"As a proprietary model builder, you're kind of starting to get squeezed in.” That's @ibab’s take on where the biggest AI labs stand today. He explains how you need the models to get way better to keep margin, but at some level they may be too sensitive to release. This week, I sat down with Igor on Unsupervised Learning. It was a fascinating conversation with someone who has real perspective on the questions everyone in AI is asking right now. From DeepMind's StarCraft project to early reasoning work at OpenAI to co-founding xAI, Igor has had a front-row seat to nearly every major AI breakthrough. He's now the co-founder of River AI, building individualized, locally-run AI models. We discuss: ▪️Why proprietary model labs might be in trouble ▪️What it's like working with Elon ▪️Building Colossus in 120 days ▪️Should enterprises train their own models ▪️What’s left for humans as models get better ▪️Why he left xAI to bet on personal local AI instead ▪️The three bets River is taking ▪️What's stopping AI from moving beyond coding ▪️Reflections on the rapid pace of the past years 0:00 Intro 1:17 Writing Fiction on Where AI Is Headed 4:46 Cracking Agents Beyond Coding 10:29 Why Igor Left to Start River 12:22 River's Three Big Bets 18:06 Weights vs. Memory: The Personalization Debate 22:04 Should Enterprises Train Their Own Models? 25:10 Are Proprietary Labs Losing Their Edge? 32:16 The China Open-Source Problem 44:19 The Elon Call That Started xAI 50:18 Thoughts on Cursor Acquisition 52:16 What's Actually Bottlenecking AI 56:55 Humans, Machines, and Staying Relevant 1:01:29 Igor's Odds This All Goes Well YouTube: Spotify: Apple: