The Neuron: AI Explained

The Neuron

The Neuron is a daily newsletter with 700,000+ readers that covers the latest AI developments, trends and research; this is our podcast, hosted by Grant Harvey and Corey Noles. We aim to create digestible, informative and authoritative takes on AI that get you up to speed and help you become an authority in your own circles. Available Wednesdays and Sundays on all podcasting platforms and YouTube.

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32 episodes
Avg 1 hr 18 min
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S1 · E65
July 8 · 57 min
ComfyUI Proves AI Art Is Not Zero Effort
Most AI image tools give you a prompt box and a result. ComfyUI gives creators the pipeline underneath - the models, parameters, nodes, and repeatable workflows that can turn visual AI from a toy into production infrastructure. In this episode of The Neuron, Corey Noles and Grant Harvey talk with Yannik Marek, co-founder and original creator of ComfyUI, about why node-based workflows matter, how open-source visual AI is moving into real creative production, and what teams gain when they can inspect, modify, and repeat every step of generation. They cover how diffusion models work in plain English, why Comfy is useful for VFX, gaming, animation, e-commerce, and creative studios, and how Comfy balances open-source values with Cloud, API, and Enterprise products. Yannik also shares practical hardware advice for running models locally, where open models are catching up fastest, and why the future of creative AI may depend less on a universal prompt box and more on visible, controllable workflows. Try ComfyUI at comfy.org, and subscribe to The Neuron for more grounded conversations about AI in practice. https://www.theneuron.ai/ The Neuron Academy helps professionals build practical AI skills they can use right away, with lessons on prompting, workflows, and real workplace use cases. Check out theneuronacademy.com today!
July 3 · 1 hr 23 min
BONUS: Government Banning AI Fallout: China, the economy, what's at risk, and what you should do.
This week on The Neuron: AI Explained, Grant and Corey break down the strangest week in frontier AI so far: Fable 5 relaunching and getting yanked almost immediately, OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 rollout arriving in a weird half-launch state, and the bigger question underneath all of it. What happens when governments can slow, restrict, or pause the most powerful AI systems right as the economy starts depending on them? We’ll get into why these false starts matter beyond Silicon Valley drama. If U.S. labs keep getting caught between safety fears, export controls, and uneven release rules, China may get more room to catch up through open-source models, faster iteration, and fewer distribution bottlenecks. Meanwhile, businesses betting on AI have to plan for a world where the “best model” might disappear, degrade, get delayed, or become unavailable to half their stack overnight. So this episode is our guide to navigating the current AI chop: Why Fable 5’s relaunch and takedown became a warning shotWhat GPT-5.6’s limited launch says about frontier model accessHow restrictions could reshape the U.S. vs. China AI raceWhy every company needs an open-source backup strategyHow AI uncertainty could ripple into the broader economyWhat we’d do now as builders, buyers, workers, and AI-curious professionals Join us for a strategic read on what’s changing, what’s fragile, and how to make smarter decisions while the AI ocean gets weird.
S1 · E64
July 1 · 52 min
Can AI Agents Learn From Expert Corrections?
OpenAI and Thrive Holdings built Tax AI, a Codex-powered agent that helps prepare complex tax returns while preserving evidence for accountant review. In this episode, Corey and Grant talk with OpenAI’s John de Wasseige and Arthur Fernandes Araujo about how expert corrections become structured signals, how Codex turns repeated failures into evals and scoped engineering tasks, and why the best AI deployments still need humans close to the work. They also dig into what this pattern could mean for bookkeeping, audits, IT help desks, and other expert workflows where the system can measure what “right” looks like. Relevant links: OpenAI Tax AI case study: https://openai.com/index/building-self-improving-tax-agents-with-codex/ OpenAI Codex: https://openai.com/codex/ Harness engineering: https://openai.com/index/harness-engineering/ Thrive Holdings: https://www.thriveholdings.com/ Crete: https://www.cretepa.com/ Subscribe to The Neuron newsletter: https://theneuron.ai
June 26 · 1 hr 39 min
BONUS: Humanoid Robots Need More Than Servo Motors: Here's What
Humanoid robotics challenges go beyond movement and servo motors. The hardest problems are often AI problems. Bringing intelligence into the physical world means dealing with gravity, friction, uncertainty, and real consequences. Mistakes can break hardware. This week on Neuron Live, we’re joined by Nikita Rudin, Co-founder and CEO of Flexion Robotics, to unpack what it actually takes to build intelligence for humanoid systems. What we’ll cover: 🤖 Training control policies and perception models 🧪 Bridging simulation and the real world (sim-to-real) 🛠️ Robotics training pipelines and the embodied AI stack 🔮 Where humanoid and physical AI is headed next If large language models are the brain in the cloud, what does intelligence look like when it has to walk, grasp, and not fall over? Expect a deep dive into embodied AI, physical AI, and the systems powering the next generation of humanoid robots.
S1 · E63
June 24 · 51 min
HP Built an AI That Fixes Your Computer Before It Breaks
Larry Meadows, Head of Product Strategy & Evangelism for HP's Workforce Experience Platform (WXP), joins us to break down how HP is using AI to predict and prevent IT problems before employees ever notice them. We get a live demo of the platform—from AI-powered software recommendations across 50M+ devices to automated remediation in 3–4 clicks—and dig into the global memory crisis, shadow AI risks, and why IT leaders are drowning in portals. Whether you manage a fleet of 50 devices or 50,000, this one's worth your time. HP WXP: https://www.hp.com/wxp The Neuron newsletter: https://theneuron.ai
June 19 · 2 hr 6 min
BONUS: AI Skills vs Agents vs GPTs: Which One Do I Use?
Confused by AI Skills, Projects, Gems, Custom GPTs, and Agents? You're not alone. It's important to separate which is best for which use-case, because each has a place depending on what you're trying to get done. In this beginner-friendly live episode, we break down what these AI terms actually mean, who creates them, and when everyday users should use each one. Think of this as your plain-English map to the new AI assistant world: ✅ Projects = places to organize ongoing work ✅ Gems & Custom GPTs = reusable custom assistants ✅ Skills = reusable instructions and workflows ✅ Agents = AI systems that can take actions on your behalf By the end of this live session, you'll understand the practical difference between creating a custom assistant, organizing work in a project, giving AI a repeatable skill, and letting an agent complete tasks for you. What You'll Learn: 🔹 What an AI Skill is 🔹 What an AI Project is 🔹 What Google Gemini Gems are 🔹 What Custom GPTs are 🔹 What AI Agents are 🔹 Which one beginners should start with 🔹 The simple framework for choosing the right tool for your workflow Get beginner-friendly AI explainers, practical tutorials, and daily updates on what matters in AI. 📩 Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.theneuron.ai
S1 · E62
June 17 · 42 min
Why Frontier AI Still Sees Like a Toddler, w/ Andrew Dai
AI can write code, pass exams, and summarize the web, but ask it to reason through a real-world image, and the magic often breaks. Andrew Dai, co-founder and CEO of Elorian, joins The Neuron to explain why visual reasoning may be one of the biggest unsolved problems in AI. Andrew spent years at Google Brain and DeepMind, including work connected to Gemini and sparse mixture-of-experts systems. Now, he’s building Elorian around a simple but powerful idea: if AI is going to understand the physical world, it needs more than text-based reasoning layered on top of images. In this episode, Corey and Grant talk with Andrew about why frontier models struggle with counting, navigation, design, engineering, charts, and physical reasoning; why scaling language models hasn’t solved vision; what a “visual chain of thought” might look like; and how better visual reasoning could accelerate robotics, satellite analysis, product design, and mechanical engineering. Sponsored by Dell Technologies and NVIDIA. Learn more at techrepublic.com/hubs/the-enterprise-guide-to-scalable-ai/. Sponsored by Outshift: Visit https://outshift.cisco.com/?utm_campaign=fy26q3_outshift_ww_paid-media_ioc-neuronai-outshift_podcast&utm_channel=podcast&utm_source=podcast to learn more about the Internet of Cognition. Subscribe to The Neuron for more conversations with the people building the future of AI.
June 12 · 44 min
BONUS: Scott Hanselman Showcases Engineering with AI LIVE from Microsoft Build 2026
Live from Microsoft Build, Corey Noles sits down with Scott Hanselman for a hands-on Neuron LIVE episode about AI-augmented software development, how it differs from just "vibe coding", and the surprisingly practical things people can now build with tools like GitHub Copilot and more. Scott is one of the best technical explainers in software: a longtime Microsoft and GitHub developer, teacher, speaker, author, blogger, and podcaster who has helped millions of developers understand new technology without making it feel impossible to learn. This episode turned into a live demo tour of what AI coding can already do, led by Scott's own use-cases. Corey and Scott walked through a series of examples showing how AI can help people build useful apps, prototypes, workflows, and small tools from everyday ideas, including Scott's own vibe-coded tools Baby Smash (https://www.babysmash.com/), which lets babies press random buttons for fun shapes and sounds, and Tiny Tool Town (https://www.tinytooltown.com/), which showcases random, cool tools Scott found around the web. But in the coolest demo of all, Scott shows how to take an open source tool and create software a personal blood sugar tracking app for his own diabetes management. If that doesn't get your idea blood flowing for what you can do with AI, we don't know what will! https://www.theneuron.ai/
S1 · E61
June 10 · 14 min
Mustafa Suleyman on Microsoft’s Humanist Superintelligence Bet
In this episode of The Neuron, Corey Noles sits down with Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, at Microsoft Build 2026 to unpack Microsoft’s next AI chapter: seven new MAI models, a push toward in-house model development, and the idea of Humanist Superintelligence. Mustafa explains how Microsoft is thinking about AI that can reason, code, generate images, transcribe speech, and power real products—without turning the future into a vague AGI race. The conversation gets into what “humanist” means in practice, why Microsoft is building models from the ground up, how AI agents may reshape work, and what it takes to keep increasingly capable systems useful, controlled, and aligned with human goals. You’ll learn why Microsoft is investing in its own model family, how MAI-Thinking-1 and MAI-Code-1-Flash fit into the stack, why Suleyman frames superintelligence around human control, and what builders and operators should watch as agents move into real workflows. Sponsored by BeyondTrust Check it out at: https://www.beyondtrust.com/products/identity-security-insights/assessment?campid=701Vw00000drII6IAM Subscribe to The Neuron for practical AI conversations with the people building what comes next.
June 5 · 2 hr 2 min
BONUS: New GPT Memory Feature, GPT-5.6 Rumors, Hermes Desktop Agent, New Codex Plugins, MAI-2.5 Image, Etc.
Everyone is talking about Mercury-alpha, the mystery model that many believe could be GPT-5.6. In this live discussion, we're separating fact from speculation and unpacking what would actually matter if OpenAI releases a new flagship model this week. We'll cover: 🔹 What Mercury-alpha is (and why people think it's GPT-5.6) 🔹 The biggest rumors and evidence so far 🔹 What a new OpenAI model would need to deliver to move the industry forward 🔹 How Mercury-alpha fits into the broader AI agent race 🔹 Codex, Hermes Desktop, and the rise of coding and desktop agents 🔹 What all of this means for AI users, builders, and businesses Join us live, bring your questions, and help us figure out whether Mercury-alpha is the next major leap in AI or just another chapter in the internet's favorite pastime: model-name archaeology. 👇 Drop your predictions in the chat:What do you think Mercury-alpha actually is? 📩 Subscribe to The Neuron for daily AI insights: https://www.theneurondaily.com/
S1 · E60
June 3 · 55 min
The Internet Needs Proof You’re Human
How do you prove there’s a real human on the other side of the screen when AI can generate faces, IDs, accounts, agents, and entire swarms of bots? Tiago Sada, Chief Product Officer at Tools for Humanity, joins The Neuron to explain why proof of human may become one of the internet’s most important trust layers. Tools for Humanity is building the technology behind World and World ID, a system designed to verify that someone is a real, unique person without requiring them to reveal their identity across the web. Tiago breaks down why CAPTCHAs, phone numbers, KYC, and AI-detection systems are starting to fail; how World ID uses in-person verification, cryptography, and zero-knowledge proofs; and why the future internet may need to distinguish between humans, bots, and agents acting on behalf of humans. We also discuss concert ticket scalping, Tinder verification, Zoom deepfake protection, enterprise fraud, gaming bots, and why AI agents may need a kind of digital “power of attorney.” Subscribe to The Neuron for clear, practical conversations about AI and the future of technology: https://www.theneuron.ai/ This episode is sponsored by Guru. https://www.getguru.com/?utm_source=theneuron&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=silver-bundle-june2026
May 29 · 2 hr 1 min
BONUS: A Total Beginner’s Guide to AI Agents & Automation
AI agents and automation sound complex, but they’re really about one simple idea: helping you spend less time on repetitive work and more time on the things that need your judgment. In this beginner-friendly Neuron Live, we’ll break down what AI agents are, how automation actually works, and how to start using both without getting overwhelmed. You’ll learn: 🤖 How AI agents are different from regular chatbots ⚙️ What actually happens inside an automation workflow 🧰 Where tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Make, ClickUp, and other AI assistants fit in 💼 Practical ways to use AI at work and in everyday life 🔁 How to spot tasks that are worth automating ⚠️ Common mistakes beginners make with AI workflows ✅ How to decide what should stay human and what AI can help with No coding experience required. No jargon. Just a clear, practical conversation about how to make AI more useful, more responsible, and less intimidating. Join us live, bring your questions, and leave with a better understanding of how to make AI do more than just answer prompts. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.theneuron.ai/

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