Aschenbrenner bet everything on AI — and lost

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/08/04/aschenbrenner-bet-everything-on-ai-and-lost/

everyone’s a genius in a bubble

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA9xQT2cPhE&list=UU9rJrMVgcXTfa8xuMnbhAEA - video
https://pivottoai.libsyn.com/20260804-aschenbrenner-bet-everything-on-ai-and-lost - podcast

time: 8 min 51 sec

22 points · 8 comments · view on lemmy.world

8 Comments

TinyTimmyTokyo@awful.systems · 11 pts · 29d

As a visualization of how wild this could be, look at some Youtube videos of video game speedruns, such as this one of beating Minecraft in 20 seconds.

Now imagine this applied to all domains of science, technology, and the economy.

Tell me you have the mental maturity of a 12 year old without telling me you have the mental maturity of a 12 year old.

dgerard@awful.systems · 11 pts · 29d (1 reply)

youtube comments:

Couldnt happen to a nicer slender man

Are we entering the "identifying who will be going to prison" stage of this scam now? I'd love it as this is my favorite part.

"Situational Awareness"?, what's the next of the next company, "Object Permanence"?

How on earth could that kid walk and talk without forgetting to breathe. I assume he's writing a fucking book. Sorry. 'Writing' a fucking 'book'

When I was 24, guys like that were just that weirdo from school who you met once on the street in Dublin and asked him what he was up to and he told you he was working somewhere you'd never heard of and you never heard of him again. Now these gobshites are in charge of serious things and serious money, as well as being famous.

Soyweiser@awful.systems · 3 pts · 28d

Doug Jones is rumored to play him in the Big Short 2.

EponymousBosh@feddit.online · 9 pts · 29d

So he didn't realize he was in a bubble? Sounds like he could've used some. Some sit--some situational--

dgerard@awful.systems · 4 pts · 29d (1 reply)
gerikson@awful.systems · 5 pts · 29d

JFC it's already been 2 years

Sidyctism2@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 25d (1 reply)

If you know german, this is pretty funny. His name literally translates to "ashburner", and in german, "ash" (asche) is a colloquial term for money

gerikson@awful.systems · 3 pts · 24d

nominative determinism strikes again