# David Shapiro

> David Shapiro is a former infrastructure and automation engineer who became an AI writer, YouTube creator and consultant. His work has moved from open-source cognitive-architecture experiments to post-labor economics and the question of how people might share in productivity created by AI and robotics.

- **Role:** Independent AI consultant; Critical Path
- **Organizations:** Critical Path
- **Known for:** Built an AI YouTube channel with approximately 188,000 subscribers by September 2026., Published open-source writing and code on cognitive architectures through GitHub., Raised $46,368 from 1,199 backers for Labor/Zero against an $8,000 Kickstarter goal.

## Career timeline

- **2006** — Began a technology career that led to principal engineering work in data center infrastructure, virtualization and automation.
- **2020** — Began experimenting with GPT-2.
- **2021** — Started documenting GPT-3 experiments on YouTube.
- **2022** — Discussed prompt design, fine-tuning and cognitive architectures in an OpenAI developer community podcast interview.
- **2023** — Left corporate engineering early in the year to focus on AI research, communication and consulting.
- **2026-03** — Launched the Labor/Zero Kickstarter after 19 manuscript drafts and pitches to 36 agents and publishers.
- **2026-04** — Labor/Zero campaign closed with $46,368 pledged by 1,199 backers.
- **2026-09** — Continued publishing essays on post-labor economics and automation; resumed executive AI consulting through Critical Path.

## Achievements

- Built an AI YouTube channel with approximately 188,000 subscribers by September 2026.
- Published open-source writing and code on cognitive architectures through GitHub.
- Raised $46,368 from 1,199 backers for Labor/Zero against an $8,000 Kickstarter goal.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Published “Better, Faster, Cheaper, Safer” on September 28, describing his test for when automation substitutes for labor.
- **2026-09** — Published an essay discussing universal basic capital and other post-labor proposals on September 17.
- **2026-06** — Described Labor Zero as an emerging movement and said the manuscript was nearing completion.

## Links

- Website: https://www.daveshap.io/home
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveshap/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/DaveShapi
- GitHub: https://github.com/daveshap
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveShap

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-shapiro
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-29