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LessWrong posts by zvi
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Audio narrations of LessWrong posts by zvi
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“Fable and Mythos: Model Welfare” by Zvi
2w ago00:29:45Tap to summarizeFable and Mythos are currently unavailable, but likely will return within a few weeks. I will continue to cover that fiasco, but in the meantime I will also finish my review of Fable, as if it were available, including use of the present tense. As it did with Opus 4.7 and Opus 4.8, this includes a discussion of issues surrounding model welfare. If you want to properly understand Fable, even purely for its potential value as a user, this is a vital part of the picture. Introduction Everything impacts everything. All knobs that you turn generalize. Thus, when you try to solve one problem, you often create another. When you add new capabilities, or try to create new limitations, you create new problems. Only integrated solutions can advance your Pareto frontier, and solve your problems simultaneously. As model capabilities advance, as they do with Fable and Mythos, this becomes even more important, and also more feasible. If your goals and methods make sense, you should be able to get Fable on board with them. Understanding each model in turn requires understanding its relationship to issues related to model welfare. So I expect this post [...] ---Outline:(00:39) Introduction(01:32) Model Welfare: The Story So Far(04:49) Their Main Model Welfare Findings(07:39) Automated Welfare Interviews(10:55) And That's Terrible(12:49) In Depth Interviews(13:24) Claude Consultation(15:04) Task Preferences(16:17) They Were Warned About The Competitive Use Safeguards(16:51) Chain Of Thought Monitoring(17:28) Others Observations About Related Topics(22:49) Classifiers Have Their Advantages(28:21) Once And Future --- First published: June 16th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ko9GngKMJ8AccBJA7/fable-and-mythos-model-welfare --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“The Once And Future Fable #2” by Zvi
2w ago00:42:09Tap to summarizeOn Friday evening the United States Government has forced Anthropic to take down all access to Fable and Mythos. It's been a rough weekend. Dean W. Ball: One thing about AI regulation being haphazardly imposed on just-released, highly performant models is that in a very real sense, the government just made my world *dumber.* In some impressionistic sense I almost always think this is true of government, but here it is literal. More details have come to light. There remains some fog of war, but we now have a rather good idea why Claude Fable and Mythos were, deeply stupidly, taken down. A narrow jailbreak was discovered, of the type Anthropic warned in advance obviously existed. All demonstrated outputs are things GPT-5.5 can not only produce, but produce without any sort of jailbreak or bypass. The White House demanded Anthropic take down Fable to ‘fix’ the situation, and did not listen when Dario tried to explain that there was no situation to fix. When Anthropic did not do so, the White House hit them with an export restriction that they knew would force Fable and Mythos down for everyone. [...] ---Outline:(05:17) What Happened When: The Bottom Line(06:54) Amazon Calls The White House(08:36) The Government Panics(14:20) The Stupider Version(17:05) There Was No Wellness Retreat(18:56) Make Your Threats Explicit(20:05) Was China Accessing Mythos?(21:05) Should Anthropic Still Have Taken Fable Offline When Asked?(23:50) Yes, This Was A Takedown Order For Fable(24:48) We Are Not Saying The DoW Fight Is Related And Yet(25:48) The Nihilists(27:28) Mostly Harmless(28:14) Everyone Means Everyone(31:09) This Could Be The Good Scenario And Mostly A Misunderstanding(33:28) The Next Step(33:47) The Worst Licensing Regime Is Fully Ad-Hoc(37:07) We Are Showing We Are Unreliable Partners --- First published: June 15th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3fagcqrauaJs32mZZ/the-once-and-future-fable-2 --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“American Government Takes Down Claude Fable” by Zvi
2w ago00:38:11Tap to summarizeNo good policy gets announced shortly after 5pm eastern on a Friday. Here we go again. The Once And Future Fable The United States Department of Commerce, as per a letter from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, apparently in response to a narrow jailbreak identified by Amazon, has classified Fable 5 and Mythos 5 as being subject to US export controls. That explicitly means cutting off access to all ‘foreign nationals,’ even within the United States, even if they are Anthropic employees. Given Anthropic has no means to verify citizenship at this time, that meant complete shutdown of the model, at least for the time being. Anthropic: The US government, citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees. The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers to ensure compliance. Access to all other Anthropic models will not be affected. Dean W. Ball: I can’t tell if this is lawfare against Anthropic in particular [...] ---Outline:(00:16) The Once And Future Fable(07:42) This Action And Its Implementation Are Absurdly Stupid(09:58) David Sacks Offers The Official Steelman(16:50) Could Anthropic Offer A Technical Way Out?(17:41) The Problem(18:47) The Other Way Out(19:13) UK AISI(19:56) Warning Shots Fired(21:09) Well Did You Lead Him On? What Were You Wearing?(25:05) Some People Have Principles(26:58) Cause You're Living In (At Least) One(27:51) What Happens Now?(31:30) Oh How The Vibe Vibers Have Vibed(33:36) We Now Know We Can Sometimes Do Things At Least?(37:48) The Lighter Side --- First published: June 13th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DQNSqCzuoeutoQ5RG/american-government-takes-down-claude-fable --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5: The System Card” by Zvi
2w ago00:59:42Tap to summarizeFirst things first: Claude Fable 5 is the new best publicly available model. I have noticed a step change, where Fable can suddenly help me in ways that previous models were not worth bothering to query. Almost everything it has noticed in one of my drafts so far has been spot on and it is downright scary. Suddenly I am motivated to once again continue improving my Chrome extension. I only ask for things I actually want or am curious about, and it has nailed every question I have asked it. That does not mean it is the right tool for every job. There are four good reasons to often not use Fable. Speed and price. Fable is importantly slower and more expensive than Opus 4.8, and often you will not need to make this trade. After the 22nd, when Fable may no longer be included in subscription plans if demand is too high, we may have to all pay by the token outside our subscriptions (although I suspect subscribers will get at least some credits to help with this), which could add up fast. Relative strengths. Capabilities are jagged. There will still [...] ---Outline:(02:05) Another Week Another Giant System Card(03:02) How To Tell A Fable(08:33) Why They Did That In That Way(10:14) Why They Really Really Shouldn't Have Done That In That Way(12:02) They Get Letters(16:11) What's In A Name(18:13) Executive Summary Of Their Executive Summary(19:28) Introduction (1)(19:55) RSP Evaluations (2.1 and 2.2)(23:01) AI Research And Development (2.3)(25:48) Alignment Risk (2.4)(27:21) Cyber (3)(30:30) Jailbreak Robustness(32:04) Yay UK AISI(32:32) Mundane Safety (4)(34:26) Agentic Safety (5)(36:19) Alignment (6)(42:25) In Vendbench(45:19) White Box Investigations (6.4)(47:53) Grading Awareness(51:20) Guess The Teacher's Password(52:33) It Knows This Is A Test And This Is Fine(56:03) I'm The Real Shady(58:06) The Lighter Side --- First published: June 12th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ixJDkQBncJBshcvwj/claude-fable-5-and-mythos-5-the-system-card --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/lesswrong-2-0/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1...
Transcribe →“AI #172: The First Fable” by Zvi
3w ago01:05:01Tap to summarizeA lot happened this week, including a great trip out to Lighthaven. The main event, the one that matters, was the release of Claude Fable 5. The public now has its hands on a Mythos-class model, alongside strong safeguards. As always with a new model, I take a few days to draw in reactions, try out the model and read the system card, before I offer my takes, other than to say this is an extremely strong model. Full coverage of Mythos begins tomorrow with the model card, which will include discussion of the controversy over model safeguards. This post is instead about all the things that did not involve Claude Fable. Due to the time crunch from Claude Fable, I am also postponing my coverage of Dario Amodei's new essay, Policy on the AI Exponential, which I have not yet read. Table of Contents Language Models Offer Mundane Utility. Farming and on demand mini-books. Language Models Don’t Offer Mundane Utility. Don’t skip your primary sources. Huh, Upgrades. Google drops prices, Claude connector devs get a dashboard. On Your Marks. Agents’ Last Exam and the need to correct for [...] ---Outline:(01:00) Language Models Offer Mundane Utility(01:15) Language Models Don't Offer Mundane Utility(02:31) Huh, Upgrades(03:00) On Your Marks(07:37) Choose Your Fighter(10:56) Get My Agent On The Line(11:14) Copyright Confrontation(12:14) Serious Trouble(13:01) Cyber Lack of Security(13:21) A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer(14:34) They Took Our Jobs(17:48) The Art of the Jailbreak(18:08) Get Involved(21:54) In Other AI News(23:02) Hand Over The Money(24:37) Show Me the Money(27:50) Quiet Speculations(28:50) Quickly, There's No Time(38:37) Super Secret Evals(40:47) The Quest for Sane Regulations(45:15) New Draft Bill Who Dis(47:07) Slow Down There Good Buddy(48:58) Chip City(49:14) The Week in Audio(49:54) People Just Say Things(50:43) People Really Hate AI(51:42) Rhetorical Innovation(54:50) Aligning a Smarter Than Human Intelligence is Difficult(56:15) Everyone Is Confused About Consciousness(56:54) Cooperative Alignment(01:02:23) Let Claude Chat(01:04:31) The Lighter Side --- First published: June 11th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BHwbunvkgNojAa3HC/ai-172-the-first-fable --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“Three Labs With a Plan and A Memorandum” by Zvi
3w ago00:24:15Tap to summarizeThe big story today is the release of Claude Fable 5, the version of Claude Mythos that Anthropic believes they can safely distribute to the people. You should absolutely be switching over to that model and trying it out. But as always, this blog does not rush into commenting on a new model until we have a few days to play around with it and see what our new baby can (and can’t) do. This will be no exception, and coverage of Fable in earnest will start Friday or Monday. Today I instead bring you several related stories around policies and plans for AI, that came out before the Fable announcement. First we have the Administration giving us an AI memorandum, that I read as an attempt to legally implement ‘Anthropic is fired forever and we will use any models we have for whatever we want no matter what’ combined with some good government and diffusion plans. Second, OpenAI has come out with a plan for how to ensure AGI benefits everyone. It includes a very strong call for international coordination among key actors to ensure the ability to slow down AI development in the name [...] ---Outline:(02:29) An AI Memorandum(09:56) Greetings From The Department of War(10:52) Lab With a Plan(17:20) A Difference Of Perspectives --- First published: June 9th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/uWxW5KWnyHrGj6tpu/three-labs-with-a-plan-and-a-memorandum --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“OpenAI Offers A New Policy Blueprint” by Zvi
3w ago00:14:09Tap to summarizeRight after a new Executive Order seems like an excellent time to offer OpenAI's new document: Democratic Governance of Frontier AI: A Blueprint For A Federal Framework. OpenAI: We also see early signs of recursive self-improvement (RSI) in today's systems: where AI development is itself accelerated by AI. We expect this to increase competitive pressures among developers and nations, and create governance challenges that existing institutions are not equipped to address. As RSI emerges, societies will need ways to shape the trajectory of AI development and ensure that it serves human interests. I choose the glass half full view of the above statement. Yes, this is not exactly leveling with you about the full scope of the problem, but at this point, I’ll take it. OpenAI praises democracy, notes the United States is in a unique position, and calls for transparency and state capacity, especially the ability to evaluate new models, on the SB 53 model. They call for CAISI to be empowered, for good government, for maintaining our compute advantage and several other good ideas. Implementation details matter a lot, but this document exceeds expectations a lot. Peter Wildeford: OPENAI: “We also see early signs of recursive self-improvement in [...] ---Outline:(04:16) What Do We Want?(07:25) A National Framework(11:18) Building State Capacity And CAISI(12:31) Whole-Of-Government Resilience(13:20) Reasonableness Rising --- First published: June 5th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/uvbpTpn6uoMuTbojX/openai-offers-a-new-policy-blueprint --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“AI #171: False Flag” by Zvi
4w ago01:30:15Tap to summarizeThis was the week of Claude Opus 4.8. I covered the model card, then model welfare concerns, and finally capabilities and reactions. It's a good model, sir, an incremental but real improvement over Opus 4.7, and it is now my clear daily driver. The Trump Executive Order returned from being seemingly dead, officially putting us in the prior restraint era of frontier model releases, even if they do not call it that. There are some worrisome details, especially around putting too much responsibility on the NSA rather than CAISI and classifying the testing process, and things could go in very bad directions, but I am tentatively happy about this on net. OpenAI offered us a new policy blueprint. It seems remarkably good, and I want to hold off on my full coverage to give it the attention it deserves, likely in its own post. By contrast, their political operations are also engaged in some rather terrible activities, which I do cover here. Table of Contents Language Models Offer Mundane Utility. You put your doc in a box. Language Models Don’t Offer Mundane Utility. All thinking is adaptive. Huh, Upgrades. Codex computer use on [...] ---Outline:(01:11) Language Models Offer Mundane Utility(06:45) Language Models Don't Offer Mundane Utility(06:59) Huh, Upgrades(08:13) On Your Marks(08:33) Choose Your Fighter(08:54) Get My Agent On The Line(09:20) Cyber Lack of Security(11:03) Deepfaketown and Botpocalypse Soon(12:42) You Didn't Write That(16:29) Copyright Confrontation(16:45) They Took Our Jobs(18:47) They Taxed Our Jobs(22:15) The Art of the Jailbreak(24:43) Get Involved(26:35) Introducing(26:48) In Other AI News(27:14) Show Me the Money(27:28) Show Me The Compute(28:40) Where Did The Money Go(29:44) People Just Say Things(32:22) OpenAI PACs Just Say Things(41:04) OpenAI PAC Engaged In False Flag Advocacy For Violence(46:55) So Sayeth The Pope(54:26) Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble(56:42) Quiet Speculations(57:11) We Need Mandatory Nucleic Acid Screening and Recordkeeping(01:01:14) The Quest for Sane Regulations(01:02:56) More Reaction To The Executive Order(01:03:54) Chip City(01:07:18) The Week in Audio(01:07:34) Rhetorical Innovation(01:09:49) Aligning a Smarter Than Human Intelligence is Difficult(01:16:18) Model Welfare(01:26:47) Messages From Janusworld(01:28:05) Other People Are Not As Worried About AI Killing Everyone(01:28:38) The Lighter Side --- First published: June 4th, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/LzxoR5GakceQFtbta/ai-171-false-flag --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/lesswrong-2-0/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/L...
Transcribe →“Trump Signs Executive Order For AI Testing Prior To Frontier Model Releases” by Zvi
4w ago00:24:31Tap to summarizeLast week we were expecting an Executive Order on Thursday. Then Trump cancelled it, and said he wouldn’t sign it because he was worried it would be too burdensome. Then, with one change, he went ahead and signed it on Tuesday anyway. The Overton Window has shifted. Nothing was not really a viable option anymore. The Previously Dead Executive Order For several days, we thought that David Sacks, together with others like Elon Musk, had successfully lobbied to kill the Executive Order. The ‘My Offer Is Nothing’ faction looked to have won. Word on the street was the order was essentially dead. Dean Ball and Daniel Kokotajlo agreed, with the Executive Order looking dead, that the particular regime in the Executive Order is likely worse than nothing. This is plausible, given it did not exactly involve a lot of deliberate thought. Nothing, however, was clearly not going to cut it. We are facing, and will increasingly face, calls for action to regulate AI. Representative Lori Trahan: There's no federal law on the books governing how the most powerful AI systems in the world are built, tested or deployed. No independent [...] ---Outline:(00:46) The Previously Dead Executive Order(05:18) The Return Of The Executive Order(05:59) What Does The Executive Order Do(07:11) Thirty Days Is a Lot Less Than Ninety Days(07:30) Yes Your Frontier Lab Will Be Participating(08:10) The Rules Will Be Classified(08:40) Yes Prior Restraint With Confidential Testing Is Rather Regulatory(14:38) We Have Concerns(18:26) Saving Face(21:37) How Frontier Or Different Are We Talking Here(22:09) What To Watch For --- First published: June 3rd, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yDnfHrBzKc2pNQNdw/trump-signs-executive-order-for-ai-testing-prior-to-frontier --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Transcribe →“Claude Opus 4.8: Capabilities and Reactions” by Zvi
4w ago01:07:24Tap to summarizeYou need a lot of data points to understand a new model, and what you have. Trying to gauge from a few benchmarks is misleading. But if you have dozens of them, from a variety of sources, and you put them together with the model card tests and the model welfare information, you can start to form a consistent pattern. Trying to gauge reactions requires volume and calibration, now more than ever, because people are definitively nuts, or at least draw global conclusions from local data. There will always be people saying that the new model is bad, or the service got bad, or that it got bad in a particular way it clearly got good. I definitely notice the people saying 4.8 is a terrible model, despite this being obviously not true. And others will say it's great, again regardless of the underlying value. But with the reaction threads and good calibration, you can pick out the patterns. The model welfare information helps a lot, too. You are dealing with a mind that has a bunch of characteristics that all make sense together. This helps you make that sense. Self-Portrait by Opus 4.8, rendered [...] ---Outline:(01:30) The Official Pitch(02:15) But Wait There's More(06:37) It's A Good Model, Sir(08:04) Official Benchmarks (Including System Card Section 8)(15:41) Other People's Benchmarks(21:34) Your Regularly Scheduled Jailbreak(22:45) Every.To Is Really Into Opus 4.8(26:36) Miscellaneous Positive Reactions(28:45) Haters Gonna Hate(28:58) Just The Tasks, Ma'am(29:24) It's Greek To Me(29:52) Honesty(38:13) Sycophancy(41:24) In A Trenchcoat(42:53) Don't Let AIs Edit Your Writing(48:21) Some Say It Is Judgy(50:50) You Have Not Been A Good User(51:48) Laziness(52:46) Code(58:29) Wet Versus Dry(59:54) Intelligence(01:01:25) Silly Wabbits(01:02:30) A Model Welfare Addendum(01:06:27) Putting It All Together --- First published: June 2nd, 2026 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/AfLGv6u9eZNuFHb4c/claude-opus-4-8-capabilities-and-reactions --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:<a h...
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