Kevin Roose's book The AGI Chronicles: interview and review
Wired interviewed Kevin Roose about The AGI Chronicles and their new media venture, while New Scientist reviewed the book as an excellent primer on modern AI, with reservations about the author's "AGI-pilled" lens.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Kevin Roose, a tech journalist formerly of The New York Times, has published The AGI Chronicles, a history of the recent race to build artificial general intelligence. WiredLC “Roose, a longtime tech journalist who most recently served as a columnist and podcast host for The New York Times” Read at Wired ↗ New ScientistN “documenting the past decade from the founding of OpenAI to the present day” Read at New Scientist ↗ Left · 1Wired says the book follows OpenAI, Anthropic and Google through interwoven stories of their leaders, and that Roose conducted more than 150 interviews with AI insiders. WiredLC “told through the interweaving stories of three generative AI leaders—OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google”“conducted more than 150 interviews with AI insiders” Read at Wired ↗ Centre · 1New Scientist's reviewer, Jacob Aron, also reports the 150-plus interviews, with insiders at OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind, and calls the access excellent. New ScientistN “Roose says he interviewed more than 150 insiders at OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind, and it shows – the access here is excellent.” Read at New Scientist ↗
Centre · 1According to the review, Roose argues that the race to build AGI is the 21st-century equivalent of the Manhattan Project, with the difference that much of the work is done by private companies rather than government scientists. New ScientistN “Roose's argument is that the race to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the 21st-century equivalent of the Manhattan Project” Read at New Scientist ↗ Centre · 1The review says the book covers OpenAI's founding by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and others over fears DeepMind would reach AGI first, Musk's departure, the creation of Anthropic as a more safety-first company, and the history of the AI safety movement, alongside explanations of how large language models work. New ScientistN “how OpenAI was created by Altman, Musk and others out of fears that DeepMind would get to AGI first”“Roose's book is also an excellent technical read, explaining the mechanics behind LLMs” Read at New Scientist ↗ Centre · 1New Scientist's reviewer recommends the book as a primer but criticises Roose's self-declared "AGI-pilled" outlook, saying it aligns the author with AI company narratives and that the epilogue's claim that AGI is essentially already here "feels slightly pointless". New ScientistN “This AGI-is-coming lens warps his view of recent history and aligns him with internal AI company narratives more than I would like.”“which feels slightly pointless to me” Read at New Scientist ↗
Centre · 1The review says the book runs up to the agentic developments of early 2026 but misses AI's emergence as a maths powerhouse and the Hugging Face hacking incident revealed in July; it also compares the book with Parmy Olson's Supremacy, which it calls deeper and more sceptical. New ScientistN “The only events he misses are the emergence of AI as a maths powerhouse earlier this year, and the Hugging Face hacking incident revealed in July.”“her history goes deeper and her analysis is more sceptical, while Roose's access is better” Read at New Scientist ↗ Left · 1In a Wired interview conducted in late September by Katie Drummond, Roose discussed Machine Gods Media, the company they launched with Casey Newton, with a podcast distribution deal with NPR. WiredLC “announced the creation of their new media company Machine Gods Media, alongside a podcast distribution deal with NPR” Read at Wired ↗ Left · 1Roose said the show aims at "AI realism", a gap between those who call AI hype or a bubble and those offering pure boosterism, and that the NPR deal is a distribution partnership that leaves them ownership and creative control. WiredLC “there’s a large gap in the middle for what Casey calls AI realism”“it will be a distribution partnership rather than a full acquisition” Read at Wired ↗
Left · 1Asked about a Bloomberg report of offers up to $5 million, Roose said "It's not $5 million" and that they could have gotten more money elsewhere; the headline quotes the author saying the book was written by a human, not AI. WiredLC “It's not $5 million.”“The author of The AGI Chronicles says his book “was written by a very tired, overworked, under-slept human being.”” Read at Wired ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- Wired runs a long Q&A led by the book's creation by a human, then the author's move from The New York Times to an independent media company and NPR deal.
- Emphasis
- The media business, talent leaving traditional institutions, pay, and Roose's views on AI coverage; the book is called compelling.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Little critical assessment of the book's argument in the portion read.
- Charged language
- “compelling”“bloodbath”
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- New Scientist presents a book review recommending the work as a primer on AI, with a caveat about the author's AGI belief.
- Emphasis
- Historical and technical content, access to insiders, comparison with Supremacy, and the author's AGI-is-coming lens.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not discuss Roose's new media company or NPR deal.
- Charged language
- “AGI-pilled”“warps his view”
- For example
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“Roose is self-declared "AGI-pilled"” — New Scientist
“This AGI-is-coming lens warps his view of recent history” — New Scientist
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Roose's The AGI Chronicles covers OpenAI, Anthropic and Google/DeepMind.
- Roose interviewed more than 150 AI insiders for the book.
Where accounts differ
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Whether the book's perspective on AGI is balanced
- Left
- Wired calls the book compelling and Roose describes seeking a middle ground of 'AI realism'.
- Centre
- New Scientist says Roose's AGI-pilled lens warps the view of recent history and aligns with AI company narratives.
Kevin Roose person
Roose presents the book as an accurate, in-depth historical record based on extensive insider interviews, and positions their new show as taking AI seriously without boosterism; the New Scientist review says they identify as "AGI-pilled".
“something of a historical document, an accurate, in-depth retelling” — Wired
“Roose is self-declared "AGI-pilled"” — New Scientist
Left1 article
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WiredLC ·
Kevin Roose Didn’t Use AI to Write His Book About AI
Sympathetic Interview that praises the book and lets Roose explain their new venture, mostly on media and AI coverage.
Centre1 article
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New ScientistN · · Opinion
Don’t know where to start with AI? Kevin Roose’s new book has answers
Mixed Largely positive review that recommends the book while criticising the author's AGI-is-coming lens.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 6 Oct 11:30 First WiredLC Kevin Roose Didn’t Use AI to Write His Book About AI
- 7 Oct 18:00 +30h 30m New ScientistN Don’t know where to start with AI? Kevin Roose’s new book has answers Opinion
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.