benthamite🔸

push-pin = poetry. Effective Altruist.

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

ah ok 1 idea: YC has existed for 20 years. '23-25 is 15% of that (but 35% of top 20 cos), 23-24 is 10% (but 25% of top-20 cos). So under this newer companies are 2-3x overrepresented.

(but I think this is too favorable to YC; they didn't actually get big until ~10 years ago, so these numbers are ~2x too big and the null hypothesis holds)

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

I find that YCombinator companies still aren’t growing faster due to AI

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@taoroalin i'm not sure how to filter for "2025 startups which met the 2019 admissions bar" or whatever. if you have thoughts on that i'd be interested

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

https://t.co/46qmpYBPbA

data: https://t.co/B7ptNJCmy0

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

the world if my former METR coworkers had paid attention to my skincare tiktoks

[Agus 🔸 @austinc3301]

I’m pretty disgusted about the recent attacks on METR. A few people have started a good discussion about substantive concerns, but the vast majority of the criticism out there is about the looks of METR staff? Are we for real here?

[Alex Tabarrok @ATabarrok]

Imagine the Department of War tweeting "Utilitarians in shambles! Kantians on the run!" No philosophy has ever mattered enough to be attacked by the government. Until EA. Amazing success.

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

I like that OAI has been discussing things in public and feel more positively towards them than if they had just made their original post

[signüll @signulll]

openai needs to understand one simple fact, posting more about a situation over & over, including AMAs does not create clarity.

it creates even more confusion & mistrust. like you're trying desperately to be understood.

if you got it wrong the first time or there are problems, it's probably better you don't try to "fix it" by posting more & more. there are other mechanics you can leverage to address. just some friendly feedback, that's all.

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@csvoss @robbensinger @BenKorpan @IsaacKing314 @tszzl I appreciate you and other OAI staff pushing for changes and having public discussion, and I hope that you continue doing so!

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@robbensinger @csvoss @BenKorpan @IsaacKing314 @tszzl Fair. I may be misunderstanding them

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

I understand the OAI justification to be: 1) bad things are illegal, so you don't need to ban them in contracts, 2) to the extent bad things aren't illegal you should make them illegal instead of banning them in contracts.

I'd be interested to hear from @csvoss and @tszzl if that's correct and if so which one is doing the work for them personally

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@robbensinger @csvoss @BenKorpan @IsaacKing314 @tszzl I think @csvoss is objecting to your phrase "can do whatever it wants" since dow is restricted to doing only legal things. IIUC it would be more accurate to say that dow "can do all of the things ant was worried about"

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@tszzl What suggestions do you have for people without operational insight?

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@ARozenshtein I think he was trying to point out that it's good that the usw is saying this, not make an independent claim that the statement is true

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

#1 post in /r/OpenAI is titled "The end of GPT". 7/10 top posts are about cancelling accounts/anti-OAI.

10/10 /r/anthropic posts are pro-A\, 3/10 about people switching from oai

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

"I wish we had more empirical evidence re: Holden's claim 'there are companies not terribly far behind the frontier that would see any unilateral pause or slowdown as an opportunity rather than a warning'"

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

I stand with Sec. Hegseth. I too would rather invoke the DPA than do a project without claude

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@_ueaj What are you requesting they do?

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@TetraspaceWest Yes, addressed by Paul here: https://t.co/OqsFWn1e26

[benthamite🔸 @benthamite_]

@xlr8harder Toby ord found that the mechanism you propose fits the metr data reasonably well: https://t.co/I0ew5Hxf4Y