Former researchers from OpenAI and Google DeepMind, Liam Fedus and Ekin Dogus Cubuk, discuss their new venture, Periodic Labs. They aim to create an 'AI physicist' by integrating large language models with real-world, iterative experiments, moving beyond simulation to solve fundamental challenges in physics and chemistry, starting with high-temperature superconductivity.
OpenAI's Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki and researcher Szymon Sidor discuss the rapid progress towards AGI, focusing on the shift from traditional benchmarks to real-world capabilities like automating scientific discovery. They share insights into recent breakthroughs in mathematical and programmatic reasoning, highlighted by successes in competitions like the International Math Olympiad (IMO), and explore what's next for scaling and long-horizon problem-solving.
Pushmeet Kohli, head of AI for Science at DeepMind, discusses AlphaEvolve, an AI system that uses Large Language Models (LLMs) coupled with evolutionary search to discover novel, human-interpretable algorithms. He explains the architecture, from its predecessor FunSearch to the multi-agent "Co-scientist" system, and details breakthroughs in solving decades-old math problems and optimizing real-world systems like data center scheduling and chip design.