Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Samuel Hammond of the Foundation for American Innovation joins Robert Wright to discuss the “Pacing the Frontier” letter in the context of the OpenAI “rogue” model escape and other signs of AI acceleration. Overtime: Sam and Bob debate the functionalist case for AI consciousness.
Subscribe to The NonZero Newsletter at: nonzero.org/subscribe
Exclusive Overtime discussion: nonzero.org/p/fasten-your-bot-belts-robert-wright
Join NonZero's Discord server: discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF
0:00 Teaser
0:46 Sam’s ideological leanings
4:02 Sam's AI Manhattan Project–revisited
8:02 What does the “Pacing” letter say about the state of AI?
19:11 Mythos, Astra, and AI’s accelerating acceleration
28:08 The OpenAI “rogue” model escape
36:48 Recursive self-improvement: Red line or red herring?
42:42 How frontier AI is getting (and will get) freakier
52:28 How is open-source AI like DEI?
56:18 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
LLMs and kin selection.
Debating Sam’s conception of consciousness.
Sam’s ayahuasca epiphany (about epiphanies).
Bob’s grand unified theory of consciousness, evolution, and cosmic purpose.
Could AI consciousness save us?
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Samuel Hammond (Foundation for American Innovation, secondbest.ca/). Recorded August 03, 2026.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Samuel Hammond of the Foundation for American Innovation joins Robert Wright to discuss the “Pacing the Frontier” letter in the context of the OpenAI “rogue” model escape and other signs of AI acceleration. Overtime: Sam and Bob debate the functionalist case for AI consciousness.
Subscribe to The NonZero Newsletter at: nonzero.org/subscribe
Exclusive Overtime discussion: nonzero.org/p/fasten-your-bot-belts-robert-wright
Join NonZero's Discord server: discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF
0:00 Teaser
0:46 Sam’s ideological leanings
4:02 Sam's AI Manhattan Project–revisited
8:02 What does the “Pacing” letter say about the state of AI?
19:11 Mythos, Astra, and AI’s accelerating acceleration
28:08 The OpenAI “rogue” model escape
36:48 Recursive self-improvement: Red line or red herring?
42:42 How frontier AI is getting (and will get) freakier
52:28 How is open-source AI like DEI?
56:18 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
LLMs and kin selection.
Debating Sam’s conception of consciousness.
Sam’s ayahuasca epiphany (about epiphanies).
Bob’s grand unified theory of consciousness, evolution, and cosmic purpose.
Could AI consciousness save us?
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Samuel Hammond (Foundation for American Innovation, secondbest.ca/). Recorded August 03, 2026.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
