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This is a common retort, but after his run at YC (hand-picked by Paul Graham) and OpenAI (taking on Google at AI is no mean feat, despite the backing), and his

This is a common retort, but after his run at YC (hand-picked by Paul Graham) and OpenAI (taking on Google at AI is no mean feat, despite the backing), and his ongoing work with Helion Energy and WorldCoin, it is safe to say Sam has more than earned his place, perhaps may be twice over, among SV royalty. And he's not even 40. http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html

polygamous_bat 3y ago
> WorldCoin Is that supposed to make him look good? Because it doesn't, in fact it makes him look very out of touch at best and a complete fool at worst.
- vlod 3y ago
  It's very easy to criticize visions, especially after the fact. Not trying to subvert this thread. Do we think that cash will still exist in 50 years time? Assuming we don't, how will it work. He had a thought (maybe crazy) and went with it. I respect that, irrespective if we think it was correct or not.
torginus 3y ago
I just realized it's THAT Helion. Their fusion experiments are not without controversy. Here's a video on explaining how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38 And here's a video explaining what's wrong with the scheme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vUPhsFoniw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vUPhsFoniw But the TLDW version is that environment required for fusing He3 with deuterium also leads to deuterium fusing with itself, a reaction that creates neutron radiation that irradiates its environment.
- shakow 3y ago
  > that irradiates its environment. What is the issue, as long as the containment containers are properly designed?
  - codethief 3y ago
    Radiation damage to the reactor structure and radioactive waste, among other things.
- joak 3y ago
  The second video is just a nonsense troll, if you want good level conversations and skepticism about Helion you'd better check what the fusion subreddit says about it https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/search/?q=helion&restrict_sr=1 https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/search/?q=helion&restrict_sr... Long story short: Helion plans a net-electricity demo in 2024 and to start selling to the grid in 2028. The timeline seems too good to be true but no one says it's impossible. Many says they have not enough publications and that there are many scientific unknowns. Failure is a possibility, success also. Given the timeline we'll know soon.
  - torginus 3y ago
    I hate to appeal to authority, but the guy who made it is a retired fusion scientist and he raises valid points. Btw, the first result in the search you posted links back to the video... https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/comments/133ttne/can_we_talk_about_helion/ https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/comments/133ttne/can_we_talk...
    - joak 3y ago
      Exactly, the video is several time commented and rebuked in the subreddit. Trolls tend to be annoyingly persistent.
stonogo 3y ago
"Hand-picked by so-and-so" used to have another name: "one of the good ole boys." Before that, in England, one was "sound." It's not a qualification, it's an anointing. So we have "handing out money," OpenAI, a typical fusion outfit (breakeven next year, every year), and a cryptocurrency that has already been chased out of the one country that tried to adopt it. I like Sam Altman and he seems to be a genuine person with laudable goals, but OpenAI is the only place where he really seemed to deliver, and even then there are a lot of people unhappy with the non-profit/private subsidiary surprise structure.
bmitc 3y ago
I just want to clarify that it isn't "his" work, is it? It's more that he's attached himself to those projects.
roflyear 3y ago
I haven't worked for Sam, and expect most people commenting on him haven't either, so they only have his interviews and his public commentary to judge him by. From that commentary he seems extremely ... vanilla? But that is probably good for an exec. I haven't read any of his blogs and thought "wow, how insightful?" - rather, they read similar to press releases I see constantly on LinkedIn. "You have to put something out there" type of stuff. Just doing it to do it, not to share insight. That's my take, anyway, from basically all I've seen of him, and this gives a "not special" vibe, but my gut tells me that's very, very intentional ...
- B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
  > Just doing it to do it With an extra dash of unctuousness that actually repels me. Maybe he also has a "reality distortion field" that only works up close, and I never came near.

polygamous_bat 3y ago

> WorldCoin Is that supposed to make him look good? Because it doesn't, in fact it makes him look very out of touch at best and a complete fool at worst.

vlod 3y ago
It's very easy to criticize visions, especially after the fact. Not trying to subvert this thread. Do we think that cash will still exist in 50 years time? Assuming we don't, how will it work. He had a thought (maybe crazy) and went with it. I respect that, irrespective if we think it was correct or not.

torginus 3y ago

I just realized it's THAT Helion. Their fusion experiments are not without controversy. Here's a video on explaining how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38 And here's a video explaining what's wrong with the scheme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vUPhsFoniw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vUPhsFoniw But the TLDW version is that environment required for fusing He3 with deuterium also leads to deuterium fusing with itself, a reaction that creates neutron radiation that irradiates its environment.

shakow 3y ago
> that irradiates its environment. What is the issue, as long as the containment containers are properly designed?
- codethief 3y ago
  Radiation damage to the reactor structure and radioactive waste, among other things.
joak 3y ago
The second video is just a nonsense troll, if you want good level conversations and skepticism about Helion you'd better check what the fusion subreddit says about it https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/search/?q=helion&restrict_sr=1 https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/search/?q=helion&restrict_sr... Long story short: Helion plans a net-electricity demo in 2024 and to start selling to the grid in 2028. The timeline seems too good to be true but no one says it's impossible. Many says they have not enough publications and that there are many scientific unknowns. Failure is a possibility, success also. Given the timeline we'll know soon.
- torginus 3y ago
  I hate to appeal to authority, but the guy who made it is a retired fusion scientist and he raises valid points. Btw, the first result in the search you posted links back to the video... https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/comments/133ttne/can_we_talk_about_helion/ https://old.reddit.com/r/fusion/comments/133ttne/can_we_talk...
  - joak 3y ago
    Exactly, the video is several time commented and rebuked in the subreddit. Trolls tend to be annoyingly persistent.

stonogo 3y ago

"Hand-picked by so-and-so" used to have another name: "one of the good ole boys." Before that, in England, one was "sound." It's not a qualification, it's an anointing. So we have "handing out money," OpenAI, a typical fusion outfit (breakeven next year, every year), and a cryptocurrency that has already been chased out of the one country that tried to adopt it. I like Sam Altman and he seems to be a genuine person with laudable goals, but OpenAI is the only place where he really seemed to deliver, and even then there are a lot of people unhappy with the non-profit/private subsidiary surprise structure.

bmitc 3y ago

I just want to clarify that it isn't "his" work, is it? It's more that he's attached himself to those projects.

roflyear 3y ago

I haven't worked for Sam, and expect most people commenting on him haven't either, so they only have his interviews and his public commentary to judge him by. From that commentary he seems extremely ... vanilla? But that is probably good for an exec. I haven't read any of his blogs and thought "wow, how insightful?" - rather, they read similar to press releases I see constantly on LinkedIn. "You have to put something out there" type of stuff. Just doing it to do it, not to share insight. That's my take, anyway, from basically all I've seen of him, and this gives a "not special" vibe, but my gut tells me that's very, very intentional ...

B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
> Just doing it to do it With an extra dash of unctuousness that actually repels me. Maybe he also has a "reality distortion field" that only works up close, and I never came near.