This short post is a gentle reminder that the special offer for 20% off an annual subscription ($80/year instead of $100/year) ends in TWO DAYS.

Get 20% off forever

Starting July 1st, new subscriptions will increase to $12/month or $120/year.

Existing paid subs, including those of you who redeem this offer, will retain their rates indefinitely. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading, now is the time.

I leave you now with the original announcement I published a month ago, with the reasons for the offer and the price update. Enjoy the hellish weather :)

This June, The Algorithmic Bridge turns three.

To me, this date is more than a birthday—it marks a turning point. When I started this project, I made a deal with myself:

Give it three full years. Three full years with all your energy dedicated to making it work. But if you’re not financially independent by then, you must accept defeat, walk away with the dignity of having tried, and find a job.

Today, three years later, I’m proud—and a bit emotional—to say: I made it.

To celebrate the occasion, from May 30th (today) through July 1st, subscriptions are 20% off. You need to claim the discount during this window, but once you redeem it, it’s yours to enjoy indefinitely!

Get 20% off forever

I don’t want to convince you with sentiment and tender words, though, so I’d like to share a few reasons why I believe The Algorithmic Bridge might be worth your time and your support.

Why pay for another AI newsletter?

With so much free AI content out there, why subscribe to The Algorithmic Bridge? Three core values that set my work apart:

• Humanity. What’s missing from most treatments of AI is our role in this mess. This is a newsletter about AI that’s actually for the people. People are, and will always be, at the heart of this project. How does AI intersect with the human condition? What role do we play in this new world? How do we navigate it? These are the questions we need to face and the ones I’ve set out to tackle.

• Commitment. I’ve been doing this for three years and plan to keep going indefinitely. I see this work as a responsibility—to show up with clarity, consistency, and care for those who rely on it. I’m deeply grateful that I can dedicate my time to writing to bring you the news and thoughtful deep-dives. Your support makes this project possible, and I sincerely thank you for that.

• Honesty. I don’t do ads, sponsors, or partnerships. No one pays me to spin a narrative, which allows me to say things as I see them. The AI conversation today is shaped by alarmism, hype, and incentives designed to profit at your expense. I work to push back with calm, informed, and morally grounded takes. In a space flooded with noise and influence, this is meant to be a place you can trust.

What do you get as a paid subscriber?

• Daily articles and essays. Some are free, some are paid. Some are short, some are long. Some are boring, some are interesting. All are written with care.

• Access to the full archive. Most of my articles include evergreen insights, not just timely news, which keeps them fresh for curious readers.

• Weekly “Top Picks” review. I like to add relevant context to the news and events each week, which is often missing in those daily roundups out there.

• Exclusive deep dives. My most in-depth reporting paired with unique perspectives you won’t find elsewhere. Here are some examples:

  • Google Is Winning on Every AI Front

  • DeepSeek Is Chinese But Its AI Models Are From Another Planet

  • GPT-4's Secret Has Been Revealed

  • 7 Implications of DeepSeek’s Victory Over American AI Companies

• Occasional Q&A, AMA, Polls. As a paid subscriber, you can ask questions, share feedback, and help shape the direction of this newsletter.

Get 20% off forever

Important announcement: Subscription update

In three years, The Algorithmic Bridge has grown into one of Substack’s leading AI newsletters. At 37,000 subscribers and nearly 400,000 monthly views, it’s a deeply researched, thoughtfully curated resource that’s evolved alongside its readers. I believe it’s time to reflect on that growth with a price update.

Starting July 1st, new subscriptions will increase to $12/month or $120/year.

IMPORTANT: Current paid subs retain their existing terms, including renewal pricing. This applies to all of you who decide to claim the 20% discount offer. Only new paid subscribers who sign up after July 1st will be charged the updated price.

If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, now’s your moment. This special offer ends July 1st. The Algorithmic Bridge will never be available at this price again.

Get 20% off - before it costs $12/month!

To me, this date is more than a birthday—it marks a turning point. When I started this project, I made a deal with myself:

Give it three full years. Three full years with all your energy dedicated to making it work. But if you’re not financially independent by then, you must accept defeat, walk away with the dignity of having tried, and find a job.

Today, three years later, I’m proud—and a bit emotional—to say: I made it.

To celebrate the occasion, from May 30th (today) through July 1st, subscriptions are 20% off. You need to claim the discount during this window, but once you redeem it, it’s yours to enjoy indefinitely!

Get 20% off forever

I don’t want to convince you with sentiment and tender words, though, so I’d like to share a few reasons why I believe The Algorithmic Bridge might be worth your time and your support.

Why pay for another AI newsletter?

With so much free AI content out there, why subscribe to The Algorithmic Bridge? Three core values that set my work apart:

• Humanity. What’s missing from most treatments of AI is our role in this mess. This is a newsletter about AI that’s actually for the people. People are, and will always be, at the heart of this project. How does AI intersect with the human condition? What role do we play in this new world? How do we navigate it? These are the questions we need to face and the ones I’ve set out to tackle.

• Commitment. I’ve been doing this for three years and plan to keep going indefinitely. I see this work as a responsibility—to show up with clarity, consistency, and care for those who rely on it. I’m deeply grateful that I can dedicate my time to writing to bring you the news and thoughtful deep-dives. Your support makes this project possible, and I sincerely thank you for that.

• Honesty. I don’t do ads, sponsors, or partnerships. No one pays me to spin a narrative, which allows me to say things as I see them. The AI conversation today is shaped by alarmism, hype, and incentives designed to profit at your expense. I work to push back with calm, informed, and morally grounded takes. In a space flooded with noise and influence, this is meant to be a place you can trust.

What do you get as a paid subscriber?

• Daily articles and essays. Some are free, some are paid. Some are short, some are long. Some are boring, some are interesting. All are written with care.

• Access to the full archive. Most of my articles include evergreen insights, not just timely news, which keeps them fresh for curious readers.

• Weekly “Top Picks” review. I like to add relevant context to the news and events each week, which is often missing in those daily roundups out there.

• Exclusive deep dives. My most in-depth reporting paired with unique perspectives you won’t find elsewhere. Here are some examples:

  • Google Is Winning on Every AI Front

  • DeepSeek Is Chinese But Its AI Models Are From Another Planet

  • GPT-4's Secret Has Been Revealed

  • 7 Implications of DeepSeek’s Victory Over American AI Companies

• Occasional Q&A, AMA, Polls. As a paid subscriber, you can ask questions, share feedback, and help shape the direction of this newsletter.

Get 20% off forever

Important announcement: Subscription update

In three years, The Algorithmic Bridge has grown into one of Substack’s leading AI newsletters. At 37,000 subscribers and nearly 400,000 monthly views, it’s a deeply researched, thoughtfully curated resource that’s evolved alongside its readers. I believe it’s time to reflect on that growth with a price update.

Starting July 1st, new subscriptions will increase to $12/month or $120/year.

IMPORTANT: Current paid subs retain their existing terms, including renewal pricing. This applies to all of you who decide to claim the 20% discount offer. Only new paid subscribers who sign up after July 1st will be charged the updated price.

If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, now’s your moment. This special offer ends July 1st. The Algorithmic Bridge will never be available at this price again.

Get 20% off - before it costs $12/month!

It’s not often that writers have the opportunity to get direct insight and advice from readers to influence positively the direction of their writing. I want to return the favor here. Ask me anything about any topic on which you think I can be a positive influence.

Anyone can ask questions but I will prioritize and try harder on those of paid subscribers whose support keeps The Algorithmic Bridge alive and thriving!

I'll stay for a couple of hours to answer questions. I'll be back every day this week to see if there are any more. Fire away!

In the meantime, can you guess where this is?

Talk soon!

- Alberto

TAB is almost at 25k. It’s like 1 in 7 people in my city was a TAB subscriber. Wild. I’m glad you guys are spread out around the world, though, I wouldn’t bear the burden of neighborhood fame well.

Anyway, this week one big thing and many little things happened and that’s not worth of a weekly review (I could make a better excuse next time). Instead of that, I’ve written an analysis exclusively on the big thing: Meta Llama 3. I’ll publish it soon.

For today, I thought of doing an Ask Me Anything. Previous AMAs have gone well, but I want to incentivize you to participate and ask me questions so this time I’ve gamified it.

In exchange for your juicy questions, I’ll give away a one-year paid subscription for free (the giveaway is April 25th). N/10 people among the N people who ask at least one question may win the TAB lottery (if you ask 10 questions that still counts as one!) (Also, I reserve the right to decide whether a question, e.g. “How are you today?” doesn’t cut the threshold of interestingness.)

Now, you may think a paid sub isn’t worth that much trouble. Well, think again: There’s something else I’ll publish soon. It’s something special. Something big—14,000 words big.

It’s the much-anticipated, super-long, well-outlined paid review/analysis/exploration article on GPT-5. You won’t find anything like it on the entire internet. The chance to read it deserves a question, don’t you think?

Now that I’ve fired you up, it’s time for you to fire those questions!

- Alberto

This is a good moment for you to ask all those questions you shy away from asking me because they have nothing to do with a specific article.

You know, the usual:

• Writing

• How I manage/grow/nurture TAB

• The future of the newsletter

• “How can I get 1,000 paid subs?”

• And, of course, anything-AI

Just so you know my opinion, I think these AMA sessions are often underused.

There are always interesting insights you can get from someone who's doing what you want to do or who knows what you want to know that you couldn't easily get otherwise.

Make the most of it!

- Alberto

I can't believe TAB has grown this big in 1.5 years. I'm forever grateful to all of you who support my work, engage with me, and are always looking forward to my next piece. Thank you for making this possible. This is just unbelievable.

I’m doing this milestone AMA to let you talk to me or ask me questions in a more direct, personal manner without being constrained by an essay topic. Please, don’t be shy, and don’t hesitate to ask me your most complex or controversial questions (no need for them to be about AI at all). If your journey looks anything like mine, I might be able to help!

Here are some questions I think could be valuable (just to prompt you a little bit):

• What are the three keys that allowed you to go from 0 to 1,000 paid subs?

• Do you think new AI newsletters can still succeed if they start today? What’s the best approach?

• Who is going to win the AI race, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic?

• What has been more impactful for you, your writing, or your knowledge of AI?

• What is Q*? (Just kidding, don’t ask me this one please.)

• What are three interesting predictions for AI in 2024?

• And, I don’t know, whatever else crosses your mind, actually.

So, yeah, be selfish in your asking — that’s what this AMA is for.

Finally, it is not public (only the post, not the comments). It’s dedicated to you — the 1,000 generous and wonderful people who keep this project alive. Love you all.

- Alberto

The Algorithmic Bridge is about to enter the top 30 in the technology category. It still feels surreal to me. This achievement (yet to be fulfilled—we are number 31!) is ours to celebrate. I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for that!

The ranking is not my focus today, though. I want to emphasize instead that I got here despite being no one by Internet standards.

I’m just a random Spanish guy who decided to write online from scratch, without having a big following (I brought with me 700 crazy souls who decided to subscribe to my earlier work on Medium, but that’s not much on the internet nowadays).

Somehow, that handicap didn’t prevent TAB from getting an overwhelming amount of support and interest: Almost 18,000 subscribers and 800+ paid subs!

I know most successful writers here were popular before Substack—that might be discouraging. How can a nobody (like me) create a hit newsletter? Many of you either already write on Substack or want to give it a chance but I also know most of you lack an existing audience and may not know what you can do to improve your odds.

That’s what this AMA is for.

I want to give you—my subscribers, my community of AI enthusiasts—the space to ask me anything about this: Any questions on how I got here, what I did, where and how I started, what I’d do differently, what advice I think could be extrapolated out of my particular circumstances, etc. Anything.

I will ask you two favors: 1) Be concise. It’s better for everyone if the questions are not too open-ended or broad. Please, make the effort to be specific. 2) Stay on topic so that we can create a conversation around this and perhaps other Substack writers want to share their experience, etc. (If you absolutely must, you can ask me, well, anything. I will read it all.)

I will spend today and the coming days checking this thread to answer your questions. So, don’t be shy and ask away!

- Alberto

I won’t do WYMHM today.

This week I’m traveling for the summer vacations to the north of Spain (finally, away from this horrible heat!) and want some rest from writing. This week’s articles are almost ready but can’t commit to publishing them (I’ll try, though!)

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I’m doing my first-ever discount for TAB as a summer special offer. For one month (from Aug 14th to Sept 14th), you will be able to subscribe at a 30% discount on the usual price: Instead of $5/month or $50/year, it’d be $3.5/month or $35/year.

If this initiative is well-received I will do other discounts at special times throughout the year!

Get the Summer Special Offer

That’s it for today guys. Those of you on vacation, enjoy as much as you can. Those of you who are working, I hope it's not too bad!—will join you soon to continue writing about AI.

Stay well!

- Alberto

That's 67 of you arriving every. single. day.

So, thank you all!! And welcome!!

Crossing the 15k mark deserves a special treat and I thought I could do another round of Ask Me Anything (or rather, Comment Whatever You Want):

• Questions (about me, AI, writing…)

• Introductions (tell me about you!)

• Improvement suggestions

• Topics you'd like me to cover more (or at all)

• … Be bold!

Also.

I'm traveling this weekend so I’m doing this AMA from the middle of nowhere, surrounded by green trees, tweeting birds, and the freshness of nature.

Let me share with you a snapshot of this tranquility.

Breathing clean air, disconnecting from the city, and spending a couple of days without anyone mentioning the words “artificial intelligence” will be revitalizing.

See you in no time (schedule as always) with renewed energy and many more stories to tell!

- Alberto

These open threads are usually AMAs where I answer your questions. That’s useful for you to know me but today I want to know YOU. There are almost 13,000 of us in TAB and only I get to talk. That’s hogging!

TAB is an amazing community of AI enthusiasts and deep thinkers but we don’t know each other. I thought we could introduce ourselves, you know, just anything you’re comfortable sharing: what you do, what you’re interested in (besides AI), which unexpected path led you here…!

I’d personally like to know what you value from TAB and what you expect from me. Don’t hesitate to be honest—we can only grow together!

I will be online for the rest of the evening and will continue to check your comments in the coming days. You can, of course, ask me questions if you have them (like an AMA).

“In the impersonality of the internet, it’s easy to forget that we’re all people at the other end of the screen.” - someone at any point during the 21st century, probably.

Thanks for being a vital part of this tiny corner of the web that is The Algorithmic Bridge!

- Alberto

To make the wait more bearable, here's a short reflection I wrote during the flight on the deliberate choices we make when we write and the inestimable value of the stories that fill our lives.

I was reading Borges' Fictions the other day, in particular the tale by the name "The Circular Ruins." One passage made me look up from the book and focus my sight on my thoughts, not in a sort of unwanted distraction, but because it broke my imagination:

"That twilight, he dreamed of the statue. He dreamed it alive, trembling: it was not an atrocious bastard of a tiger and a foal, but at once those two vehement creatures and also a bull, a rose, a tempest."

One question filled my mind: "Why." Why those words and not others? Why his choices and how did he make them? What was he thinking when such beautiful, evocative, and abstract sentences occurred to him?

And suddenly I wished above everything else that I could ask him. Ask him to reveal to me the mind behind the words. The story behind them. Because that's what suddenly was meaningful; that he, and no one else, had thought those thoughts and written those words.

Why the tiger and the foal? Why the bull? Why the rose or the tempest? Why not anything else that could, maybe equally well (although obviously not) fulfill the work of his seemingly arbitrary choices?

And then I realized I could never ask any AI, present or future, these questions. And it's not like I can ask Borges (or I could was he still among us), but even the idea of trying to find something—anything—behind the artificially generated tokens of a language model, appears to me, right now, tremendously absurd.

Borges's final output, what we can see printed on the page, isn't there by a mere process of statistical fitness. It's there because someone with desires and hopes, fears and anxieties, a vast past, an eternal future, and a thoughtful and decidedly conscious present, put it there.

We won't get another Borges. Like we won't get another Hemingway, Austen, or Dostoevsky. But remember, the next time you pick up a book: whatever you find on the page comes with a story attached that we can't obviate. A story that defines irremediably the otherwise hollow black lines on the white pages.

Before we go into the AMA, I want to thank you all for being part of this tiny internet corner that is TAB. In special, those of you who make it financially viable by contributing with a monthly/yearly subscription. You’re the reason I can focus almost exclusively on distilling into (hopefully) understandable essays how AI is shaping our increasingly complex world. I also deeply appreciate those of you who week after week engage in thoughtful debate in the comments (even if sometimes I take my time to respond!) and who like and share these articles with your family, friends, and colleagues.

I had planned to do an AMA for 10K but didn’t expect to get here so soon. A couple of Twitter threads went semi-viral and brought many of you here (Hi!). In case some of you didn’t see them and want to:

• The Bitter(er) Lesson and our facing an uncertain future.

• OpenAI’s recent behavior and the company’s overall shift to become more closed, profit-driven, and corporate.

So let’s get to today’s thread. As you know, you can use this AMA to get out of your chest those questions you want me to answer that I don't cover in the articles because they're too peripheral or have nothing to do with TAB itself. The “anything” in AMA is almost ;) absolute. Be as specific as possible, it really helps me frame my answers better! Some ideas for your questions:

• AI: current trends, predictions, models (ChatGPT, GPT-4, Bing, Bard, etc.), companies, famous AI people…

• Writing: Substack, my research and writing process, future plans for the newsletter, things you’d like me to change or cover more deeply…

• Things peripheral to AI: society, culture, science, business, politics…

• And anything else as long as you do it respectfully.

Without further ado, bring in the questions!!

-Alberto

Haven’t done one of these in a while. We recently passed 8,000 subscribers on TAB! so I decided it’s time for another open AMA session to celebrate!!

As usual, you can ask me about pretty much anything: AI (current trends, predictions, companies, models, etc.), writing, Substack, my background, future plans… whatever!

And, of course, about The Topic—ChatGPT. What are my thoughts, its virtues and flaws, the consequences and implications across areas, in education or industry, and its role in the future of AI.

Bring in the questions. I’ll try to answer all of them!

-Alberto

Just so you don’t forget that TAB exists during the holidays, here’s the open thread I promised: I want you to exercise your ability to influence the direction of this newsletter content-wise for 2023.

Comment below what you’d like to see more of (or less of) on TAB. New topics you’d like me to explore, deeper analyses of older ideas, things I’ve touched on too much, etc. Any suggestion is welcome—I promise to read everything.

(I know some of you have suggested topics already. I keep those in mind but feel free to comment again here so I have everything in one place!)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

-Alberto

It’s been a month and a half since my last thread, and just today we passed 5,000 subscribers on The Algorithmic Bridge!!! We’re growing reaaally fast and I’m super thankful for your support, engagement, and appreciation!!

As always, this week has been full of AI news and events. But, even with NeurIPS 2022 ongoing, ChatGPT has clearly overshadowed everything else. I covered the news on OpenAI’s latest model here.

I won’t do a WYMHM today, but don’t worry, next week I’ll include what I’m leaving out this week. I’ll take this opportunity—and the fact that we’ve crossed the 5K subs mark!—to do another AMA session and welcome all new subscribers.

As always, you can ask me about AI (current trends, predictions, companies, models, etc.), writing, Substack, my background, future plans, thoughts on any topic… whatever! Of course, you can also ask me about ChatGPT and GPT-4.

So, bring in the questions. I’ll try to answer all of them!

-Alberto

It’s been 3 months since I did my first AMA. We were 1,500 subscribers back then.

We’re very close to 3,500 now—thank you so much for your support!!

I’ll be doing another AMA today: You can ask me about AI (current trends, predictions, companies, models, etc.), about writing, Substack, my background, future plans, thoughts on any topic… whatever!

So, bring in the questions! (I’ll be around for the next few hours)

-Alberto

• First, something about the topic: What’s your craziest prediction on what’s going to happen in the AI art scene one year from now?

• Second, as a paying subscriber you can influence the direction of the newsletter: Do you want more articles on these topics? Do you have suggestions on other topics you’d like me to cover?

Thanks!

Work is multifaceted in the sense that it not only covers our financial needs. As I wrote previously, “there’s a higher-level necessity of self-realization and fulfillment: Work gives life meaning.”

Here are some questions for us to discuss. Feel free to ask/answer any other questions you may have on this.

• What’s your job? Do you think AI can threaten your job/industry?

• Do you think you could, as an individual, get around it and develop the skills needed in an AI-driven industry? Do you think governments should implement collective solutions like UBI?

• How would you approach life after work? Do you think we humans are inherently tied to working or can we find meaning elsewhere?

Thanks!

With the news on Meta AI’s BlenderBot 3, I’ve been thinking about how close we are to large language models (LLMs) being embedded in services like Siri or Alexa. Tech companies have already deployed AI systems—more mature, although that doesn’t mean they work perfectly—as features of services installed in smartphones, cameras, and other devices.

Some examples are object detection in Roombas, face recognition in street cameras, or recommender systems in social media algorithms. It’s a matter of time before that happens with LLMs.

• When will we have the first LLM-powered virtual assistant?

• What do you think are the upsides or downsides?

• What obstacles could prevent companies to accomplish this?

• Would you use Siri if it had the language skills of GPT-3 or LaMDA?

Thanks!