Shows
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: the $200 million AI engineerOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning, in the wake of Elon Musk’s xAI Grok chatbot turning anti-Semitic following a recent update, Razib catches up with Nikolai Yakovenko about the state of AI in the summer of 2025. Nearly three years after their first conversations on the topic, the catch up, covering ChatGPT’s release and the anticipation of massive macroeconomic transformations driven by automation of knowledge-work. Yakovenko is a former professional poker player and research scientist at Google, Twitter (now X) and Nvidia (now the first $4 trillion company). With more than a decade on the leading edge computer science, Yakovenko ha...2025-08-021h 20
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: the $200 million AI engineerOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning, in the wake of Elon Musk’s xAI Grok chatbot turning anti-Semitic following a recent update, Razib catches up with Nikolai Yakovenko about the state of AI in the summer of 2025. Nearly three years after their first conversations on the topic, the catch up, covering ChatGPT’s release and the anticipation of massive macroeconomic transformations driven by automation of knowledge-work. Yakovenko is a former professional poker player and research scientist at Google, Twitter (now X) and Nvidia (now the first $4 trillion company). With more than a decade on the leading edge computer science, Yako...2025-07-121h 20
The Gabriel Haines ShowNikolai Yakovenko on working in big tech, the early days of AI, and baseball analyticsNikolai is the founder of DeepNewz.comhttps://x.com/ivan_bezdomny2025-04-291h 36Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: the Singularity is not here On this episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib catches up with Nikolai Yakovenko about the state of AI at the end of 2024. Yakovenko is a former professional poker player,and research scientist at Google, Twitter and Nvidia. With a decade in computer science, Yakovenko has been at the forefront of the large-language-model revolution that has given rise to multi-billion dollar companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity and hundreds of smaller startups. Currently, he is the CEO of DeepNewz, an AI-driven news startup that leverages OpenAI’s latest model. Full disclosure: Razib actively uses and recommends the service and is an advisor to...2025-01-141h 07
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: the Singularity is not hereOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib catches up with Nikolai Yakovenko about the state of AI at the end of 2024. Yakovenko is a former professional poker player,and research scientist at Google, Twitter and Nvidia. With a decade in computer science, Yakovenko has been at the forefront of the large-language-model revolution that has given rise to multi-billion dollar companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity and hundreds of smaller startups. Currently, he is the CEO of DeepNewz, an AI-driven news startup that leverages OpenAI’s latest model. Full disclosure: Razib actively uses and recommends the service and is an ad...2024-11-221h 06
AI RebelsDeepnewz ft. Nikolai YakovenkoIn this riveting episode of AI Rebels, we dive deep into the cutting-edge world of artificial intelligence with our special guest, Nikolai Yakovenko. Nikolai shares his insights on the latest advancements shaping the industry and introduces his groundbreaking creation: Deepnewz.Deepnewz is revolutionizing the way we consume information. This innovative AI-powered news aggregation platform sets itself apart with its commitment to unbiased and precise summarization and aggregation. Nikolai walks us through the intricate technology behind Deepnewz, explaining how it curates and distills vast amounts of news into coherent, balanced summaries.Key topics covered in this...2024-07-151h 03Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: the stillborn promise of the LLM ageOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to Nikolai Yakovenko, a returning guest to the podcast, about his new AI startup, DeepNewz, and the state of the LLM-driven AI landscape circa the summer of 2024, where we are in relation to earlier expectations and where we might be in the next decade. Yakovenko is an AI researcher who has worked at Google, Twitter and Nvidia, and is now a serial entrepreneur. He is also a competitive poker player. He currently lives in Miami, Florida, though he travels frequently to America’s numerous “ideaopolises,” from San Francisco, Austin, Boston to New York City...2024-06-261h 16
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: the stillborn promise of the LLM ageIf you have a sibling with autism, your future child’s risk for an autism diagnosis is increased by a factor of 2 to 3.5×. Orchid’s whole genome embryo reports can help mitigate your child’s risk by screening for over 200 genetic variants definitively linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Discuss your situation with a genetics expert.On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to Nikolai Yakovenko, a returning guest to the podcast, about his new AI startup, DeepNewz, and the state of the LLM-driven AI landscape circa the summer of 2024, where we are in relation to earl...2024-06-261h 16
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: OpenAI in chaos, the future of artificial intelligence and effective accelerationismToday, Razib interviews Nikolai Yakovenko, already a three-time guest on his podcasts (A Twitter engineer on machine learning and his former company's prospects, GPT-3 and the rise of the thinking machines and AI and Biology). An artificial intelligence researcher based in Miami who has worked at Google and Nvidia, Yakovenko is the founder of DeepNews where he currently works. Razib and Yakovenko talk about the economic, technological and socio-political implications of the leadership turmoil at OpenAI, the $86 billion dollar company that has supercharged the field of artificial intelligence with their product, ChatGPT. Yakovenko digs deep into the nuts and...2023-11-211h 23
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: OpenAI in chaos, the future of artificial intelligence and effective accelerationismToday, Razib interviews Nikolai Yakovenko, already a three-time guest on his podcasts (A Twitter engineer on machine learning and his former company's prospects, GPT-3 and the rise of the thinking machines and AI and Biology). An artificial intelligence researcher based in Miami who has worked at Google and Nvidia, Yakovenko is the founder of DeepNews where he currently works.Razib and Yakovenko talk about the economic, technological and socio-political implications of the leadership turmoil at OpenAI, the $86 billion dollar company that has supercharged the field of artificial intelligence with their product, ChatGPT. Yakovenko digs deep into the...2023-11-211h 23
Hacking State18 - Nikolai Yakovenko: Exploring DeepNewsDeepNews is using LLMs to aggregate and summarize the latest news across the internet, seeking to change the way we digest news.Nikolai Yakovenko is an ex-Twitter, Google, and Nvidia machine-learning engineer who initially forayed into Web3 with his venture 'DeepNFTValue,' which uses machine learning to estimate the value of NFTs; before also going on to create DeepNews.We cover using generative AI for compression, why this application of LLMs could better deliver news from primary sources across the internet in real time, the narrative neutrality of the AI-platform, concerns about information accuracy, misinformation...2023-11-1756 min
Hacking State18 - Nikolai Yakovenko: Exploring DeepNewsDeepNews is using LLMs to aggregate and summarize the latest news across the internet, seeking to change the way we digest news.
Nikolai Yakovenko is an ex-Twitter, Google, and Nvidia machine-learning engineer who initially forayed into Web3 with his venture 'DeepNFTValue,' which uses machine learning to estimate the value of NFTs; before also going on to create DeepNews.
We cover using generative AI for compression, why this application of LLMs could better deliver news from primary sources across the internet in real time, the narrative neutrality of the AI-platform, concerns about information accuracy, misinformation...2023-11-1756 min
House of StraussHoS: Nikolai YakovenkoNikolai Yakovenko is a man of many hats (pro poker, jiu-jitsu, computer engineering, archery, baseball analytics), but the main reason we’re talking to him is because he founded an AI-generated competing newspaper. Are machines set to take over for journalists? We get into this and so much more, including whether Michael Lewis deserves critcism. Topics include but aren’t limited to…Explaining the AI newspaper (4:00)* What is DeepNews?Can an AI Successfully Write my Last Article? (6:50)* Can a machine ape my idiosyncrasies? * Can the AI be a contrarian?N...2023-10-201h 16
The GenRAIT podcastNikolai Yakovenko: AI and BiologyOn this episode of the GenRAIT Podcast Razib talks to Nikolai Yakovenko, CEO of DeepNFTValue, about artificial intelligence, OpenAI, Google and Microsoft, and what the intersection of AI and biology might do for us in the future.2023-05-2249 min
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningDavid McKay: AI and the end of the world as we know itThis week on Unsupervised Learning, Razib and his guest, David McKay, of the Standing on the Shoulders of Giants podcast (Razib was an early guest), discuss the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the prospects for artificial general intelligence (AGI). This discussion arose after Razib heard McKay’s explainer, Zen and the Art of ChatGPT, a 30-minute layman’s intro to the topic, where he breaks down the technical elements that come together to allow for AI. In this episode, McKay, a Cambridge University-trained computer scientist who has worked at Hotmail and Google, digs deeper into the nature of Large Langu...2023-04-201h 06
Making MarketsNikolai Yakovenko: Algorithms We Live ByThis is Eric Golden and my guest today is Nikolai Yakovenko. Nikolai is the founder and CEO of DeepNFTValue, which uses machine learning to price blue chip crypto assets like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes. He has spent his career working on deep learning at some of the most notable firms in the world, including Google, Nvidia, Twitter, and Point72. Our conversation starts with AI’s potential and Twitter’s mishaps and then turns to Nikolai’s investment experience and why he most recently decided to build a business that prices NFTs. Please enjoy my conversation with Nikolai Yakovenko. ...2023-02-101h 02
The Prevailing Narrative with Matt BilinskyEpisode 44: Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT with Machine Learning Engineer Nikolai Yakovenko; Woke Institutional Capture with Aaron Sibarium4:00 - The ChatGPT app rocked the tech world just before the holidays, providing us a glimpse into the commercial capabilities of Artificial Intelligence. Former Twitter engineer and machine learning expert Nikolai Yakovenko joins us to break down this technology and its anticipated impact on our lives.47:16 - Aaron Sibarium has been documenting the Woke takeover over critical institutions ranging from medicine and education to corporate American and finance...and even law. How the Culture Wars are impacting more than just "culture". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices2023-01-191h 38
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: GPT-3 and the rise of the thinking machinesAs 2022 draws to a close, the chat AI based on GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) has been taking the internet by storm, with millions of users beginning to ask it questions. Is humanity on the way to birthing a true artificial general intelligence (AGI)? I asked GPT-3 that particular question, and this was the answer: It is difficult to say for certain whether or not humanity is on the way to creating a true artificial general intelligence, as there is no clear consensus on what exactly a true AGI would be or what it would be capable of. Ho...2022-12-291h 02
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNikolai Yakovenko: a Twitter engineer on machine learning and his former company's prospectsWhen Jack Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO last year, I wondered what we could expect from the new leader, Parag Agrawal. Luckily, I knew Nikolai Yakovenko, who worked at Twitter on deep neural networks in the mid-teens. Yakovenko told me Agrawal was not a rock-the-boat kind of guy, and perhaps that’s why Dorsey tapped him to head Twitter after some tumultuous years. Now that Twitter and its leadership is in the news again, due to Elon Musk’s status as “chief twit,” I wanted to talk to Yakovenko about his time at Twitter, discuss the application's upsides and downsi...2022-11-201h 18
The Brandon Adams PodcastInterview with Kyle Boddy (Driveline Baseball)Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) is the founder of Driveline Baseball, the best data-driven baseball development program in the world. I recently taught a course in sports analytics at the University of Miami, and Kyle was gracious enough to provide materials to Nikolai Yakovenko for a guest lecture on "What Makes Good Pitching?" The material is fascinating and surprising for anyone with the slightest interest in baseball. Much of that material is covered in the first half of the podcast. Other podcast topics include: Kyle's transition from poker to sports analytics, the early coaching experience that led to the development of...2022-05-1959 min
Driveline R&D PodcastNikolai Yakovenko - Deep Learning | Wall Street | Baseball | Driveline R&D Podcast Ep 32Live Episode of the Driveline R&D Podcast with Anthony Brady, Alex Caravan, and Kyle Lindley!
Live show replay link here: https://youtu.be/bstR5ITavW8
With Guest: Nikolai Yakovenko
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivan_bezdomny
Link to the hosts' Twitters:
Alex Caravan: https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan
Anthony Brady: https://twitter.com/BaseballFreak_9
Kyle Lindley: https://twitter.com/kylelindley_2020-09-221h 11
Chill + AmbitiousS1.Ep6: Neuro Nerd w. Nikolai Yakovenko (deep learning A.I. specialist)Nikolai Yakovenko knows a thing or two about rewiring. Be it working around an injury or developing neuro networks for intelligent computers, he understands how to re-think limitations. Listen in as we learn about A.I., how expertise might not be worth anything, and how "in Mother Russia, the car drives you."2015-12-0600 min
PokerNews Podcast NetworkStrategy With Kristy: Nikolai Yakovenko Discusses Pineapple Open-Face Chinese PokerOn this week's episode of Strategy with Kristy, host Kristy Arnett talks to poker player and app creator Nikolai Yakovenko about Pineapple Open-Face Chinese Poker. Pineapple is a variation of Open Face Chinese Poker. The first five cards are dealt and placed just as in regular OFC, but in subsequent draws, players get dealt three cards instead of just one. In turn, each player places two of the three cards in any of his or her available rows before discarding the third one face down.2013-11-0222 min
PokerNews Podcast NetworkStrategy with Kristy: Nikolai Yakovenko Discusses Open Face Chinese Poker Strategy Part 2Nikolai Yakovenko is a poker player, programmer, and creator of the ABC Chinese Poker app. Last week, Yakovenko came on the Strategy with Kristy Podcast to discuss open-face Chinese poker strategy and is back this week for Part 2. In the interview, Yakovenko discusses what to think about when deciding whether or not to give up on a flush draw. 2013-08-2418 minPokerNews Podcast NetworkStrategy with Kristy: Nikolai Yakovenko Discusses Open Face Chinese Poker Strategy Part 1Nikolai Yakovenko is a poker player, programmer, and creator of the ABC Chinese Poker app. He comes on the Strategy with Kristy Podcast to discuss open face Chinese poker strategy. In part one of this interview, Yakovenko goes into depth on how to place your five-card starting hand.2013-08-1716 min