Personal Learnings← Faster, Please!  Library

Faster, Please! · Economics & Policy

💥 Are we just 18 months away from everything changing?

TIER 4   Thu, 7 May 2026 14:20:17 +0000

The evidence for recursive AI self-improvement is real. So are the bottlenecks  
  
͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­

| |   
---|---|---  
| | | Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more  
---  
  
# 💥 Are we just 18 months away from everything changing?

### The evidence for recursive AI self-improvement is real. So are the bottlenecks

| | James Pethokoukis  
---  
| May 7| | | ∙| | Preview  
---|---|---  
|   
---  
   
---  
| | |   
---  
| |   
---  
| |   
---  
| |   
---  
| | READ IN APP  
---  
   
  
| |   
---|---|---  
  
**My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:**

The road to the Singularity is paved with evermore capable code. (Here, I define the Singularity as a period of utterly transformative economic growth so rapid that the intuitions of standard economics begin to crumble.) Artificial intelligence systems are already highly capable coding assistants. Autonomous engineering agents capable of running experiments, debugging models, and optimizing chips--with limited human supervision--are now emerging and delivering real-world results for at least some business.

Next steps: These systems increasingly turn their attention to AI research itself, each generation helping build the next more quickly than the last. The feedback loop of "recursive self improvement" continues: Better AI begets better AI. No single "Eureka!" breakthrough is required--just compounding acceleration until the tempo of progress becomes difficult to calculate or even comprehend for us carbon-based units.

So where are we on this road, exactly? Is the Singularity still science fiction, or something serious people, such as Washington policymakers, now have to reckon with? ...

## Continue reading this post for free in the Substack app

Claim my free post

Or upgrade your subscription. **Upgrade to paid**

   
---  
| | | Like  
---  
| | Comment  
---  
| | Restack  
---  
   
  
(C) 2026 James Pethokoukis  
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104   
Unsubscribe