# Asimov's Robot Stories Lead Today's Picks, With The Beginning of Infinity and a Crime-Tech Essay Also Surfacing

*By Recommended Reading from Tech Founders • April 7, 2026*

The strongest signal today is Isaac Asimov: in the Sam Altman–Francois Chollet AGI conversation, his Robot stories and Foundation series surfaced twice as formative reading. Andrew Chen also shared a practical article on crime, tech, and how to make things better.

## What stood out

Only a small number of recommendations cleared the authenticity bar today, but one stood out because it surfaced twice in a serious AGI conversation and was framed as formative rather than casually interesting.

## Most compelling recommendation

### Isaac Asimov's *Robot* stories and *Foundation* series
- **Content type:** Books / science fiction series
- **Author/creator:** Isaac Asimov
- **Link/URL:** None provided in the source material
- **Who recommended it:** Both speakers in *AGI: Francois Chollet + Sam Altman* [^1]
- **Key takeaway:** One speaker said Asimov's Robot stories were a major influence behind wanting to build human-level AI since age 16, while the other said Asimov may have had more impact when younger than *The Beginning of Infinity* [^1]
- **Why it matters:** This is the strongest pick today because it appears twice, unprompted, in a conversation about AGI and is tied to long-run intellectual formation rather than a passing endorsement [^1]

> "I've wanted to build human level AI since I was like 16. And I think one of the big influences on me at the time was Asimov's Robot Stories." [^1]


[![AGI: Francois Chollet + Sam Altman](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XUu-i9Wbh-c/hqdefault.jpg)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=XUu-i9Wbh-c&t=1627)
*AGI: Francois Chollet + Sam Altman (27:07)*


## Also worth saving

### *The Beginning of Infinity*
- **Content type:** Book
- **Author/creator:** Not specified in the source material
- **Link/URL:** None provided in the source material
- **Who recommended it:** A speaker in *AGI: Francois Chollet + Sam Altman* said it was the book they were going to choose as most impactful [^1]
- **Key takeaway:** It surfaced as the first answer in a discussion of the most impactful book, before that speaker added that Asimov may have had more impact earlier in life [^1]
- **Why it matters:** Even with limited context, it was positioned at the top of a very short list of personally important books in the same AGI discussion [^1]

### Crime-and-tech writeup *(title not provided)*
- **Content type:** Article
- **Author/creator:** Not specified in the source material
- **Link/URL:** [http://x.com/i/article/2041160953094639617](http://x.com/i/article/2041160953094639617) [^2]
- **Who recommended it:** Andrew Chen [^3]
- **Key takeaway:** After describing personal experiences with car break-ins, a garage break-in, and stolen bikes in San Francisco, Chen called it a "great writeup about crime and tech and how to make it all better" [^3]
- **Why it matters:** This is the most practical recommendation in today's set: it is framed as a resource on a concrete problem and possible improvements, not just commentary on the problem itself [^3]

Across today's picks, the split is clear: the books are presented as deep formative influences, while the article is recommended for its applied thinking on a live civic issue [^1][^3].

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### Sources

[^1]: [AGI: Francois Chollet + Sam Altman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUu-i9Wbh-c)
[^2]: [𝕏 post by @davidu](https://x.com/davidu/status/2041166445732905330)
[^3]: [𝕏 post by @andrewchen](https://x.com/andrewchen/status/2041180500984033571)