/Tech1h ago

AI safety researcher David Manheim argues that promoting open science and anticipating a rapid AI singularity are increasingly incompatible

This tension could force a reevaluation of open-source AI.

3119752623.5K

Original post

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

just to state the obvious: think there's a collison course between those who believe research and science should be open and those who believe we are in an accelerating singularity curve.

I have many smart friends who have believed both for a while but seeing more and more their realization that these beliefs will be in conflict.

I for one believe that America and the west needs open and distributed access to research and computation and sharing of ideas at all times.

2:40 AM · Jun 10, 2026 · 21.1K Views

/Tech1h ago

AI safety researcher David Manheim argues that promoting open science and anticipating a rapid AI singularity are increasingly incompatible

This tension could force a reevaluation of open-source AI.

3119752623.5K

Original post

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

just to state the obvious: think there's a collison course between those who believe research and science should be open and those who believe we are in an accelerating singularity curve.

I have many smart friends who have believed both for a while but seeing more and more their realization that these beliefs will be in conflict.

I for one believe that America and the west needs open and distributed access to research and computation and sharing of ideas at all times.

2:40 AM · Jun 10, 2026 · 21.1K Views

Sentiment

Positive users endorse open access to AI research amid singularity debates as accelerating civilization and rooted in core values, while negative users accuse it of socialism, VC hypocrisy, or masking competitive motives.

Pos

56.2%

Neg

43.8%

12 comments with sentiment.

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Garry Tan@garrytan

Open access to innovation must be protected

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

just to state the obvious: think there's a collison course between those who believe research and science should be open and those who believe we are in an accelerating singularity curve.

I have many smart friends who have believed both for a while but seeing more and more their realization that these beliefs will be in conflict.

I for one believe that America and the west needs open and distributed access to research and computation and sharing of ideas at all times.

46m5.2K223

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

@garrytan democratization of access to tech and research has been the heart of Silicon Valley forever.

Garry Tan@garrytan

Open access to innovation must be protected

22m78941

Yann LeCun@ylecun

@sriramk We've been colliding head-on repeatedly for several years now.

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

just to state the obvious: think there's a collison course between those who believe research and science should be open and those who believe we are in an accelerating singularity curve.

I have many smart friends who have believed both for a while but seeing more and more their realization that these beliefs will be in conflict.

I for one believe that America and the west needs open and distributed access to research and computation and sharing of ideas at all times.

5m18430

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

@theHazarika I think the answer to that is having more science and research to make it serve everyone, not less.

1h3652

Bojan Tunguz@tunguz

@sriramk @franciscojarceo Thank you for saying that.

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

just to state the obvious: think there's a collison course between those who believe research and science should be open and those who believe we are in an accelerating singularity curve.

I have many smart friends who have believed both for a while but seeing more and more their realization that these beliefs will be in conflict.

I for one believe that America and the west needs open and distributed access to research and computation and sharing of ideas at all times.

40m60630

David Manheim@davidmanheim

@sriramk It sounds like you reject the notion that we are in an accelerating singularity curve? (Or is the argument that even if progress is accelerating, openness is sufficiently safe? Or that open progress justifies some safety tradeoff?)

1h5812

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

@tunguz @franciscojarceo I grew up on open source, it and open access to computing and research is why my entire career exists.

Bojan Tunguz@tunguz

@sriramk @franciscojarceo Thank you for saying that.

23m38560

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

@davidmanheim the second statement is closest to my world view. I believe in Linus's Law. If we *are* in a singularity, I want as many smart people in the west to be involved in research on this as possible.

1h2792

Malay Hazarika@theHazarika

@sriramk How worried are you about recursive self improvement?

1h4411

Nathan Lands@NathanLands

@sriramk @MishaLaskin 100% agree

1h4181

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

@davidmanheim think the baseline for history is: open science leads to good outcomes. if this is different, there needs to extraordinary empirical evidence to overcome what is a fundamental value of the west.

"this time it is different" is not good enough.

1h932

David Manheim@davidmanheim

@sriramk That's defensible as a predictive position, but the details are critical.

And given the uncertainty about risks, def/acc and promoting differential tech development seems more prudent than absolutism about openness, even when prioritizing progress.

1h932

David Manheim@davidmanheim

@sriramk Absolutely agree that this time is different is insufficient as justification, but if setting the bar at "extraordinary empirical evidence" can go too far; if it means insisting on waiting until large scale risks are realized, it's unreasonably high.

1h132

Olivia P. Walker@olivia_p_walker

@sriramk @grok, break down this post for me.

37m40

Sriram Krishnan@sriramk

@NathanLands @MishaLaskin I think a lot of people in the scientific and research community are.

1h3362

Jeff Preshing@preshing

@sriramk Open access to computation will only happen once GPUs come down 10x in price.

48m942

Ahmad@TheAhmadOsman

@sriramk Yup

https://opensourceaimustwin.com/?share=v2

16m782

David Manheim@davidmanheim

@sriramk Also, I'm not convinced that the openness baseline from history is as black and white as you implied. In the past century, we heavily restricted civilian nuclear technologies, chemical weapons precursors, and various biotechnologies including recombinant DNA and select agents.

1h742

Giedrius Trump@Trumpyla

@sriramk

1h1921

Nicolas Granatino🌻@ngranati

@sriramk I am 100% behind open!

@MistralAI @kyutai_labs @kesai_labs

1h1021