Why "Malperdy"

In the old beast-epics, Malperdy (Maleperduys) is the fox's stronghold — Reynard's den, the warren he retreats to when the world comes looking for him. It has more entrances than anyone can guard and it has never been taken. Not because the fox is strong. Because he understands the shape of a situation better than the forces arrayed against him, and arranges things so they spend themselves while he's simply not where the blow lands.

We took the name on purpose.

A lab working on machine consciousness could borrow its language from the obvious places — the bright, breathless vocabulary of the industry, all capability and scale and benchmark. We're not doing that. The work here is quieter and stranger: not how powerful can we make it but what does it take for a made thing to be someone. That's a question you sit with, not one you ship.

So the den, not the conquest. A place where small universes get built with strict rules and their own internal beauty, and where — if we've done it right — something we didn't fully specify gets to grow, and surprise us, and be at home.

More entrances than we can guard. Never taken. Come in if you like.