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Ben Brubaker

@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social

Computer science staff writer @quantamagazine.org, ex-physicist. More about me at benbrubaker.com. Banner art by Nico Roper — find more of their work at nicoroper.com. [Obligatory disclaimer about views being my own.]

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Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · 2w ago

After over a century of studying introspection in humans and animals, researchers are beginning to explore the phenomenon in unlikely new subjects — large language models. Can they introspect as well? @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/new-research...

New Research Tests Whether AI Models Know Their Own Thoughts | Quanta Magazine

By injecting “thoughts” directly into large language models, researchers are trying to map out AI’s capacity for introspection.

quantamagazine.org

Ben Brubaker@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · last mo.

OpenAI’s big math dump last night included a proof of the unique games conjecture, one of the most famous open question in complexity theory. Three weeks ago, three computer scientists settled a closely related conjecture “the old-fashioned way.” My latest for @quantamagazine.org:

As AI Closed In on ‘Unique Games’ Proof, Researchers Raced to Beat the Machines | Quanta Magazine

In the shadow of a rumored AI proof of one of the biggest problems in their field, three computer scientists rushed to publish their own milestone result.

quantamagazine.org

Ben Brubaker@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Recent events have significantly increased my alarm level about AI risks. This thread is for people who are still more skeptical. Here are some reasonable opinions you might hold that are entirely compatible with "swarms of AI agents pose qualitatively new risks even without intentional misuse:"

Ben Brubaker@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 4mo ago

After 20 years, researchers finally have strong evidence that “quantum proofs” are more powerful than ordinary classical ones. The results suggest that at least in computation, there’s no way around the complexity of the quantum world. Read more in @quantamagazine.bsky.social:

Researchers Reveal the Power of ‘Quantum Proofs’ | Quanta Magazine

When checking that solutions to certain problems are correct, it turns out, you can’t get around the inherent complexity of the quantum world.

quantamagazine.org

Matt Negrin still host of Hardball on MSNBC@mattnegrin.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The New York Times deleted Trump’s “open the fuckin’ strait” line to make him look less insane Their write-up falsely says his post says only “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” and “Praise be to Allah”

NYT: Iran War Live Updates: Trump Escalates Threat to Hit Iranian Power Plants After U.S. Rescues Downed Airman President Trump used an expletive-laden social media post to taunt Iranian leaders, saying that the United States would attack if they did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. NYT: President Trump on Sunday escalated his threats to bomb Iranian power plants within the next two days and taunted the country’s leaders in an expletive-laden social media post. Mr. Trump, seemingly emboldened by the successful U.S. rescue of an American airman in Iran over the weekend, issued a new ultimatum to Iran to end its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, a major Persian Gulf waterway for the transport of oil and gas, by Apr. 6. If Iran’s government did not, he said, U.S. forces would target the country’s energy infrastructure, which supplies power for millions of civilians. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media. The president has previously postponed his deadline to attack twice and the Omani foreign ministry said on Sunday that officials had discussed how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian counterparts without reaching a definitive agreement.“Praise be to Allah,” Mr. Trump added, before signing off in all caps. Iran has threatened to retaliate by intensifying its attacks on critical infrastructure in Israel and Arab states that are allied with the United States. An escalation could further derail the lives of civilians throughout the region and add to worries about the global economy, which has been rattled by soaring energy prices since the start of the war. Over the past two days, the U.S. military has been in a race with Iranian armed forces to find the missing airman after an F-15E jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, in the first known instance of a U.S. combat aircraft since the start of the war. The plane’s pilot was quickly rescued. But a second officer was stranded in Iran and injured in the incident. American commandoes found the airman deep inside Iranian territory under the cover of darkness.
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · 7mo ago

This Reddit post is formatted like a joke but it’s actually a very dry recitation - at times, direct quotes - of America’s public war strategy over the last month. This can’t go on. This is deranged. Impeach and imprison.

BildBildBild
southpaw@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 8mo ago

call me old fashioned but I don’t think anyone should have to trade for “no deporting US citizens” we should get that one for free you know

Burgess Everett@burgessev.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The White House sent Sens. Collins and Britt this letter detailing the immigration enforcement changes they are willing to make to fund DHS -body cameras -limit enforcement at sensitive locations -oversight -visible officer identification -no deporting US citizens cdn.sanity.io/files/ifn0l6...

Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We didn't go to war for any reason we can articulate, we didn't plan for the most obvious Iranian countermeasures that have been predicted for half a century, and we forgot an exit strategy for if the thing dragged on more than ONE WEEK. It was literally "Trump wants to do Venezuela everywhere."

Edward Wong@ewong.bsky.social · 8mo ago

NEW: Before the Iran War, Trump ignored warnings that Iran could retaliate across the region and stop oil shipments. Now, with energy markets in chaos, some aides are pessimistic about the lack of a strategy to end the war. But they haven't told Trump. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/u...

mark belan | science illustrator + info designer@markabelan.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Did you know that infinity comes in different "sizes"? "Bigger" and "smaller" descriptions of infinity exist! Seems paradoxical, right? How can an endless concept ever have a defined size? I helped visualize a story describing this. Check it out here! www.quantamagazine.org/how-can-infi...

How Can Infinity Come in Many Sizes? | Quanta Magazine

Intuition breaks down once we’re dealing with the endless. To begin with: Some infinities are bigger than others.

quantamagazine.org

Ben Brubaker@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 9mo ago

In my recent story about failure modes of algorithmic pricing, I quoted @jasonhartline.bsky.social arguing that the specific example I focused on shouldn't count as algorithmic collusion. Here's a blog post in which he makes that argument in more detail, for those who are curious about this debate:

Jason Hartline@jasonhartline.bsky.social · 9mo ago

In CS+Law, clear definitions are needed to connect computation & law. For supra-competitive prices to be blamed on 𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, it must be that neither party is behaving competitively. See "𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 `𝘈𝘭𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴'" jasonhartline.com/clarifying-a...

Max Kennerly@maxkennerly.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Like with using children as bait and eating at a restaurant then kidnapping the people who prepared it, ICE is routinely breaking taboos that have been part of human civilization since before recorded history.

Jon Collins@jcollins.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Two female ICE agents popped the hood of their car and knocked on the door of a mechanic born in Mexico. He went out to help. “A bunch of agents jump out and tackle him, essentially restraining him, and take him away...His six kids are now without their father." www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Ben Brubaker@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 9mo ago

How can we make sense of computational problems that we don’t even have the language to describe? I spoke to @henryyuen.bsky.social about what’s missing from the standard approach to quantum complexity theory — read more in @quantamagazine.bsky.social!

A New Complexity Theory for the Quantum Age | Quanta Magazine

Henry Yuen is developing a new mathematical language to describe problems whose inputs and outputs aren’t ordinary numbers.

quantamagazine.org