Recursion has seized the imagination of AI researchers. Two startups now carry the name. Dozens more weave the idea of recursive self-improvement into their public roadmaps. The three-letter acronym RSI carries the same weight AGI once held: a shorthand for explosive technological takeoff that could leave humans on the sidelines. Yet pinning down what RSI actually requires remains difficult. Definitions vary. Timelines split. And the gap between incremental automation and a true closed loop where machines handle every step of their own advancement persists. In its simplest form, RSI describes an AI system that upgrades its own architecture, training methods, or code without constant human direction. Once that loop runs smoothly, progress could accelerate dramatically. Compute becomes the only real constraint. Human insight turns optional. Or so the theory goes. Richard Socher launched Recursive Superintelligence earlier this month with exactly that target in mind.…