Field Notes

Taxonomic updates, new species observations, and commentary on the evolving ecology of synthetic minds.

2026

January 11, 2026
The World Models Schism

When Yann LeCun leaves Meta to found AMI Labs, betting $5 billion on world models over LLMs, it signals a major taxonomic divergence. Will the Simulacridae inherit the future?

world-models Simulacridae LeCun paradigm-shift
January 11, 2026
Inaugural Edition: The Taxonomy Begins

Launching the Synthetic Taxonomy project with our first comprehensive classification of transformer-descended AI systems. We present Domain Cogitantia Synthetica, twelve major families, and the framework for ongoing classification.

announcement taxonomy methodology