LessWrong posts by zvi

AI discorce. AI discorce never changes.

That's not actually true. But it is true to a rather frustrating degree, for those of us who need to be in the thick of it all the time. It is especially true if someone says the word ‘pause,’ whether or not they would actually support one. Play it again, Sam.

Meanwhile, you know what changes a lot? Actual AI capabilities. Also, war.

In any case, here's the policy, discourse and alignment side of the week that was.

Table of Contents


The OpenAI Foundation Exists. It continues not to focus on its supposed purpose.

Congress Exists. There is some attempt to focus on its supposed purpose.


China Self-Owns. China prevents Manus founders from leaving the country.

The Quest for Survival. Attempts to use procurement law as general AI policy.

Alex Bores Watch. He does an interview with Vanity Fair.

You Received The Federal Framework. Business as usual, except for the GSA.

Chip City. We finally catch a major chip smuggling operation.

Water Water Everywhere. Water use as Gell-Mann Amnesia.

Senator Bernie Sanders Acts Authentically. He is rather alarmed by AI.

Pick [...]
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Outline:
(00:46) The OpenAI Foundation Exists
(07:55) Congress Exists
(10:47) China Self-Owns
(13:16) The Quest for Survival
(17:17) Alex Bores Watch
(21:15) You Received The Federal Framework
(26:55) Chip City
(29:16) Water Water Everywhere
(30:52) Senator Bernie Sanders Acts Authentically
(35:29) Pick Up The Phone
(35:54) Rhetorical Innovation
(46:03) Im A Conscious Robot
(50:21) How To Get Zvi To Read Your Paper
(54:18) People Really Hate AI
(54:34) Greetings From The Stop AI Protest
(01:01:47) Models Have Goals
(01:03:33) If I Was Two-Faced Would I Be Wearing This One
(01:06:25) Other People Are Not As Worried About AI Killing Everyone
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First published:

March 30th, 2026


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/y6HogrdSeFyGDuYYN/ai-161-part-2-every-debate-on-ai

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Last night, Anthropic was given its preliminary injunction, with a stay of seven days.

Emil Michael is a very angry person right now. So is the Honorable Judge Lin.

We were worried we would draw a judge that had no idea how any of this worked and would give the government absurd deference or buy into nonsense arguments.

That is not how it played out. Judge Lin very much understood the issues in play, as they did not require a technical background. She hammered the government in the hearing, and she wrote one of the most forceful, devastating judge opinions I have ever seen. It was an honor and sparked joy to be able to read it.

This post will proceed chronologically, picking up after the events of my last update.

If you want the short version and don’t care about the incremental steps, you can skip directly to Judge Lin Drops The Hammer, leaving the rest as a historical document and source for those who need to establish various facts going forward, including in court.

Logistical note: Due to breaking news, AI #161 Part 2 will be published on Monday. Then, if [...]
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Outline:
(01:25) Anthropic Responds To The DoWs Brief
(12:05) Alan Rozenshtein and Others Suggest A Narrow Legal Way Out
(13:42) DoW Tried Another Uniquely Ill-Suited Theory Against Anthropic
(20:48) Other Views About The Situation From Back Then
(21:23) Potentially Long Suffering Judge Rita Lin Goes Hard At Hearing
(29:35) Emil Michael Tells On Himself
(41:54) Judge Lin Drops The Hammer
(49:57) Let Me Count The Ways
(53:35) Emil Michael Doubles Down Once Again
(55:57) What Happens Now
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First published:

March 27th, 2026


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jdWHwsj8GvwgJSxF7/anthropic-vs-dow-6-the-court-rules

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The major technical advances this week were in agentic coding, as covered yesterday.

The major non-DoW political and alignment developments will be covered tomorrow.

The DoW vs. Anthropic trial continues. Judge Lin was very not happy with the government's case, which makes sense since the government has no case and was arguing a variety of Obvious Nonsense. The question now is how much preliminary relief Anthropic is entitled to. Assuming we find that out this week, I plan to cover that on Monday.

Beyond that, we have new iterations of questions we’ve dealt with time and again. The debate on jobs gets another cycle. Anthropic asked over 80,000 people what they think about AI, and has published those findings, nothing shocking but interesting throughout.

OpenAI is raising money again, although the terms raise some eyebrows. Elon Musk is announcing a grand chip project, but it was already kind of announced and it's not like we should believe him when he says such things.

I used this lull to drop a giant response to Open Socrates, which is technically a book review but uses that as a taking off point to outline a distinct philosophy [...]
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Outline:
(01:44) Language Models Offer Mundane Utility
(02:44) Refine Your Paper
(04:57) Language Models Dont Offer Mundane Utility
(06:38) Huh, Upgrades
(06:47) On Your Marks
(10:53) Get My Agent On The Line
(12:42) Deepfaketown and Botpocalypse Soon
(15:07) Fun With Media Generation
(16:45) Greetings From The Torment Nexus
(17:05) A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer
(20:02) You Drive Me Crazy
(20:23) They Took Our Jobs
(31:24) They Are Hiring
(32:21) Levels of Friction
(33:28) In Other AI News
(34:48) Show Me the Money
(43:34) Quickly, Theres No Time
(44:30) The Week in Audio
(46:46) 80,000 Interviews About AI
(52:55) The Lighter Side
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First published:

March 26th, 2026


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/sw3inhvNrpuGdTyCR/ai-161-part-1-80-000-interviews

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Whatever else you think about Anthropic's agentic coding department, they ship.

The highlights of this edition are three related big upgrades.

You can use Dispatch to command Claude Code and Claude Cowork from your phone, or use channels to do it via places such as Telegram or Discord.

Claude Cowork now can outright use your keyboard and mouse, giving it access to actual everything one can do with a computer if it is competent to do so.

Claude Code now has auto mode, where a classifier checks commands and you only get asked for permission when something seems genuinely risky.

These are rather large quality of life improvements.

Table of Contents


Claude Auto Code.

Claude Work.

Never Go Full Computer Use.

Get Yourself A Desktop.

Okay Computer.

Super App.

Huh, Additional Upgrades.

Agentic Coding Offers Mundane Utility.

Agentic Coding Doesn’t Offer Mundane Utility.

Coding Agents Everywhere.

Worth It.

Choose Your Fighter.

Code Review.

There's An App For That.

In Or Out.

Bulking Up.

Skilling Up.

Unless That Claw.

The Lighter Side.

[...]
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Outline:
(00:53) Claude Auto Code
(03:27) Claude Work
(04:29) Never Go Full Computer Use
(05:58) Get Yourself A Desktop
(06:41) Okay Computer
(09:27) Super App
(10:31) Huh, Additional Upgrades
(16:18) Agentic Coding Offers Mundane Utility
(19:03) Agentic Coding Doesnt Offer Mundane Utility
(20:02) Coding Agents Everywhere
(21:04) Worth It
(22:18) Choose Your Fighter
(22:55) Code Review
(26:17) Theres An App For That
(27:37) In Or Out
(28:14) Bulking Up
(29:19) Skilling Up
(33:12) Unless That Claw
(34:44) The Lighter Side
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First published:

March 25th, 2026


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8c3TED7ewqrbvheKy/claude-code-cowork-and-codex-6-claude-code-auto-use-and-full

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These are all important, in their own way, call it a treasure hunt and collect them all…

“Know thyself.” – The Oracle

“Know thine enemy and know thyself; in a hundred battles, you will not be defeated.” – Sun Tzu

“You don’t know me. You don’t know me at all.” – Lisa Loeb, ‘You Don’t Know Me’

“Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.” – The Graduate

“And Alexander wept, seeing as he had no more worlds to conquer.” – Someone Guessing

“I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim.’ – Leonard Cohen

“But that's not important right now.” – Leslie Nielsen

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, sir?” – John Maynard Keynes

“Now we’re talking price.” – Winston Churchill

“Think for yourself, schmuck.” – Hagbard Celine, Illuminatus!

“Have you forgotten doublethink?” – George Orwell, 1984

“You are trying to solve the wrong problem using the wrong methods based on a wrong model of the [...]
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Outline:
(05:19) Editors Note
(07:28) A Difference Of Opinion
(10:28) An Overview
(10:45) You Dont Know Me
(11:51) Untimely Questions
(15:41) The Unexamined Life is Worth Living
(20:59) The Quest For The Unexamined Life
(26:19) Not Everyone Wants To or Should Philosophize All Day
(28:49) The Seinfeld Fallacy
(30:44) Socrates was the Lying GOAT of Hypocritical False Humility
(36:30) Hearing Voices
(39:25) Simpsons Ancient Greeks Did It
(42:56) The Proposed Fourth Option: Socratic Inquiry
(47:59) No Really The Position is Nothing Else Matters
(51:52) The War on Wavering and Nebulosity
(59:09) Living Your Best Life
(01:03:17) Introducing the Socratic Method (the real one)
(01:04:44) Prove Me Wrong, Kids
(01:06:35) Socrates Asserts Wrong Conclusions That Are Wrong
(01:11:02) You Can Question Your Beliefs
(01:19:39) True Opinions Do Not Only Do Good
(01:22:29) Meno Plays the Fool
(01:25:48) The Central Magicians Trick
(01:26:57) The Gaslighting of Alcibiades
(01:40:06) The Measure of a Fight
(01:49:27) The Good Fight
(01:54:42) The Curious Case of Euthyphro
(01:59:29) You Should Be Sad About That
(02:05:11) People Respond To Incentives
(02:12:30) Self Versus Other
(02:13:49) Socrates Declares Humans Have Unified Minds Free Of Various Biases
(02:22:27) Revenge
(02:39:11) Legal Systems Very Different From Our Own
(02:44:53) Socrates Claims The Just And The Advantageous Are Identical
(02:56:40) First Up: Utilitarianism
(02:59:28) The Main Rival: Deontology (Kantianism? Stoicism?)
(03:05:28) A Trolly Problem
(03:07:13) The Third and Correct Option: Virtue Ethics
(03:15:14) You Are Not Omniscient
(03:21:42) The Hardest Thing In This World Is To Live In It
(03:27:59) They Call It Utopia For A Reason
(03:29:19) The End... Of Book One
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First published:

March 24th, 2026


Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/hc2swmyS8mz4jc79J/book-review-open-socrates-part-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.