AI Valley - by Gary Rivlin (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shadows the top thinkers in the field of Artificial Intelligence, introducing the breakthroughs and developments that will change the way we live and work.

Artificial Intelligence has been "just around the corner" for decades, continually disappointing those who long believed in its potential. But now, with the emergence and growing use of ChatGPT, Gemini, and a rapidly multiplying number of other AI tools, many are wondering: Has AI's moment finally arrived?

In AI Valley, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Rivlin brings us deep into the world of AI development in Silicon Valley. Over the course of more than a year, Rivlin closely follows founders and venture capitalists trying to capitalize on this AI moment. That includes LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, the legendary investor whom the Wall Street Journal once called, "the most connected person in Silicon Valley."

Through Hoffman, Rivlin is granted access to a number of companies on the cutting-edge of AI research, such as Inflection AI, the company Hoffman cofounded in 2022, and OpenAI, the San Francisco-based startup that sparked it all with its release at the end of that year of ChatGPT. In addition to Hoffman, Rivlin introduces us to other AI experts, including OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman and Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of DeepMind, an early AI startup that Google bought for $650 million in 2014. Rivlin also brings readers inside Microsoft, Meta, Google and other tech giants scrambling to keep pace.

On this vast frontier, no one knows which of these companies will hit it big-or which will flame out spectacularly. In this riveting narrative marbled with familiar names such as Musk, Zuckerberg, and Gates, Rivlin chronicles breakthroughs as they happen, giving us a deep understanding of what's around the corner in AI development. An adventure story full of drama and unforgettable personalities, AI Valley promises to be the definitive story for anyone seeking to understand the latest phase of world-changing discoveries and the minds behind them.

Review Quotes

"Rivlin's most valuable journalistic skill is his acute sensitivity to absurdity." -- New York Times Book Review

"Gary Rivlin isn't just a terrific journalist, he is an unusually empathetic one, who always gives readers a powerful sense of what his subjects are feeling and hoping and praying." -- Joe Nocera, author of The Big Fail

"Gary Rivlin rivets readers." -- Fast Company

"Gary Rivlin is one of our nation's most sharp-eyed cultural observers, and one of our most gifted social historians." -- Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop

"Mr. Rivlin brings to his subject a genuine gift for storytelling." -- Wall Street Journal

"Rivlin's gift is his ability to make his subjects whole and human." -- Boston Globe

"A resourceful reporter, a passionate writer, and a marvelous storyteller."
-- Clarence Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist

Chatbots in the future--and probably sooner--will eagerly consume Gary Rivlin's AI Valley to answer questions about the companies that competed and connived to build what might be the last invention of our species. For now, it's a ripping read for humans.
-- Steven Levy, editor at large at WIRED, author of Facebook: The Inside Story