex Rattray: Alex Rattray (@RattrayAlex), Alex Rattray - Stainless: https://www.stainless.com/
Cognition’s CEO on What Comes After Code (00:53:21)
The future has a way of showing up early to some places. In software engineering, one of those places is Cognition—the startup that made headlines in early 2024 with Devin, the world’s first autonomous coding agent, and more recently with its acquisition of the AI code editor Windsurf.Scott Wu, Cognition’s cofounder and CEO, has a front-row seat to what comes next. In this episode of AI & I, we talk with Wu about why the fundamentals of computer science still matter in an AI-first world, the direction he sees for the short- and long-term future of programming, and why he believes we may already be living with AGI.Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Start00:02:02 – Introduction00:02:32 – Why Scott thinks AGI is here00:09:27 – Scott’s personal journey as a founder00:16:55 – Why the fundamentals of computer science still matter00:22:30 – How the future of programming will evolve00:26:50 – A new workflow for the AI-first software engineer00:29:33 – How Devin stacks up against Claude Code00:40:05 – Reinforcement learning to build better coding agents00:50:05 – What excites Scott about AI beyond CognitionIf you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Scott Wu: Scott Wu (@ScottWu46) Learn more about Cognition: https://cognition.ai/ Try the world’s first autonomous coding agent: https://devin.ai/
One Developer Got Thousands of Users Before His App Launched (00:57:24)
Naveen Naidu built an app that found product-market fit backwards.Most apps launch first and then try to find users. Monologue, Naveen’s AI voice dictation app that came out of beta yesterday, did the opposite. It built a following of thousands of users during its incubation period at Every—many of them switching over from venture capital-backed competitors—all while the app barely had a landing page.The growth has continued in the 24 hours since launch, with an average of 1 million words being transcribed weekly, and in this episode of AI & I, we sit down with Naveen to talk about his journey as the single engineer behind a viral app. We get into the false starts and side projects that taught Naveen how to ship fast, the brutal feedback that kept Monologue honest, why Every decided to build in a crowded category, and the AI coding tools that let one developer do the work of a team.Get free early access to Amazon's Alexa Plus: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCCNHWV5?ref_=aucc_us_dis_everyalexa_q3_25Timestamps:00:01:27 – Introduction00:03:51 – A live demo of Monologue00:06:27 – Hard lessons from Naveen’s years in the wilderness00:12:29 – Building a muscle to ship fast00:21:11 – The spark that became Monologue00:26:09 – Dogfooding your way to a killer feature00:29:45 – Why the harshest product feedback is the most valuable00:31:47 – Every’s strategy for launching an app in a crowded space00:40:08 – Giving Monologue the Every “smell”00:45:09 – Naveen’s one-person AI stack to build beautiful appsIf you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribeFollow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:https://www.monologue.to/
Claude Code Can Be Your Second Brain (01:11:52)
Noah Brier uses Claude Code as his second brain—it’s the coolest notetaking setup we’ve ever seen.He has Claude running on a server in his basement hooked up to a VPN. It stores, reads, and writes to thousands of notes in his Obsidian vault. He does it all from his phone.We had him on the show to tell us exactly how he’s pulling this off. Dan and Noah get into:The nuts and bolts of the Claude Code-Obsidian setup: Noah set up Claude Code on top of his Obsidian root directory, and he walked me through how he uses it to prep for an upcoming speech—creating a project folder, pulling in relevant research from his notes, saving transcripts from chats with other LLMs, and generating daily progress updates.The “thinking partner” that lives inside Noah’s second brain: Noah points out that in the hype around AI’s ability to write, the fact that it can read is overlooked. That’s why he has an agent inside Claude Code with strict guardrails to stay in “thinking mode.” It logs his questions, tracks insights, and catches him up on research if he returns to a project after a few days away.How Noah does deep work on his phone: Noah rigged a home server in his basement, put his Obsidian vault in it—and then runs Claude Code on top. Noah says that being able to think, write, research, and ship code from his phone has fundamentally changed the way he works.This episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about who wants to learn how to use Claude Code to build a true second brain.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Start building in Google AI Studio at ai.dev. Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Launch your site for free at Framer.com, and use code DAN to get your first month of Pro on the house. Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps: 00:01:19 - Introduction00:04:28 - How you can do deep work on your phone00:06:14 - Why Noah thinks Grok has the best voice AI00:11:39 - The nuts and bolts of Noah’s Claude Code-Obsidian setup00:23:59 - Using an agent in Claude Code as a “thinking partner”00:35:07 - Noah’s Thomas’ English Muffin theory of AI00:44:04 - The white space still left to explore in AI00:50:41 - How Noah is preparing his kids for AI01:01:54 - How he brought his Claude Code setup to mobileLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Noah Brier: https://www.noahbrier.com/, Noah Brier (@heyitsnoah) / XAlephic, his AI strategy consultancy: alephic.com The conference he leads about marketing and AI: http://BRXND.AI A newsletter he writes about AI: newsletter.brxnd.ai The declassified relic from World War II they talk about: Simple Sabotage Field Manual The apps Noah used to set up Claude Code on his phone: Termius, Tailscale
This AI Makes a Video Game World in 40 Milliseconds (01:05:28)
We had Dean Leitersdorf on the pod and he did something no guest had ever done.Mid-sentence, he transformed from a startup founder in a black t-shirt to a wizard with light shooting from his hands. Then, he was in a white-walled game universe, and when he picked up the tissue box on his table, it morphed into a gun which he could shoot by moving his arm.He did it with one of his products, Mirage: It takes any live video feed (like Dean on the pod) and instantly renders each frame into a new style of your choosing—40 milliseconds from input to output.Dean is the co-founder and CEO of the creators of Decart which makes Mirage. They recently raised $100 million at a $3.1 billion valuation to build a new era of real-time generative AI experiences like this.Realtime generative video models are going to change video games forever, and Dean is on the forefront: imagine creating endless variations on existing titles, like GTA-V with a frigid winter filter, or taking a bare-bones vibe-coded prototype and using Mirage to texture it. But games are just the beginning, Dean sees Mirage as opening the door to a new medium, a new experience created by AI. In this episode, we take a look at how Mirage works under the hood, and what the Decart team learned about the future of software while wrestling with its toughest research problems. We also debate AGI—how close it really is, what counts as progress, and what kind of society it might create. This episode is a must watch for anyone interested in the future of gaming, creativity, or if you just want your mind blown by what’s already possible. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps: Introduction: 00:00:47A demo of Mirage, the first real-time video-to-video model in the world: 00:02:38How Mirage can take your vibe-coded game to the next level: 00:06:22The new architecture of modern software: 00:08:45How Mirage works so blazingly fast: 00:16:34Inside Decart’s invention of a new “live stream diffusion” model: 00:20:33Solving the error accumulation problem for real-time video: 00:21:17How Dean thinks about inventing a new creative medium: 00:29:55Dean’s take on the post-AGI world: 00:39:43Why AI brings back the age of the generalist: 00:51:15Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Dean Leitersdorf: https://x.com/dleitersdorf?lang=enDecart: https://about.decart.ai/ Try Mirage and Delulu: https://mirage.decart.ai/, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.decart.delulu, https://apps.apple.com/il/app/delulu-by-decart/id6749955738 More about Yan LeCun’s error accumulation problem: https://x.com/ylecun/status/1640123182983045120
Best of the Pod: How to Prepare for AGI According to Reid Hoffman (01:10:06)
AGI is coming. Reid Hoffman just wrote the book on how to prepare.According to Reid, every major tech breakthrough (the written word, the printing press, the telephone) triggered mass fear. But, contrary to our worries, new technology tends to enhance human agency—even more so, if you know how to use it well.Reid is the cofounder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI; a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners; an early backer and board member of OpenAI; and an award-winning podcasterWe spent an hour talking about how to develop a compass for navigating AGI. Here are a few takeaways:Our sense of human agency is not just about external control but an internal stance—how we approach uncertainty & new tech is crucialIn new technology waves, NO blueprint or plan will have the right answers. Instead, adapting to new technology requires broad access, an experimental mindset, and flexibilityIn an AGI world most jobs will transform, not disappear—and how you can prepare with hands-on trial and errorHow certain social norms and ethics should change as AGI changes the landscape—like individual access to personal dataWhy now may be finally be the era where quantified self tools become valuable…and more, including everything in his new book Superagency, out this week.It was a pleasure to have him on the show for a second time. This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to help build a more human future with AI.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every-2.kit.com/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgptIt’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: / danshipperSponsor:Attio is the AI-native CRM built for the next era of companies. With Attio, setup takes minutes. Connect your email and calendar, and it instantly builds a CRM that mirrors your business. Go to https://www.attio.com/every to get 15% off on your first year.Timestamps:00:00:00 — Episode Start00:01:29 — Introduction00:02:50 — Patterns in how we've historically adopted technology00:07:02 — Why humans have typically been fearful of new technologies00:13:25 — How Reid developed his own sense of agency00:20:08 — The way Reid thinks about making investment decisions00:22:00 — Attio: Go to https://attio.com/every and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.00:29:40 — AI as a "techno-humanist" compass00:35:30 — How to prepare yourself for the way AI will change knowledge work00:41:39 — Why equitable access to AI is important00:45:15 — Reid's take on why private commons will be beneficial for society00:47:23 — How AI is making Silicon Valley's conception of the "quantified self" a reality00:52:14 — The shift from symbolic to sub-symbolic AI mirrors how we understand intelligence01:03:29 — Reid's new book, SuperagencyLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Reid Hoffman: @reidhoffmanSuperagency, Reid’s newest book: https://www.superagency.ai/
Best of the Pod: She Built an AI Product Manager Bringing in Six Figures—As A Side Hustle (01:06:29)
**Automate 80% of your repetitive writing, thinking, and creative tasks****Try Spiral made by Dan Shipper & Every: https://spiral.computer?utm_source=youtube**Claire Vo built ChatPRD—an on-demand chief product officer powered by AI. It’s now used by over 10,000 product managers and is pulling in six figures in revenue. The best part?Claire has a demanding day job as the CPO at LaunchDarkly. So she built all of ChatPRD herself—over the weekend—with AI.I sat down with Claire to talk about how ChatPRD works, how she built it as a side hustle using AI, and all of the ways she’s using AI tools to accelerate her work and life. We get into:- How she used AI to build ChatPRD over Thanksgiving break- The part of product management that Claire thinks AI will disrupt- Why the PMs of tomorrow will be “proto-managers” who create prototypes rather than just specs- How junior PMs can use AI to upskill faster- The ways in which ChatPRD is baked into her own workflow- How building ChatPRD is making Claire a better PM- How Claire uses AI as a tech-forward parentThis is a must-watch for anyone interested in turning their side hustle into a thriving business or who works in product.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Thanks to Google and LTX Studio for sponsoring this episode! The Gemini 2.5 family of models is now generally available. 2.5 Pro, the most advanced model, is great for reasoning over complex tasks; next up, 2.5 Flash finds the sweet spot between performance and price; and finally, 2.5 Flash Lite is ideal for low-latency, high-volume tasks. Start building in Google AI Studio at https://ai.dev/LTX Studio is helping storytellers go from concept to delivery in one seamless platform. Whether you're storyboarding your next film, prototyping ad concepts, or creating pixel-ready assets, LTX Studio allows you to fully realize your imaginations. Check them out here: https://tinyurl.com/2d5nx3ut Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:- Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe- Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:- Claire Vo: https://x.com/clairevo; @chiefproductofficer- ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/; https://x.com/chatprd; https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatprd/; https://www.youtube.com/@ChatPRD - Some of the AI tools that Claire used to build ChatPRD: http://Clerk.dev; https://tiptap.dev/ - Greeking Out, the Greek mythology podcast that Claire’s son enjoys: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/greeking-out
Best of the Pod: Vercel's Guillermo Rauch on AI and the Future of Coding (00:58:09)
Read Dan Shipper's essay on the allocation economy: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/the-knowledge-economy-is-over-welcome-to-the-allocation-economyGuillermo Rauch is one of the most prolific coders of this generation. But he doesn’t think of himself as a coder anymore. Coding, he says, is a specific skill that AI is becoming great at. Instead, he thinks the future of coding is more holistic, full-stack engineers who can ideate, design, and execute all together. Guillermo is the founder and CEO of Vercel, the creator of NextJS, and SocketIO. We spent an hour talking about the future of software development in an AI world—and the meta-skills that are essential for the coders of today to master—in order to use tomorrow’s tools to their fullest extent.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Sponsors:LTX Studio is helping storytellers go from concept to delivery in one seamless platform. Whether you're storyboarding your next film, prototyping ad concepts, or creating pixel-ready assets, LTX Studio allows you to fully realize your imaginations. Check them out here: https://tinyurl.com/2d5nx3utAttio is the AI-native CRM built for the next era of companies. With Attio, setup takes minutes. Connect your email and calendar, and it instantly builds a CRM that mirrors your business. Go to https://www.attio.com/every to get 15% off on your first year.Want even more?Read Dan Shipper's essay on developing taste with AI: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/what-i-do-when-i-can-t-sleepTry Cora to manage your email with AI: https://cora.computerTry Spiral to repurpose content with AI: https://spiral.computerTry Sparkle to organize your files with AI: https://makeitsparkle.coSign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for freeTo hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Guillermo Rauch: @rauchgVercel: https://vercel.com/ Last week’s episode with Nabeel Hyatt: https://every.to/podcast/the-venture-capitalist-who-only-makes-two-bets-a-yearDan’s essay about the allocation economy: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/the-knowledge-economy-is-over-welcome-to-the-allocation-economy
Best of the Pod: Dwarkesh Patel’s Quest to Learn Everything (00:50:07)
Dwarkesh Patel is on a quest to know everything. He’s using LLMs to enhance how he reads, learns, thinks, and conducts interviews. Dwarkesh is a podcaster who’s interviewed a wide range of people, like Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Blair, and Marc Andreesen. Before conducting each of these interviews, Dwarkesh learns as much as he can about his guest and their area of expertise—AI hardware, tense geopolitical crises, and the genetics of human origins, to name a few. The most important tool in his learning arsenal? AI—specifically Claude, Claude Projects, and a few custom tools he’s built to accelerate his workflow.He does this by researching extensively, and as his knowledge grows, each piece of new information builds upon the last, making it easier and easier to grasp meaningful insights. In this interview, I turn the tables on him to understand how the prolific podcaster uses AI to become a smarter version of himself. We get into:- How he uses LLMs to remember everything- His podcast prep workflow with Claude to understand complex topics- Why it’s important to be an early adopter of technology- His taste in books and how he uses LLMs to learn from them- How he thinks about building a worldview - His quick takes on the AI’s existential questions—AGI and P(doom)We also use Claude live on the show to help Dwarkesh research for an upcoming podcast recording.This is a must-watch for curious people who want to use AI to become smarter.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Sponsor:Gemini: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:- Subscribe to Every- Follow him on XLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:- Dwarkesh Patel- Dwarkesh’s podcast and newsletter- Dwarkesh’s interview with researcher Andy Matuschak on spaced repetition- The book about technology and society that both Dan and Dwarkesh are reading: Medieval Technology and Social Change- Dan’s interview with Reid Hoffman- The book by Will Durant that inspires Dwarkesh: Fallen Leaves- One of the most interesting books Dwarkesh has read: The Great Divide - Upcoming guests on Dwarkesh’s podcast: David Reich and Daniel Yergin
Intentional Tech: Designing AI for Human Flourishing | Alex Komoroske, Cofounder and CEO of Common Tools (01:11:32)
The smallest technical decisions become humanity's biggest pivots:The same-origin policy—a well-intentioned browser security rule from the 1990s—accidentally created Facebook, Google, and every data monopoly since. It locks your data in silos—and you stayed where your stuff already is. This dynamic created aggregators.Alex Komoroske—who led Chrome's web platform team at Google and ran corporate strategy at Stripe—saw this pattern play out firsthand. And he's obsessed with the tiny decisions that will shape AI's next 30 years:- Whether AI keeps memory centrally or user-controlled?- Is AI free/ad-supported or user-paid?- Should AI be engagement-maximizing or intention-aligned?- How should we handle prompt injection in MCP and agentic systems?- Should AI be built with AOL-style aggregation or web-style openness?This is a much-watch if you care about the future of AI and humanity.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Sponsors: Google Gemini: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.Attio: Go to https://attio.com/every and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.Timestamps:Introduction: 00:01:45Why chatbots are a feature not a paradigm: 00:04:25Toward AI that’s aligned with our intentions: 00:06:50The four pillars of “intentional technology”: 00:11:54The type of structures in which intentional technology can thrive: 00:14:16Why ChatGPT is the AOL of the AI era: 00:18:26Why AI needs to break out of the silos of the early internet: 00:25:55Alex’s personal journey into systems-thinking: 00:41:53How LLMs can encode what we know but can’t explain: 00:48:15Can LLMs solve the coordination problem inside organizations: 00:54:35The under-discussed risk of prompt injection: 01:01:39Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Alex Komoroske: @komoramaCommon Tools: https://common.tools/ The public Google document with Alex’s raw ideas and thoughts: Bits and BobsA couple of Alex’s favorite books: Why Information Grows by Cesar Hidalgo and The Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker
Arc Had Millions of Users. Why They Left It Behind for Dia. | Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, cofounders of The Browser Company (01:24:52)
If you had millions of people using a product you spent years building, would you kill it?That’s exactly what The Browser Company did with Arc.The internet backlash was intense, but cofounders Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal saw that AI was about to make the web something you talk to, not just click into. The best home for that assistant was the thing that's already between you and the internet—the browser. And they realized they couldn’t just duct-tape it on to Arc.One year of heads-down work later, the team launched Dia in beta, and people are raving about it. Dia is a sleek, fast, browser with AI at its core—it gets better with every tab you open, becoming more and more helpful with time. And even though it’s still early, Josh and Hursh’s big pivot looks like one for the ages.This week on AI & I, Josh and Hursh joined me for their first full-length podcast about their pivot from Arc to Dia. We talk through their decision-making process, the very public backlash the company faced, and the grit it took to stay the course. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Sponsor: Attio: Go to https://attio.com/every and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.Timestamps for Spotify:Introduction: 00:01:13The story of how Dan might’ve been the CEO of The Browser Company: 00:02:47The moment Josh and Hursh knew they had to walk away from Arc: 00:09:42How to handle the weight of the unknown in a pivot: 00:17:08The prototype-driven culture that kept The Browser Company alive: 00:23:31Why having a product loved by millions of users isn’t enough :00:25:42The architectural decisions underlying how Dia was built: 00:33:29How Dia almost shipped without its best feature: 00:47:12The best ways people are using Dia in the wild: 00:51:18How Josh and Hursh think about competing with incumbents: 01:07:55How romanticism informs the product decisions behind Dia: 01:17:04Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Hursh Agrawal: @hurshJosh Miller: @joshmMore about Dia: https://www.diabrowser.com/ Writer and investor M.G. Siegler’s essay about the AI browser wars: https://spyglass.org/ai-browser-wars/
