Balaji Srinivasan

Yes, AI is rapidly advancing mathematics (and theoretical physics problems that are essentially mathematical). Like Ramanujan’s notebooks, human mathematicians will spend months (years?) poring over the stream of papers that AI effortlessly generates, hoping to verify and understand them, probably until math itself (via Lean) becomes a branch of computer science like almost everything else. However, after math and physics, there is still a next scientific frontier: chemistry, and especially biology and medicine. I mean, it was already the frontier, but it’s the next one too. AI can crush deterministic math problems on the computer, but biom…

AI will make virtual reality visually indistinguishable from physical reality. Or: the metaverse is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed. Or: what’ll people do if AI actually does take their jobs? Play amazing AI video games while robots do all the work. That future is also already here, and also not yet evenly distributed…

Towards the New York City Network State?! Mamdani has still unfortunately declared himself the tribal enemy of many of my colleagues, but one has to be bullish on him as the future of the Democrats after this. He’s a live player who can jettison democratic socialists for venture capitalists in one week — and rise to power on abolishing the police while then very publicly embracing the police. Like Trump, the man is not really ideological. He can pivot, he’s smart. This is a real problem for the Republicans. Along with Xi overseas, Mamdani’s faction of immigrant strivers represents an IQ bailout for otherwise mathless American wokes. After …

Mamdani is interesting. Shows a kind of Deng potential. To be clear, he’ll use leftism to tax and harass his tribal enemies till they leave town. The Curley Effect. But once he’s consolidated power for life, he could ally with Chinese communism to bring a stern order to New York City. Similar to Mark Carney’s emerging playbook in Canada. Ultimately he’s a pragmatic and ruthless statist, not an anarchist. Mamdani is far less ideological than the typical woke. He’s an accomplished actor (literally) who can emote on demand and then return to sobriety once the cameras stop rolling. Due to his identity, he has so much clout within his party tha…

Good crowd at Network State 2026. Many people interested in starting new communities. https://t.co/7mxim3npOs

You can watch the Network State Conference 2026 online here: https://t.co/Yr02JaaV0E

This is the livestream for Network State Conference 2026. https://t.co/Yr02JaaV0E

The post-war order is the pre-Internet order. And the rise of the Internet means that order is ending. But what comes next? Decentralized democracy — or American monarchy? Curtis makes the case for centralization. I make the case for decentralization. Live in Singapore later today. And streaming online for free. This is Network State Conference 2026. https://t.co/kaUpKaT7qn We'll be streaming online for free. And if you're in Singapore today, come see us in person. We have ~5000 registrations, but you may still be able to get a ticket. Watch online: https://t.co/IJharQiAi1 Attend in person: https://t.co/pTfOeG6udA Watch the full conference…

Latinos really were natural Republicans.

It’s important for your future that you understand Zcash. You can’t have zero knowledge about zero knowledge. Thus, this year's Network State Conference will include a Zcash Zummit, featuring Zcash leaders Zooko Wilcox (Shielded Labs), Sean Bowe (Tachyon), Eli Ben-Sasson (StarkWare), Josh Swihart (Zodl), Josh Lee (Vizor), Dev Ojha (Zakura), Evan Forbes (Valar Group), Maxime Desalle (Winklevoss Capital), and Tom Howard (Zcash Labs). In-person attendees will even receive some free ZEC. So: come to Singapore on October 9. https://t.co/hNlTvMKvLx

Impressive. This set of talks, along with the new America dot gov website, has the unmistakable feel of an Apple launch event. They're rebooting the federal government as a tech startup. Several observations. (1) First, with this new AI interface to the entire federal government, if it works as promised, there won't be a single American who can't say their life wasn't helped at least in part by AI, or that the benefits accrued solely to zillionaires. This in itself cannily mitigates anti-datacenter sentiment. (2) Second, Joe Gebbia and Marco Rubio's talks on simplifying name changes and passport filings introduce a completely new era where …

Democracy is the consent of the governed. In the Internet age, that means voting not just with ballot, but feet. So: if you’re one of the democratic capitalists of the Internet, vote with your feet for new communities by joining us in Singapore on Oct 9. https://t.co/DPZj3Pqmrg https://t.co/3fA7pZgBy5

Network School Kazakhstan is now officially open, with a packed crowd for the ribbon cutting, and government officials welcoming us. Kazakhstan is a high-tech country that recently ranked #1 in the International Physics Olympiads. It’s full of confident, smart, young people. And it’s now recruiting global talent from around the world. So: if you want to build a techno-optimist community in a techno-optimist country, join us at https://t.co/bOBW6x8JVs. By the way, here’s the full International Physics Olympiad ranking. Kazakhstan tied for #1 with China and India along with perennial STEM powerhouses Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Point: …

Kazakhstan’s time has come. Kaz/acc.

Zcash $1,000. Zcash $10,000. Zcash $100,000. https://t.co/i4VtuITkHe

It's time to decentralize Hollywood with AI. Introducing the new Network School Astana AI Film Festival, in partnership with the Republic of Kazakhstan. We're awarding $2M in prizes with entries accepted from around the world. So: submit your film now at https://t.co/6iF4Bpno03. https://t.co/zIrvEDr8aV

Network School is back. We’re up and running in the beautiful country of Kazakhstan, which combines high tech, low cost, brilliant people, a competent state, and plenty of space to build. So: if you want to build a techno-optimist society with us, apply to Network School. https://t.co/9CQhL9arpO What would the ideal techno-optimist country look like? It'd build 100k units per year in one city alone. It'd deliver a low cost of living for its people. It'd be tolerant and meritocratic, recruiting talent from around the world, while also training its own citizens to win international STEM competitions. In short: it'd be much like Singapore, …

This is Kazakhstan. https://t.co/POLxlSdUta Video by Dastan Mukhamedrakhim (bydastann). https://t.co/56s7MdlASf

A journo named @stuwoo followed me to Singapore, and then tried to pathologize my move to Singapore. Why? https://t.co/iz4flqTJ3R

I am pleased to announce that a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Network School. Our new campus will become a haven for global techno-optimism, with expedited visas, streamlined redomiciliation, and active recruitment of talent. https://t.co/R20i8UAYoc Here's the official announcement from the Republic of Kazakhstan. https://t.co/6hfwi4D2jF https://t.co/oqL5tAjFHG

India is building startup cities. https://t.co/aJUUSXjo1j

Network School is not shutting down; that’s fake news. We received two notices. The first tells us to change the text of a sign. The second says that our coworking site, which was created by joining two adjacent units, evidently has a valid license on the left hand side but not the right hand side. We have a remedial period for both issues, and will remediate them shortly. But our members are otherwise unaffected. The article below has an incorrect headline. We have multiple buildings. For one of them we need to change the text of a sign and the status of a license. We will do this, but the headline is just wrong. The @staronline should c…

I don’t usually post DMs, but this is a rare exception as I actually asked him before doing so and he consented. Danial is a local Malaysian. Several months ago he asked “Would be cool if you could repost our current portfolio of projects as well, under KD Labs 👀”. I invited him to the Network School campus, as I do many Malaysian builders. He also said he wanted to build a virtual campus for Malaysians, a similar vision to me regarding a network state. Of course, I support him in that vision! And of course it shows that the concept of the network state, like the concept of cryptocurrency, has broad appeal across nationalities. Looking f…

Should the global tech community continue investing in Malaysia? Given recent events, I raise this question respectfully for the consideration of Prime Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim (@anwaribrahim), for the people of Malaysia, and for our friends in the Malaysian tech community. The answer will be of interest to anyone in global tech that’s considering building, investing, or expanding in Malaysia, including executives at Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, founders of tech unicorns like Coinbase and Solana, and investors at the world’s largest venture capital funds like a16z and Polychain. As context, I am the…

The purpose of Network School is to demonstrate that anyone can peacefully start new communities from the Internet. Our vision of the good is a society that's tolerant and meritocratic, affordable and ambitious, high-tech yet extremely offline. https://t.co/Q9WbHsouza James is from Great Britain. We have many Brits at Network School, and indeed many from the global Anglosphere (including the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). All working together to build positive-sum, in-person communities. https://t.co/lwNyNhpzlU https://t.co/YQko03TMrM Network School members hail from 100+ countries. By assembling in person and building a startup s…

(1) Most countries do not actually have a military. Instead, most countries outsource their security to the US (most common), to Russia (like Belarus), or to China (like North Korea, partially). Iran is unusual in that they're going it largely alone. They're also unusual in that they actually appear to be winning. And if Iran does manage to drive the US out of not just Afghanistan and Iraq, but the entire Middle East, they'll have unfortunately undermined the idea that America can or will provide any security guarantees at all. (2) So, with the withdrawal of the American Empire, every country is going to need a new military. Some countries…

@romanhelmetguy > “All actual physical territory will be controlled by whoever wins the USA vs China Cold War.” Also, I disagree with this, because Chinese empires aren’t like Western ones. (1) Western empires have a lifecycle of invading everyone, conquering, converting them to their ideology, printing a lot of money and causing a lot of ethnic strife, and then collapsing. That’s Rome, Spain, Portugal, France, Russia, Britain, and now America. (2) China is the opposite. They just want others to pay tribute to them, via the tributary system. Otherwise, they don’t want to invade the world, because they would become less Han Chinese in doing…

Far left: we need to tear down the system Center left: we need a system Center right: we need positive-sum games Far right: we need to win zero-sum games

PRINT OUT THE INTERNET Ok. Let me make it extremely concrete. Where did this giant sprawling datacenter come from? It was printed out from the Internet. Specifically, Zuck used the Internet to gather men, make money, organize materials, purchase territory, and shape it to advance Meta's goals. The principal such goal is, ultimately, the replication of Meta itself. This datacenter makes money in the cloud, which enables Zuck to purchase more land, which he repeats all over the earth. Think of it as viral growth, but in the physical world. Now extend that beyond Meta, towards any Internet tribe...such as your following. After all, where wa…

We don’t see it, but we see it every day. The aesthetic of the era is code. https://t.co/akGQmOIFy2