# Podcast: If AI Is Sentient Then So Is ‘Age of Empires II

> Source: <https://www.404media.co/podcast-if-ai-is-sentient-then-so-is-age-of-empires-ii/>
> Published: 2026-06-24 13:03:21+00:00

We start this week with Matthew’s story about a fascinating paper that argues if LLMs are sentient, then by those metrics so is the classic game Age of Empires II. After the break, Matthew tells us about a wild story out of Texas with a data center being built on land that was donated to be a park. In the subscribers-only section, we talk hacking and basketball.

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