MTS
How Private Institutions Can Solve AI Tail Risk | Brendan McCord
Oct 12, 2026
About this episode
Brendan McCord discusses why current AI safety pacing proposals fail due to ill-defined power and enforcement against defectors. He outlines a three-layer governance model built on liability, mutual insurance pools, and pre-specified public rules, while advocating for "philosopher builders" creating market-based AI institutions. Check out our sponsor Lovable: https://lovable.dev. Turn ideas into software people love. MTS is a live news and interview show covering technology, business, politics, and culture as it happens. Follow MTS: X | https://twitter.com/MTSlive YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@mtsituation Spotify | https://open.spotify.com/show/4HUNNmV1pjV7CW6Lphm1rM Apple | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mts/id1891088763 Substack | https://mtslive.substack.com/ Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@mts.now -- Brought to you by: Mongo DB - Anyone can prototype an agent. Learn how to get them into production on September 30th in New York - register at https://www.mongodb.com/events/mongodb-local/nyc Lovable - Turn ideas into software people love with Lovable. Start today at https://lovable.dev/ Larridin - Finally prove what your AI investment is worth. Head to https://larridin.com/ today to start measuring your AI’s bottom line. Neon (by Databricks) - Get up to $100K in credits for your startup at https://neon.com/mts ElevenLabs - AI that communicates at human level across every channel and modality. https://elevenlabs.io/mts Arena - Measuring AI performance in the real world. https://arena.ai/ Kong - The AI connectivity platform. Connect APIs, LLMs, agents, and systems with serious security and governance. https://konghq.com Today’s stream is sponsored by VCX, the public ticker for private tech. Head over to http://getvcx.com to learn more Blitzy - Autonomous software development for enterprise codebases. Ship 5x faster. https://blitzy.com AdQuick - Make your brand a billboard. Out-of-home advertising as easy to scale as digital. https://adquick.com Chargebee - Billing and monetization infrastructure for the AI era. https://www.chargebee.com/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:50) Critiquing Nick Bostrom (03:51) Debating Pacing and Safety (06:28) Three-Layer Governance Model (08:31) Backing Philosopher Builders (10:29) Speed of Private Institutions (12:25) Reviving Big Philosophical Ideas (15:47) Decoupling and Decentralizing AI -- Note : This podcast is not investment, legal, or tax advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies and securities discussed; do your own research before acting on anything you hear.