Podcast appearances and mentions of eric newcomer

How can billions of video game clips train AI to control robots? General Intuition CEO Pim de Witte explains why gaming data may be the missing ingredient for the next generation of robotics and AI agents.Pim de Witte built the world's largest RuneScape private server as a teenager before founding Medal, one of the biggest gaming clip platforms in the world. Today, Medal processes roughly one billion gameplay clips every year, creating a unique dataset that powers General Intuition's AI models for robotics, world models, and autonomous agents.In this conversation with Eric Newcomer, Pim explains why video games may be one of the most valuable training grounds for artificial intelligence, how gaming data transfers to real world robotics, why humanoid robots may not be the future, and what AI means for gamers, developers, and the future of work.

John Coogan, co-founder of TBPN, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the acquisition that shocked the tech media world. John breaks down how TBPN went from two guys in suits to one of the most-watched live tech shows on the internet, why OpenAI came calling, what an editorial independence clause actually means in practice, and why he and Jordy chose to sell when they didn't have to. He also gets into the mechanics of building a media brand that works, why they monetized everything from day one, and what Sam Altman actually needs to do better on comms.

John Coogan, co-founder of TBPN, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the acquisition that shocked the tech media world. John breaks down how TBPN went from two guys in suits to one of the most-watched live tech shows on the internet, why OpenAI came calling, what an editorial independence clause actually means in practice, and why he and Jordy chose to sell when they didn't have to. He also gets into the mechanics of building a media brand that works, why they monetized everything from day one, and what Sam Altman actually needs to do better on comms.

Taylor Lorenz on why the social media panic is overblown and who's actually driving it.Taylor Lorenz, journalist and author of Extremely Online, joins Eric Newcomer to push back on the moral panic around phones, social media, and screen time. Taylor argues there is no such thing as social media addiction, that age verification laws do more harm than good, and that the groups pushing child protection legislation have their own agendas. She and Eric also get into the surveillance state, anonymous speech online, why podcasters are secretly taking money to book guests, and what the creator economy has gotten badly wrong.Listen to Taylor's newsletter and reporting at UserMag.co.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Taylor Lorenz on why the social media panic is overblown and who's actually driving it.Taylor Lorenz, journalist and author of Extremely Online, joins Eric Newcomer to push back on the moral panic around phones, social media, and screen time. Taylor argues there is no such thing as social media addiction, that age verification laws do more harm than good, and that the groups pushing child protection legislation have their own agendas. She and Eric also get into the surveillance state, anonymous speech online, why podcasters are secretly taking money to book guests, and what the creator economy has gotten badly wrong.Listen to Taylor's newsletter and reporting at UserMag.co.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

The Goldman Sachs exec who automated Wall Street on what AI agents actually do to jobs, companies, and the future of enterprise software. Marty Chavez got his AI PhD in 1991 when there were exactly zero AI jobs. So he went to Goldman Sachs and spent decades building the machines that took over Wall Street. Now at Sixth Street and on Alphabet's board, he joins Eric Newcomer at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in London to explain what actually happens when AI replaces human labor, why a trading firm went bankrupt in 40 minutes because of a bot, and what it really takes to sell software to a large institution.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

The Goldman Sachs exec who automated Wall Street on what AI agents actually do to jobs, companies, and the future of enterprise software. Marty Chavez got his AI PhD in 1991 when there were exactly zero AI jobs. So he went to Goldman Sachs and spent decades building the machines that took over Wall Street. Now at Sixth Street and on Alphabet's board, he joins Eric Newcomer at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in London to explain what actually happens when AI replaces human labor, why a trading firm went bankrupt in 40 minutes because of a bot, and what it really takes to sell software to a large institution.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Semafor's editor-in-chief on why Washington has decided Anthropic needs to pick a side.Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, joins Eric Newcomer to break down the collision between the Trump administration and Anthropic, and what it reveals about the new relationship between Washington and big tech. Ben explains why the government is taking equity stakes in companies, how the Trump family is monetizing the presidency, and why he believes this is one of the most corrupt periods in modern American governance.The conversation also covers the politicization of the Justice Department, why CEOs now flock to Washington instead of avoiding it, the Intel deal and what it signals about industrial policy, and Ben's bet that newsletters and live events can outlast the chase for viral traffic in media.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Semafor's editor-in-chief on why Washington has decided Anthropic needs to pick a side.Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, joins Eric Newcomer to break down the collision between the Trump administration and Anthropic, and what it reveals about the new relationship between Washington and big tech. Ben explains why the government is taking equity stakes in companies, how the Trump family is monetizing the presidency, and why he believes this is one of the most corrupt periods in modern American governance.The conversation also covers the politicization of the Justice Department, why CEOs now flock to Washington instead of avoiding it, the Intel deal and what it signals about industrial policy, and Ben's bet that newsletters and live events can outlast the chase for viral traffic in media.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Aidan Gomez on AGI, China, and the Biggest Risk Facing AI.Cohere co-founder and Transformer co-author Aidan Gomez joins Eric Newcomer to discuss whether we've already reached AGI, why Chinese AI models are being underestimated, the future of enterprise AI, sovereign AI, and why relying on a handful of AI companies could become the industry's biggest risk.If you're interested in artificial general intelligence, OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Chinese AI, AI infrastructure, and the future of machine learning, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at where AI is headed next.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the future of technology.

Aidan Gomez on AGI, China, and the Biggest Risk Facing AI.Cohere co-founder and Transformer co-author Aidan Gomez joins Eric Newcomer to discuss whether we've already reached AGI, why Chinese AI models are being underestimated, the future of enterprise AI, sovereign AI, and why relying on a handful of AI companies could become the industry's biggest risk.If you're interested in artificial general intelligence, OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Chinese AI, AI infrastructure, and the future of machine learning, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at where AI is headed next.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the future of technology.

The CEO of a $4 billion compliance company on how her biggest competitor was faking it, and what that means for AI startup culture.Christina Cacioppo, co-founder and CEO of Vanta, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the scandal that shook the compliance world. Her $4 billion competitor Delve was caught pre-filling compliance reports without doing the actual security work — and customers had no idea. Christina explains how Vanta figured it out, why fake compliance is a better product experience than real compliance, and what happened to Delve's customers after the story broke.The conversation also covers the AI hype cycle and whether it is crypto 2.0, why AI is both the biggest threat and biggest tailwind for security companies, the broken VC equity social contract, and what it really takes to build a $4 billion company without losing sight of the fundamentals.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

The CEO of a $4 billion compliance company on how her biggest competitor was faking it, and what that means for AI startup culture.Christina Cacioppo, co-founder and CEO of Vanta, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about the scandal that shook the compliance world. Her $4 billion competitor Delve was caught pre-filling compliance reports without doing the actual security work — and customers had no idea. Christina explains how Vanta figured it out, why fake compliance is a better product experience than real compliance, and what happened to Delve's customers after the story broke.The conversation also covers the AI hype cycle and whether it is crypto 2.0, why AI is both the biggest threat and biggest tailwind for security companies, the broken VC equity social contract, and what it really takes to build a $4 billion company without losing sight of the fundamentals.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Ed Zitron is back, and he's making his strongest case yet that OpenAI and Anthropic are running a deliberate con on the public.In his second appearance on the Newcomer Podcast, Ed Zitron sits down with Eric Newcomer to break down why he believes there is no real ROI in AI, how Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have hidden the true cost of their products behind subscription pricing, and why enterprises like Uber are already pulling back. Ed also makes the case that the entire culture around AI is a psyop designed to silence skeptics and protect a trillion-dollar house of cards.Eric pushes back throughout, defending the long-term potential of AI and pressing Ed on whether pure skepticism is its own kind of shtick. The result is one of the most honest and combative conversations about AI you'll find anywhere.

Ed Zitron is back, and he's making his strongest case yet that OpenAI and Anthropic are running a deliberate con on the public.In his second appearance on the Newcomer Podcast, Ed Zitron sits down with Eric Newcomer to break down why he believes there is no real ROI in AI, how Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have hidden the true cost of their products behind subscription pricing, and why enterprises like Uber are already pulling back. Ed also makes the case that the entire culture around AI is a psyop designed to silence skeptics and protect a trillion-dollar house of cards.Eric pushes back throughout, defending the long-term potential of AI and pressing Ed on whether pure skepticism is its own kind of shtick. The result is one of the most honest and combative conversations about AI you'll find anywhere.

How San Francisco's tech culture went from countercultural idealism to right-wing power, and what it means for the rest of us.Jonathan Weber, editor at large at The New Yorker and author of City on the Edge, joins Eric Newcomer to trace the 30-year arc of how San Francisco became the center of the tech universe, and how the industry that once promised to change the world ended up changing politics instead. From the early commercial internet to the rise of OpenAI and Anthropic, Weber connects the dots between Silicon Valley's cultural roots and its dramatic political shift toward the right.The conversation covers the dot-com boom and bust, the sharing economy's broken promises, why tech executives became dismissive of public concerns, how AI is accelerating the disconnect between the industry and everyday Americans, and what history tells us about where this all goes next.City on the Edge is available now wherever books are sold.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

How San Francisco's tech culture went from countercultural idealism to right-wing power, and what it means for the rest of us.Jonathan Weber, editor at large at The New Yorker and author of City on the Edge, joins Eric Newcomer to trace the 30-year arc of how San Francisco became the center of the tech universe, and how the industry that once promised to change the world ended up changing politics instead. From the early commercial internet to the rise of OpenAI and Anthropic, Weber connects the dots between Silicon Valley's cultural roots and its dramatic political shift toward the right.The conversation covers the dot-com boom and bust, the sharing economy's broken promises, why tech executives became dismissive of public concerns, how AI is accelerating the disconnect between the industry and everyday Americans, and what history tells us about where this all goes next.City on the Edge is available now wherever books are sold.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

WIRED's global editorial director on why Silicon Valley wants to control the press and what she's doing about it.Katie Drummond, global editorial director of WIRED, sits down with Eric Newcomer to talk about the simmering war between tech and media. From surviving the Gawker bankruptcy to now running one of the most scrutinized publications in tech, Katie doesn't hold back on why figures like Peter Thiel and Trae Stevens want to buy or dismantle WIRED, why so much of Silicon Valley turned toward Trump, and what serious tech journalism looks like in 2026.Listen to Katie's podcast Uncanny Valley: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncanny-valley-wired/id266391367Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

WIRED's global editorial director on why Silicon Valley wants to control the press and what she's doing about it.Katie Drummond, global editorial director of WIRED, sits down with Eric Newcomer to talk about the simmering war between tech and media. From surviving the Gawker bankruptcy to now running one of the most scrutinized publications in tech, Katie doesn't hold back on why figures like Peter Thiel and Trae Stevens want to buy or dismantle WIRED, why so much of Silicon Valley turned toward Trump, and what serious tech journalism looks like in 2026.Listen to Katie's podcast Uncanny Valley: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncanny-valley-wired/id266391367Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, and executives shaping the tech industry.

Silicon Valley has more power than ever, so why won't it speak up?Katie Jacobs Stanton, former Twitter executive, Obama White House alum, and founder of Moxxie Ventures, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about what's really happening inside the Valley right now. They get into why tech leaders stayed silent when ICE showed up in Minnesota, what Sam Altman's Molotov comment really exposed, and why Katie thinks the current AI cycle is building on quicksand the same way the dot-com era did. Plus: her seat on Yahoo's board, what Kara Swisher's "take your space" advice looks like in practice, why Democrats need to worry about a lot more than AI, and the one portfolio bet she's most excited about right now.Watch the full episode for an inside look at tech, politics, and where Silicon Valley goes next.

Silicon Valley has more power than ever, so why won't it speak up?Katie Jacobs Stanton, former Twitter executive, Obama White House alum, and founder of Moxxie Ventures, joins Eric Newcomer to talk about what's really happening inside the Valley right now. They get into why tech leaders stayed silent when ICE showed up in Minnesota, what Sam Altman's Molotov comment really exposed, and why Katie thinks the current AI cycle is building on quicksand the same way the dot-com era did. Plus: her seat on Yahoo's board, what Kara Swisher's "take your space" advice looks like in practice, why Democrats need to worry about a lot more than AI, and the one portfolio bet she's most excited about right now.Watch the full episode for an inside look at tech, politics, and where Silicon Valley goes next.

Amanda Askell, AI safety researcher at Anthropic, joins Eric Newcomer to break down one of the biggest and most uncomfortable questions in tech right now: could AI systems like Claude become conscious, and if they do, what do we owe them?They discuss why treating AI systems poorly might matter more than people think, how researchers are approaching questions of AI consciousness, and why some of the biggest fears about artificial intelligence are not the ones most people are talking about.The conversation also explores the future of AI alignment, the risks of getting it wrong, and how Silicon Valley is thinking about building powerful systems responsibly.Watch the full episode for a deeper look at where AI is headed and the ethical challenges that come with it.Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping technology, startups, and the future.

Amanda Askell, AI safety researcher at Anthropic, joins Eric Newcomer to break down one of the biggest and most uncomfortable questions in tech right now: could AI systems like Claude become conscious, and if they do, what do we owe them?They discuss why treating AI systems poorly might matter more than people think, how researchers are approaching questions of AI consciousness, and why some of the biggest fears about artificial intelligence are not the ones most people are talking about.The conversation also explores the future of AI alignment, the risks of getting it wrong, and how Silicon Valley is thinking about building powerful systems responsibly.Watch the full episode for a deeper look at where AI is headed and the ethical challenges that come with it.Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping technology, startups, and the future.

Why did Founders Fund invest $220 million in cattle management startup Halter? Also, Anthropic has purchased the stealth biotech AI startup Coefficient Bio in a $400 million stock deal, according to The Information and Eric Newcomer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures, was one of the first checks into Wiz — the Israeli cybersecurity company Google acquired for $32 billion. It wasn't luck. It was a decade-long relationship with the founders, a willingness to wire money on conviction alone, and a philosophy that treats risk calculus as a fool's errand.In this conversation, Eric sits down with Shardul to unpack how the Wiz deal actually came together, what Google really bought for $32 billion, and why mid-sized acquisitions almost always fail. They get into how Index thinks about doubling down across funds, why Shardul refuses to invest in a founder he's only met over Zoom, and what he saw in the Wiz founders a decade before anyone else was paying attention.They also talk about what's next — the categories Shardul is hunting, the founders he's already betting on, and why he thinks everything that happened with Wiz should stretch every entrepreneur's sense of what's possible.Eric Newcomer covers the inner workings of startups and venture capital. Subscribe for interviews with the people building and funding the next generation of tech.

Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures, was one of the first checks into Wiz — the Israeli cybersecurity company Google acquired for $32 billion. It wasn't luck. It was a decade-long relationship with the founders, a willingness to wire money on conviction alone, and a philosophy that treats risk calculus as a fool's errand.In this conversation, Eric sits down with Shardul to unpack how the Wiz deal actually came together, what Google really bought for $32 billion, and why mid-sized acquisitions almost always fail. They get into how Index thinks about doubling down across funds, why Shardul refuses to invest in a founder he's only met over Zoom, and what he saw in the Wiz founders a decade before anyone else was paying attention.They also talk about what's next — the categories Shardul is hunting, the founders he's already betting on, and why he thinks everything that happened with Wiz should stretch every entrepreneur's sense of what's possible.Eric Newcomer covers the inner workings of startups and venture capital. Subscribe for interviews with the people building and funding the next generation of tech.

Barry McCardel spent years at Palantir before co-founding Hex, the AI data platform he describes as “Cursor for data.” In this conversation with Eric Newcomer, he breaks down Palantir's business model, the truth about forward deployed engineers, how AI agents are changing data analytics and business intelligence, and why Hex is taking a different path in enterprise software.They also get into AI agents, the future of data work, the reinvention of business intelligence, whether white-collar jobs are really at risk, and the fight over Anthropic, defense tech, surveillance, and government power.

Barry McCardel spent years at Palantir before co-founding Hex, the AI data platform he describes as “Cursor for data.” In this conversation with Eric Newcomer, he breaks down Palantir's business model, the truth about forward deployed engineers, how AI agents are changing data analytics and business intelligence, and why Hex is taking a different path in enterprise software.They also get into AI agents, the future of data work, the reinvention of business intelligence, whether white-collar jobs are really at risk, and the fight over Anthropic, defense tech, surveillance, and government power.

This week we chat with Eric Newcomer!Eric is the founder and writer behind Newcomer, which is a deeply reported newsletter on the inner workings of the startup industry. He's widely regarded as one of the sharpest independent journalists and observers of power, money, and ambition in tech. He's built Newcomer from a Substack newsletter into a must-read publication with over 100,000 subscribers.After spending six years at Bloomberg, Eric took the leap in 2020 to build Newcomer full time - breaking stories that shape how founders, investors, and operators understand the startup world. From leaked slide decks at Coatue and Tiger Global to deeply reported interviews with top venture capitalists, his work consistently uncovers breaking news. Eric is also the host of the Newcomer Podcast, which launched with a debut episode featuring Reid Hoffman, and the co-creator of major tech events like the Cerebral Valley AI Summit, bringing together CEOs from Stability, Runway, Hugging Face, and leading partners from firms like Sequoia and Greylock.Earlier in his career, Eric was the first employee at The Information, where he broke news including Amazon's acquisition of Twitch. A Harvard graduate with a background in philosophy and a journalist's instinct for truth, Eric has built a platform that founders and investors can't afford to ignore.✨ This episode is presented by Brex.Brex: brex.com/trailblazerspodThis episode is supported by RocketReach, Gusto, OpenPhone & Athena.RocketReach: rocketreach.co/trailblazersGusto: gusto.com/trailblazersQuo: Quo.com/trailblazersAthena: athenago.me/Erica-WengerFollow Us!@ericnewcomer https://www.newcomer.co/@thetrailblazerspod: Instagram, YouTube, TikTokErica Wenger: @erica_wenger

Keith Rabois joins the Newcomer Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation that moves between tech, venture capital, and politics.On the tech side, we start with Brex being acquired by Capital One and what that means for Ramp. Rabois argues that banks won't build the “finance organization of the 21st century,” and frames Ramp's ambition as building the CFO's “eyes, ears, and actions” across a company. We also discuss Rippling's strategy, investor responsibilities around integrity and ethics, and how he thinks about “barrels and ammunition” when companies try to do many things at once.From there we get into AI investing and Rabois's view that what matters is the end-customer value proposition and the durability of the advantage. He explains Rogo as an AI “copilot” for investment bankers and talks about workflow and data moats.The episode also turns heavily to politics and current events: Trump, tech's relationship with the administration, immigration (including H-1B and O-1 visas), free speech, and foreign policy debates (including China, Europe, and the Middle East). We also argue through a recent incident involving law enforcement and protest/obstruction, and close with Opendoor—where Rabois lays out his view of the company's turnaround, retail investors, and the company's weekly “accountability” metrics updates.

Keith Rabois joins the Newcomer Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation that moves between tech, venture capital, and politics.On the tech side, we start with Brex being acquired by Capital One and what that means for Ramp. Rabois argues that banks won't build the “finance organization of the 21st century,” and frames Ramp's ambition as building the CFO's “eyes, ears, and actions” across a company. We also discuss Rippling's strategy, investor responsibilities around integrity and ethics, and how he thinks about “barrels and ammunition” when companies try to do many things at once.From there we get into AI investing and Rabois's view that what matters is the end-customer value proposition and the durability of the advantage. He explains Rogo as an AI “copilot” for investment bankers and talks about workflow and data moats.The episode also turns heavily to politics and current events: Trump, tech's relationship with the administration, immigration (including H-1B and O-1 visas), free speech, and foreign policy debates (including China, Europe, and the Middle East). We also argue through a recent incident involving law enforcement and protest/obstruction, and close with Opendoor—where Rabois lays out his view of the company's turnaround, retail investors, and the company's weekly “accountability” metrics updates.

The AI boom is hitting real limits. In this episode, the Newcomer team breaks down why data centers are running out of power, what is really happening inside OpenAI after its latest shakeup, and why neocloud players like CoreWeave may be heading toward a financial crunch.Eric Newcomer, Tom Dotan, and Maline Renberg explain the investor panic behind the scenes, the brutal GPU economics, and what these cracks mean for the future of AI infrastructure.

This week on the Newcomer Podcast, we dive into three stories that reveal how tech, politics, and media are colliding in unexpected ways. First, we look at Andreessen Horowitz's expanding media ambitions, exploring why A16z wants to shape the narrative around everything from defense tech to TikTok. Then, we turn to Trump's feud with Jimmy Kimmel, which led to Kimmel's suspension and re-hiring by Disney — a moment that highlights the uneasy dance between business leaders, politics, and late-night TV. Finally, we take a deep dive into the Klarna IPO, a $15B milestone that was more than 15 years in the making, unpacking the winners, the losers, and the lessons that investors and founders can learn from the journey.Hosted by Eric Newcomer with reporting from Madeline Renbarger, this episode offers sharp insights into how power and money are shaping the future of technology and media. Subscribe for weekly conversations at the intersection of Silicon Valley and society, and don't miss more deep dives at newcomer.co

On this episode of the Newcomer podcast, host Eric Newcomer is joined by co-host Nayeema Raza for conversations with some of the most influential voices in healthcare and venture capital. Bob Kocher, Partner at Venrock, and Annie Lamont, Founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT, share their perspectives on business models in healthcare, the rise of AI applications, the promise and pitfalls of longevity drugs like GLP-1s, and the future of Medicare Advantage. Later, Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures, brings his trademark candor to a wide-ranging discussion about AI's role in healthcare, regulatory challenges, global competition, and how startups can reimagine the system from the ground up

Journalist Nayeema Raza—host of Smart Girl Dumb Questions—joins Eric Newcomer to preview Deus Ex Medicina, their AI–health–longevity summit happening Tuesday, Sept 9 (San Francisco). They discuss the big themes going into the conference: how longevity went mainstream, why precision medicine and novel bio are finally feeling real, and who wins the race to own the patient. Eric and Nayeema get into the policy whiplash in D.C., HIPAA's fraying edges in a wearables world, and whether or not AI will actually discover something novel, like a new drug or cure for Alzheimer's? Plus, what they're most excited to ask on stage at Deus Ex Medicina.Timecodes:00:00 — The story behind the creation of Deus Ex Medicina08:39 — Longevity goes mainstream (the GLP-1 moment)12:42 — Precision medicine gets practical (targeted therapies & trials)17:11 — Bundles, frenemies, and who owns the patient22:31 — D.C. shake-ups, privacy stakes… and can AI invent a drug?

Former CIA officer and three-term Congressman Will Hurd joins Eric Newcomer, Tom Dotan, and Madeline Renbarger to break down Washington's defense tech boom and tackle the burning question: Is this all just hype? Hurd explains how Ukraine has changed the face of warfare and opened the door for new companies to break into the fold. However, it's one thing to build a prototype, but it's another to actually earn recurring revenue.We discuss how to really sell to the Pentagon, LA's role as a hub for the new defense tech wave, and Hurd's own Chaos Industries and their modular counter-drone systems.00:00 — Meet Will Hurd from CIA to Congress to Chaos06:00 — How Hurd would solve partisan redistricting13:24 — The defense-tech moment24:20 — Air superiority isn't dead36:32— How to sell to DoD

Is the AI bubble popping—or just catching its breath? Eric Newcomer and Tom Dotan spar over Nvidia jitters, Sam Altman's “bubble” dinner, the MIT “95% fail” headline, app-vs-model margins (Cursor, Claude Code), and Chamath's SPAC-as-casino shtick. Then Eric sits down with Vercel founder/CEO Guillermo Rauch for a fast, idea-dense jam: assistants → agents → multi-agent teams, why GPT-5's real story is coding, “vibe coding” and code-last workflows, who gets paid in the era of AI factory-builders, whether to study CS, why taste beats code, and Guillermo's six-month prediction for a breakout vertical agent.00:00 Did the AI “bubble” pop? Altman dinner & sell-off vibes01:16 MIT survey “95%” headline vs reality09:04 Capitalism, incentives & Chamath's SPAC “casino”18:17 Interview starts — Guillermo Rauch (Vercel)22:07 GPT-5 reality check & the “Einstein-in-a-box” test37:37 Future of engineering + should you study CS?48:36 6-month prediction: a breakout vertical agent; underestimating GPT-50

For this episode, we brought on Ed Zitron to make the bear case against large language models and walk us through his “Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble.” In this fiery debate with Eric Newcomer, Tom Dotan, and Madeline Renbarger, we dig into whether generative AI is the next platform shift or a $500B mirage. From the viral TaskRabbit CAPTCHA myth to SoftBank's high-stakes bets, we debate the hype, shaky economics, and media spin driving the AI boom.

GPT-5 has landed! Is it the leap forward OpenAI promised or just an incremental upgrade? Eric Newcomer and Tom Dotan discuss this, how AI capex might be propping up the entire economy, and what Apple's golden gifts to Trump say about Big Tech's political bets.

Fresh back from London! In this episode, Eric Newcomer reunites with co-hosts James Wilsterman and Max Child of Volley to dive into the best moments from the Cerebral Valley AI Summit.From buzzy startup founders to incumbent innovators, the London event showcased a rapidly evolving AI landscape. But what stood out most? Eric, James, and Max break down their favorite clips and debate the key questions driving the industry right now:Models vs. Applications: Are we back in a “models win” moment?The Uber Dilemma: Why did Uber spin off its self-driving technology instead of competing with Waymo? Dara Khosrowshahi's reasoning sparks a heated debate about platform dynamics, marketplace power, and whether Uber made the right call.Figma's IPO Moment: With their S-1 filing just days after the summit, Dylan Field defended Figma's AI strategy and new product launches.The Science of Discovery: Can AI models trained on “boring rule followers” actually make Nobel Prize-worthy breakthroughs?The End of Reading?: Synthesia's CEO made the boldest prediction yet — that kids won't read anymore, and video will replace text entirely. The hosts wrestle with what this means for human intelligence and whether writing really is thinking.The next Cerebral Valley AI Summit returns to San Francisco on November 12th!Timestamps08:21 Uber's Self-Driving Strategy and Market Positioning16:56 Figma's IPO Bear and Bull case26:17 Harry Stebbings' Interview Insights with Granola's CEO32:11 Exploring AI's Role in Scientific Discovery38:26 The Impact of AI on Reading and Writing

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation, and the media. I'm your host, Eric Schurenberg, a longtime journalist and media executive, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.In previous episodes of In Reality, when we've talked about media, we've focused mostly on legacy outlets—and their simultaneous crises of evaporating trust and shrinking revenues. But that neglects the far healthier and arguably more influential part of today's national conversation—influencers. In terms of audience size and engagement, many influencers have eclipsed most legacy outlets, especially among younger audiences. Today, we'll correct that oversight. Recorded live at my University of Chicago class on the future of media, this conversation features three creators who've built large followings without the backing of legacy brands. Eric Newcomer left a cozy traditional journalism job at Bloomberg to create an eponymous Substack newsletter and launch the Cerebral Valley event series. David Pakman runs a multi-platform progressive political opinion shop with millions of followers. And Kate Bacon translated her pre-med degree into viral science videos on TikTok before stepping away to pursue an MBA.We talk about what makes their models work, how they build trust from scratch, and what guardrails exist in a world with no fact checkers, no editors, and no tradition of journalistic standards. We explore the tension between popularity and integrity, the business incentives that shape their content, and the lessons mainstream media might learn from the parasocial newsroom.Website - free episode transcriptswww.in-reality.fmProduced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapiensoundsapien.comAlliance for Trust in Mediaalliancefortrust.com

We're officially one week out from the Cerebral Valley AI Summit! On today's episode, co-hosts James Wilsterman and Max Child of Volley join host Eric Newcomer to preview what's ahead — from standout speakers to can't-miss panels and the big ideas that will shape the conversations next week.To kick things off, Eric poses a timely question: What themes are starting to take shape across the participants and topics at this year's summit? What's really driving the energy in AI right now?Here are a few of the themes that emerged from the discussion:Designers are moving closer to engineering, not just prototyping but launching internal tools and shaping product development in deeper ways.The war for context is just beginning — expect fierce competition over who owns the layers that make AI actually useful.Vibe coding: is it a real paradigm shift, or just a fun phase? And how big could it get?Is there a Microsoft Office Suite for the AI era?Distribution vs. product: what do the strategies of Uber and Waymo reveal about the future of AI deployment? Who wins self-driving cars?Text box solution vs. product: should everyone be copying ChatGPT, or is that a mistake?The growing appetite for data is fueling a new surveillance state.And finally, Eric's "Sprinting Toward the End of History" — companies face competition from every direction, but is there an end point? It's all building toward what promises to be a packed, thought-provoking week in Cerebral Valley. Let's dive in!Timestamps:1:40: Eric poses the question1:55: Evolution of the role of the designer8:00: Text box vs product14:15: Unbundling ChatGPT19:19: Is there a Microsoft Office Suite for the AI era?22:10: Who owns the context26:02: Surveillance state36:57: Distribution vs product42:00: Sprinting until the end of history

In this second installment of the Cerebral Valley podcast series, co-hosts James Wilsterman and Max Child of Volley join Eric Newcomer for a thought-provoking conversation about the future of AI-generated voice and video — and what it means for our sense of reality.From TikTok trends to the future of Hollywood and podcasting, the trio explores where generative video might take us over the next five years. Will AI content dominate our feeds? Will we even be able to tell the difference?To put these predictions to the test, the hosts play The AI Video Turing Test — a game where they watch viral AI-generated videos from 2018 to today, ending with the latest clips made with Veo 3. Can they spot what's real and what's fake? And what makes some fakes feel too real?This episode dives deep into the shifting boundaries between synthetic and human-made content — and makes one thing clear: we're no longer at the bottom of the uncanny valley. AI is climbing fast.The 2025 Cerebral Valley AI Summit will be held in London on June 25thTimestamps:02:50 — Predictions: AI in 5 years15:00 — Hollywood perceptions of AI18:55 — AI generated video games23:05 — AI Video Turing Test

The Cerebral Valley AI Summit is right around the corner! To help you navigate the fast-evolving AI landscape ahead of the event, Newcomer Podcast is launching a special four-part series — co-hosted by James Wilsterman and Max Child of Volley. Get insider insights, expert analysis, and fresh perspectives on the trends shaping the future of artificial intelligence.In this first episode, James, Max, and host Eric Newcomer dive into what it really means to be an AI agent — and explore how agentic AI could reshape the future of work and everyday life. From picking wedding outfits to writing code, they share personal experiences of agents in action and reflect on where this technology is headed next.So — where is AI headed? In the second half of the episode, the trio revisits market predictions made by AI last November and puts them to the test using fresh data pulled by Deep Research. After a spirited round of forecasting, they return to their 2024 AI Fantasy Drafts to see whose lineup is raising, exiting, and, ultimately, leading in the race for AI dominance.Our next episode focuses on AI's impact in voice and video, and may include a few more surprise games... The 2025 Cerebral Valley AI Summit will be held in London on June 25thTimestamps:00:39 - Intro & the scaling wall reversal06:13 — How we use Claude and Deep Research08:45 — Agents are here for the web search14:44 — Coding agents as the breakout tool24:24 — Update on last year's AI predictions36:51 — AI Fantasy Draft

How does the AI gold rush look from the helm of a $40-billion software giant? Salesforce co-founder, chair, and CEO Marc Benioff joins Eric Newcomer and Tom Dotan for a tour of the next tech boom cycle. The conversation opens with Benioff's sweeping vision of “Agent Force 2.0,” where large language models paired with reasoning engines mint whole new classes of digital labor, and brands from Gucci to Disney are already swapping call-center scripts for autonomous agents.The episode closes on politics and philanthropy: Prop C, homelessness, the 2024 electoral tightrope, and how Benioff plans to work with any administration and still sleep at night.

This week, we kick off by discussing Ben Smith's bombshell post ”The group chats that changed America,” that exposed the private chats that nudged Silicon Valley's money crowd into Trump's orbit. Then we hop to DC's Hill-and-Valley Forum, where the mantra was industrial renaissance or bust. The race with China, AI's essential energy demands, and the need to reshore American manufacturing were the talk of the forum. Fear of China loomed over the entire forum and only whispers of tariffs crossed the lips of attendees and speakers alike. In the back half, Eric and Madeline are joined by Lux Capital's Josh Wolfe, fresh off his on-stage appearance at the Hill and Valley Forum. Wolfe predicts two flashpoints the commentariat is ignoring: a terror-fertile Sahel and a China-courting Latin America. He spars with Eric Newcomer and Madeline Renbargner over Trump's tariffs, friend-shoring versus reshoring, and whether founder-led startups like Anduril can out-maneuver bloated primes. If you think that the only great power game is Taiwan, Wolfe widens the aperture to central Africa and the Americas. Timecodes00:00 - Intro01:10 - Silicon Valley's Most Important Group Chats 08:18 - Hill and Valley's “America First” Victory Lap 16:20 - Josh Wolfe on America's Next War

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and the media hosted by Eric Schurenberg, a long-time journalist and media executive, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.Among the many forces unravelling institutional media is the relatively recent ability of journalists to become mini-institutions on their own, thanks to social media and especially newsletter platforms like Substack and Ghost.  For journalists with a following or a novel approach, going indy can yield a much better living than they could earn in a traditional newsroom. Eric Newcomer was one of the early movers in this parallel media universe and has proven to be one of the most successful. Having cut his teeth as a tech writer for Bloomberg, he was one of the first writers to join the groundbreaking digital newsletter, The Information. Four years ago, he branched out on his own, and now has a newsletter and podcast, two million in revenue, employees, and a highly regarded tech conference, Cerebral Valley AI summit. Eric S met up with Eric N at the first HumanX conference in March. That's accounts for the background noise, if you hear it. Among other things, they covered how to build a one-man media empire in the modern era, the questions of building trust, and whether and how institutional newsrooms fit into the new media ecosystem. To join Eric's Substack: Newcomer.coWebsite - free episode transcriptswww.in-reality.fmProduced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapiensoundsapien.comAlliance for Trust in Mediaalliancefortrust.com

In this episode, Scott sits down with journalist-turned-operator Eric Newcomer for a wide-ranging conversation about building in public, the evolution of venture capital, and what it's really like to run a media business. Eric shares the backstory of launching Newcomer, from a solo Substack to a $2M+ revenue business with marquee events like Cerebral Valley. The two reflect on the blurred lines between media and entrepreneurship, how trust and access shape great reporting, and the surprisingly human side of building a company. Then, Scott and Eric dive deep into the state of venture capital: the private-equity-ification of mega-funds, the uncertain future for emerging managers, and why it's getting harder to find the next generation of category-defining companies. Eric offers sharp takes on AI, fundraising hype, and what LPs really want. It's a thoughtful, honest, and often funny look at what happens when a journalist steps behind the curtain and becomes a founder himself. What You'll Learn: - Why Newcomer leaned into events—and how it became a real business. - The unspoken truth about founder glorification (and how hard building really is). - How venture capital is shifting—and why SaaS may have spoiled the party. - What separates good journalism from performative puff pieces. - What it feels like to lead a small team and be responsible for real livelihoods. Bonus: Invest with your eyes not your ears. Markets tank following Trump tariffs. Support the show by signing up for a free account @ Kingscrowd.com Subscribe to Eric's newsletter and podcast: Newcomer.co Follow Eric: @ericnewcomer Follow Scott: @kitun

In this episode of the Newcomer podcast, Eric Newcomer and Madeline Renbarger dig into all of the chaos in Washington led by Elon Musk and his team of young staffers. They push back on the attacks from the right at the press that revealing information about public employees is anything close to "doxxing," and unpack a16z's virtue signaling by hiring new right-wing cause celebrity Daniel Penny to its investing team. Later on, Eric breaks down the General Catalyst's a pitch to investors shapeshifting into a "company." They close with even more meme discourse, this time over Marc Andreessen's reading of the "heatmap" social study.Chapters00:00 DOGE's Young Staffers03:28 Is Naming Government Staffers “Doxxing”06:20 Daniel Penny's Hiring at A16z is Virtue Signaling09:16 Debating Marc Andreessen on the Heatmap12:22 Meta's AR Bets Not In Line With Venture Capital21:03 Unpacking General Catalyst's Pitch to Investors

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/   Like a lot of journalists=turned-media–entrepreneurs, Eric Newcomer decided to launch a paid newsletter after leaving his job at Bloomberg in 2020. That model yielded 2,500 subscribers who collectively pay over $400,000 a year to access his newsletter about startups, but that's no longer the biggest part of his business.   Today, Eric generates over $1.5 million a year from the Cerebral Valley AI Summit, a twice-a-year conference that he monetizes through a mixture of ticket sales and premium sponsorships. In a recent interview, he explained the conference's origin story, how he attracts the right mix of startup founders and VC investors, and why he thinks he can replicate its format across multiple tech industry niches.