AI:AM: A Level We Shouldn't Pass? Notes from The Curve + Tokens vs. Salaries & Is SaaS Cooked?

Nathan Labenz reports back from The Curve conference, sharing off-the-record insights from frontier lab leaders on shortened timelines and whether humanity is approaching an intelligence threshold it should not cross. The episode also features discussions with Positron CTO Thomas Sohmers on overcoming the memory wall while token spend eclipses human salaries, and swyx on how coding agents are disrupting enterprise software. In addition, Atlas Ignota's Evan Miyazono examines unowned risks from accidental agent swarms hitting critical infrastructure, while Mercor's Edward Hu explores the future of training data. Together, these conversations highlight how escalating compute demands and autonomous agent workflows are challenging long-held assumptions about hardware, software economics, and safety limits.

For full show notes, links, and references, read the episode page:
https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai/ai-am-a-level-we-shouldn-t-pass-notes-from-the-curve-tokens-vs-salaries-is-saas-cooked/

Sponsors:

Parallel: Parallel provides enterprise-grade web search APIs for AI agents, offering the optimal balance of quality, speed, and cost. Get started for free at https://parallel.ai/tcr

Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator for problem solvers, helping with writing, coding, financial models, strategy, and more. Get started with Claude and explore Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr

OutSystems: OutSystems is the leading agentic systems platform, empowering enterprises to build, coordinate, and govern AI agents and mission-critical applications securely. Learn more and start building your agentic future at https://outsystems.com/tcr

Tasklet: Tasklet empowers your business with AI agents that connect to your tools and automate recurring workflows with no code required. Visit https://tasklet.ai and use code cog rev for $50 in free credits

CHAPTERS:

(00:00) Weekly highlights preview

(01:57) Notes from The Curve (Part 1)

(14:22) Sponsors: Parallel | Claude

(17:17) Notes from The Curve (Part 2)

(17:17) Timelines and compute caps (Part 1)

(28:40) Sponsors: OutSystems | Tasklet

(31:36) Timelines and compute caps (Part 2)

(31:37) The memory wall

(40:50) AI in chip design

(48:17) Software after agents

(54:33) Kill my SaaS

(01:03:32) Who owns AI risks

(01:10:58) Workplace training data

(01:17:36) Beyond verifiable tasks

(01:20:56) Episode Outro

(01:25:58) Outro

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