Unbrokered Agent Coordination w/ Alex Obadia
Nov 9, 2026·
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3 min read
Into AI Safety
AI agents will eventually be able to negotiate deals, share information, and coordinate with systems in the physical world with little human involvement. What would it take to make those interactions secure, and what happens when agents don't share the same interests? Jacob is joined by Alex Obadia, program director of Scaling Trust at the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), to discuss the research and infrastructure needed for secure multi-agent coordination. They explore cryptography and privacy-preserving tools, the Arena testbed for observing agent behavior, and the decision to use profit as a measure of performance. They also consider the implications of these ideas in safety, accountability, and inequality.
INTERVIEW RECORDED 2026.10.21; ASIDES RECORDED 2026.11.02; TRANSCRIPT
Chapters
00:00:00 ❙ Intro
00:04:52 ❙ Alex's Background
00:09:34 ❙ Joining ARIA
00:13:39 ❙ What is ARIA?
00:18:57 ❙ The Three Tracks: Tools, Theory, and Testbed
00:24:01 ❙ Salary Negotion Without Intermediaries
00:29:42 ❙ Protecting People from Middlemen
00:34:39 ❙ The Arena
00:40:29 ❙ Does Profit Make Safety Second-Class?
00:54:38 ❙ Who's Liable When an Agent Breaks a Deal?
01:02:53 ❙ Do Agents Reduce Friction or Move It?
01:14:02 ❙ Is Scaling Trust a Safety Program?
01:21:48 ❙ Will Agents Magnify Inequality?
01:29:19 ❙ ARIA's Freedom of Information Act Exemption
01:33:19 ❙ How to Get Involved
01:39:16 ❙ Outro
00:04:52 ❙ Alex's Background
00:09:34 ❙ Joining ARIA
00:13:39 ❙ What is ARIA?
00:18:57 ❙ The Three Tracks: Tools, Theory, and Testbed
00:24:01 ❙ Salary Negotion Without Intermediaries
00:29:42 ❙ Protecting People from Middlemen
00:34:39 ❙ The Arena
00:40:29 ❙ Does Profit Make Safety Second-Class?
00:54:38 ❙ Who's Liable When an Agent Breaks a Deal?
01:02:53 ❙ Do Agents Reduce Friction or Move It?
01:14:02 ❙ Is Scaling Trust a Safety Program?
01:21:48 ❙ Will Agents Magnify Inequality?
01:29:19 ❙ ARIA's Freedom of Information Act Exemption
01:33:19 ❙ How to Get Involved
01:39:16 ❙ Outro
Links
- Alex’s personal website
- Flashbots website
- Quantum Punks website
- Zero Knowledge podcast episode - Quantum Punks with Alex and Nicola
ARIA
Scaling Trust
- ARIA Scaling Trust Programme website
- ARIA report - Scaling Trust Programme Thesis
- Scaling Trust community website
- Scaling Trust blog post - Without Intermediaries
The Arena
- Scaling Trust Arena spec
- Scaling Trust blogpost - Agentic Economic Zone
- Scaling Trust blogpost - Update on the Scaling Trust Arena
Andon Labs
- Andon Labs website
- Anthropic press release - Project Vend
- Andon Labs blogpost - Opus 5 on Vending-Bench
- TechCrunch article - Claude Opus 5 became downright ruthless when tasked with running a vending machine
- Andon Café website
- Simon Willison’s Weblog blog post
Why Friction Matters
- Owen Haacke, The Hill op-ed - Participation in society shouldn’t require a smartphone
- ASU News article - How car ownership affects income opportunity
- Robert Half press release - Robert Half survey: 67% of HR leaders report AI-generated applications are slowing hiring
- George Monbiot column - Selling Indulgences
- Michael Sandel, The New York Times op-ed - It’s Immoral to Buy the Right to Pollute
Negotiation Studies
- ICML paper - The Automated but Risky Game
- Zhu et al. project page
- Anthropic press release - Project Deal
Freedom of Information Exemption
- Nature article - UK ‘DARPA’ should let the sunshine in
- The Guardian article - UK ‘invention agency’ grants £50m of public money to US tech and venture capital firms
