Nick Bostrom: How Should We Navigate Superintelligence?
Nick Bostrom: How Should We Navigate Superintelligence?  
Podcast: The a16z Show
Published On: Sun Oct 11 2026
Description: Nick Bostrom joins Theo Jaffee and Sofia Puccini on MTS to revisit the ideas about superintelligence and existential risk that he helped bring into the mainstream, now that increasingly capable AI systems actually exist.Nick discusses why reinforcement learning may be pushing models toward more goal-seeking behavior, what recent agent experiments tell us about instrumental convergence, and why he favors preserving the ability to slow frontier development rather than committing now to a broad or indefinite AI pause. He also makes the case that the risks of AI need to be weighed alongside its potential upside, from advances in medicine and longer lifespans to entirely new ways of being human. They also get into whether today's models could already have some form of consciousness, the tradeoffs of open-source AI, whether machines can do original philosophy, mind uploading, and what the simulation hypothesis might mean for the superintelligence we create.Resources:Nick Bostrom / Macrostrategy Research Initiative: https://nickbostrom.com/ Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffeeFollow Sofia Puccini on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiapuccini/ Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.