Sina Habibian Podcast

Hosted by Sina Habibian

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Mar 2025

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Find me on sinahab.com and x.com/sinahab

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52 recent

March 27, 2025Episode 521 hr 16 min

Michael Nielsen on being a wise optimist about science and technology

This is my conversation with Michael Nielsen, scientist, author, and research fellow at the Astera Institute.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:01:06) cultivating optimism amid existential risks- (00:07:16) asymmetric leverage- (00:12:09) are "unbiased" models even feasible?- (00:18:44) AI and the scientific method- (00:23:23) unlocking AI's full power through better interfaces- (00:30:33) sponsor: Splits- (00:31:18) AIs, independent agents or intelligent tools?- (00:35:47) autonomous military and weapons- (00:42:14) finding alignment- (00:48:28) aiming for specific moral outcomes with AI?- (00:54:42) freedom/progress vs safety- (00:57:46) provable beneficiary surveillance- (01:04:16) psychological costs- (01:12:40) the ingenuity gapLinks:- Michael Nielsen: https://michaelnielsen.org/- Michael Nielsen on X: https://x.com/michael_nielsen- Michael's essay on being a wise optimist about science and technology: https://michaelnotebook.com/optimism/- Michael's Blog: https://michaelnotebook.com/- The Ingenuity Gap (Tad Homer-Dixon): https://homerdixon.com/books/the-ingenuity-gap/Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:- Sina Habibian: https://sinahab.com- Sina Habibian on X: https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

March 18, 2025Episode 512 hr 5 min

Jeffrey Quesnelle on Nous Research, large language models, and the human mind

This is my conversation with Jeffrey Quesnelle, cofounder of Nous Research.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:01:08) working with new technologies- (00:06:15) Nous Research origin story- (00:14:08) open frontiers in research- (00:26:07) fourier transforms for gradient compression- (00:32:58) math behind distributed training- (00:38:18) sponsor: Splits- (00:39:02) neural networks history and fundamentals- (00:51:29) the human mind and AI, hyperdimensional representation- (01:01:15) intuition and reasoning- (01:15:00) parallels with reinforcement learning- (01:19:15) the cat is out of the bag- (01:47:11) deeper mysteriesLinks:- Jeffrey Quesnelle: https://jeffq.com/- Jeffrey Quesnelle on X: https://x.com/theemozilla- Nous Research: https://nousresearch.com/- Psyche: https://nousresearch.com/nous-psyche/Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:- Sina Habibian: https://sinahab.com- Sina Habibian on X: https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer:This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

February 25, 2025Episode 501 hr 14 min

Alexander Long on Pluralis Research and protocol learning for frontier models

This is my conversation with Alexander Long, Founder & CEO of Pluralis Research.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:00:55) collaborative training- (00:09:49) economics of training- (00:13:10) what is protocol learning? - (00:20:48) protocol learning design and politics- (00:33:39) sponsor: Splits- (00:34:22) hardware requirements- (00:41:53) adapting to the landscape- (00:49:53) open and closed models- (00:52:52) market structure with fully open models- (00:56:34) research and risks- (01:02:19) labor and national security- (01:10:58) looking to the future- (01:14:20) outroLinks:- Alexander on X: https://x.com/_alexanderlong- Alexander on Github: https://github.com/AlexanderJLong- Article 2: Protocol Learning, Protocol Models and the Great Convergence: https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/article-2-protocol-learning-protocol- Decentralized Training Looms: https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/decentralized-ai-loomsThank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

February 13, 2025Episode 491 hr 13 min

Jim Posen on cryptographic acceleration with Binius

This is my conversation with Jim Posen, the Cofounder and CTO at Irreducible.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:01:12) getting deeper into cryptography- (00:07:06) revisiting binary fields- (00:15:50) building the verifiable internet- (00:26:14) sponsor: Splits- (00:26:57) revival of binary fields- (00:38:55) Binius- (00:42:46) bringing Binius to production- (00:48:27) creating new hardware- (00:53:57) getting to v1- (01:02:03) Ethereum stateless proofs and zkVMs- (01:13:21) outroLinks:- Jim on X: https://x.com/jimpo_potamus- Jim on Github: https://github.com/jimpo- Irreducible: https://www.irreducible.com/- Binius: a Hardware-Optimized SNARK: https://www.irreducible.com/posts/binius-hardware-optimized-snark- Binary Tower Fields are the Future of Verifiable Computing: https://www.irreducible.com/posts/binary-tower-fields-are-the-future-of-verifiable-computingThank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

January 10, 2025Episode 481 hr 26 min

Michael Bentley on Euler, credit, and natural selection

This is my conversation with Michael Bentley, the cofounder and CEO of Euler and previously a dynamical systems postdoctoral research associate at Oxford.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:01:11) early DeFi and experiencing the 2008 crash- (00:06:52) interest rate design and PIDs- (00:20:40) risk management- (00:28:27) sponsor: Splits- (00:29:10) macro view of the world- (00:32:27) the fundamental importance of credit- (00:35:47) Euler protocol design- (00:39:08) modularity and integration- (00:54:40) network topology- (01:10:55) natural selection and dynamical systems- (01:26:33) outroLinks:- Michael on X: https://x.com/euler_mab- Michael on Medium: https://medium.com/@euler-mab- Michael Bentley on the evolution of lending protocols: https://youtu.be/TW9Tv2Y0fkw- Euler: https://www.euler.financeThank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

December 23, 2024Episode 471 hr 19 min

Jake Chervinsky on regulations from first principles

This is my conversation with Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at Variant, and previously the Chief Policy Officer at Blockchain Association and General Counsel at Compound Labs.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:01:15) ELI5: how the US government works- (00:10:44) DOGE and the powers of the executive- (00:19:27) DUNAs, DAOs, and decentralized governance- (00:27:55) how the law reacts to new technology- (00:40:19) sponsor: Splits- (00:41:02) incentives and philosophies of regulators- (00:48:10) lobbying and goals for the next administration- (01:01:58) advice for crypto founders- (01:13:39) personal motivations- (01:19:30) outroLinks:- Jake on X: https://x.com/jchervinsky- Variant Fund: https://variant.fund/- DeFi Education Fund: https://www.defieducationfund.org/- Fairshake PAC: https://www.fairshakepac.com/- Blockchain Association: https://theblockchainassociation.org/Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

December 16, 2024Episode 461 hr 21 min

Andrew Miller on TEEs, account delegation, research, and the early days in Bitcoin

This is my conversation with Andrew Miller who is working on product at Teleport, and is also Associate Director at IC3 and Board Member at the Zcash Foundation.Timestamps:- (00:00:00) intro- (00:00:59) from bitcoin research to privacy, ZKPs, and MPC- (00:13:23) trust models and threat vectors to TEEs- (00:21:16) what is possible with trustless TEEs?- (00:38:37) TEEs-based internet agents- (00:45:41) Dstack, a p2p architecture for TEEs- (00:52:50) learnings as a researcher- (00:58:42) sponsor: Splits- (00:59:25) pathfinding in research- (01:06:11) 2011 bitcoin unboxing and the early bitcoin ecosystem- (01:17:54) vision for the future - (01:21:22) outroLinks:- Andrew on X: https://x.com/socrates1024- Andrew on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Socrates1024- Andrew's research: https://soc1024.ece.illinois.edu- Personal site: https://soc1024.com- Zero Trust Execution Environments paper: https://writings.flashbots.net/ZTEE- Zcash Foundation: https://zfnd.org- IC3: https://www.ic3.govThank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

December 6, 2024Episode 451 hr 33 min

Quintus Kilbourn on TEEs and Secure Hardware

This is my conversation with Quintus Kilbourn, researcher at Flashbots and currently working on Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs).Timestamps:- (00:00:00) - intro- (00:01:06) - what is a TEE- (00:12:23) - TEE use cases: one-shot transactions, autonomous AI agents- (00:25:27) - unbreakable hardware enclaves- (00:41:14) - physical hardware access as a threat vector- (00:47:20) - sponsor: Splits- (00:48:04) - defending against physical attacks- (00:55:57) - resources focused on TEEs- (01:10:25) - defending against supply chain attacks- (01:19:34) - hardware imaging- (01:28:48) - the roadmap- (01:32:53) - outroLinks:- Quintus on X: https://x.com/0xQuintus- Flashbots: https://www.flashbots.net/- ZTEE: https://writings.flashbots.net/ZTEEThank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

November 29, 2024Episode 4449 min

Markus Haas on ethOS and building a crypto-native device

This is my conversation with Markus Haas, the CEO of Freedom Factory and cocreator of the dGEN1.Timestamps:(00:00:00) - intro(00:00:28) - ethOS origin story(00:07:54) - the vision and values(00:09:56) - the need for an alternative to iOS and Android(00:15:30) - sponsor: Splits(00:16:14) - building on GrapheneOS(00:28:32) - dGEN1, an everyday carry device(00:37:05) - what's next for ethOS?(00:43:02) - the company, funding, profitability(00:49:00) - outroLinks:- Markus on X: https://x.com/mhaas_eth- ethOS on X: https://x.com/EthereumPhone- GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/- Freedom Factory website: https://www.freedomfactory.io/Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.

October 23, 2024Episode 431 hr 11 min

Uma Roy on Succinct, STARKs, and zkVM architecture

This is my conversation with Uma Roy, cofounder and CEO of Succinct.Timestamps:(00:00:00) - intro(00:00:57) - origin story(00:02:19) - SP1 architecture(00:09:43) - STARKs, FRI, and hash-based cryptography(00:15:09) - recursion(00:21:12) - upgrading the proof system(00:33:11) - sponsor: Splits(00:33:54) - security in ZK systems(00:37:46) - converting optimistic rollups into zk rollups(00:43:39) - zkVM vs custom circuits(00:48:48) - ZK for scaling and interoperability(01:00:24) - the lifecycle of a proof(01:06:26) - hardware(01:10:57) - outroLinks- Uma on X: https://x.com/pumatheuma- Succinct on X: https://x.com/succinctlabsThank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:- Splits: https://splits.orgSina:Sina Habibian - https://sinahab.comSina Habibian on X - https://x.com/sinahabDisclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.