Why I'm Joining Thinking Machines — on democratizing control over AI
ChowdhuryNeil · x · 2026-09-15
Neil Chowdhury published a long-form essay explaining his move to Thinking Machines, arguing that control over AI should be democratized.
- Background: four years of technical safety research at MIT, OpenAI, and Transluce, focused on misalignment
- His thesis: centralized deployment is defended on safety grounds but underestimates the risk of a few companies deciding model values and blocking outside scrutiny
- The tension: releasing weights removes safeguards that assume centralized monitoring; building controls that survive decentralization is one of the most neglected problems in AI safety
- Thinking Machines is betting on AI shaped by its users, and he wants to make that future safe to build
Related event: AI safety researcher Neil Chowdhury joins Thinking Machines(4 posts)→
More from AGI Musings
- Ethicist Carissa Véliz on AI's crossroads: "Don't let anyone steal our future" — CarissaVeliz · 2026-09-15
- Trump calls AI takeover a 'hoax' while touting data center buildout as biggest economic engine — kimmonismus · 2026-09-15
- Europe must bargain for frontier AI access as its models can't catch up, researchers argue — NinaDSchick · 2026-09-15
- Sociologist estimates 160 million workers power AI's hidden labor force, mostly in Global South — AntonioCasilli · 2026-09-15
- Frontier labs will pace AI progress by spending more compute on alignment and evals, says investor — GavinSBaker · 2026-09-15
- AI raised the security floor, but elite intrusions still need strong teams, researcher says — nptacek · 2026-09-15