Shams was trained in theoretical physics before becoming an AI engineer at DeepMind and founding the company Mutable, which was acquired by Google. He is now lead engineer for Google's software agent group.

Steve and Omar discuss:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:18) - Journey from Physics to AI
• (10:51) - Elon Tried to Buy DeepMind
• (16:52) - Building Mutable and Auto Wiki as Context for LLMs
• (33:39) - The Value of AI Talent and Meta's AI Hiring Spree
• (42:58) - AI and The Workforce
• (58:02) - The Intersection of Physics and AI

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Patrick McGee is a longtime FT business reporter with extensive experience reporting on China. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Apple in China: the capture of the world's greatest company. Steve and Patrick discuss the history of Apple and its impact on technology development in China.

“The best book about Apple ever written, one of the best books about China ever written, and one of the best books about tech, period.” —Ben Thompson, Stratechery.

Apple in China on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-China-Capture-Greatest-Company/dp/1668053373

• (00:00) - Introduction to Patrick McGee and his Book
• (03:05) - The Apple-Foxconn Partnership
• (07:07) - China's Industrial Transformation and Apple's Role
• (32:48) - Automation Challenges in Apple's Production
• (34:50) - Chinese Innovation and Huawei's Rise
• (36:15) - The Impact of US-China Trade Tensions
• (38:08) - Apple's Internal Struggles and Future Outlook
• (48:56) - Hidden gems in the book

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Steve and TP discuss the implications of the recent air battle between India and Pakistan, which involved over 100 fighter jets and took place entirely beyond visual range (BVR). What is sensor fusion, and have the Pakistanis achieved it with Chinese technology? Does the PL-15 outrange and outperform Western air-to-air missiles? What are the implications for US-China military competition?

Read TP Huang on X: https://x.com/tphuang

• (00:00) - GODZILLA IS DOWN! India-Pakistan Clash and Chinese Military Technology with TP Huang — #87
• (00:32) - Introduction to the India-Pakistan Conflict
• (02:15) - Details of the Air Battle
• (04:40) - Expert Analysis by TP Huang
• (08:34) - Analysis of Air Battle Tactics and Technology
• (12:40) - Role of Chinese Technology
• (16:13) - Implications for Future Warfare
• (25:23) - Indian and Pakistani Military Strategies
• (34:34) - Unexpected Aggression: India's Miscalculation
• (36:52) - Pakistan's Strategic Restraint
• (39:19) - The Rafale Controversy: A Deep Dive
• (43:08) - Electronic Warfare: Myths vs. Reality
• (52:31) - Future of Indian Air Force: Tough Choices Ahead

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Zihan Wang is an AI researcher at Northwestern University, where he works on vision-language models, robotics, and reinforcement learning. Previously, he interned at DeepSeek, contributing to projects like DeepSeek-V2.

Zihan's homepage: https://zihanwang314.github.io/

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:13) - Zihan's Background, CS and AI Research in China
• (11:09) - DeepSeek; Human capital flow from PRC to US
• (16:07) - DeepSeek, Open Source and AI Research
• (31:52) - Model Size and Performance Constraints
• (33:01) - Data Bottleneck in Pre-trained Models
• (34:12) - Transformer Architecture and Scaling Laws
• (36:30) - Efficiency in Model Training
• (47:44) - Chain of Experts Architecture
• (01:01:06) - Future of AI and Robotics

Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Dan Collins is Founder of Tyrell Chemical. He studied at Tsinghua University and spent 20 years working for companies like General Motors in China, helping to localize automotive manufacturing. Dan and Steve discuss tariffs, deindustrialization in America, the Go-Go days of rapid economic growth in PRC, and the future of the US-China relationship.

Follow Dan on X: https://x.com/DanCollins2011

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:25) - Dan's Early Life and Education in Michigan
• (02:30) - Experiences in China, Tsinghua University
• (05:42) - China's Educational and Economic Transformation
• (14:39) - US-China Trade Relations and Joint Ventures
• (41:48) - China's Auto Market
• (42:38) - Weaponization of Customs and Nationalism
• (43:20) - Impact of Tariffs on US Manufacturing
• (44:28) - Chaos in Global Trade and Supply Chains
• (49:34) - The Golden Screw Theory and Manufacturing Dependence
• (51:50) - Strategies for Reindustrializing the US

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

This episode is a co-release with the podcast Seeking Truth From Facts: https://seekingtruthfromfacts.substack.com/

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:11) - China AI
• (02:30) - DeepSeek
• (04:21) - Redirecting Human Capital from finance
• (08:42) - US Policy and Financial Incentives
• (12:54) - China Meritocracy
• (24:24) - Trump's Tariffs and China
• (37:12) - European Defense and Security
• (41:49) - US-China-Europe Relations

–
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Steve speaks with ARX-Han, an anonymous writer, about his book "Incel."

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:09) - Discussing the Novel 'Incel'
• (06:08) - Character Analysis and Literary Influences
• (13:32) - Themes of Evolutionary Psychology and Nihilism
• (18:38) - Historical Context and Modern Inceldom
• (26:18) - Impact of Dating Apps on Modern Relationships
• (32:47) - Representation and Character Dynamics
• (40:21) - Literary Comparisons and Philosophical Depth
• (45:38) - Philosophical Underpinnings of Meaning
• (48:14) - The Hard Problem of Consciousness
• (50:38) - Free Will and Determinism
• (52:53) - Darwinian Nihilism and Nick Land
• (58:17) - Historical Perspectives on East Asian Civilization
• (01:03:11) - The State of Literary Fiction
• (01:16:45) - AI and Literature
• (01:19:44) - AI and Human Meaning

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

Callum Williams is a senior economics writer for The Economist. He was educated at Oxford, Harvard, and Cambridge, and is the author of The Classical School: The Birth of Economics in 20 Enlightened Lives.

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:07) - US-Russia Relations
• (03:18) - Trump and US Foreign Policy
• (05:30) - Sanctions and Their Impact on Russia
• (09:28) - Economic Resilience and Sanctions Evasion
• (14:14) - Historical Context and Predictions
• (29:37) - US Wealth Inequality
• (40:37) - Debating Wealth Inequality and Welfare States
• (42:35) - Homelessness and Government Intervention
• (45:18) - Employment Rates and Economic Behavior
• (50:12) - San Francisco's Homelessness Crisis
• (53:46) - US vs. Europe: Economic Divergence
• (01:06:06) - Cultural Differences in Economic Growth
• (01:10:48) - AI and Job Market Transformation
• (01:13:50) - Challenges in AI Adoption
• (01:15:16) - Consumer vs. Business Tech Adoption
• (01:15:56) - Slow AI Integration in Businesses
• (01:17:34) - AI in Customer Service
• (01:23:48) - Resistance to AI
• (01:26:36) - AI and Productivity
• (01:37:35) - Debates on Technological Progress

–

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU.