Changan Chen, co-founder of Rhoda AI, discusses their vision-first approach to building foundation models for robotics. The conversation covers their unique training pipeline, the distinction between policy and world models, and the path to deploying data-efficient, reliable robots in real-world industrial settings.
Wayve CEO Alex Kendall discusses their contrarian, AI-first approach to autonomous driving. He explains their journey from a garage prototype using reinforcement learning to developing a generalizable AI driver that has driven zero-shot in over 500 cities. Kendall emphasizes a strategy focused on licensing this embodied AI for mass-market consumer vehicles—a 100-million-unit-per-year opportunity—rather than building bespoke robotaxis, arguing that the future is an AI that can drive any car, anywhere.
Moonlake AI presents a distinctive approach to world modeling, prioritizing interactive, action-conditioned environments built on symbolic representations and game engines over purely pixel-based generative models. This method focuses on causal reasoning, long-term consistency, and programmable rendering (via their 'Reverie' diffusion model) to create dynamic, multiplayer worlds, positioning itself as a platform for training embodied AI and revolutionizing game development.
Professor Kyunghyun Cho, a co-author of the first paper on attention, discusses the future of AI. He argues that today’s models have already captured most correlations in passive data, making the real challenge about actively choosing which data to collect. He also explores the open debate around world models, the surprising lack of coding agent adoption among his students, and the foundational work that led to Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
Jeff Hawke, CTO at Odyssey, provides a deep dive into the emerging field of "world models"—AI systems that generate continuous, interactive simulations. He draws parallels to the "GPT-2 era" of LLMs, outlining the current state, core research challenges like coherence and control, and the immense potential for applications in gaming, robotics, and content creation. Hawke also clarifies the confusing terminology, distinguishing canonical world models from spatial intelligence and generative video models like Sora.
Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki discusses the company's 20-year vision to build the "Holodeck," a high-fidelity, 4D simulation for human co-experience. He explains how Roblox is leveraging its 13 billion monthly hours of vector data to train native AI models for advanced NPCs, moving beyond simple LLMs to create "virtual doppelgängers." Baszucki also covers the future of immersive communication, AI's role in transforming game creation, and Roblox's unique, data-driven approach to hiring talent.