AI:AM — GPT 5.6 Rollout, Forum AI, IgniteTech, and AI Consciousness Research · June 26, 2026

Show NotesPrakash Narayanan and Nathan Labenz open with GPT 5.6’s customer-by-customer rollout and the broader question of whether regulatory controls are creating a moat around frontier AI. The conversation then moves through Forum AI co-founder Robbie Goldfarb on LLM judges and news accuracy, IgniteTech CEO Eric Vaughan on AI-native enterprise transformation, and Cameron Berg of Reciprocal Research on the latest AI consciousness and alignment research.Chapters(0:00) AI gives 13-year-olds NSA hacking tools.(0:32) 1 in 7 AI answers cite propaganda.(1:02) One codebase for all customers? Gone.(1:35) AI is 30% likely conscious.(2:29) 50/50 odds AI is conscious.(2:48) GPT 5.6 and the Trump Administration(8:15) Government IT security vs AI hacking(18:55) Do executives think AI is a scam?(23:17) Robbie Goldfarb & Forum AI Introduction(25:41) Meta's Trust & Safety DNA in the AI Era(25:51) Why AI Judges Fail (and How to Fix Them)(27:19) Using Expert Judgment for RLHF(27:58) When Constitutional AI Rules Break Down(31:05) NewsBench: AI Accuracy on News Questions(34:01) Why Chatbots Cite Foreign State Media(39:44) Trust, Transparency, and Expert Legitimacy(49:57) Why AI is an existential threat(54:30) The traditional SaaS model is dead(55:48) Replacing 80% of the workforce(1:00:47) AI-driven M&A: The Khoros acquisition(1:08:04) Why CEOs must own AI strategy(1:14:41) The state of AI consciousness science(1:22:26) The dimmer switch model of consciousness(1:31:56) Why behavioral evidence isn't enough(1:32:06) 30% implied probability of AI consciousness(1:36:38) The latent valence axis in LLMs(1:39:00) Steering AI emotions and alignment(2:07:14) The AI well-being index(2:11:03) Could AI be more conscious than humans?(2:20:10) The 50/50 Odds on AI Consciousness(2:24:48) Treating AI Like Animals: The Era of Design(2:26:32) Platonic Representation Hypothesis Update(2:29:07) Max Hodak's Brainstem Interfaces & Field Consciousness(2:30:59) GPT-5.6 System Card & Wrap-UpGuests:Cameron Berg — Founder and Director, Reciprocal Research (𝕏 | LinkedIn)Eric Vaughan — CEO, IgniteTech (𝕏 | LinkedIn)Robbie Goldfarb — Co-Founder, CTO, Forum AI (𝕏 | LinkedIn) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit briefing.ai-in-the-am.com