Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Tyler Johnston, founder of the Midas Project, joins Robert Wright to discuss the funding and activities of the group Build American AI. Plus: Elon’s OpenAI grievance, the singularity, and more.

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0:00 Teaser
2:43 The Midas Project and the OpenAI files
12:19 What’s "Build American AI" up to?
21:00 Nathan Leamer, astroturfer and sock puppeteer
29:04 Greg Brockman, AI lobby bankroller
35:13 Astroturfing the China panic
39:51 Is OpenAI an innocent bystander?
48:31 Heading to Overtime

Discussed in Overtime:
The Midas metaphor.
Rationalists vs effective altruists.
China hawkism within AI safety circles.
The Oppenheimer analogy.
Doomerism among AI's founding fathers.
Is Big Tech closing in on almonds?
The jagged edge of Marc Andreessen's intelligence.

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tyler Johnston (The Midas Project). Recorded June 09, 2026.

Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods