{"id":1802,"date":"2026-02-05T08:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestyfinds.net\/technology\/?p=1802"},"modified":"2026-02-05T08:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:03:24","slug":"state-of-ai-in-2026-llms-coding-scaling-laws-china-agents-gpus-agi-lex-fridman-podcast-490","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestyfinds.net\/technology\/?p=1802","title":{"rendered":"State of AI in 2026: LLMs, Coding, Scaling Laws, China, Agents, GPUs, AGI | Lex Fridman Podcast #490"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EV7WhVT270Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nathan Lambert and Sebastian Raschka are machine learning researchers, engineers, and educators. Nathan is the post-training lead at the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) and the author of The RLHF Book. Sebastian Raschka is the author of Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch) and Build a Reasoning Model (From Scratch).<br \/>\nThank you for listening \u2764 Check out our sponsors: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/sponsors\/ep490-sb<br \/>\nSee below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.<\/p>\n<p>*Transcript:*<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"qNV4LjSSeH\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ai-sota-2026-transcript\/\">Transcript for State of AI in 2026: LLMs, Coding, Scaling Laws, China, Agents, GPUs, AGI | Lex Fridman Podcast #490<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Transcript for State of AI in 2026: LLMs, Coding, Scaling Laws, China, Agents, GPUs, AGI | Lex Fridman Podcast #490&#8221; &#8212; Lex Fridman\" src=\"https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ai-sota-2026-transcript\/embed\/#?secret=Jb8HzSNxyn#?secret=qNV4LjSSeH\" data-secret=\"qNV4LjSSeH\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>*Correction:*<br \/>\nHere&#8217;s an updated image listing a collection of recent open &amp; closed AI models with some improvements &amp; fixes:<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/lexfridman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ai_models_2025.png<\/p>\n<p>*CONTACT LEX:*<br \/>\n*Feedback* &#8211; give feedback to Lex: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/survey<br \/>\n*AMA* &#8211; submit questions, videos or call-in: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/ama<br \/>\n*Hiring* &#8211; join our team: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/hiring<br \/>\n*Other* &#8211; other ways to get in touch: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/contact<\/p>\n<p>*EPISODE LINKS:*<br \/>\nNathan&#8217;s X: https:\/\/x.com\/natolambert<br \/>\nNathan&#8217;s Blog: https:\/\/interconnects.ai<br \/>\nNathan&#8217;s Website: https:\/\/natolambert.com<br \/>\nNathan&#8217;s YouTube: https:\/\/youtube.com\/@natolambert<br \/>\nNathan&#8217;s GitHub: https:\/\/github.com\/natolambert<br \/>\nNathan&#8217;s Book: https:\/\/rlhfbook.com<br \/>\nSebastian&#8217;s X: https:\/\/x.com\/rasbt<br \/>\nSebastian&#8217;s Blog: https:\/\/magazine.sebastianraschka.com<br \/>\nSebastian&#8217;s Website: https:\/\/sebastianraschka.com<br \/>\nSebastian&#8217;s YouTube: https:\/\/youtube.com\/@SebastianRaschka<br \/>\nSebastian&#8217;s GitHub: https:\/\/github.com\/rasbt<br \/>\nSebastian&#8217;s Books:<br \/>\nBuild a Large Language Model (From Scratch): https:\/\/manning.com\/books\/build-a-large-language-model-from-scratch<br \/>\nBuild a Reasoning Model (From Scratch): https:\/\/manning.com\/books\/build-a-reasoning-model-from-scratch<\/p>\n<p>*SPONSORS:*<br \/>\nTo support this podcast, check out our sponsors &amp; get discounts:<br \/>\n*Box:* Intelligent content management platform.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/box-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*Quo:* Phone system (calls, texts, contacts) for businesses.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/quo-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*UPLIFT Desk:* Standing desks and office ergonomics.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/uplift_desk-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*Fin:* AI agent for customer service.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/fin-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*Shopify:* Sell stuff online.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/shopify-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*CodeRabbit:* AI-powered code reviews.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/coderabbit-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/lmnt-ep490-sb<br \/>\n*Perplexity:* AI-powered answer engine.<br \/>\nGo to https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/s\/perplexity-ep490-sb<\/p>\n<p>*OUTLINE:*<br \/>\n0:00 &#8211; Introduction<br \/>\n1:57 &#8211; China vs US: Who wins the AI race?<br \/>\n10:38 &#8211; ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Grok: Who is winning?<br \/>\n21:38 &#8211; Best AI for coding<br \/>\n28:29 &#8211; Open Source vs Closed Source LLMs<br \/>\n40:08 &#8211; Transformers: Evolution of LLMs since 2019<br \/>\n48:05 &#8211; AI Scaling Laws: Are they dead or still holding?<br \/>\n1:04:12 &#8211; How AI is trained: Pre-training, Mid-training, and Post-training<br \/>\n1:37:18 &#8211; Post-training explained: Exciting new research directions in LLMs<br \/>\n1:58:11 &#8211; Advice for beginners on how to get into AI development &amp; research<br \/>\n2:21:03 &#8211; Work culture in AI (72+ hour weeks)<br \/>\n2:24:49 &#8211; Silicon Valley bubble<br \/>\n2:28:46 &#8211; Text diffusion models and other new research directions<br \/>\n2:34:28 &#8211; Tool use<br \/>\n2:38:44 &#8211; Continual learning<br \/>\n2:44:06 &#8211; Long context<br \/>\n2:50:21 &#8211; Robotics<br \/>\n2:59:31 &#8211; Timeline to AGI<br \/>\n3:06:47 &#8211; Will AI replace programmers?<br \/>\n3:25:18 &#8211; Is the dream of AGI dying?<br \/>\n3:32:07 &#8211; How AI will make money?<br \/>\n3:36:29 &#8211; Big acquisitions in 2026<br \/>\n3:41:01 &#8211; Future of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, xAI, Meta<br \/>\n3:53:35 &#8211; Manhattan Project for AI<br \/>\n4:00:10 &#8211; Future of NVIDIA, GPUs, and AI compute clusters<br \/>\n4:08:15 &#8211; Future of human civilization<\/p>\n<p>*PODCAST LINKS:*<br \/>\n&#8211; Podcast Website: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/podcast<br \/>\n&#8211; Apple Podcasts: https:\/\/apple.co\/2lwqZIr<br \/>\n&#8211; Spotify: https:\/\/spoti.fi\/2nEwCF8<br \/>\n&#8211; RSS: https:\/\/lexfridman.com\/feed\/podcast\/<br \/>\n&#8211; Podcast Playlist: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4<br \/>\n&#8211; Clips Channel: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/lexclips<\/p>\n<p>*SOCIAL LINKS:*<br \/>\n&#8211; X: https:\/\/x.com\/lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; Instagram: https:\/\/instagram.com\/lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; TikTok: https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; LinkedIn: https:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; Facebook: https:\/\/facebook.com\/lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; Patreon: https:\/\/patreon.com\/lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; Telegram: https:\/\/t.me\/lexfridman<br \/>\n&#8211; Reddit: https:\/\/reddit.com\/r\/lexfridman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nathan Lambert and Sebastian Raschka are machine learning researchers, engineers, and educators. Nathan is the post-training lead at the Allen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/zestyfinds.net\/technology\/?p=1802\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State of AI in 2026: LLMs, Coding, Scaling Laws, China, Agents, GPUs, AGI | Lex Fridman Podcast #490 - TECHNOLOGY\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nathan Lambert and Sebastian Raschka are machine learning researchers, engineers, and educators. 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