Jim Keller: The Future of Computing, AI, Life, and Consciousness | Lex Fridman Podcast #162

Jim Keller is a legendary microprocessor engineer, previously at AMD, Apple, Tesla, Intel, and now Tenstorrent. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

EPISODE LINKS:

PODCAST INFO:

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
1:33 - Good design is both science and engineering
7:33 - Javascript
11:40 - RISC vs CISC
15:39 - What makes a great processor?
17:09 - Intel vs ARM
18:58 - Steve Jobs and Apple
21:36 - Elon Musk and Steve Jobs
27:21 - Father
31:03 - Perfection
37:18 - Modular design
42:52 - Moore's law
49:50 - Hardware for deep learning
56:44 - Making neural networks fast at scale
1:04:22 - Andrej Karpathy and Chris Lattner
1:08:36 - How GPUs work
1:12:43 - Tesla Autopilot, NVIDIA, and Mobileye
1:17:23 - Andrej Karpathy and Software 2.0
1:23:43 - Tesla Dojo
1:26:20 - Neural networks will understand physics better than humans
1:28:33 - Re-engineering the human brain
1:33:26 - Infinite fun and the Culture Series by Iain Banks
1:35:20 - Neuralink
1:40:43 - Dreams
1:44:37 - Ideas
1:54:49 - Aliens
1:59:46 - Jordan Peterson
2:04:44 - Viruses
2:07:52 - WallStreetBets and Robinhood
2:15:55 - Advice for young people
2:17:45 - Human condition
2:20:14 - Fear is a cage
2:25:04 - Love
2:31:27 - Regrets

SOCIAL:

[lexfridman]

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast.
0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions:
1:33 - Good design is both science and engineering
7:33 - Javascript
11:40 - RISC vs CISC
15:39 - What makes a great processor?
17:09 - Intel vs ARM
18:58 - Steve Jobs and Apple
21:36 - Elon Musk and Steve Jobs
27:21 - Father
31:03 - Perfection
37:18 - Modular design
42:52 - Moore's law
49:50 - Hardware for deep learning
56:44 - Making neural networks fast at scale
1:04:22 - Andrej Karpathy and Chris Lattner
1:08:36 - How GPUs work
1:12:43 - Tesla Autopilot, NVIDIA, and Mobileye
1:17:23 - Andrej Karpathy and Software 2.0
1:23:43 - Tesla Dojo
1:26:20 - Neural networks will understand physics better than humans
1:28:33 - Re-engineering the human brain
1:33:26 - Infinite fun and the Culture Series by Iain Banks
1:35:20 - Neuralink
1:40:43 - Dreams
1:44:37 - Ideas
1:54:49 - Aliens
1:59:46 - Jordan Peterson
2:04:44 - Viruses
2:07:52 - WallStreetBets and Robinhood
2:15:55 - Advice for young people
2:17:45 - Human condition
2:20:14 - Fear is a cage
2:25:04 - Love
2:31:27 - Regrets

[cookiesandcartoons]

Never clicked so fast. Keller is an absolute legend.

[motivationforbreakfast]

I can’t get enough of this guy’s directness, clarity, and zero ego. I wonder what he’s like as a dad, husband, boyfriend, friend, boss or peer

[imbra]

Oh, this is going to be good :) Jim Keller's first interview was my favorite of all the ones I saw.

[anthonysuppa]

Lex has upgraded from "this was kinda fun" to "this was fun" on the Jim Keller scale.. Congrats Lex, easily your greatest accomplishment

[julesbassuk]

It calms me a little to listen into conversations like this.

[jknight]

Jim is the first interviewee who I've seen call out Lex a little bit. "You think [love] the solution to your depression?", and telling Lex he's rigid and must be afraid of something. This is true friendship. True mentorship.

[SolvingTheMoneyProblem]

Great chat. Don't wait so long to invite Jim Keller back next time!

[andrewfrolovgmailcom]

We need a round #3 with Jim, talking about non-tech stuff. He is clearly very good at philosophy and management.

[shadow]

Jim Keller basically saved AMD several times. Dude deserves a hell of a lot of credit.

[piyh]

2:25:05 Peak Jim Keller roast after a long interview with a lot of Jim's optimism butting up against Lex's "life is suffering" mindset-
L - "I'm going to ask you about love"
J - "I've heard your into this now"
L - "Into this Love thing?"
J - "Do you think this is the solution to your depression?"

[arcanevideos]

So glad you brought Jim back. The last podcast with him was one of the best.

[sergiobollana]

I just paused this and I'm reflecting on how fortunate I am to be listening to this level of information freely, just sitting in my house. You're here listening to the top minds in their game (and I'm including Lex into this category) openly discuss their thought processes and ideas. This level of access to this type of information was up until not so long ago reserved only to a select group of people in very specific circles. I know we humans are a f*cked up bunch, but I can't help being optimistic about us watching this... I'm sure there's a smart kid with a phone somewhere that got fired up listening to this and started his career as a scientist because of it and he will bring a better life to all of us.

[brunoribaric]

Lex's ability to explore the emotions behind highly technical minds and share that publicly is unprecedented.

[callmedeno]

this guy is brilliant, probably my favourite guest you've had on - absolutely precise with his words

[infiction]

I listened to Jim's first interview here at least 4 or 5 times, it really opened my mind to things I had never thought about on topics I never realized i was interested in, excited for this, thanks lex!

[RobRobJuice]

The other day I was walking home from the store, thinking about Jim Keller, as one does. When I came inside, I took a seat in front of my computer, refreshed youtube and beheld "Jim Keller, Round 2". I screamed.

I cannot describe how much I appreciate your work, Lex. Keep it up!

[ichbindoofhihi]

not gonna lie, since he said he saw Jim Keller at a neuralink conference Ive been waiting for this interview. His knowledge and intelligence are really inspiring.

[caitlinV]

Absolutely brilliant episode. I felt like a fly on the wall for a profound yet comfortable conversation. Lex is killing it with the guests lately!

[michelcote]

This guy knows the essence of engineering and understand the processes at high level very well.
Really smart guy