Ben Horowitz, cofounder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), says nuclear proliferation is good.

I was shocked because I thought we all agreed nuclear proliferation is VERY BAD.

If Ben and a16z can’t appreciate the existential risks of nuclear weapons proliferation, why would anyone ever take them seriously on the topic of AI regulation?

00:00 Introduction

00:49 Ben Horowitz on Nuclear Proliferation

02:12 Ben Horowitz on Open Source AI

05:31 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties

10:25 Escalation Spirals

15:20 Rogue Actors

16:33 Nuclear Accidents

17:19 Safety Mechanism Failures

20:34 The Role of Human Judgment in Nuclear Safety

21:39 The 1983 Soviet Nuclear False Alarm

22:50 a16z’s Disingenuousness

23:46 Martin Casado and Marc Andreessen

24:31 Nuclear Equilibrium

26:52 Why I Care

28:09 Wrap Up

Sources of this episode’s video clips:

Ben Horowitz’s interview on Upstream with Erik Torenberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oojc96r3Kuo

Martin Casado and Marc Andreessen talking about AI on the a16z Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wIUK0nsyUg

Roger Skaer’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rogerskaer

George W. Bush and John Kerry Presidential Debate (September 30, 2004): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYpP-T0IcyA

Barack Obama’s Prague Remarks on Nuclear Disarmament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKSn1SXjj2s

John Kerry’s Remarks at the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsY1AZc1K7w

Show notes:

Nuclear War, A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen: https://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-War-Scenario-Annie-Jacobsen/dp/0593476093

Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove

1961 Goldsboro B-52 Crash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_Goldsboro_B-52_crash

1983 Soviet Nuclera False Alarm Incident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident

List of military nuclear accidents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents

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