Timothy B. Lee
@binarybits.bsky.social
Reporting on AI and the future of the economy. Computer science masters degree from Princeton.
Subscribe to my AI newsletter: http://www.understandingai.org
Subscribe to my AI newsletter: http://www.understandingai.org
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Is the AI Takeoff Starting? | Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter and host of the AI Summer podcast, joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss whether AI is a “normal technology” or something much, much more.
Is the AI Takeoff Starting? | Robert Wright & Timothy B. Lee
YouTube video by Nonzero
youtu.be
May 13, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Is the AI Takeoff Starting? | Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter and host of the AI Summer podcast, joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss whether AI is a “normal technology” or something much, much more.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Really enjoyed this conversation with @binarybits.bsky.social.
Is the AI Takeoff Starting? | Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter and host of the AI Summer podcast, joins @robertwrighter.bsky.social to discuss whether AI is a “normal technology” or something much, much more.
Is the AI Takeoff Starting? | Robert Wright & Timothy B. Lee
YouTube video by Nonzero
youtu.be
May 13, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Really enjoyed this conversation with @binarybits.bsky.social.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
This piece ( open.substack.com/pub/understa...) by @binarybits.bsky.social made me think of something kind of similar @doctorow.pluralistic.net shared a little while ago about process knowledge. pluralistic.net/2026/04/08/p.... Both asking about knowledge that's less articulated but still valuable.
I don’t think we are close to “AI scientists”
Today's AI agents are not designed to extract deep insights from new observations.
open.substack.com
May 10, 2026 at 10:36 PM
This piece ( open.substack.com/pub/understa...) by @binarybits.bsky.social made me think of something kind of similar @doctorow.pluralistic.net shared a little while ago about process knowledge. pluralistic.net/2026/04/08/p.... Both asking about knowledge that's less articulated but still valuable.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Banger of a crossover episode today between @scaling_laws
and "AI Summer" with @deanwb.bsky.social and @binarybits.bsky.social on the Anthropic/OpenAI/Pentagon situation (note that we recorded this on Wed. before DOD designated Anthropic a supply chain risk). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
and "AI Summer" with @deanwb.bsky.social and @binarybits.bsky.social on the Anthropic/OpenAI/Pentagon situation (note that we recorded this on Wed. before DOD designated Anthropic a supply chain risk). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
March 6, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Banger of a crossover episode today between @scaling_laws
and "AI Summer" with @deanwb.bsky.social and @binarybits.bsky.social on the Anthropic/OpenAI/Pentagon situation (note that we recorded this on Wed. before DOD designated Anthropic a supply chain risk). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
and "AI Summer" with @deanwb.bsky.social and @binarybits.bsky.social on the Anthropic/OpenAI/Pentagon situation (note that we recorded this on Wed. before DOD designated Anthropic a supply chain risk). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
I'm a fan of this @binarybits.bsky.social piece that points out the incredibly simple and dumb error made by shadowstats. There's definitely some wiggle room for how you calculate inflation but you can't be significantly biased in the long term without it being obvious.
No, the real inflation rate isn’t 15 percent
Jordan Peterson and Jack Dorsey are touting a bogus theory about the inflation rate.
www.fullstackeconomics.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM
I'm a fan of this @binarybits.bsky.social piece that points out the incredibly simple and dumb error made by shadowstats. There's definitely some wiggle room for how you calculate inflation but you can't be significantly biased in the long term without it being obvious.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Great @binarybits.bsky.social piece with overview of and background of White House AI Action Plan
www.understandingai.org/p/donald-tru...
www.understandingai.org/p/donald-tru...
Donald Trump just laid out his vision for AI policy
The president wants to help American AI companies compete with their Chinese rivals.
www.understandingai.org
July 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Great @binarybits.bsky.social piece with overview of and background of White House AI Action Plan
www.understandingai.org/p/donald-tru...
www.understandingai.org/p/donald-tru...
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
The American Time Use Survey came out recently, giving the most detailed look at how the country spends its days, so here's a quick thread
1st, the share of Americans reading for personal interest on an average day has fallen to the lowest level on record, down 10% from 2003🧵
1st, the share of Americans reading for personal interest on an average day has fallen to the lowest level on record, down 10% from 2003🧵
July 17, 2025 at 9:32 PM
The American Time Use Survey came out recently, giving the most detailed look at how the country spends its days, so here's a quick thread
1st, the share of Americans reading for personal interest on an average day has fallen to the lowest level on record, down 10% from 2003🧵
1st, the share of Americans reading for personal interest on an average day has fallen to the lowest level on record, down 10% from 2003🧵
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
The Truth about Sam Altman | @robertwrighter.bsky.social
and Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter, discuss what two new biographies reveal about the OpenAI CEO.
and Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter, discuss what two new biographies reveal about the OpenAI CEO.
The Truth about Sam Altman | Robert Wright & Timothy B. Lee
YouTube video by Nonzero
youtu.be
June 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM
The Truth about Sam Altman | @robertwrighter.bsky.social
and Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter, discuss what two new biographies reveal about the OpenAI CEO.
and Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits.bsky.social), author of the Understanding AI newsletter, discuss what two new biographies reveal about the OpenAI CEO.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Fantastic @binarybits.bsky.social writeup of the Alsup ruling in Anthropic’s case open.substack.com/pub/understa...
But aside from AI training, yet another reminder of the power of analog media. This excerpt is tragic: Alsup’s right about books. But this is exactly how the digital economy works.
But aside from AI training, yet another reminder of the power of analog media. This excerpt is tragic: Alsup’s right about books. But this is exactly how the digital economy works.
June 25, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Fantastic @binarybits.bsky.social writeup of the Alsup ruling in Anthropic’s case open.substack.com/pub/understa...
But aside from AI training, yet another reminder of the power of analog media. This excerpt is tragic: Alsup’s right about books. But this is exactly how the digital economy works.
But aside from AI training, yet another reminder of the power of analog media. This excerpt is tragic: Alsup’s right about books. But this is exactly how the digital economy works.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
No urbanist has successfully kept more vehicles off the road than radical degrowth war-on-cars advocate Donald J Trump
June 11, 2025 at 11:36 PM
No urbanist has successfully kept more vehicles off the road than radical degrowth war-on-cars advocate Donald J Trump
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Apropos of nothing I feel like one of the most important things to help your kids develop is an ability to self-regulate.
June 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Apropos of nothing I feel like one of the most important things to help your kids develop is an ability to self-regulate.
Hey @niedermeyer.online is this going to mean no more Tesla takedown protests? Or are they going to become pro-Elon rallies?
June 5, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Hey @niedermeyer.online is this going to mean no more Tesla takedown protests? Or are they going to become pro-Elon rallies?
Groceries stores are famous for their fat profit margins.
NEW: Two-thirds of NYC voters support creating municipal grocery stores to bring down prices.
"The concept is imminently feasible. In fact, publicly owned grocery stores are quite common and already exist at scale—in the US military."
"The concept is imminently feasible. In fact, publicly owned grocery stores are quite common and already exist at scale—in the US military."
New York City Voters Support Municipal Grocery Stores - Climate and Community Institute
Read our Substack piece on why municipal grocery stores can bring down costs and repair food supply chains. The rising cost of groceries has driven nearly 50 …
climateandcommunity.org
April 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Groceries stores are famous for their fat profit margins.
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Great article on Waymo safety by @binarybits.bsky.social, who has IMO the best reporting on self-driving cars out there
Waymo has had dozens of crashes—almost all were a human driver's fault
Human drivers keep crashing into Waymos that aren't even moving.
www.understandingai.org
March 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Great article on Waymo safety by @binarybits.bsky.social, who has IMO the best reporting on self-driving cars out there
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Interesting look at the emergency safety regulations that may hamper rollout of the promised Dallas to Houston automated trucking trial from @binarybits.bsky.social.
Driverless trucks are coming and unions aren’t happy about it
Will Trump side with driverless trucking startups or the labor movement?
open.substack.com
March 16, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Interesting look at the emergency safety regulations that may hamper rollout of the promised Dallas to Houston automated trucking trial from @binarybits.bsky.social.
My brother is hiring!
At Shortwave we're building the Cursor of business communications — a powerful AI agent app designed to unify all of your essential communications apps (not just email!).
We're hiring aggressively and offering a $10,000 referral bonus. RT 🧵& help us build the future. ⬇️
We're hiring aggressively and offering a $10,000 referral bonus. RT 🧵& help us build the future. ⬇️
March 14, 2025 at 12:11 PM
My brother is hiring!
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
@binarybits.bsky.social is doubtful that scaling up so-called reasoning AI models will "achieve human-level intelligence" given this "probably has more than two dimensions, and mastering all of them will probably require a few more conceptual breakthroughs."
open.substack.com/pub/understa...
open.substack.com/pub/understa...
OpenAI just released GPT-5—it just didn’t call it that
OpenAI's GPT-4.5 demonstrates the power and limits of pretrained models.
open.substack.com
March 9, 2025 at 1:23 AM
@binarybits.bsky.social is doubtful that scaling up so-called reasoning AI models will "achieve human-level intelligence" given this "probably has more than two dimensions, and mastering all of them will probably require a few more conceptual breakthroughs."
open.substack.com/pub/understa...
open.substack.com/pub/understa...
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
19 professionals (in a variety of fields) evaluated OpenAI's Deep Research vs Google's Deep Research.
OpenAI was the clear winner 🏆
Neat study by @binarybits.bsky.social, read more here: www.understandingai.org/p/these-expe...
OpenAI was the clear winner 🏆
Neat study by @binarybits.bsky.social, read more here: www.understandingai.org/p/these-expe...
March 4, 2025 at 3:55 PM
19 professionals (in a variety of fields) evaluated OpenAI's Deep Research vs Google's Deep Research.
OpenAI was the clear winner 🏆
Neat study by @binarybits.bsky.social, read more here: www.understandingai.org/p/these-expe...
OpenAI was the clear winner 🏆
Neat study by @binarybits.bsky.social, read more here: www.understandingai.org/p/these-expe...
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
I was a guest on the AI Summer podcast the other day.
I go into some detail about how the Shortwave AI agent works today, how we got here, and what's next. Check it out:
www.aisummer.org/p/andrew-lee...
Thanks @binarybits.bsky.social and Dean Ball for hosting me!
I go into some detail about how the Shortwave AI agent works today, how we got here, and what's next. Check it out:
www.aisummer.org/p/andrew-lee...
Thanks @binarybits.bsky.social and Dean Ball for hosting me!
Andrew Lee on running an AI email startup
Tim's brother goes deep on the practicalities of building on top of fast-changing AI models.
www.aisummer.org
February 27, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I was a guest on the AI Summer podcast the other day.
I go into some detail about how the Shortwave AI agent works today, how we got here, and what's next. Check it out:
www.aisummer.org/p/andrew-lee...
Thanks @binarybits.bsky.social and Dean Ball for hosting me!
I go into some detail about how the Shortwave AI agent works today, how we got here, and what's next. Check it out:
www.aisummer.org/p/andrew-lee...
Thanks @binarybits.bsky.social and Dean Ball for hosting me!
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
The Understanding AI newsletter from @binarybits.bsky.social really helps you to, well, understand AI. You should read it. www.understandingai.org/p/these-expe...
These pros were stunned by OpenAI Deep Research
"I would use this model professionally," an antitrust lawyer told me.
www.understandingai.org
February 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
The Understanding AI newsletter from @binarybits.bsky.social really helps you to, well, understand AI. You should read it. www.understandingai.org/p/these-expe...
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
This is what Elon does: he takes something someone else is already doing, does it more sloppily/dangerously, and slaps his own brand on it so everyone forgets anything else exists (if they ever knew). You can't cede his rebranding without a fight, or you're toast. Explain that GAO already does this!
February 17, 2025 at 11:34 PM
This is what Elon does: he takes something someone else is already doing, does it more sloppily/dangerously, and slaps his own brand on it so everyone forgets anything else exists (if they ever knew). You can't cede his rebranding without a fight, or you're toast. Explain that GAO already does this!
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Want to keep up with the latest developments in AI?
Check out the 7 newsletters I personally read & recommend for AI news, insights, and analysis:
👉 www.dataschool.io/best-ai-news... 👈
Includes:
@simonwillison.net
@emollick.bsky.social
@sebastianraschka.com
@binarybits.bsky.social
Check out the 7 newsletters I personally read & recommend for AI news, insights, and analysis:
👉 www.dataschool.io/best-ai-news... 👈
Includes:
@simonwillison.net
@emollick.bsky.social
@sebastianraschka.com
@binarybits.bsky.social
How to keep up with AI in 2025 🏃♂️
These 7 AI experts will guide you through the most important developments in Artificial Intelligence.
www.dataschool.io
January 30, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Want to keep up with the latest developments in AI?
Check out the 7 newsletters I personally read & recommend for AI news, insights, and analysis:
👉 www.dataschool.io/best-ai-news... 👈
Includes:
@simonwillison.net
@emollick.bsky.social
@sebastianraschka.com
@binarybits.bsky.social
Check out the 7 newsletters I personally read & recommend for AI news, insights, and analysis:
👉 www.dataschool.io/best-ai-news... 👈
Includes:
@simonwillison.net
@emollick.bsky.social
@sebastianraschka.com
@binarybits.bsky.social
Reposted by Timothy B. Lee
Interesting theory and excellent DeepSeek explainer by @binarybits.bsky.social
www.understandingai.org/p/i-dont-bel...
www.understandingai.org/p/i-dont-bel...
I don’t believe DeepSeek crashed Nvidia’s stock
But let’s talk about DeepSeek anyway.
www.understandingai.org
January 28, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Interesting theory and excellent DeepSeek explainer by @binarybits.bsky.social
www.understandingai.org/p/i-dont-bel...
www.understandingai.org/p/i-dont-bel...