How a 100‑person lab 'teaches' AI — Lenny's Podcast with Edwin Chen
Update: 2025-12-07
Description
A tiny, bootstrapped team is quietly shaping the future of AI by teaching models what matters — not chasing VC headlines. (Condensed from 1 hour to 4 minutes.)
In this short summary, host Lenny Rachitsky talks with Edwin Chen of Surge AI about how a sub‑100 person lab built a billion‑dollar business without VC, why quality and human judgment beat leaderboards and engagement hacks, and how reinforcement learning environments and deep human evaluation reshape model alignment. Learn Surge’s contrarian playbook — small teams, 10x product focus, rigorous measurement of subjective quality, and reframing “data labeling” as teaching values. Topics covered: artificial intelligence, machine learning, RLHF, ethics and AI alignment, startups, and product strategy.
If you want the core insights on building trustworthy AI and practical advice for founders in minutes, listen now to get the key ideas in minutes.
In this short summary, host Lenny Rachitsky talks with Edwin Chen of Surge AI about how a sub‑100 person lab built a billion‑dollar business without VC, why quality and human judgment beat leaderboards and engagement hacks, and how reinforcement learning environments and deep human evaluation reshape model alignment. Learn Surge’s contrarian playbook — small teams, 10x product focus, rigorous measurement of subjective quality, and reframing “data labeling” as teaching values. Topics covered: artificial intelligence, machine learning, RLHF, ethics and AI alignment, startups, and product strategy.
If you want the core insights on building trustworthy AI and practical advice for founders in minutes, listen now to get the key ideas in minutes.
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