Thorne Wolfenbarger

About

Thorne Wolfenbarger

My name is Thorne Wolfenbarger. I build software that integrates AI into existing business workflows. Previously, in Google Shopping, I trained LLMs to increase impressions for tens-of-millions of products by more than 20%.

I spent 3 months this past year travelling the world asking people two questions: "What does it mean, to you, to be an American?", "What does it mean, to you, to be you?" After asking 200+ people these questions, I think I have a better idea than before. Now, I am back in the San Francisco Bay Area, splitting my time between my focus pillars: Computing, Literature, and Governance.

These pillars are distinct but interconnected. Computing covers my continual software work and LLM R&D. Literature is my continual development as a writer and a poet. Governance concerns how we manage an AI-enabled society. Imagine a world where anything that can happen, will happen; instantly.

Work

  1. lifestyle.photo AI product photography
  2. Computing LLM applications and research
  3. Literature Poetry and essays
  4. Governance Technology and society

Writing

Categories

  1. Concepts That Make Administrative Work Simpler

    In your job, you are either delivering your core work product or you are doing administrative meta-work that makes the final delivery easier. If you a…

  2. Multipolar Powers

    I live in a world that is wholly in my mind and anyone can visit if they bring a song to accompany them. These songs represent the visitor and these s…

  3. 198 Days Post-Google

    I took a voluntary layoff from Google ~200 days ago. I have split my time between software, literature, and governance. Previous articles: One Week of…

  4. Note on Ender's Game-Era Capitalism and Portfolio Management

    Suppose we have reached endgame capitalism. Suppose we have colonized the worlds as in Ender's Game. How should we manage our stock portfolio? Invest…

  5. How Government, Society, and Freedom Relate

    The opposite of freedom is oppression. Man is born into a state of freedom. Through a man’s interactions with the world, he finds himself oppressed or…

  6. First View on sprites.dev from fly.io

    Yesterday I read Code and Let Live, an article covering fly.io's new(ish) Sprites offering. Sprites (sprites.dev) offers persistent VMs that feel like…

  7. Alembic Migrations with SQLModel Common Issue Resolutions

    "I have a database whose schema doesn't match my SQLModel models. I need to migrate this. I want to use alembic's – autogenerate flag. I am running in…

  8. 136 Days of Unemployment

    I keep a Google Doc titled "Notes". I look at it every day. I feel guilty whenever I look at it. I feel guilty because "Notes" has my TODO list. Note…

  9. So, You Want To Build a Road

    If you are reading this, you are considering building a brand new road! First, congratulations! Building a new road is a serious undertaking and you p…

  10. What I See Coming in LLM Reinforcement Learning

    RL for LLMs is going to be a relevant and durable process for AI development so long as we don't have AGI. Reinforcement Learning (RL) for LLMs seems…

  11. One Month Out

    Here I am – standing in the same place as yesterday. I see how everything has changed right under my feet. These are some of the richest moments of m…

  12. Two Weeks of Unemployment

    Previous I'm writing this post in an 84º AirBnB in Los Angeles. I've finished Moravagine (learned many new words). I'm reading Basil Bunting On Poet…

  13. One Week of Unemployment

    After four years, I've left Google. I accepted a voluntary layoff and my access was revoked at 5pm, Tuesday Aug. 19th 2025. When this happened, I felt…

  14. Thorne Wolfenbarger Statement of Beliefs

    My name is Thorne Wolfenbarger. I am an idealist. I believe in many things. I believe in the pursuit of knowledge and the idea that the accumulation …

  15. There is No Truth and There Will Never Be Truth

    Words are words like your hands are hands. You change the world with either but only hold words to a superior moral standard. Is there truth to your f…

  16. Running Ads for lifestyle.photo for one day

    I've made a lot of side projects over the years. I am a grown man now and have to admit that the reason that none of them found traction isn't because…

  17. Weight Cycling

    Placing alternating weights on the chest, chiefly known as Weight Cycling, is an effective method of communication while simultaneously serving as a c…

  18. [Unfinished] Regret Minimization as a Life Policy

    How do you live an aesthetic/good/satisfying life? You can prioritize optionality, control, or a plethora of other metrics. How does regret compare to…

  19. Why Capitalism is Abuse... Wait

    Capitalism is an economic system that largely dictates the structure of a society built around it. If a society is "ideas we share" + "how we interact…

  20. What is my Pre-Reading?

    Pre-reading is a useful activity before attending a lecture to make sure you get the most out of the delivered content. Doing some pre-reading lay out…