Open Thread 436
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This is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:
1: Highlights from the comments on the Frankfurt School post:
0xcauliflower argues that the Frankfurt School did not influence Derrida or postmodernism.
And several people point out that the Frankfurt School as an intellectual lineage (as well as a physical campus in Frankfurt where postgraduate studies within that lineage take place) has some surprising alumni. Adorno’s most famous student was Jurgen Habermas, and Habermas’ famous students include Palantir founder Alex Karp and right-libertarian Hans Herman-Hoppe.
2: People who I trust continue to ask me to signal-boost Alex Bores’ Democratic primary campaign in the NY-12 Congressional district (central Manhattan). Bores wants to fight for safe AI, the tech companies are trying to bury his campaign in order to send a signal to everyone else, and we want to support him for the same reason. But also, he seems like a generally good guy with smart views on housing, animal welfare, etc. The primary looks like it will be very close, so if you live in his district, consider registering to vote and voting for him; if you have friends there, consider telling them the same. And whether you live there or not, consider donating or filling out this form to potentially volunteer. And Alex will be doing a Q&A on June 4 at an AI governance event hosted by ACX grantee spartacus.app; if you’re in New York, RSVP here to join in.
3: They’re running another session of MATS, the research fellowship for people who want to get into AI alignment/security/governance. Autumn 2026 cohort runs Sep. 28 to Dec. 4 (10 weeks), in-person in Berkeley or London. Fully funded: $12.5k stipend, $20k compute budget, housing, meals, and travel covered. Mentors come from Anthropic, DeepMind, OpenAI, ARC, and more. Additionally, 2 new tracks: Biosecurity, for catastrophic biological risk from advanced AI, and a Founding & Field-Building track for founders, field-builders, and high-agency generalists. Read more / apply here (application is 1-3 hours), deadline June 7.
4: AI consciousness and welfare research org Eleos is hiring new research scientists. ML experience suggested, located in person in the San Francisco Bay Area. See here for more information and to apply.