Is the AI race missing the real prize?
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- How the AI boom is overlooking bigger ideas
- Is Malaysia the next stop for self-driving delivery?
- A look back at OpenAI’s take on AGI
Hello [subscriber],
There’s a particular kind of frustration in finally getting people to agree with you, only to realize they take your idea in a direction you didn’t expect.
Ben Goertzel has spent decades arguing for artificial general intelligence (AGI). Now that major AI labs are pursuing it, he thinks the commercial race is exploring too narrow a set of possibilities.
His explanation comes down partly to the risks investors are willing to take. They’re “open to market risks, but not to tech risks,” he said when I interviewed him for today’s top story.
In this piece, Goertzel explains what he believes today’s systems are missing and the alternative he’s trying to build.
His own tech still needs substantial oversight, he admits. But he believes eventually achieving AGI will depend on how fast AI systems can self-improve.
Goertzel says his agents read research papers, turn them into code, and use that code to improve themselves. His bet is that this ongoing process can move AI toward AGI faster than waiting months between training runs.
His optimistic target for AGI is 2028. That’s an ambitious timetable for showing what a different approach can achieve from someone frustrated with the industry’s direction.
Glenn Kaonang, journalist
1️⃣ AGI pioneer Ben Goertzel thinks the AI race is too narrow
Digital collage by Ulla, photo courtesy of SingularityNET
Many people are anxious about how AGI could change the world, from its impact on employment and education to wars. But for Goertzel, non-autonomous agents controlled by nasty, selfish people are scarier than autonomous agents.
2️⃣ Self-driving delivery in Malaysia? Not yet, but Neolix is ready
The Beijing-based operator of autonomous delivery vehicles plans to expand in Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia using a portion of its nearly US$400 million series E funding. However, the firm must wait for legislation on autonomous vehicles to be passed before it can begin operations.
Man behind the models: OpenAI’s research chief on the road to AGI
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer, has a bit of a different take on AGI than Goertzel. In this May 2025 story, Chen shares that OpenAI is betting on reasoning models and agentic AI to get there. He also says the biggest danger in AI today is being “too reactionary.”
Goertzel sees the same race differently: a crowded field cloning chatbots while other, more promising routes to AGI go unexplored.
1️⃣ SoftBank eyes $50b AI investment in Malaysia
The country’s prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, says the Japan-based investor chose Kuching in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia for proposed US$50 billion investments in AI, new tech, and data centers.
2️⃣ Tin Men Capital leads $7.4m round for vision AI startup Ailytics
The Singapore-based vision AI startup, which says it has more than 400 deployments across 15 countries, uses existing industrial CCTV cameras to monitor safety and operations.
3️⃣ Musk says SpaceX closes $40b debt deal for Nvidia AI chips
It remains unclear what Musk means by “closed,” including whether investors agreed on pricing.
4️⃣ SG insurtech firm Igloo to expand SaaS arm to MENA
The company is targeting 5x growth for its Tech Solutions software-as-a-service business over the next two years.
5️⃣ Samsung, SK Hynix shares fall before earnings on AI doubts
The firms have seen their share prices fall significantly over the past month, as investors question whether AI data center spending can sustain the two chipmakers’ profits beyond 2027.
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