# Shlok Khemani

> Shlok Khemani is a writer and programmer in Mumbai, India. He writes original analysis about AI memory, agents, software, crypto, and life.

## Main pages

- [Home](https://www.shloked.com): About Shlok and his latest work
- [Writing](https://www.shloked.com/writing): All essays and technical analysis
- [Projects](https://www.shloked.com/projects): Software projects and experiments
- [Photography](https://www.shloked.com/photos): Travel and street photography
- [Books](https://www.shloked.com/books): Reading recommendations
- [Hikes](https://www.shloked.com/hikes): Hiking logs
- [RSS](https://www.shloked.com/feed/rss.xml): RSS feed
- [Atom](https://www.shloked.com/feed/atom.xml): Atom feed

## Writing

- [Unpacking ChatGPT Work: the Agent for a Billion Users](https://www.shloked.com/chatgpt-work): OpenAI's ChatGPT Work brings cloud agents to the mainstream: a persistent cloud computer, hosted browser, plugins, scheduled tasks, and hints of proactivity. A deep dive into how it works, the tensions underneath, and where it's headed.
- [On the Interaction Acquisition](https://www.shloked.com/interaction-acquisition): Poke was the first genuinely novel consumer AI experience since ChatGPT—and it changed my life. Reflections on what Interaction got right, the Blank Canvas Problem, why the product couldn't retain even its fans, and the acquisition by Cognition.
- [Fable 5: First Impressions](https://www.shloked.com/fable-5): First impressions of Fable 5. From one vague prompt, it built a to-scale, navigable 3D Yosemite Valley — detecting trees from satellite pixels, adding weather and a Milky Way, and cutting its own launch video. Here's why it feels like a step change.
- [ChatGPT's Memory Update Has a Packaging Problem](https://www.shloked.com/chatgpt-memory-2026): OpenAI updated ChatGPT's memory with an editable Memory Summary. After reverse-engineering it, I struggle to see how it makes the product better. Here's what changed, why it's confusing, and the likely cost tradeoff behind the design.
- [Open-Sourcing Vajra: A Background Coding Agent](https://www.shloked.com/vajra): On building and open-sourcing Vajra, a background coding agent that works through Linear, GitHub, Slack, and graph-based workflows.
- [What I Found Interesting in Claude Code's Source](https://www.shloked.com/claude-code): A breakdown of the most interesting engineering patterns in Claude Code's leaked source code: composable system prompts, runtime instruction injection, context compression, forking, prompt caching architecture, and more.
- [Google Has Your Data. Gemini Barely Uses It.](https://www.shloked.com/gemini-memory): Google's Gemini has 650M users and sits on more personal data than any other AI. Yet its memory system is deliberately cautious. I explore how Gemini's memory works, what Google gets right, and what this restraint costs them.
- [Anthropic's Opinionated Memory Bet](https://www.shloked.com/claude-memory-tool): A deep dive into Claude's new memory tool—how it works, the architectural bets they're making, and whether it's the right fit for your application.
- [OpenPoke: Recreating Poke's Architecture](https://www.shloked.com/openpoke): How Poke's orchestrated multi-agent system works, what OpenPoke replicates, and the lessons for builders shipping AI assistants.
- [Bangalore → Mumbai → Bangalore](https://www.shloked.com/bangalore-mumbai-bangalore): After 10 months in Mumbai, I'm moving back to Bangalore. Some reflections on location, intellectual isolation, and the importance of being among builders.
- [Claude Memory: A Different Philosophy](https://www.shloked.com/claude-memory): A breakdown of Claude's memory implementation, how it differs from ChatGPT, and what these opposite approaches reveal about each company's philosophy.
- [ChatGPT Memory and the Bitter Lesson](https://www.shloked.com/chatgpt-memory): I reverse-engineered ChatGPT's memory system to understand what it stores, how it works (spoiler: not RAG!), and why OpenAI built it this way. Complete with prompts you can try yourself to explore your own ChatGPT memory.
- [Seven Weeks in San Francisco](https://www.shloked.com/san-francisco): A tech bro's non-tech notes from seven weeks living in San Francisco—exploring walkable streets, nature access, food abundance, and the freedom that comes with a city built to work.
- [7 lessons from launching my first AI product](https://www.shloked.com/first-ai-product): In April, I left my job to build software products with AI tools. My first experiment was Dweli, a personal website builder. Two months later, I launched it and... it didn't feel great. Here are the lessons I learned.
- [Notes from watching a master at work](https://www.shloked.com/rahman): Last night, I watched Academy Award-winning musician AR Rahman perform live in concert. What I didn't expect was for it to become a spiritual experience that I simply have to share with the world.
- [AI is Compressing Crypto Cycles](https://www.shloked.com/crypto-cycles): How AI accelerates software creation, market evaluation, and attention—compressing speculative cycles across crypto.
- [ChatGPT Deep Research: First Impressions](https://www.shloked.com/deep-research): First impressions of ChatGPT Deep Research from a long-form technical writer: where it excels, where human judgment still matters, and what changes next.
- [Thinking about aixbt on a Sunday Night](https://www.shloked.com/aixbt): Why aixbt became crypto's most compelling social AI agent—and what its personality, performance, token, and technical design reveal about the category.
- [Decentralized Compute](https://www.shloked.com/decentralized-compute): On LLM Training, GPUs, Data Centres, and where Crypto fits in
- [Bitcoin Superconductor](https://www.shloked.com/bitcoin-superconductor): How Chainflip is bringing BTC liquidity on-chain
- [Sentient AI Models](https://www.shloked.com/sentient-ai-models): Monetising Open Source AI
- [Does Crypto Matter?](https://www.shloked.com/does-crypto-matter): How crypto will (and will not) change the world
- [Actively Validated Services](https://www.shloked.com/avs): How EigenLayer is unshackling crypto entrepreneurship
- [Trusted Enclaves](https://www.shloked.com/trusted-enclaves): On TEEs and why they're important
- [Bootstrapping Networks](https://www.shloked.com/bootstrapping-networks): Solving the cold start problem with zkTLS
- [Abstracting Chains](https://www.shloked.com/abstracting-chains): Fixing Crypto UX
- [The Road to Runes](https://www.shloked.com/runes): Charting the long-winded journey to a fungible token standard on Bitcoin.
- [On Token Migrations](https://www.shloked.com/on-token-migrations): When Tokens Pivot
- [The Data Must Flow](https://www.shloked.com/the-data-must-flow): Easing the struggle for AI data
- [Danke, Jürgen](https://www.shloked.com/danke-jurgen): To the German who changed my life.
- [Enter The Sanctum](https://www.shloked.com/sanctum): Everybody gets a stake.
- [MEV On Solana](https://www.shloked.com/mev-on-solana): Breaking down Jito's mempool rollback
- [The Heartbeat of a Global State Machine](https://www.shloked.com/solana-validators): A deep dive into the importance of and challenges faced by validators on Solana
- [2023](https://www.shloked.com/2023): Reflections, learnings, and setting the stage for the new year.
- [Multi-Model Apps and OpenRouter](https://www.shloked.com/openrouter): On the need for developers to adopt a multi-model LLM approach and OpenRouter, a service facilitating it
- [Pricing Models for LLM Apps](https://www.shloked.com/llm-pricing): A new paradigm in tech requires rethinking how companies price software
- [A Guide to LLM Capabilities](https://www.shloked.com/llm-capabilities): A practical breakdown of how LLMs work and the new capabilities they unlock
- [Mardi Himal](https://www.shloked.com/mardi-himal): Why this Himalayan trek in Nepal has to be your next vacation
- [Now is the Time to Code](https://www.shloked.com/time-to-code): Making a case for why you should learn to code over the next year
- [On Leaving Web3 Gaming](https://www.shloked.com/on-leaving-web3-gaming): Some reflections on the space, where I see it going, why I am leaving, and what next
- [The Zynga Mafia in Web3 Gaming](https://www.shloked.com/zynga-mafia): Zynga is one of the most important companies in the history of gaming. Now, the folks that made it big, are trying to replicate their success on the blockchain.
- [South Korea: Underrated Leaders in Web3 Gaming](https://www.shloked.com/south-korea-web3-gaming): The country has pioneered some of the biggest movements in gaming history. Now, it is right at the forefront of another one
- [Skyweaver: Fulfilling the Promise of a Crypto Game](https://www.shloked.com/skyweaver): Lessons to learn from the dark horse of crypto gaming