AlphaEvolve is not the first system to exhibit self-improvement, but it may be the most impressive yet. AI is literally improving the hardware, architectures, data and training methods of AI itself. A deep dive into the paper, drawing on two previous interviews and 5 other papers. Plus a snippet on OpenAI’s new Codex system.

Gray Swan: http://app.grayswan.ai/ai-explained

AI Insiders ($9!): https://www.patreon.com/AIExplained

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - AlphaEvolve
05:23 - Limitation
06:10 - Achievements
08:21 - Future Improvements
13:30 - Quirks
16:34 - Final Thoughts

AlphaEvolve release: https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/alphaevolve-a-gemini-powered-coding-agent-for-designing-advanced-algorithms/

Paper: https://storage.googleapis.com/deepmind-media/DeepMind.com/Blog/alphaevolve-a-gemini-powered-coding-agent-for-designing-advanced-algorithms/AlphaEvolve.pdf

Terence Tao Quote: https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao/114508029896631083

Nature Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05172-4
MIT Article: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/14/1116438/google-deepminds-new-ai-uses-large-language-models-to-crack-real-world-problems/
AI Co-Scientist: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.18864

OpenAI Codex: https://openai.com/index/introducing-codex/


70% of Pull Requests: https://x.com/slow_developer/status/1920920456393028027

Amodei Essay: https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace

OpenAI Jason Wei Tweet: https://x.com/_jasonwei/status/1923091260354531612

PromptBreeder: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2309.16797
DrEureka: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.01967

FT DeepMind: https://www.ft.com/content/4e497a91-670a-4f69-be4a-18e247daba3e



Non-hype Newsletter: https://signaltonoise.beehiiv.com/