Lex Fridman Podcast
#407 – Guillaume Verdon: Beff Jezos, E/acc Movement, Physics, Computation & AGI
Fri, 29 Dec 2023
Guillaume Verdon (aka Beff Jezos on Twitter) is a physicist, quantum computing researcher, and founder of e/acc (effective accelerationism) movement. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack - Notion: https://notion.com/lex - InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off - AG1: https://drinkag1.com/lex to get 1 month supply of fish oil Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/guillaume-verdon-transcript EPISODE LINKS: Guillaume Verdon Twitter: https://twitter.com/GillVerd Beff Jezos Twitter: https://twitter.com/BasedBeffJezos Extropic: https://extropic.ai/ E/acc Blog: https://effectiveaccelerationism.substack.com/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (09:18) - Beff Jezos (19:16) - Thermodynamics (25:31) - Doxxing (35:25) - Anonymous bots (42:53) - Power (45:24) - AI dangers (48:56) - Building AGI (57:09) - Merging with AI (1:04:51) - p(doom) (1:20:18) - Quantum machine learning (1:33:36) - Quantum computer (1:42:10) - Aliens (1:46:59) - Quantum gravity (1:52:20) - Kardashev scale (1:54:12) - Effective accelerationism (e/acc) (2:04:42) - Humor and memes (2:07:48) - Jeff Bezos (2:14:20) - Elon Musk (2:20:50) - Extropic (2:29:26) - Singularity and AGI (2:33:24) - AI doomers (2:34:49) - Effective altruism (2:41:18) - Day in the life (2:47:45) - Identity (2:50:35) - Advice for young people (2:52:37) - Mortality (2:56:20) - Meaning of life
Full Episode
The following is a conversation with Guillaume Verdun, the man behind the previously anonymous account BasedBefJezosOnX. These two identities were merged by a doxing article in Forbes titled, Who is BasedBefJezos, the leader of the tech elite's EAC movement? So let me describe these two identities that coexist in the mind of one human.
Identity number one, Guillaume, is a physicist, applied mathematician, and quantum machine learning researcher and engineer, receiving his PhD in quantum machine learning, working at Google on quantum computing, and finally launching his own company called Extropic that seeks to build physics-based computing hardware for generative AI.
Identity number two, Bev Jezels, on X, is the creator of the effective accelerationism movement, often abbreviated as EAC. that advocates for propelling rapid technological progress as the ethically optimal course of action for humanity. For example, its proponents believe that progress in AI is a great social equalizer, which should be pushed forward.
EAC followers see themselves as a counterweight to the cautious view that AI is highly unpredictable, potentially dangerous, and needs to be regulated. They often give their opponents the labels of, quote, doomers or decels, short for deceleration. As Beth himself put it, EAC is a memetic optimism virus.
The style of communication of this movement leans always toward the memes and the lols, but there is an intellectual foundation that we explore in this conversation. Now, speaking of the meme, I am too a kind of aspiring connoisseur of the absurd. It is not an accident that I spoke to Jeff Bezos and Beth Jezos back to back.
As we talk about, Beth admires Jeff as one of the most important humans alive, and I admire the beautiful absurdity and the humor of it all. And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast. We got Element for hydration, the thing I'm drinking right now. Notion for team collaboration.
Insight Tracker for biological data that leads to your well-being. And AG1 for my daily nutritional health. Choose wisely, my friends. Also, if you want to work with our amazing team, we're always hiring. Go to lexfriedman.com slash hiring. Or if you want to just get in touch with me for whatever reason, go to lexfriedman.com slash contact. And now on to the full ad reads.
As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make these interesting, but if you must skip them, friends, please still check out our sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too. This episode is brought to you by Element Electrolyte Drink Mix. It's got sodium, potassium, magnesium. I drink it so much, so many times a day. It's really the foundation of my one meal a day lifestyle.
I eat almost always one meal a day in the evening. So I fast, and I really enjoy that. Everything it does for me, I... Recommend everybody at least try it. Intermittent fasting taken to the sort of daily extreme of fasting for 23, 24 hours, whatever it is. And for that, you have to get all the electrolytes right. You have to drink water, but not just drink water.
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