Illia Polosukhin: Why AI Agents Are Still Useless (And What Fixes Them) | NEAR Founder on IronClaw

NEAR founder and Transformer co-author Illia Polosukhin joins us to break down why today’s AI agents still fall short, what’s missing to make them actually useful, and how IronClaw could unlock secure, private, autonomous AI.

We also explore Illia’s bigger thesis: AI becomes the interface, blockchains become the backend, and both reshape how humans, agents, and digital markets interact.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0:43 Illia’s AI Journey

8:19 AI x Blockchain Operating Systems

14:40 Will Humans & AIs Use the Same Systems?

18:20 Why Are AI Agents Still Useless?

28:54 AI Agent Privacy Concerns

35:30 IronClaw Privacy

39:21 AI Agent Limitations

47:00 Context Constraints

53:42 Will Small Teams Win?

57:16 Autonomous Agents & Businesses

1:01:00 Digital Life Forms?

1:02:42 e/acc Vs d/acc

1:09:44 Why isn’t AI Crypto-Pilled

1:14:31 Advice for Builders

1:18:30 Closing & Disclaimers

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RESOURCES

Illia

https://x.com/ilblackdragon

IronClaw

https://agent.near.ai/

NEAR
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