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DeepSeek, China, OpenAI, NVIDIA, xAI, TSMC, Stargate, and AI Megaclusters | Lex Fridman Podcast #459

Dylan Patel is the founder of SemiAnalysis, a research & analysis company specializing in semiconductors, GPUs, CPUs, and AI hardware. Nathan Lambert is a research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) and the author of a blog on AI called Interconnects. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep459-sb See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/deepseek-dylan-patel-nathan-lambert-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Dylan's X: https://x.com/dylan522p SemiAnalysis: https://semianalysis.com/ Nathan's X: https://x.com/natolambert Nathan's Blog: https://www.interconnects.ai/ Nathan's Podcast: https://www.interconnects.ai/podcast Nathan's Website: https://www.natolambert.com/ Nathan's YouTube: https://youtube.com/@natolambert Nathan's Book: https://rlhfbook.com/ *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *Invideo AI:* AI video generator. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/invideoai-ep459-sb *GitHub:* Developer platform and AI code editor. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/github-ep459-sb *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep459-sb *NetSuite:* Business management software. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-ep459-sb *AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/ag1-ep459-sb *OUTLINE:* 0:00 - Introduction 3:33 - DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-V3 25:07 - Low cost of training 51:25 - DeepSeek compute cluster 58:57 - Export controls on GPUs to China 1:09:16 - AGI timeline 1:18:41 - China's manufacturing capacity 1:26:36 - Cold war with China 1:31:05 - TSMC and Taiwan 1:54:44 - Best GPUs for AI 2:09:36 - Why DeepSeek is so cheap 2:22:55 - Espionage 2:31:57 - Censorship 2:44:52 - Andrej Karpathy and magic of RL 2:55:23 - OpenAI o3-mini vs DeepSeek r1 3:14:31 - NVIDIA 3:18:58 - GPU smuggling 3:25:36 - DeepSeek training on OpenAI data 3:36:04 - AI megaclusters 4:11:26 - Who wins the race to AGI? 4:21:39 - AI agents 4:30:21 - Programming and AI 4:37:49 - Open source 4:47:01 - Stargate 4:54:30 - Future of AI *PODCAST LINKS:* - Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 - RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ - Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 - Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips *SOCIAL LINKS:* - X: https://x.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://instagram.com/lexfridman - TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://facebook.com/lexfridman - Patreon: https://patreon.com/lexfridman - Telegram: https://t.me/lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman

Lex FridmanhostNathan LambertguestDylan PatelguestGuestguest
Feb 3, 20255h 6mWatch on YouTube ↗

Episode Details

EPISODE INFO

Released
February 3, 2025
Duration
5h 6m
Channel
Lex Fridman Podcast
Watch on YouTube
▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Dylan Patel is the founder of SemiAnalysis, a research & analysis company specializing in semiconductors, GPUs, CPUs, and AI hardware. Nathan Lambert is a research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) and the author of a blog on AI called Interconnects. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep459-sb See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/deepseek-dylan-patel-nathan-lambert-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Dylan's X: https://x.com/dylan522p SemiAnalysis: https://semianalysis.com/ Nathan's X: https://x.com/natolambert Nathan's Blog: https://www.interconnects.ai/ Nathan's Podcast: https://www.interconnects.ai/podcast Nathan's Website: https://www.natolambert.com/ Nathan's YouTube: https://youtube.com/@natolambert Nathan's Book: https://rlhfbook.com/ *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *Invideo AI:* AI video generator. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/invideoai-ep459-sb *GitHub:* Developer platform and AI code editor. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/github-ep459-sb *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep459-sb *NetSuite:* Business management software. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-ep459-sb *AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/ag1-ep459-sb *OUTLINE:* 0:00 - Introduction 3:33 - DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-V3 25:07 - Low cost of training 51:25 - DeepSeek compute cluster 58:57 - Export controls on GPUs to China 1:09:16 - AGI timeline 1:18:41 - China's manufacturing capacity 1:26:36 - Cold war with China 1:31:05 - TSMC and Taiwan 1:54:44 - Best GPUs for AI 2:09:36 - Why DeepSeek is so cheap 2:22:55 - Espionage 2:31:57 - Censorship 2:44:52 - Andrej Karpathy and magic of RL 2:55:23 - OpenAI o3-mini vs DeepSeek r1 3:14:31 - NVIDIA 3:18:58 - GPU smuggling 3:25:36 - DeepSeek training on OpenAI data 3:36:04 - AI megaclusters 4:11:26 - Who wins the race to AGI? 4:21:39 - AI agents 4:30:21 - Programming and AI 4:37:49 - Open source 4:47:01 - Stargate 4:54:30 - Future of AI *PODCAST LINKS:*

*SOCIAL LINKS:*

SPEAKERS

  • Lex Fridman

    host
  • Nathan Lambert

    guest
  • Dylan Patel

    guest
  • Guest

    guest

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, featuring Lex Fridman and Nathan Lambert, DeepSeek, China, OpenAI, NVIDIA, xAI, TSMC, Stargate, and AI Megaclusters | Lex Fridman Podcast #459 explores deepSeek’s Shockwave: Cheap Chinese AI, Chips, and Geopolitics Collide Lex Fridman speaks with semiconductor analyst Dylan Patel and AI researcher Nathan Lambert about the ‘DeepSeek moment’—China’s release of powerful, ultra‑cheap, open‑weight reasoning models V3 and R1—and why it matters technically, economically, and geopolitically.

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