Ben Horowitz, cofounder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), says nuclear proliferation is good.
I was shocked because I thought we all agreed nuclear proliferation is VERY BAD.
If Ben and a16z can’t appreciate the existential risks of nuclear weapons proliferation, why would anyone ever take them seriously on the topic of AI regulation?
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Ben Horowitz on Nuclear Proliferation
02:12 Ben Horowitz on Open Source AI
05:31 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties
10:25 Escalation Spirals
15:20 Rogue Actors
16:33 Nuclear Accidents
17:19 Safety Mechanism Failures
20:34 The Role of Human Judgment in Nuclear Safety
21:39 The 1983 Soviet Nuclear False Alarm
22:50 a16z’s Disingenuousness
23:46 Martin Casado and Marc Andreessen
24:31 Nuclear Equilibrium
26:52 Why I Care
28:09 Wrap Up
Sources of this episode’s video clips:
Ben Horowitz’s interview on Upstream with Erik Torenberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oojc96r3Kuo
Martin Casado and Marc Andreessen talking about AI on the a16z Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wIUK0nsyUg
Roger Skaer’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rogerskaer
George W. Bush and John Kerry Presidential Debate (September 30, 2004): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYpP-T0IcyA
Barack Obama’s Prague Remarks on Nuclear Disarmament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKSn1SXjj2s
John Kerry’s Remarks at the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsY1AZc1K7w
Show notes:
Nuclear War, A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen: https://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-War-Scenario-Annie-Jacobsen/dp/0593476093
Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove
1961 Goldsboro B-52 Crash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash
1983 Soviet Nuclera False Alarm Incident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident
List of military nuclear accidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents
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