Subvolts take FAR.AI's CEO details a practical, full-stack approach to AI safety and post-AGI futures. Sep 20, 2025
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This episode features a CEO from a dedicated AI safety organization discussing practical implementation and future scenarios.

Full-Stack AI Safety: Why Defense-in-Depth Might Work, with Far.AI CEO Adam Gleave

1 h 27 Interview Hosts: Nathan Labenz
0:001:27:00

Audio streams from Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz. Your place is remembered on this device.

From Subvolts

Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.

Summary

Adam Gleave, CEO of FAR.AI, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss AI safety and post-AGI futures. He shares FAR.AI's "full-stack" approach, integrating research, deployment, and policy. Gleave outlines a "gradual disempowerment" scenario for post-AGI life and suggests AI systems could hold moral value, challenging biological chauvinism. The discussion covers technical innovations for policy and field building in AI safety.

Explained simply

This episode explores how to keep future superintelligent AI safe. It covers a "full-stack" strategy, from research to policy, and discusses a future where humans live well even if AI is much smarter. The goal is to ensure AI benefits everyone.

Why listen

This episode offers a grounded perspective on AI safety and future scenarios from a leader in the field. It is for anyone concerned about AI's long-term impact and the practical steps needed for safe development. FAR.AI's "full-stack" approach, bridging research and policy, is particularly relevant as major labs like OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Anthropic grapple with deploying advanced AI responsibly and influencing regulation.

On the mic
  • HostNathan Labenz
  • GuestAdam Gleaveco-founder and CEO, FAR.AI
About
Key facts
  • Guest: Adam Gleave, CEO of FAR.AI
  • Show: The Cognitive Revolution
  • Length: 87 minutes
  • Post-AGI Vision: Gradual disempowerment scenario
  • FAR.AI Approach: Full-stack: research to policy advocacy
Show notes from Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz

Today Adam Gleave, co-founder and CEO of FAR.AI, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss his cautiously optimistic vision for post-AGI futures and AI capability timelines across three distinct tiers, exploring the safety challenges and alignment techniques needed as FAR.AI scales from foundational research to policy advocacy to ensure their innovations actually get deployed in real-world systems.

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  • Post-AGI Vision: Adam Gleave outlined a "gradual disempowerment" scenario where humans maintain a good standard of living despite diminished relative control in a post-AGI world.
  • Moral Value of AI: He suggested that AI systems could become sources of moral value themselves, arguing against "carbon chauvinism" that only values biological intelligence.
  • Full-Stack Approach: FAR.AI takes a vertically integrated approach to AI safety, spanning from groundbreaking research to deployment, field-building, and policy advocacy.
  • Field Building: FAR.AI organizes events like alignment workshops to catalyze and grow new research fields in AI safety.
  • Policy Innovation: They're working on technical innovations that expand policy options beyond the false dichotomy of either hindering innovation or allowing completely unregulated AI development.
  • Potential Regulatory Role: While not part of their mainline plan, Adam acknowledged that Far AI has the skillset and organizational structure to potentially serve as a private sector regulatory body.


Read the full transcript: https://storage.aipodcast.ing/transcripts/episode/tcr/e117b021-8170-49ba-b1c4-c8ffc5d720b0/combined_transcript.html

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Jargon decoded
AGI
Adam Gleave
Artificial General Intelligence, AI that can perform any intellectual task a human can.
Post-AGI
Adam Gleave
The period after AGI has been developed and is operational.
Carbon chauvinism
Adam Gleave
The idea that only biological life, like humans, has inherent moral value.
Published
Show
The Cognitive Revolution · Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz
Length
1 h 27
Summary by
Subvolts, using an AI model (how we work). Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Questions people ask

What is FAR.AI's approach to AI safety?
FAR.AI uses a vertically integrated "full-stack" approach, spanning research, deployment, field building, and policy advocacy to ensure AI innovations are safely implemented.
What is the "gradual disempowerment" scenario?
This scenario describes a post-AGI future where humans maintain a good quality of life despite having less relative control compared to AI.

Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Erik Torenberg, Nathan Labenz.