Journal

Field notes

Companion notes to the Human in the Loop podcast and dispatches on shipping AI into production — signal over noise, real business ideas, and the craft behind systems that actually work.

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EP 21
September 1, 20267 min read

Frontier AI WITHOUT Nvidia, Ox Alpha was Chinese all along

Ox Alpha turned out to be GLM-5.3-Flash, and Z.ai says it served the whole anonymous preview on Chinese chips. My read on what that does and doesn't prove. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 21.

PodcastAI InfrastructureOpen WeightsHardware
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EP 20
August 25, 20266 min read

A Mysterious AI Model Just Appeared. Nobody Knows Who Built It.

My take on Ox Alpha — a free million-token model on OpenRouter with no name attached to it — and why "free" is the part I'd read twice. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 20.

PodcastAI AgentsBenchmarksSecurity
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EP 19
August 18, 20269 min read

Opus-Class AI on Your Laptop?

A 27B model that fits in 20 GB is beating Opus on some coding benchmarks. My read on what that actually changes, and what it doesn't. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 19.

PodcastOpen WeightsLocal AIDeveloper Tools
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EP 18
August 11, 20269 min read

Meta Launches Muse Code: A 24-Hour Coding Agent

Meta shipped an agent designed to run for a day without you. My read is that the interesting part is not the model, it is the machinery around it. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 18.

PodcastAI AgentsDeveloper ToolsPolicy
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EP 17
August 4, 20266 min read

AI Made Engineers Faster. Leadership Fell Behind

My take on why speeding up engineering didn't speed up the company — and the $4.3 million system that shipped perfectly and still failed. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 17.

PodcastProductAgileEngineering Leadership
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EP 16
July 28, 20266 min read

They Want to Ban Kimi K3

My take on the U.S. ban debate over a model you can download and run yourself — and where Oscar and I disagreed. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 16.

PodcastOpen WeightsAI AgentsPolicy
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EP 15
July 21, 20265 min read

Your CEO Says "We Need AI." Now What?

My honest answers to the four AI questions founders keep asking me — where to start, who to hire, how to win over skeptical developers, and which skills outlast the hype. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 15.

PodcastAI StrategyHiringLeadership
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EP 14
July 14, 20266 min read

Apple Sues OpenAI and Meta Ships Muse Spark 1.1

My take on Apple's trade-secret suit against OpenAI, another model-release week, and the two terms every decision-maker needed that week. Companion notes to Human in the Loop Episode 14.

PodcastLegalModel ReleasesOrchestration