Demis Hassabis

speaker

3,420 appearances 27 recordings 18 series first heard Feb 2024 last heard 7 Jul

Demis Hassabis’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 23 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 16.

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Founders · #416 The Relentless Missionary Creating AGI: Demis Hassabis · 1 Apr 2026 podcast

At some time, he gets really interested in theoretical physics.

But then again, this is so important to understanding just how competitive he is.

He realizes he can't go into a career in theoretical physics and says when he signed up for a game, he liked to feel that he could win.

And physics seemed like a long shot.

And one of the most fascinating things about Demis is that he's insanely competitive, but unbelievably kind and nice and approachable.

And so the author is struck by this and he asks him about this.

He goes, one day I asked Demis about his friendly approachability.

Demis says, I've always tried to live like that.

It is a very deep personal philosophy.

I think it's just my personality.

I want to help people.

And I feel very strongly that it's really bad to manipulate or control people.

And so at this point, Demis is building his worldview.

And one of the most important things is something he repeats throughout this book is that he believes that information is the fundamental unit of the universe.

And so he has what's described as a two-part epiphany, something that sticks with him throughout his entire career.

Number one, information was the fundamental unit of reality.

Number two, a machine that learned for itself how to induce nature's patterns was the most powerful imaginable tool with which to apprehend reality.

While artificial intelligence could push the frontiers of science, it could also do much else besides that.

It could discover medicines, extend the lifespan of humans, solve the obstacles to nuclear fusion, rendering energy clean and abundant.

As Demis once put it, what we are working on is potentially a meta-solution to any problem.

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