
This $85M-Backed Founder Claims Open Source AGI is Safe — Debate with Himanshu Tyagi
About this episode
Dr. Himanshu Tyagi is a professor of engineering at the Indian Institute of Science and the co-founder of Sentient, an open-source AI platform that raised $85M in funding led by Founders Fund.
In this conversation, Himanshu gives me Sentient’s pitch. Then we debate whether open-sourcing frontier AGI development is a good idea, or a reckless way to raise humanity’s P(doom).
00:00 Introducing Himanshu Tyagi
01:41 Sentient’s Vision
05:20 How’d You Raise $85M?
11:19 Comparing Sentient to Competitors
27:26 Open Source vs. Closed Source AI
43:01 What’s Your P(Doom)™
48:44 Extinction from Superintelligent AI
54:02 AI's Control Over Digital and Physical Assets
01:00:26 AI's Influence on Human Movements
01:08:46 Recapping the Debate
01:13:17 Liron’s Announcements
Show Notes
Himanshu’s Twitter — https://x.com/hstyagi
Sentient’s website — https://sentient.foundation
Come to the Less Online conference on May 30 - Jun 1, 2025:
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If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares —
https://ifanyonebuildsit.com
Watch the Lethal Intelligence Guide, the ultimate introduction to AI x-risk! https://www.youtube.com/@lethal-intelligence
PauseAI, the volunteer organization I’m part of:
https://pauseai.info
Join the PauseAI Discord — https://discord.gg/2XXWXvErfA — and say hi to me in the #doom-debates-podcast channel!
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