'Infinity Machine' is a biography of an Oppenheimer-like figure in AI
About this episode
Sebastian Mallaby discusses his biography of Demis Hassabis, exploring his journey in AI and comparisons to Robert Oppenheimer.
Demis Hassabis says when he set up an AI lab in 2010, “no one believed in it.” The Google DeepMind co-founder and Nobel Prize winner is the subject of Infinity Machine , a new biography by Sebastian Mallaby. The book is a portrait of Hassabis, who Mallaby characterizes as a rare competitor across both science and business. In today’s episode, Mallaby speaks with NPR’s Steve Inskeep about Hassabis’ origins as a young chess player, his Einstein-level ambition, and parallels between Hassabis and Robert Oppenheimer. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
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