thijs

20yo • prev: openai (robotics), a16z, discord, lmarena

[thijs @cdngdev]

i gave astra a robot, a paint brush, and a camera then asked it to paint the golden gate bridge in real life!

it figured out how to control the robot, and progressively got better throughout its attempts. the timelapse is sick

[OpenAI @OpenAI]

This is GPT-6 Astra.

Anything you can do on a computer, Astra can do for you. Fast.

[thijs @cdngdev]

@adi_swaminathan @hiiinternet this and richard feynman's cafeteria plate story

[thijs @cdngdev]

on being lost //
> no one talks about this but posting projects online is an incredible drug.

it's taken me to the highest highs of my life to days when i can't even get out of bed, completely demotivated, wondering why, in the last 2 months, i can't think of anything that seems exciting to work on or worth my time.

the three days after a project goes viral are some of the best of my life. i'm so happy and incredibly social. i've found a new lust for life. i feel like i've 'made it'.

opening twitter notifications feels like (what i assume) hitting a vape is like. i check them every 5 minutes. for a rare moment of my life, it calms me. i feel comfortable.

i've swam across an entire pool and can catch my breath for a brief moment before the next lap.

but day 4 is the start of the crash. for me, each time it's gotten worse as i raise the bar for my work.

(bad thoughts)
> how the fuck am i expected to come up with another idea that is worth millions of views or 'a sama retweet'?
> my work fundamentally changed the robotics space, and i just stopped??? i should have continued the project.
> i have to prove to all 20,000 of you that following me is worth it.
> just one more project, then maybe i'll 'make it' and people will care about me.

i'm scared to work on anything that has no chance of being cool enough. so i do nothing. i lay in bed trying to force myself to have an idea (it never comes).

in bed, i look at my past with rose colored lenses.

> while at openai, i kept hitting 'banger after banger'. maybe leaving was the wrong decision. (of course, there were many moments i was demotivated then, too)

my happiness seems to be very purpose driven.

finding purpose is weird. working for someone (broadly) gives you someone else's purpose. school gives you a false sense of purpose. your own work might make you feel lost most of the time, but give you purpose when you have ideas or it goes well.

all of the above are totally valid ways to derive purpose. but maybe happiness shouldn't be purpose driven.

the best feelings in the world are
> having an idea so great that you can't stop working on it
> the moment you've gotten to know someone new truly deeply. maybe while looking up at the stars.
> someone telling you how much something you did meant to them
> staying up late with friends or family doing something incredible

two months with no good ideas is not a long time. but it feels like forever when the world moves so fast.

it's a cruel joke that the best ideas will come to you when you don't expect them. it's cruel that you will never find a good idea while trying to find one.

it's cruel that one small idea can throw a wrench in your entire life, and for three days, give you a taste of pure joy, only to place you right back where you were. of course we chase that feeling.

the reality is that there is no 'making it'. even the best of the best of people are anxious and worried and always looking for what's next.

every time i've been lucky enough to meet one of my idols, i've asked a simple question: "with all the incredible things you've done, are you satisfied?" i've never once heard yes.

the layman wishes he was rich and famous. the rich man wishes he was famous. and the famous man wishes he had found a way to become rich.

when was the last time you looked up at the stars? when was the last time you got to know someone new truly deeply?

great ideas will come to you. being lost is part of the journey.

while on a journey to find purpose, you might have lost sight of what provided it to you in the first place.

[thijs @cdngdev]

after being stuck and lost for the last two months, i've found something small that i'm excited about.

its an incredible feeling. i can't wait to get out of bed in the morning. i keep delaying my bedtime.

i haven't done anything but work on this project the last few days!!

[thijs @cdngdev]

beyond attention, if you've been working on something awesome for a long time, and complete it, do you not feel a lack of purpose or lost because you don't know what to work on next? to help more people?

you're right that it's about where you place that purpose. finding joy in the fleeting is one hell of a motivator in pushing you to do more. but you shouldn't lose sight of the beauty around you.

i've learned that most people are 'lost'. many people don't let it show. some people don't let it bother them.
> "there's no avoiding pain, so perhaps the real question is not what makes you happy and painless but what will you joyfully suffer for?" -DH

[thijs @cdngdev]

@borvibe more robots soon. this one is a small side tangent.

[thijs @cdngdev]

after being stuck and lost for the last two months, i've found something small that i'm excited about.

its an incredible feeling. i can't wait to get out of bed in the morning. i keep delaying my bedtime.

i haven't done anything but work on this project the last few days!!

[thijs @cdngdev]

@wltnwang @brianjsl @okezuebell @Welton

[thijs @cdngdev]

da full episode: https://t.co/cDQoPFHFuS

[Cerebras @cerebras]

On Big Chip Club, @MilksandMatcha talks with @cdngdev, the former @OpenAI robotics intern behind this summer’s viral Astra robot-painting demo.

They discuss the creative process behind building products people want to make for themselves, why robotics needs fast inference, and what recursive self-improvement (RSI) would require.

0:00 Meet Thijs: Discord, OpenAI, and Stanford
0:47 Building a wardrobe app in a day
3:17 Making demos that cut through the noise
4:43 Whimsical and practical demos
5:25 Where good ideas come from
7:04 Teaching a robot to paint the Golden Gate Bridge
8:52 Improving the robot’s painting ability
10:34 Giving Sam Altman the robot’s painting
12:00 Why robots need fast inference
14:11 What demos should Cerebras build?
15:07 Getting started with robot arms
16:33 Recreating apps and 3D models on demand
17:56 From generated models to physical things
19:45 Inside OpenAI
20:17 What RSI means
23:11 Getting AI's benefits to everyone
24:39 Personal assistants for everyday tasks

[thijs @cdngdev]

here's the story behind how this photo happened!

on @cerebras Big Chip Club with @MilksandMatcha

[thijs @cdngdev]

delivered!

[thijs @cdngdev]

@0x50484244 the world wins!

[thijs @cdngdev]

@Sahilcore @DrJimFan thanks!!

[thijs @cdngdev]

im incredibly honored to have my work called out by the goat @DrJimFan at CoRL!! still can't believe this is real

[thijs @cdngdev]

"i have never seen a painting in human history that shattered so many dreams" i'm sorry 😭

[thijs @cdngdev]

@DrJimFan 🫶🫶🫶

[thijs @cdngdev]

"i have never seen a painting in human history that shattered so many dreams" i'm sorry 😭

[Jim Fan @DrJimFan]

CoRL Keynote. Hilton Austin. Monday Nov 9, 1:45 pm. 2 days countdown.

Something extraordinary.

[thijs @cdngdev]

the full livestream is here btw: https://t.co/03Y8TSqA62

[thijs @cdngdev]

@callumshar i let it do whatever it wants!

[thijs @cdngdev]

i've been playing around with this model on some robotics projects today. my initial read so far is that it's really good!

while other models felt like an llm trying to do robotics, this one feels more like a robotics model to me.

i think the clip of the robot drawing where the other arm comes in to help stabilize summarizes why. it's learned a ton of small tricks which make it seem more robotics-native.

[Claude @claudeai]

Fable 5.2 shows substantially improved skills in controlling physical robots, even on tasks it has never explicitly been trained to do.

On RoboDojo, a benchmark with a simulated two-arm robot, it outperformed other models and most AI systems built to control robots.

[thijs @cdngdev]

@mcneiilly @DrJimFan thanks!!!

[thijs @cdngdev]

@gabriel1 yeah @wltnwang

[thijs @cdngdev]

awesome keynote tho! groot seems really cool

[thijs @cdngdev]

@dumierhan this is my favorite hill in the entire bay area