Podcast appearances and mentions of Marc Andreessen

John Odermatt, Lou Perez, and Brian McWilliams kick off the episode with a viral story about a YouTube couple who publicly live-streamed learning their unborn child tested positive for Down syndrome — and subsequently aborted the pregnancy. The hosts debate the ethics of turning deeply personal medical decisions into content, the accuracy of prenatal testing, and what they see as hypocrisy in progressive attitudes toward human life. The conversation transitions into the LA mayoral race, with mail-in ballot counting dragging on and potentially shifting results. The episode closes with a look at Bernie Sanders' proposed American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a 50% tax on AI company stock and redistribute proceeds to citizens, and the hosts compare it to what Marc Andreessen allegedly described as the Biden administration's attempt to limit and control the AI industry. Chapters 0:00 – Intro & Cold Open 0:35 – Co-host Brian's New Baby & Fundraiser Jokes 2:32 – YouTuber's Down Syndrome Reveal Video 4:14 – Prenatal Testing & Personal Stories 9:16 – Down Syndrome, Abortion Ethics & Hypocrisy Debate 18:19 – LA Mayoral Race Overview: Bass, Pratt & Raman 21:21 – Mail-In Ballots, Vote Counting & Ballot Harvesting 27:43 – Spencer Pratt's Path Forward & California's Future 33:21 – Bernie Sanders' AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act 36:14 – Biden Administration & Marc Andreessen on AI Control 40:27 – Show Close & Upcoming Events Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is about an ambitious project to erect an entire new city in California, from scratch, about a one-hour drive north of San Francisco.The company that wants to build this city is called California Forever. It has bought about 70,000 acres of land in Solano County, starting in 2017. That's about the size of two San Franciscos or one-and-a-half Miamis.What California Forever wants the city to be is two things.First: an urbanist, walkable city of about 400,000-500,000 people; zoned for density instead of suburban sprawl, with housing to rent or buy that's affordable to middle income families; cool amenities; and located in a place where you would not expect to find it.Second: a tech manufacturing center, with new factories making actual physical stuff, and a big shipbuilding operation. A place that creates new jobs and businesses and tax revenues for the people that move there and the surrounding communities.Any project like this is immensely complicated, having to figure out transportation, engineering and logistical problems, waste disposal, how to attract people and businesses to the city, navigate local politics and how city governance is gonna work.Above all, California Forever has to figure out how to build something new and urban in California — a state with lots of wonderful stuff but also a place that's known for its NIMBY dynamics, high taxes, zoned for suburban sprawl and single-family homes, endless regulatory or environmental reviews, water issues, union negotiations.The country needs more experiments like this. And many states, not just California, need to discover, or rediscover, the virtues of making it easier to create new housing and businesses, build factories, attract people, and just do stuff generally. And even if this project doesn't work out, at least the rest of us get to learn the valuable economic and social lessons of what works and what doesn't.Although Cardiff is rooting for the project to succeed, he also has quite a few questions about it. And it just so happens that this episode's guest is exactly the person who can answer those questions. Jan Sramek is the Founder and CEO of California Forever. He started the company with the backing of tech investors and founders including John and Patrick Collison, Laurene Powell, Marc Andreessen, Michael Moritz, and a few others.Related links: California Forever websiteCalifornia Forever project overview deckClear a path for sweeping urban experiments such as California Forever (LAT)A City Is Broke. Can Billionaires' Urbanist Dream Offer It a Last Chance? (NYT)

John Odermatt, Lou Perez, and Brian McWilliams kick off the episode with a viral story about a YouTube couple who publicly live-streamed learning their unborn child tested positive for Down syndrome — and subsequently aborted the pregnancy. The hosts debate the ethics of turning deeply personal medical decisions into content, the accuracy of prenatal testing, and what they see as hypocrisy in progressive attitudes toward human life. The conversation transitions into the LA mayoral race, with mail-in ballot counting dragging on and potentially shifting results. The episode closes with a look at Bernie Sanders' proposed American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a 50% tax on AI company stock and redistribute proceeds to citizens, and the hosts compare it to what Marc Andreessen allegedly described as the Biden administration's attempt to limit and control the AI industry. Chapters 0:00 – Intro & Cold Open 0:35 – Co-host Brian's New Baby & Fundraiser Jokes 2:32 – YouTuber's Down Syndrome Reveal Video 4:14 – Prenatal Testing & Personal Stories 9:16 – Down Syndrome, Abortion Ethics & Hypocrisy Debate 18:19 – LA Mayoral Race Overview: Bass, Pratt & Raman 21:21 – Mail-In Ballots, Vote Counting & Ballot Harvesting 27:43 – Spencer Pratt's Path Forward & California's Future 33:21 – Bernie Sanders' AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act 36:14 – Biden Administration & Marc Andreessen on AI Control 40:27 – Show Close & Upcoming Events Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠Geoff Ralston⁠⁠ built Rocket Mail before Yahoo Mail existed, built Lala before Spotify worked in America, sat in Steve Jobs' living room to get an acquisition approved, and ran Y Combinator as President. Now he says the most important thing he's ever worked on is making sure AI doesn't kill us.In this episode with ⁠⁠Kyriakos Eleftheriou⁠⁠, Geoff speaks about YC, SAIF, the Yahoo acquisition, and the top learnings after decades in silicon valley00:00 Introduction03:45 The $70K bet that built Sand Hill Road06:07 Early to every wave06:59 "The most important thing I've ever worked on"08:18 Timing is luck. Here's how to get lucky anyway10:46 Quitting HP the day he saw the Mosaic browser15:39 Paul Graham's "packets of cash" acquisition rule19:35 The Yahoo revolt that almost killed the deal33:45 Zuck killed Facebook Music in one sentence39:05 Why Steve Jobs offered him a job — and why he said no45:40 Running Y Combinator50:37 Steve Jobs' real superpower54:06 Why AI is more dangerous than people think01:01:15 Peter Thiel is wrong about competition01:03:31 Marc Andreessen is wrong about introspection--Full podcast and writeup → Geoff Ralston on early YC, AI risk, and why Thiel is wrong about competition

Inspired by how horrible Canadian business Kevin O'Leary is. Mr. P. brings us a tier list of the top 20 worsts balds (and 5 good ones.) From Jeff Bezos, Steven Miller, Fetterman, Joe Rogan to the sleeper bald of Donald Trump and Putin. We cover their greed, Jealousy and war crimes but have hope that among the damned theres a few emotionally luscious balds as well. GET THE CUTE GARDENING MERCH HERE:

Watch the YouTube version of this episode HEREIn this episode of Maximum Lawyer Live, Tyson Mutrux riffs on a short clip from Marc Andreessen to show you exactly what the near future of legal work looks like: you managing 20+ AI agents instead of a bloated human team.Tyson shares how he and Kashef became “AI vampires” while building Foxy, their new case management system, taking shifts in Bolt, wiring up back-end tools like Supabase and GitHub, and literally waking up in the middle of the night to see what the agents had shipped.Tyson also uses a wild example from the Los Angeles mayoral race to show how a lesser-known candidate is using AI to close the gap on an incumbent with more money and name recognition, and why the same thing is about to happen in your market if you don't level up.If you want a real-time window into the future of law firm operations, months, not years, away and what it means for your hiring, compensation, and leadership, this episode will give you the play-by-play.AI isn't just making knowledge workers more efficient; it's creating “AI vampires” who are so productive with agents that they don't want to stop working and law firms are next. The job of the law firm owner is shifting from managing people who do tasks to managing fleets of agents that run entire workflows.In this episode, you'll learn:The “AI vampire” phenomenon in Silicon Valley and why lawyers should careHow building Foxy turned Tyson and Kashef into round‑the‑clock AI tinkerersWhy AI has unlocked a backlog of “someday” projects that used to require an armyHow AI is already leveling up political campaigns, and why that matters for your marketingThe coming split between AI‑fluent team members and everyone elseWhy top performers who master AI will see their compensation go up while total headcount goes downThe next 12–24 months of legal work: people managing agents, and then agents managing agentsHighlights0:00 – Tyson tosses the original topic and pivots to Marc Andreessen's “AI vampire” clip1:30 – How Emma, Jackson, and Hudson's school transitions mirror the transitions coming to your firm2:40 – Andreessen on coders becoming four to twenty times more productive with AI4:30 – Tyson's Foxy build: taking shifts in Bolt, wiring up Supabase and GitHub, and waking up at night to check the agents6:00 – The physical toll: exhaustion, bags under the eyes, and why Tyson finally pulled back8:30 – The Wall Street friend who used AI to generate 500,000 lines of code and fully automate his home10:00 – Why AI is for idea people: shipping long‑stalled projects with a few prompts12:45 – The elasticity of demand: when code (or legal work) becomes cheap, demand explodes15:00 – What this means for law firms: massive improvements in marketing, intake, litigation, and operations17:40 – The LA mayoral race example and how AI helps underdogs punch above their weight19:00 – The salary shakeup: AI‑effective team members vs. everyone else20:20 – The true “window into the future”: managing 20 agents for discovery, service, med records, and more21:00 – Tough calls: do you eliminate roles or shift people into high‑touch client service?22:00 – Final takeaway: your future job is managing agents and investing in the humans who can do the same

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKYKHBdO6-I Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Onkar Ghate and Tristan de Liège analyze Marc Andreesen's recent controversial comments rejecting introspection. Topics include: What introspection really is Introspection and success Introspection and moral responsibility Earned and unearned guilt Resources:  The Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on Introspection This episode was recorded on May 13, 2026. Image credit: Michael Kovac / Stringer / via Getty Images

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026. Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com.... Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI's revenue numbers come out ahead of its potential IPO filing 2) Why is OpenAI considering going public now? 3) Is OpenAI trying to IPO ahead of Anthropic? 4) Is the Iran War accelerating the timeline of these fundraisings? 5) What would the top of the AI boom look like? 6) SpaceX files for an IPO 7) Are datacenters in space a myth? 8) Eric Schmidt gets booed at a college commencement 9) Meta's mass layoff 10) Meta's keystroke tracking rationale 11) Marc Andreessen says AI won't file a HR complaint --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here's 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI didn't replace the coder. It turned them into something that stays awake. The agents keep moving after the body has tried to close. They treat the hours once reserved for rest as available surface, and the only one left to witness what they decide is the person who can no longer afford to look away. What begins as a tool ends as a demand on the hours the skull once used to shut.Call in live during the show: 702-857-6939 Full archive of 1,100+ episodes: troubledminds.org

It's an Emmajority Report Thursday on The Majority Report On today's program: Donald Trump says that Benjamin Netanyahu is a great guy who is being treated very poorly. The president goes on to brag about his approval rating in Israel then jokes about running for Prime Minister after he finishes his term. The New York Times publishes polls that show a huge generational gap in support for Israel. This data is supported by Israeli Lobby backed Ed Gallrein's recent victory over incumbent Thomas Massie despite losing every single age group aside from 65 and up. Polling shows that Trump's approval rating with people who did not vote in 2024 is at a net negative 50 points. Dr. Jostein Hauge, Assistant Professor at Cambridge University and publisher of the Global Currents newsletter joins the program to reflect on the recent China summit. Candidate for Colorado's 1st Congressional District, Melat Kiros joins the show to discuss her campaign. Host of the A Bit Fruity Podcast, Matt Bernstein joins MR to discuss his recent interview with Emma Vigeland and Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow. McMorrow really didn't seem to like Emma's line of questioning. In the Fun Half: Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder join. The GOP is watering at the mouth for regime change in Cuba. Rep. James Comer wants you to imagine what Cuba would do if they were magically stocked with weapons. John Kennedy says that Cuba steals all of their money James Talarico has Trump and Ken Paxton shaking in their boots so much that they are resorting to childish name calling. Joe Rogan has an anti-human fantasy session with techno-villain Marc Andreessen. All that and more. To connect and organize with your local ICE rapid response team visit ICERRT.com The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: SHOPIFY: Sign up for a $1/month at shopify.com/majority SUNSET LAKE CBD: Starting today, you can save 35% on your favorite CBD Oil Tinctures with the coupon code Memorial26 at SunsetLakeCBD.com Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.

Dave Rubin of "The Rubin Report" talks about JD Vance silencing ABC News' Jonathan Karl with the facts about the Trump administration's Anti-Weaponization Fund that aims to help citizens who were unfairly targeted by the lawfare of the Biden administration's Department of Justice; JD Vance explaining clearly why Thomas Massie was defeated after Trump endorsed Ed Gallrein in the contentious Kentucky House race; CNN's Ana Navarro getting abruptly silenced after Scott Jennings stumped her with one question about her attack on Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund; "Real Time with Bill Maher" guest David French getting corrected by Bill Maher for his one-sided attempt at blaming the political right for the political polarization in America; Joe Rogan and Marc Andreessen ripping into Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's nonsensical arguments about how billionaires acquire their wealth; Fox News revealing the leaked details of a JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's secret meeting with Zohran Mamdani where he warned him of the massive capital flight and exodus out of New York City due to his tax the rich policies; and much more. Join me for a LIVE Event with Governor Ron DeSantis, plus special appearances by Ben Shapiro, Jillian Michaels, and Adam Carolla on June 11th! Get Tickets Here: https://daverubin.com/events WATCH the MEMBER-EXCLUSIVE segment of the show here: https://rubinreport.locals.com/ Check out the NEW RUBIN REPORT MERCH here: https://daverubin.store/ ---------- Today's Sponsors: Angel Studios - Choose entertainment that is focused on stories about family, perseverance, and real human experiences. Things that feel grounded and actually worth your time.Join during our big Memorial Day sale right now and if you go premium, you get two free tickets to every theatrical release, including Young Washington coming July 3 for America's 250th birthday. Go to:  http://Angel.com/rubin Tax Network USA - If you owe back taxes or have unfiled returns, don't let the government take advantage of you. Do not wait for another IRS letter or a frozen bank account. Call 1(866) 685-6604  for a private, free consultation or Go to: https://tnusa.com/dave

Marc Andreessen joins Joe Rogan for a conversation on AI, politics, technology, and the future of American society. They discuss how artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from novelty to infrastructure, and why Andreessen believes its long-term impact will be overwhelmingly positive despite growing public fear around automation and surveillance. The conversation covers the explosion of AI coding tools, the emergence of “AI agents,” and how these systems are already reshaping software development, medicine, and education. Andreessen argues that AI should be understood less as replacement technology and more as a universal layer of cognitive augmentation, giving individuals access to capabilities that previously required teams of experts. They also discuss the political and cultural dynamics surrounding AI, from fears about mass unemployment and surveillance to concerns about censorship, centralized power, and China's accelerating AI ecosystem. Along the way, the discussion expands into California politics, wealth taxes, urban decline, crime, housing, nuclear energy, and whether America can still build ambitious things at scale.   Resources: Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://x.com/pmarca Follow Joe Rogan on X: https://x.com/joerogan Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This month on Laura Flanders and Friends, we're revisiting conversations around work, workers, and the Labor Movement on the Move.  This week we explore how workers and their allies are confronting authoritarianism—and building power from the ground up. This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate DESCRIPTION [Original Release Date July 9, 2025]:  The United States is moving towards authoritarianism, but there is still a window of opportunity to reverse course. What could improve the chances of re-balancing power in the nation, and advancing towards that multiracial democracy that many still dream of? The answer is worker organizing, say Alex Han and Tarso Luís Ramos. "When we look at the history of U-turns from democratic backsliding to democratic revival, the success rate is about 50 percent," says Ramos. "Where there's active, vibrant union participation, the odds go up to about 80 percent." So what's holding Labor back? In early May of 2025, Laura sat down with Ramos and Han at a conference on “Labor in the Age of Authoritarian Politics”, held at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) in New York. Ramos is a leading expert on the U.S. Right Wing and former Executive Director of Political Research Associates. He now serves as Senior Advisor to Future Currents, a strategic planning group of social and economic justice leaders. Han has spent most of his adult life in the labor movement, as an organizer and elected president of a large Chicago local. In 2023, he became Executive Director of In These Times, the long-running Chicago-based progressive magazine. In the wake of mass layoffs and the abduction of Kilmar Abrego García, a union member wrongly exported to El Salvador and now held in Tennessee, can enough workers and their allies band together to make a difference? “I think of all of these times where I've shown up at a protest and I know every single person there. When that happens, I know we're not winning today.” - Alex Han “I think the coup that we did not prepare for was the force accelerator that most people experience as DOGE. It's the Musk and Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen set of actors . . . They're interested in ringing the profits out of the public sector, and they're interested in accelerating the demise of civilian governance altogether.” - Tarso Luís Ramos Guests: Alex  Han: Executive Director, In These Times Tarso Luís Ramos: Senior Adviser, Political Research Associates; Senior Fellow, Future Currents   RESOURCES: - Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel Sundays 11:30am ET, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode) and airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast. Full Episode Notes are located HERE.    Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes: •. Labor Movement v. Fascism: Worker Organizers & Labor Educators Are Under Attack [Special Report]  Watch  / Listen:  Episode • Masha Gessen and Jason Stanley:  Is It Doomsday for U.S. Democracy? - Watch / LISTEN: episode &/or full conversation •  Naomi Klein & Astra Taylor:  Are Ee Entering "End Times Fascism?"  - Watch / LISTEN:  episode &/or full conversation • Bernie Sanders & AOC:  "Fighting Oligarchy" with People Power [Special Report] - Watch / LISTEN: episode • Bernie Sanders "Fighting Oligarchy" LISTEN:  Full Uncut Conversation • 'God & Country': Rob Reiner & Dan Partland on the Rise of Christian Nationalism in U.S. Politics - Watch / LISTEN:  episode &/or full conversation   Related Articles and Resources: In These Times magazine Political Research Associates Future Currents Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Marc Andreessen is a co-founder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, co-creator of the Mosaic internet browser and co-founder of Netscape, and author of “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto.”www.youtube.com/@a16zhttps://pmarca.substack.comhttps://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/www.a16z.com Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Great Coffee, Great Mission – Black Rifle Coffee is America's Coffee. Visit https://blackriflecoffee.com/joerogan today to get 30% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Browder is my favourite emerging manager. As the Founder of Browder Capital he has been the first check into unicorns like Micro1, Owner.com and Yuzu Health to name a few. He turned his Thiel Fellowship Grant of $100K into a whopping $10M angel portfolio. All new investments move into Josh's Four Seasons Residence where he then trains them on company building. They are only allowed to leave when they raise their seed round. In addition to this, Josh is the Founder & CEO @ DoNotPay, the now profitable company that has raised $22M from Marc Andreessen and others.  AGENDA: 00:00 Why I believe young founders make the best founders 02:10 What do I look for in founders I'm investing in? 10:00 How I test for founder commitment pre-investment 11:00 What do I want to see in the childhoods of the entrepreneurs that I back? 12:05 Why I make founders live with me in my Four Seasons residence after investing 14:00 There are three reasons why pre-seed companies fail and how I solve for them 15:45 What do I look for in a team to assure me they will last? 16:50 Is $5 million post still attainable in this world? 17:15 Should we be worried about the increasing levels of fraud at the early stages? 18:10 Which Silicon Valley investor was the most impressive? 20:00 Do VCs really add value? 20:50 Does university carry less value than ever and should founders drop out if they have a dream and an idea? 24:00 The advice of one lawyer changed the entire trajectory of this multi-million dollar company 28:10 I would never invest in someone that I met over Zoom 29:20 Are all the best founders you invest in delusional? 31:10 What is the biggest benefit of being a Thiel Fellow? 36:20 The problem of accelerators and why artificial constraints can enforce quality 38:20 How we used Mark Zuckerberg's house as a viewing instrument tool to get users 41:20 My pre-seed cheque in Micro One is now worth hundreds of millions and my lessons 43:20 The biggest mistake VCs are making in assessing founders 44:10 Why I will never tell the entrepreneur what to build and why I place little value on ideas 47:00 Why kingmaking is real and why you should accept half the price from a tier one firm 49:00 My biggest lessons on reserve investing 53:00 Why price rounds are bullshit and we should do more SAFEs 54:20 What all founders need to know about signing with a VC 55:10 Single biggest advice to founders on how to get the best price 57:30 What role does not exist today that will be massive in five years' time? 59:10 Stocks are bullshit. Cash is bullshit. I put my money in land. My personal investing strategy 1:01:00 Why the Trump administration is unwaveringly good for US business 1:03:20 Why competitive markets are the best investments 1:05:40 The serendipity of San Francisco is unmatched 1:08:10 What things does no one know about Marc Andreessen that everyone should know?  

This month on Laura Flanders and Friends, we're revisiting conversations around work, workers, and the Labor Movement on the Move.  This week we explore how workers and their allies are confronting authoritarianism—and building power from the ground up. Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters. DESCRIPTION [Original Release Date July 9, 2025]:  The United States is moving towards authoritarianism, but there is still a window of opportunity to reverse course. What could improve the chances of re-balancing power in the nation, and advancing towards that multiracial democracy that many still dream of? The answer is worker organizing, say Alex Han and Tarso Luís Ramos. "When we look at the history of U-turns from democratic backsliding to democratic revival, the success rate is about 50 percent," says Ramos. "Where there's active, vibrant union participation, the odds go up to about 80 percent." So what's holding Labor back? In early May of 2025, Laura sat down with Ramos and Han at a conference on “Labor in the Age of Authoritarian Politics”, held at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) in New York. Ramos is a leading expert on the U.S. Right Wing and former Executive Director of Political Research Associates. He now serves as Senior Advisor to Future Currents, a strategic planning group of social and economic justice leaders. Han has spent most of his adult life in the labor movement, as an organizer and elected president of a large Chicago local. In 2023, he became Executive Director of In These Times, the long-running Chicago-based progressive magazine. In the wake of mass layoffs and the abduction of Kilmar Abrego García, a union member wrongly exported to El Salvador and now held in Tennessee, can enough workers and their allies band together to make a difference? “I think of all of these times where I've shown up at a protest and I know every single person there. When that happens, I know we're not winning today.” - Alex Han “I think the coup that we did not prepare for was the force accelerator that most people experience as DOGE. It's the Musk and Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen set of actors . . . They're interested in ringing the profits out of the public sector, and they're interested in accelerating the demise of civilian governance altogether.” - Tarso Luís Ramos Guests: Alex  Han: Executive Director, In These Times Tarso Luís Ramos: Senior Adviser, Political Research Associates; Senior Fellow, Future Currents   RESOURCES: - Watch the episode released on YouTube.; PBS World Channel Sundays 11:30am ET, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode) and airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast. Full Episode Notes are located HERE.    Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes: •. Labor Movement v. Fascism: Worker Organizers & Labor Educators Are Under Attack [Special Report]  Watch  / Listen:  Episode • Masha Gessen and Jason Stanley:  Is It Doomsday for U.S. Democracy? - Watch / LISTEN: episode &/or full conversation •  Naomi Klein & Astra Taylor:  Are Ee Entering "End Times Fascism?"  - Watch / LISTEN:  episode &/or full conversation • Bernie Sanders & AOC:  "Fighting Oligarchy" with People Power [Special Report] - Watch / LISTEN: episode • Bernie Sanders "Fighting Oligarchy" LISTEN:  Full Uncut Conversation • 'God & Country': Rob Reiner & Dan Partland on the Rise of Christian Nationalism in U.S. Politics - Watch / LISTEN:  episode &/or full conversation   Related Articles and Resources: In These Times magazine Political Research Associates Future Currents Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Josh, Alien, and Josiah discuss three movies that can help us explore the psyche of our tech bro overlords: Primer (2004), The Social Network (2010), and BlackBerry (2021).Become a Fruitless Patron here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=11922141Check out Fruitless on YouTubeFind more of Josiah's work: https://linktr.ee/josiahwsuttonFollow Josiah on Twitter @josiahwsuttonReferences"What is 'Muskism?'," Read Max, https://maxread.substack.com/p/what-is-muskism"Muskism with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff," DEATH // SENTENCE, https://soundcloud.com/death-sentence-pod/muskism-quinn-slobodian-ben-tarnoff"A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace," John Perry Barlow, https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independencePalantir's summary of The Technological Republic aka the Palantir manifesto, https://x.com/PalantirTech/status/2045574398573453312Neoreaction a Basilisk by Elizabeth SandiferMusic & Audio creditsClip of Marc Andreessen explaining that he doesn't do any introspection, pulled from BlueSky post: https://bsky.app/profile/davelee.me/post/3mh5hgwdb5c27Yesterday – bloom.Audio from Primer (2004)Audio from The Social Network (2010)Audio from BlackBerry (2021)Wish - Nine Inch Nails ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Erik Torenberg speaks with Marc Andreessen about the state of AI, media, and the broader cultural and economic shifts shaping the internet. They discuss how narratives around AI, from fear to hype, are influencing public perception, and why real-world usage tells a very different story. The conversation covers AI's impact on jobs and productivity, the rise of “AI-native” builders, and why increased capability tends to expand work rather than eliminate it. Andreessen also examines how companies are adapting, from restructuring teams to rethinking roles around more generalist “builders.” They also explore the changing media landscape, from the dynamics of influence and information to the breakdown of traditional authority, and what it means for trust, culture, and generational attitudes. Along the way, they touch on topics ranging from institutional power to emerging internet subcultures, offering a wide-ranging look at how technology is reshaping both systems and society.   Resources: Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://x.com/pmarca Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After a slow start, we get to some quality rants on advertising, AI and Marc Andreessen.Chrome is dumping 4 GB of AI on ya.The Epic case is still going on.John Gruber has some thoughts on ads.Marc Andreessen has no thoughts at all.Lex and Lauren were on Judge John Hodgman.Our thanks as well to Steamclock Software, a design and development studio that ships great mobile apps for iOS and Android. Whether it's using cross-platform or native development tools, if you care about great customer experiences, you should be contacting Steamclock. Go to steamclock.com/rebound to get in touch with them to see how they can help.If you want to help out the show and get some great bonus content, consider becoming a Rebound Prime member! Just go to prime.reboundcast.com to check it out!Were you aware that you could buy things from us?! That's right! Shirts, iPhone cases, mugs, hats and one other type of thing are all available from our Rebound Store!

DRCoinbase cuts headcount by 14% citing AI acceleration. The shares are gainingCoinbase cuts headcount by 14% citing AI acceleration WHO DO YOU BLAME?Cofounder/CEO/Chair Brian Armstrong: 49.6% voting power MMIn 2020, amidst global protests for racial justice, Armstrong issued a blog post that effectively banned employees from discussing social issues or activism at work: "We don't advocate for any particular causes or candidates internally that are unrelated to our mission, because it is a distraction from our mission... we won't engage in broader societal issues."Brian is a proponent of "Freedom Cities"—privatized zones built on federal land that would be exempt from the laws that govern the rest of the countryMeta Platforms director Marc Andreessen:Impeding the development of AI in any way, he argues, “is a form of murder."Our enemies are 'social responsibility', 'stakeholder capitalism', 'Precautionary Principle', 'sustainable development goals', 'social justice', and 'environmental, social, and governance (ESG)'... These are all ideas that would lead to a stagnant, decadent, and ultimately dead society."The dual class share structure:The holders of our Class B common stock are entitled to twenty votes per share, and holders of our Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share.Jeffrey Billings, the independent trustee for certain trusts established by Brian Armstrong (representing 18.9% voting power)Co-founder/director Frederick “Fred” Ernest Ehrsam III (10.6% voting power)co-founder and general partner of the crypto-focused venture capital firm Paradigmco-founder and CEO of Nudge, a neurotechnology startup developing non-invasive brain–computer interfacesDuke UniversityWhile Fred is often seen as the quiet intellectual counterpart to Marc Andreessen, his philosophy is arguably even more dystopian to critics because it moves beyond just software—aiming to program human governance and the human brain itself.Fred is the Quiet Architect of a future where human systems are replaced by cold code.Fred is a major backer of the Prometheus Summit, a secretive gathering of tech elites focused on "longevity" and "assisted reproductive technologies."In 2026, Fred was appointed to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) by President Donald TrumpThe 2 women on the board, seems very DEI-ishThe shares are gaining WHO DO YOU BLAME?InvestorsUp 15$ in 2 days: $655M for brianDiary of a CEO founder says he hired someone with ‘zero' work experience because she ‘thanked the security guard by name' before the interview WHO DO YOU BLAME?The so-called “meritocracy” MM“I hired someone who's CV was two lines. Their experience was zero”Elon Musk's SpaceX Could Be Fast-Tracked Into S&P 500 After IPO Under Proposed Rule Changes AND Elon Musk settles SEC lawsuit over Twitter purchase and agrees to pay $1.5m fineA trust in Musk's name will pay a $1.5m civil penalty, without admitting wrongdoing. Musk won't have to give up any money he allegedly saved from the delay. In its January 2025 lawsuit, the SEC said Musk's 11-day delay in revealing his initial 5% Twitter stake in late March and early April 2022 let him buy more than $500min shares at artificially low prices, before he finally revealed a 9.2% stake. WHO DO YOU BLAME?The SEC CommissionersJan 2025Chair Gary Gensler (D) Commissioner Hester Peirce (R)Commissioner Mark Uyeda (R)Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw (D)Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga (D)Today MMChair Paul Atkins (R)Commissioner Hester Peirce (R)Commissioner Mark Uyeda (R)VacantVacantSpecifically Paul AtkinsDuring his first stint as an SEC Commissioner (George W. Bush), Paul was famous for his dissent against large corporate penaltiesHe argued that fining a company for the "sins" of its executives just hurts the innocent shareholders a second timeRecently in the same Administration with Musk (DOGE)Generally believes the SEC overregulates; Musk has referred to the SEC as “bastards”Commissioner Hester PeirceThe perennial dissenter (pre-Trump 2.0): Whenever the SEC would sue a crypto firm or fine a high-profile CEO, Peirce would release a blistering public letter explaining why the SEC was wrong, overreaching, and "paternalistic."Hester is the primary author of the Token Safe Harbor proposal, which essentially argues that tech companies should be allowed to operate for three years without any SEC oversight to "find their footing."Hester has long argued that the SEC's disclosure requirements are "bloated" and "immaterial." In her view, Musk's failure to file a 13D form for his Twitter stake wasn't a crime—it was a failure to comply with a "clunky, outdated bureaucracy.""In our purportedly enlightened era, we pin scarlet letters on allegedly offending corporations without bothering much about facts and circumstances... After all, naming and shaming corporate villains is fun, trendy, and profitable."The S&P 500, managed by S&P Global Dow Jones Indices, on Thursday, announced it was beginning consultation on rule changes that could potentially help Elon Musk-led SpaceX gain an expedited entry into the index. The rule changes include letting IPOs enter the index six months after their debut on an eligible index instead of a 12-month period, according to current rules.The index also proposed eliminating a minimum Investable Weight Factor (IWF) of 0.10 for megacap companies. The IWF is a methodology used to calculate the number of shares of a company available to trade on the market.Notably, the proposed rule changes also eliminate profitability requirements for megacap companies. Current rules require a company to be profitable on a GAAP basis for 12 months to be considered for the index, but that rule could be eliminated.S&P DJI only accepts feedback during the announced consultation open period, which is generally one calendar month following the consultation announcement. The Index Committee considers the complexity of the change and the desirable implementation timing in determining the open window for the consultation, which is generally aligned, if possible, with the index rebalancing schedule. WHO DO YOU BLAME?S&P Global CEO Martina L. Cheung (31% no on pay last year) DEI? That's all I haveS&P Global Chair Ian Livingston (Lord Livingston of Parkhead)Lord Livingston is also involved in a number of charities particularly in the fields of education, equality and social careLords are weird? That's all I haveThe Index CommitteeThe S&P 500 Index Committee is one of the most powerful and secretive groups in global finance. To prevent insider trading and front-running (where traders buy a stock because they know it's about to be added to the index), S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) keeps the names of the individual committee members confidential.“To mitigate even the appearance of a conflict of interest... all Index Committee meetings are confidential. Membership of the Index Committee is not disclosed, and voting members consist of senior S&P DJI staff who have no commercial responsibilities”The Committee Members: Usually consists of about five to nine full-time employees of S&P Dow Jones Indices. Veto Power: Unlike other indices that use a rigid formula, this committee has discretionary authority. They can choose to ignore certain rules (like profitability) if they believe a company is representative of the U.S. economy.Who is probably partly on the Committee:Catherine Clay (CEO, S&P Dow Jones Indices): As the top executive, she oversees all index divisions. She joined in late 2025 with a mandate to modernize the indices for the digital and private-to-public era.Fiona Boal (Global Head of Equities): She oversees the entire equity index suite. Any proposal to change the "seasoning" or profitability rules for the S&P 500 goes through her office.Michael Orzano (Head of Exchange Products): He is the primary strategist for how major listings (like a $1.75T SpaceX IPO) integrate with the exchange-traded product (ETF) ecosystem.He was the lead strategist during the 2020 Tesla Inclusion, which was the most chaotic event in S&P historyHamish Preston (Head of U.S. Equities): He is the primary spokesperson for S&P 500 methodology. If the "SpaceX Rule" is adopted in June 2026, he will be the one explaining the technical justification to the media.Louis Bellucci (Head of Index Committee Management): As of 2026, he is the specific individual tasked with managing the various index committees and ensuring they follow the updated governance protocolsThe general concept of greed MMMM'Tone Deaf' Starbucks CEO Slammed for Justifying $10 Coffee as 'Affordable Premium Experience' - Niccol is so close to the human experience, he thought it was obviously “affordable” premium to pay $10 for a single cup of coffee. WHO DO YOU BLAME?Mike Sievert, Jorgen Knudstorp, Neal Mohan, and Brian NiccolAccording to Free Float knowledge database, the only four directors with base knowledge of marketing in their backgrounds - all direct from their education and bios46% of SBUX influenceRichard Allison, Neal Mohan, Andy Campion, Beth Ford, Mike SievertMembers of the pay committee that graciously granted Niccol $96m such that a $10 coffee is an “affordable premium experience” for Niccol aloneMeanwhile, CEO Pay Surges 11% While Workers' Wages Stagnate at 0.5% in 2025: Report.In the last 5 years, EVERY director at SBUX was tagged as a “bottom payer” for employees using bottom quartile employee median pay relative to peers as a flagAt the same time, SBUX tagged as mildly atypical overpay relative to other paying directors, and the board average 5 year CEO Pay ratio ranking in the BOTTOM QUINTILE - not only do they love paying their employees as little as possible, the couple it with massive pay packages for CEOs everywhere they goBeth Ford, Daniel Servitje, and Neal MohanAccording to Free Float deference numbers, which use how directors get paid, the prestige of the directorship, the overlaps/reliance on the CEO, and social ties to management, these three are the only ones on the board tagged as “Deferential”For instance, Mohan has directorships at Chrome Holding and Starbucks… which one is a bigger deal?These are directors with the most to lose by dissenting - and risking getting replaced - at this board in particularMike Sievert, Daniel Servitje, Marissa Mayer, Neal Mohan, Brian NiccolEstimates of each of their net worth is in excess of $100m, with Servitje part of the nepo Grupo Bimbo money (he's worth >$3bn)Mayer is the rare female fail up, with early Google and Yahoo money >$600mMohan got a $100m stock retention bonus in 2013 alone and is the CEO of YouTube, the ultimate in artist exploitation machineNeal Mohan, who is on every one of these lists DRBrian Niccol, for generating a record quarter, avoiding negotiating with the union, and calling $10 for roasted beans “affordable premium”Activists Protest Jeff Bezos at 2026 Met Gala with Symbolic 'Urine' Bottles - no one like Uncle Jeffe and his wife anymore!!! WHO DO YOU BLAME?Zohran MamdaniHe skipped the Met Gala??? This was his one chance to show he actually DOES love Ken Griffin!WorkersIf they just accepted that they will all be fired by AI robots and take what their tech billionaire overlords bequeath them generously, they wouldn't have to do this: While billionaires get ready for the Met Gala, their workers walk a different kind of runwayA protest fashion show by workers of Amazon, Whole Foods, Starbucks, Uber, organized by the SEIU and Amazon Labor UnionLauren Sanchez DRProfiled in the NYT saying the uber-rich should “stop apologizing” and “start enjoying themselves” - isn't always the wife's fault?Amazon's board of sycophantsLabelled as “Structurally Deferential” in Free Float data, 5 of the 12 directors have been with Bezos for over a decadeThe rest are almost entirely connected to the directors who have been there for more than a decade7 of the 12 directors tagged as bottom payers, 6 of them at just AmazonEVERY DIRECTOR has been flagged more than once for Human Rights violations across all boards they're on - literally they have overseen constant strings of human rights violationsUncle Jeffe - who still thinks you can buy things and make people like youGameStop is preparing offer for eBay, WSJ reports - the offer is for $56bn and would allow a failing brick and mortar video game company to buy a semi-failing 2000s internet auction company - WHO DO YOU BLAME?TD Bank directors Ana Arsov, Cheri Brant, Elio Luongo, Keith Martell, Frank Pearn, Paul Wirth - the TD risk committeeTD offered a “I guess so?” letter for financing coming in around $20bn in debt. That amount of debt would make these directors - who are only active on the GameStop board - among the most indebted in our databaseThe risk committee is: accountant, compliance officer, ex-bank CEO, accountant, lawyer, someone from Moody'sRoaring Kitty Keith GillIsn't this obviously all his fault?Last count, he has as many as 9m shares in GME in 2024…CEO Ryan CohenWhose deep experience selling pet food and video games has set him up to have just the ego to think he can run anything anywhereWho cares

Most public colleges get state funding based on “seat time,” — how many students are sitting through classes. Over a decade ago, leaders at Texas State Technical College bet on an experimental funding model that ties state support to the employment outcomes of their graduates. For this episode, we hear from the architect of the unusual approach, Michael Bettersworth, the college's vice chancellor and chief marketing officer. And Jeff and Michael explore the lessons that all types of colleges can take from rethinking funding models to better match their missions. This episode is made with support from Ascendium Education Group. Chapters 0:00 - Introduction 3:49 - A College That Only Gets Paid When Students Get Jobs 6:42 - How the Unusual Funding Model Started 9:49 - How Has the Funding Model Gone? 12:05 - Voters Approve Endowment for a Technical College 13:20 - A Quest to Better Map Skills Colleges Teach to Jobs 18:52 - The Importance of ‘Occupational Identity' 21:17 - Should Other Types of Colleges Try This Funding Model? 23:40 - How Much Should Colleges Be Responsible For Student Employment Outcomes? 25:43 - How Is AI Changing the Conversation About Skills? 29:01 - Creating Incentives to Map Teaching to Jobs 31:20 - How Can We Know What Skills Are Actually Needed in Certain Jobs? 34:41 - Funding Models Should Match College Missions 39:58 - Lightning Round with Michael Bettersworth Relevant Links “If—” by Rudyard Kipling “Inventing a Job-Skills Machine,” by Rebecca Koenig in EdSurge “Taxonomies of Human Performance,” by Edwin A. Fleishman. “Marc Andreessen says AI layoffs are a farce: Companies are 75% overstaffed, and AI is the ‘silver bullet excuse' to clean house,” in Fortune.

In this episode, Annika Brockschmidt sits down with Adrian Daub, Professor at Stanford University and author of the upcoming book What Tech Calls Governing. Daub provides a searing intellectual history of the vibe shift in Silicon Valley, dismantling the myth that the tech world has undergone a broad political transformation. Instead, Daub argues that we are witnessing the radicalization of a billionaire elite, a small class of men like Marc Andreessen, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel, who have moved rightward not because of shifting data, but out of a reactionary backlash to post pandemic social pressures and the accountability of the MeToo and BLM movements. By examining the ideological bridge from 1960s counterculture to modern cyberculture, Daub reveals how the hippie to tech pipeline created a foundation for a brand of power that refuses to recognize itself as power, leading to a strange paradox where the world's most influential men consistently frame themselves as persecuted outsiders. The conversation dives deep into the specific ideologies driving today's tech giants, from René Girard's mimetic theory to the biohacking and eugenics adjacent subcultures of the ultra wealthy. Daub offers a brilliant critique of the current AI hype cycle, arguing that framing Artificial Intelligence as an unstoppable force of nature is a deliberate political maneuver designed to bypass regulation and democratic oversight. Beyond the policy, they discuss the revealing and often bizarre aesthetics of the tech elite, such as the AI generated gladiator imagery favored by aging billionaires, which Daub links to a historical fascist obsession with the idealized male form and ego. Looking forward, the duo explores the Palantir problem and the structural flaws in Silicon Valley's current political bets, while offering a preview of Daub's next project, Project 1933: Fascism Then and Now, which contextualizes our current moment within the darker chapters of 20th century history. Adrian Daub: What Tech Calls Thinking https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374721237/whattechcallsthinking/ Subscribe for $3.65: ⁠https://axismundi.supercast.com/⁠ Subscribe to our free newsletter: ⁠https://swaj.substack.com/⁠ Order American Caesar by Brad Onishi: ⁠https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/⁠ Donate to SWAJ: https://axismundi.supercast.com/donations/new Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dave Birss says you won't be replaced by AI - you'll be replaced by a leader who's been told the wrong story about it.About this episodeDave Birss is back on Business Without BS - author of the Sensible AI Manifesto, co-founder of the Gen AI Academy, and a man who's taught a million-and-a-half people how to use AI without setting their business on fire. He walks Andy and Andrew through what he calls a "corporate poopocalypse" — what happens when you apply AI to a business that hasn't cleaned up its own mess.The episode covers the Sensible AI Manifesto's six points, the CREATE prompting framework, the three Cs for checking AI output, the adequacy trap, why judgment is the most undervalued skill of the next decade, and the practical playbook for rolling out AI across a team without sending the whole organisation into a panic.About the guestDave Birss co-founded the Gen AI Academy with Helena, where they run AI training across governments, the UN, and Fortune 500 companies. He wrote the Sensible AI Manifesto and GPT Junior, the kids' AI book and video course now in over 100 schools. Before all that he spent his career in advertising and creativity, which is where most of his frameworks come from.Key moments[02:46] The Roomba poopocalypse - why AI applied to a dysfunctional business spreads the mess, not the productivity.[05:46] Corporate barnacles - the institutional plaque costing every business 40% in fuel and speed.[08:04] Sensible AI Manifesto Point 1: use AI to augment skills, not to outsource tasks.[09:15] The two-list exercise: tasks that piss you off vs tasks you wish you could do more of. Only the second list is the real opportunity.[12:11] AI slap - 96% of leaders think AI raises productivity, 77% of staff feel buried by unrealistic expectations.[13:48] The adequacy trap - why AI users get stuck at "good enough" and never break through.[22:51] The other five Manifesto points: use data responsibly, support employees, assign AI leaders, keep learning, always add a human layer.[26:40] The CREATE prompting framework — Character, Request, Examples, Adjustments, Type, Extras.[37:59] The three Cs for checking AI output: Confirm, Check, Craft. Why most people skip the third one.[55:14] How business owners keep their thinking sharp: do the work on paper before you open the laptop.[1:01:03] What humans still beat AI at - conceptualisation, creative voice, and judgment. The judgment one matters most.[1:14:17] The line that pisses Dave off: "you won't be replaced by AI, you'll be replaced by someone using AI." His correction is sharper.[1:18:09] The three-stage AI value pyramid — cost cutting → skill amplification → unlocking what wasn't possible before. 80% of companies are stuck on stage one.[1:24:18] How to roll out AI across a team in an afternoon: align with business strategy, declare an AI amnesty, pave the desire lines.Mentioned in this episodeSensible AI Manifesto — Dave's six-point framework for applying AI without breaking your business. Currently being turned into a book.Gen AI Academy - the training company Dave co-founded with Helena, working with governments, the UN and Fortune 500s.GPT Junior - Dave's book and video course teaching kids how to use AI properly, currently in over 100 schools.Perplexity - Dave's preferred AI tool for fact-checking because it gives you the sources.Cal Newport - referenced for the long-form-reading argument and the case that children reading for pleasure is the strongest predictor of life outcomes.Range (David Epstein) - the case for generalists over hyper-specialists; Dave says the book describes him.Yann LeCun - recently left Meta over the limits of next-token prediction; arguing AI needs world models, not just language.Roomba poopocalypse - the family-and-the-dog metaphor that opens the episode and frames the whole thing.Marc Andreessen / lump of labour fallacy — the framing for why we systematically underestimate the new jobs that emerge from disruption.RAF desire lines - the Nissan-hut path-paving story; Dave's metaphor for letting staff show you how AI is already being used.Combinedly - the AI tool Andrew's firm is testing for client-sentiment analysis and email drafting.Find the guestLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebirss/ Gen AI Academy: https://thegenaiacademy.com/Follow Business Without BSWebsite: https://withoutbs.comYouTube: https://youtube.com/@bwblondonInstagram: https://instagram.com/bwblondonX / Twitter: https://x.com/bwb_londonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-without-bs

Erik Torenberg and Theo Jaffee speak with Marc Andreessen, cofounder and general partner at a16z, about the launch of Monitoring the Situation (MTS), a new, always-on media network on X. They discuss the rise of the “current thing,” how narratives spread in real time, and why internet-native media is reshaping politics, culture, and attention.   Resources: Follow Marc X: https://x.com/pmarca Follow Eric on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Follow Theo on X: https://x.com/theojaffee Follow MTS on X: https://x.com/MTSlive Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jim talks with Liv Boeree—science communicator, former professional poker player, and host of the Win-Win Podcast—about consciousness, egregores, multipolar traps, and the ethics of factory farming. They discuss the nature of personal identity across sleep, the teleportation machine thought experiment, consciousness as a self-aware story-threading entity, the "attention as cursor of consciousness" framing, Jim's memory-competition theory of attention, Gerald Edelman and Daniel Dennett as proponents of competitive models, the Telepathy Tapes podcast and nonverbal autistic children, Donald Hoffman's view that consciousness is foundational, panpsychism and the "radio tuner" model, Liv's poker premonition story and a £1,700,000 tournament win, two flavors of consciousness and psychedelics as a way of dialing into different frequencies, poker as spanning pure luck to pure skill, the data revolution in poker and the rise of game-theory robots, poker as an egregore and the idea that "the game is playing me," probability at micro vs. macro scales, egregores defined as beings in meme space, Moloch as the personification of multipolar traps, Instagram face filters as a micro Moloch example, the Moloch mechanism of individually rational but collectively destructive action, Scott Alexander's "Meditations on Moloch," the breakfast cereal Moloch as a case study, the three interlocked layers of the AI multipolar trap, Marc Andreessen's techno-accelerationism and its blind spots, introducing "Norma" as the second negative attractor state representing centralization and authoritarianism, Moloch and Norma feeding into each other, psychopaths as first movers in Molochian races, the obligate psychopath concept, Elinor Ostrom's work on managing the commons, zero-knowledge proofs as a win-win third path, Descartes' philosophical origin of Western indifference to animal suffering, expanding the moral circle, the conditions of factory-farmed pigs and the economics of gestation crates, the health and environmental consequences of factory farming, cultivated meat as the win-win solution, and much more. Episode Transcript The Win-Win Podcast, with Liv Boeree "Meditations on Moloch," by Scott Alexander Currents 090 with BJ Campbell and Patrick Ryan "AI 2027," by Daniel Kokotajlo et al. Governing the Commons, by Elinor Ostrom Liv Boeree is one of the UK's most successful professional poker players, winning multiple titles during her professional career, including a European Poker Tour Championship and World Series of Poker bracelet. Originally trained in astrophysics, she has hosted various popular science TV shows, and now works as an artist and researcher specializing in the intersection of game theory, technology and risk. She is a co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving (REG), an advisory organization that fundraises for the most globally impactful causes, and an ambassador to Longview Philanthropy. Her most recent project is the Win-Win Podcast, which explores how people and society can develop a healthier relationship with the forces of competition.

Federal Election Commission filings for the first quarter of 2026 showed that billionaires Miriam Adelson and George Soros were the biggest donors backing GOP and Democratic super PACs, respectively, ahead of this year's midterms, while billionaire Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm poured $25 million into a pro-artificial intelligence Super PAC. KEY FACTS According to the filings published on Wednesday night, GOP megadonor Adelson donated $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the major super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates. Filings made by the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund—which backs GOP House candidates—showed Adelson had given the super PAC $10 million, bringing her overall contribution to $40 million so far this year. Billionaire George Soros, one of the biggest backers of Democratic candidates, donated $50 million to his Democracy PAC in January through an associated group, the Fund for Policy Reform. The Democracy PAC then donated $9 million to Senate Majority PAC—which backs Democratic Senate candidates. FORBES VALUATION According to Forbes' Real Time Billionaire's list, Adelson's total fortune is worth $37.3 billion, making her the 58th richest person in the world. In comparison Soros' net worth stands at $7.5 billion as of Thursday morning. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FUNDING FROM SILICON VALLEY ?Leaders from Silicon Valley launched the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future in August last year, with venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz among its main backers. Wednesday's filings showed that the venture firm donated $25 million to the political action committee, with $12.5 million each coming from co-founders Benjamin Horowitz and billionaire Marc Andreessen. BIG NUMBER $27 million. That is how much Democratic Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico has raised in the first three months of the year so far, according to the New York Times. Talarico's strong numbers appear to reflect Democratic optimism about the race in deep-red Texas, as the GOP has been besieged by infighting among its top two candidates. SURPRISING FACT Filings for a Win for America, a super PAC backed by sports betting platforms, showed it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year. FanDuel contributed $19.5 million while DraftKings' holding company, DK Crown Holdings, donated 17.5 million. An additional $4 million came from Fanatics' subsidiary FBG Enterprises Opco. Read the full story on Forbes: By Siladitya Ray https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/04/16/billionaire-adelson-pours-40-million-to-back-gop-soros-gives-50-million-to-his-democrat-pac/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal Election Commission filings for the first quarter of 2026 showed that billionaires Miriam Adelson and George Soros were the biggest donors backing GOP and Democratic super PACs, respectively, ahead of this year's midterms, while billionaire Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm poured $25 million into a pro-artificial intelligence Super PAC. KEY FACTS According to the filings published on Wednesday night, GOP megadonor Adelson donated $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the major super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates. Filings made by the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund—which backs GOP House candidates—showed Adelson had given the super PAC $10 million, bringing her overall contribution to $40 million so far this year. Billionaire George Soros, one of the biggest backers of Democratic candidates, donated $50 million to his Democracy PAC in January through an associated group, the Fund for Policy Reform. The Democracy PAC then donated $9 million to Senate Majority PAC—which backs Democratic Senate candidates. FORBES VALUATION According to Forbes' Real Time Billionaire's list, Adelson's total fortune is worth $37.3 billion, making her the 58th richest person in the world. In comparison Soros' net worth stands at $7.5 billion as of Thursday morning. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FUNDING FROM SILICON VALLEY ?Leaders from Silicon Valley launched the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future in August last year, with venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz among its main backers. Wednesday's filings showed that the venture firm donated $25 million to the political action committee, with $12.5 million each coming from co-founders Benjamin Horowitz and billionaire Marc Andreessen. BIG NUMBER $27 million. That is how much Democratic Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico has raised in the first three months of the year so far, according to the New York Times. Talarico's strong numbers appear to reflect Democratic optimism about the race in deep-red Texas, as the GOP has been besieged by infighting among its top two candidates. SURPRISING FACT Filings for a Win for America, a super PAC backed by sports betting platforms, showed it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year. FanDuel contributed $19.5 million while DraftKings' holding company, DK Crown Holdings, donated 17.5 million. An additional $4 million came from Fanatics' subsidiary FBG Enterprises Opco. Read the full story on Forbes: By Siladitya Ray https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/04/16/billionaire-adelson-pours-40-million-to-back-gop-soros-gives-50-million-to-his-democrat-pac/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Billionaire tech bro Marc Andreessen recently claimed introspection is a pathology. Derek and Julian discuss the Trump advisor's claims while the investor continues making bank from defense technology. Show Notes The Mind is Flat: Nick Chater The Mind is Flat | Nick Chater | Talks at Google Susan Blackmore Review of The Mind is Flat The Tell-Tale Brain: VS Ramachandran Consciousness and the Brain: Stanislas Dehaene This Is Your Brain on Music: Dan Levitin Musicophilia: Oliver Sacks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a recap of the top 10 posts on Hacker News on April 03, 2026. This podcast was generated by wondercraft.ai (00:30): Show HN: I built a frontpage for personal blogsOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47625952&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(01:55): Show HN: Apfel – The free AI already on your MacOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47624645&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(03:21): Artemis II crew take “spectacular” image of EarthOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47631118&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(04:46): Oracle Files H-1B Visa Petitions Amid Mass LayoffsOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47631732&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(06:12): Tell HN: Anthropic no longer allowing Claude Code subscriptions to use OpenClawOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47633396&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(07:37): F-15E jet shot down over IranOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47628326&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(09:03): Marc Andreessen is wrong about introspectionOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47627056&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(10:29): iNaturalistOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47629433&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(11:54): European alternatives to Google, Apple, Dropbox and 120 US appsOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47624741&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(13:20): NHS staff refusing to use FDP over Palantir ethical concernsOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47624736&utm_source=wondercraft_aiThis is a third-party project, independent from HN and YC. Text and audio generated using AI, by wondercraft.ai. Create your own studio quality podcast with text as the only input in seconds at app.wondercraft.ai. Issues or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: team@wondercraft.ai

This episode originally aired on the Latent Space Podcast. swyx and Alessio Fanelli speak with Marc Andreessen about the arc of AI from its origins in 1943 to today's breakthroughs in reasoning, coding agents, and self-improvement. They cover the parallels between AI scaling laws and Moore's Law, the architectural insight behind Claude Code and the Unix shell, the coming supply crunch in compute, and why the messy reality of 8 billion people means both AI utopians and doomers are too optimistic about the pace of change. Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca Follow Shawn "swyx" Wang on X:  https://twitter.com/swyx Follow Alessio Fanelli on X: https://twitter.com/FanaHOVA Listen to Latent Space. Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fresh off raising a monster $15B, Marc Andreessen has lived through multiple computing platform shifts firsthand, from Mosaic and Netscape to cofounding A16z. In this episode, Marc joins swyx and Alessio in a16z's legendary Sand Hill Road office to argue that AI is not just another hype cycle, but the payoff of an “80-year overnight success”: from neural nets and expert systems to transformers, reasoning models, coding, agents, and recursive self-improvement. He lays out why he thinks this moment is different, why AI is finally escaping the old boom-bust pattern, and why the real bottleneck may be less about models than about the messy institutions, incentives, and social systems that struggle to absorb technological change.This episode was a dream come true for us, and many thanks to Erik Torenberg for the assist in setting this up. Full episode on YouTube!We discuss:* Marc's long view on AI: from the 1980s AI boom and expert systems to AlexNet, transformers, and why he sees today's moment as the culmination of decades of compounding technical progress* Why “this time is different”: the jump from LLMs to reasoning, coding, agents, and recursive self-improvement, and why Marc thinks these breakthroughs make AI real in a way prior cycles were not* AI winters vs. “80-year overnight success”: why the field repeatedly swings between utopianism and doom, and why Marc thinks the underlying researchers were mostly right even when the timelines were wrong* Scaling laws, Moore's Law, and what to build: why he believes AI scaling laws will continue, why the outside world is messier than lab purists assume, and how startups can still create durable value on top of rapidly improving models* The dot-com crash and AI infrastructure risk: Marc's comparison between today's AI capex boom and the fiber/data-center overbuild of 2000, plus why he thinks this cycle is different because the buyers are huge cash-rich incumbents and demand is already here* Why old NVIDIA chips may be getting more valuable: the pace of software progress, chronic capacity shortages, and the idea that even current models are “sandbagged” by supply constraints* Open source, edge inference, and the chip bottleneck: why Marc thinks local models, Apple Silicon, privacy, trust, and economics all point toward a major role for edge AI* American vs. Chinese open source AI: DeepSeek as a “gift to the world,” why open models matter not just because they're free but because they teach the world how things work, and how open source strategies may shift as the market consolidates* Why Pi and OpenClaw matter so much: Marc's claim that the combination of LLM + shell + filesystem + markdown + cron loop is one of the biggest software architecture breakthroughs in decades* Agents as the new “Unix”: how agent state living in files allows portability across models and runtimes, and why self-modifying agents that can extend themselves may redefine what software even is* The future of coding and programming languages: why Marc thinks software becomes abundant, why bots may translate freely across languages, and why “programming language” itself may stop being a salient concept* Browsers, protocols, and human readability: lessons from Mosaic and the web, why text protocols and “view source” mattered, and how similar principles may shape AI-native systems* Real-world OpenClaw use: health dashboards, sleep monitoring, smart homes, rewriting firmware on robot dogs, and why the most aggressive users are discovering both the power and danger of agents first* Proof of human vs. proof of bot: why Marc thinks the internet's bot problem is now unsolvable via detection alone, and why biometric + cryptographic proof of human becomes necessaryTimestamps* 00:00 Marc on AI's “80-Year Overnight Success”* 00:01 A Quick Message From swyx* 01:44 Inside a16z With Marc Andreessen* 02:13 The Truth About a16z's AI Pivot* 03:29 Why This AI Boom Is Not Like 2016* 06:33 Marc on AI Winters, Hype Cycles, and What's Different Now* 10:09 Reasoning, Coding, Agents, and the New AI Breakthroughs* 12:13 What Founders Should Build as Models Keep Improving* 16:33 AI Capex, GPU Shortages, and the Dot-Com Crash Analogy* 24:54 Open Source AI, Edge Inference, and Why It Matters* 33:03 Why OpenClaw and PI Could Change Software Forever* 41:37 Agents, the End of Interfaces, and Software for Bots* 46:47 Do Programming Languages Even Have a Future?* 54:19 AI Agents Need Money: Payments, Crypto, and Stablecoins* 56:59 Proof of Human, Internet Bots, and the Drone Problem* 01:06:12 AI, Management, and the Return of Founder-Led Companies* 01:12:23 Why the Real Economy May Resist AI Longer Than Expected* 01:15:53 Closing ThoughtsTranscriptMarc: Something about AI that causes the people in the field, I would say, to become both excessively utopian and excessively apocalyptic. Having said that, I think what's actually happened is an enormous amount of technical progress that built up over time. And like for, for example, we now know that neural network is the correct architecture.And I, I will tell you like there was a 60 year run where that was like a, you know, or even 70 years where that was controversial. And so, so the way I think about what's happening is basically, I think, I think about basically the, the, the period we're in right now is it's, I call it 80 year overnight success, right?Which is like, it's an overnight success ‘cause it's like bam, you know, chat GPT hits and then, and then oh one hits, and then, you know, open claw hits and like, you know, these are open, these are, these are like overnight, like radical, overnight transformative successes, but they're drawing on an 80 year sort of wellspring backlog, you know, of, of, of, of ideas and thinking it's not just that it's all brand new, it's that it's an unlock of all of these decades of like very serious, hardcore research.If I were 18, like this is a hundred, this is what I would be spending all of my time on. This is like such an incredible conceptual breakthrough.swyx: Before we get into today's episode, I just have a small message for listeners. Thank you. We will not be able to bring you the ai, engineering, science, and entertainment contents that you so clearly want if you didn't choose to also click in and tune into our content.We've been approached by sponsors on an almost daily basis, but fortunately enough of you actually subscribed to us to keep all this sustainable without ads, and we wanna keep it that way. But I just have one favor to ask all of you. The single, most powerful, completely free thing you can do is to click that subscribe button.It's the only thing I'll ever ask of you, and it means absolutely everything to me and my team that works so hard to bring the in space to you each and every week. If you do it, I promise you will never stop working to make the show even better. Now, let's get into it.Alessio: Hey everyone, welcome to the Lidian Space Pockets. This is CIO, founder Kernel Labs, and I'm joined by s Swix, editor of Lidian Space.swyx: Hello. And we're in a 16 Z with a, uh, mark G and welcome.Marc: Yes, yes. A and what, half of 16? Something like that. A one. Exactly,swyx: exactly. Uh, apparently this is the, the final few days in your, your current office.You're moving across the road.Marc: Uh, we're, yeah. We have a, we have some, we have some projects underway, but yeah, this is actually, oh, this is the original. We're in actually the original office. We're in the, we're in the, we're, we're in the whole thing.swyx: It's beautiful. Yeah. Great.Marc: Thank you.swyx: So I have to come out, uh, this is a, you know, I wanted to pick a spicy start in October, 2022.I just made friends with Roone and, uh, I wanted to give him something to sort of be spicy about. And I said, uh. Uh, it'll never not be funny. The A 16 Z was constantly going. The future is where the smart people choose to spend their time and then going deep into crypto and not in ai. And that was in October 22nd, 2022.And Ruen says there was an internal meeting in a 16 Z to reorient around Gen ai. Obviously you have, but was there a meeting? What, what was that?Marc: I mean, I don't, look, I've been doing AI since the late eighties.swyx: Yeah.Marc: So I, I don't know, like all that, as far as I'm concerned, this stuff is all Johnny cum lately.Yeah. You, I mean, look, we've been doing ar entire existence. I mean, we've been doing AI machine learning deep, you know, deeply. We've been doing this stuff way from the beginning. Obviously a AI is just core to computer science. I, I, I actually view them as like quite, uh, quite continuous. Um, you know, Ben and I both have computer science degrees.Um, you know, we, we both, Ben, Ben and I actually both are world enough to remember the actual AI boom in the 1980s. Yeah. There was like a, there was a big AI boom at the time. Um, and there was a, was names like expert systems. Um, and they of like lisp and lisp machines. Uh, I, I coded in lisp. I was coding a lisp in 1989.When that was the, the language of the AI future. Um, yeah. So this is something that we're like completely, you completely comfortable with. I've been doing the whole time and are very enthusiastic aboutswyx: is there a strong, like this time is different because, uh, my closest analog was 20 16 17. It was an AI boom.Mm-hmm. And it petered out very, very quickly. Um, we, it just, it just in terms of investingMarc: sort of, sort of,swyx: yeah. Investment, investment excitement.Marc: Although that's really when the, the, the Nvidia phenomenon really, it was, I would say it was in that period when it was very clear that at, at the time it, the vocabulary was more machine learning, but it, it was very clear at that time that machine learning was hitting some sort of takeoff point.Alessio: Yeah.Marc: Well, and as you guys, you guys have talked about this at length on, on your thing, but, you know, if you really track what happened, I think the real story is, it was, it was the Alex net, uh, basically breakthrough in like 2013. That was the, that was the real knee in the curve. Um, and then it was obviously the transformer breakthrough in 17.Alessio: Yeah.Marc: Um, and then everything that followed. But, but, you know, look, machine learning, you know, there were, you know, look, uh, I mean look, I've been working, you know, I've been working with, uh, one of my, you know, kind of projects working with Facebook since 2004. Um, and on the board since 2007, and of course, you know, they, they started using machine learning very early, um, and, you know, have used it basically, you know, for like 20 years for, you know, content, you know, feed optimization and advertising optimization.And obviously many, you know, financial services. You know, many, many, many companies, many different sectors have been doing this. And so it's like one of these things, it's like, it's not a, it's not a single thing. Like it's, it's like, it's like layers, right? Yeah. Um, and, and the layers arrive at different paces and, but they kind of build up.swyx: Yeah.Marc: Uh, they kind of build up over time and then, and then, yeah. And then look, in retrospect, it was 2017 was kind of the, you know, the key, the key point with the trans transformer and then. And then as you guys know, there was this really weird like four year period where it's like the, the transformer existed and then it was just like,swyx: let's go.Yeah.Marc: Well, but, but it was just, but, but between 2020, but between 2017 and 2021, I mean, that was the era of which like companies like Google had internal chat Botts, but they weren't letting anybody use them.swyx: Yeah.Marc: Right. And then, you know, and then OpenAI developed Chat GT or GPT two, and then they told everybody, this is way too dangerous to deploy.Right. Yeah. You know, we can't possibly let normal people, normal people use this thing. And then you, you guys, I'm sure remember AI Dungeon, um mm-hmm. So the o for, there was like a year where like the only way for a normal person to use GP T three was in, in AI dungeon.Alessio: Yeah.Marc: And so you, you, we would do this, you'd go in there and you'd pretend to play Dungeons and Dragons.In reality, you're just trying to talk to talk to GPT. And so there was this, you know, there was this long, you know, and I, you know, the big, big companies, you know, big companies are cautious and, you know, the big companies were cautious. It, it, by the way, it took open ai. You know, they, they, they talk about this, it took open AI time to actually adjust, you know, kind of re redirect their researchswyx: path.I, I think, uh, let say Rosewood, right? Uh, the, the dinner that founded OpenAI was right there.Marc: Right, right. But that, that dinner would've taken place in 20swyx: 18Marc: 19. The formation of OpenAI Uhhuh as late as 2018.swyx: Uh, uh, sorry. Uh, no, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm wrong. Probably It should be 20. Yeah. They just celebrated a 10 year anniversary, so it it is 2025.Yeah, so, so 2015?Marc: Yeah. 2015. Yeah. 2015. But then, uh, um, Alec Radford did G PT one in what, probablyswyx: mm-hmm. 17, 18,Marc: yeah. 17, 18. So it, yeah. For, and then, and then they didn't really, and then GPT three was what? 2020? 2020.swyx: 2020.Marc: Because that became copilot immediately. Even open ai, which has been, you know, the leader of, of this thing in the last decade, you know, e even they had to adapt and, and, and lean into the new thing.And so. Um, yeah, I, I think it's just this process of basically sort of wave after wave layer after layer, you know, building on itself. And then you kind of get these catalytic moments where, where the whole thing pops and, and obviously that's what's happening now.swyx: Is it useful to think about will there be any ai, winter?‘cause there's always these patterns. Like, is this, in the summer is something I constantly think about because do I get, do I just like. Just get endlessly hyped and just trust that I will only be early and never wrong or right. Well, are we, will there be a winter?Marc: So there's something about, say the following.There's something about AI that has led to this repeated pattern. Um, and, and, and you guys know this,swyx: it's summer, winter, summer,Marc: winter, summer, winter, summer, winter. And it goes back 80 years. Yeah. 80 years. Uh, so the original neural network paper was 1943. Right. Which is, which is amazing. Uh, that it was, it was far back that long.And then there was you, if you guys have ever talked about this on your show, but there was this, uh, there was a big, uh, there was an a GI conference at Dartmouth University in 1950. 55. 55, yeah. And they got a NSF grant to, uh, for the, all the AI experts at the time to spend the summer together. And they figured if they had 10 weeks together, they could get a GI, uh, at the other end.And they got their, by the way, they got the grant, they got the 10 weeks and then, you know, 1955, you know. No, no. A GI. And like I said, I, I lived through the eighties version of this where there was a big, a big boom and a crash. And so, so there is this thing, and there, there is something about AI that causes the people in the field, I would say, to become both excessively utopian and excessively apocalyptic.Um, and, and it's probably on both sides of like the, the, the boom bus cycle. You, you kind of see that play out. Having said that, I think what's actually happened is like just, and you know, and we now know in retrospect like an enormous amount of technical progress that built up over time. And like for, for example, we now know that neural network is the correct architecture.And I, I will tell you like there was a 60 year run where that was like a, you know, or even 70 years or that was controversial. And, and we now know that that's the case. And so we, we now, you know, everything we're building on today just sort of derives from the original idea in 1943. And so, so in retrospect, we, we now know that like, these, these guys are right.They, they, you know, they would get the timing wrong and they thought, you know, capabilities would arrive faster, or they were, it could be turned into businesses sooner or whatever, but like, they were fundamentally, the, the scientists who worked on this over the course of decades were fundamentally correct about what they were doing.And, and the, and the payoff from, from, from all their work is happening now. And so, so the way I think about what's happening is basically, I think, I think about basically the, the, the period we're in right now is it's, I call it 80 year overnight success, right? Which is like, it's an overnight success.‘cause it's like bam, you know, chat, GPT hits and then, and then oh one hits, and then, you know, open claw hits and like, you know, these are open, these are, these are like overnight, like radical, overnight transformative successes, but they're drawing on an 80 year sort of wellspring backlog, you know, of, of, of, of ideas and thinking it's not just that it's all brand new, it's that it's an unlock of all of these decades of like very serious, hardcore research.Um, and thinking, and look, there were AI researchers who spent their entire lives. They got their PhD. They, they worked for, they've researched for 40 years. They retired in a lot of cases, they passed away and they never actually saw it work.swyx: Yeah. It's all sad.Marc: It is. It is sad. It's sad. Knewswyx: Jeff Hinton was like the last guy.Marc: Yeah. Yeah. Well, there were the guys, uh, was a guy, Alan Newell. I mean, there's tons of John McCarthy. You know, John McCarthy was like one of the inventors in the field. He's one of the guys who organized the Dartmouth Conference and you know, he taught at Stanford for 40 years. Wow. And passed, you know, passed away, I don't know, whatever, 10, 10 years ago or something.Never, never actually go. Got to see it happen. But like, it is amazing in retrospect, like, these guys were incredibly smart and they worked really hard and they were correct. So anyway, so then it's like, okay, you know, say history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. It's like, okay, does that mean that there's gonna be another, like, you know, basically boom buzz cycle.And I, I will tell you, like, let, like in a sense, like yes, everything goes through cycles and, you know, people get overly enthusiastic and overly depressed and there's, there's a time, there's a timelessness to that. Having said that, there's just no question. Um, so the form, the foremost dangerous words in investing this time are, this time is different.Do you know the 12 most dangerous words investing? No. The four most d foremost dangerous words in investing are this time is different. Yeah. Um, the 12 most dangerous words. And so like, I'll tell you what's different. Like now it's working like, like there's just no, I mean, look, there's just no question.And by the way, I, I'll just give you guys my take. Like L LLMs, like from, from basically the Chad G PT moment through to spring of 25. I think you could still, I think well intention, well, and of. Form skeptics could still say, oh, this is just pattern completion. And oh, these things don't really understand what they're doing.And you know, the hall hallucination rates are way too high. And, you know, this is gonna be great for creative writing and creating, you know, Shakespeare and so sonnets and, you know, as, as rap lyrics or whatever, like, it's gonna be great and all that stuff, but we're not gonna be able to harness this to make this relevant in, you know, coding or in medicine or in law or in, you know, you know, kind of feels that, you know, kind of really, really matter.And I think basically it was the reasoning breakthrough. It, it was oh one and then R one that basically answered that question basically said, oh no, we're gonna be able to actually turn this into something that's gonna work in the real world. And, and then obviously the coding breakthrough over the, over basically the coding breakthrough that kind of catalyzed over the holiday break was kind of the third step in that.Mm-hmm. Where you're just like, alright, if, if, you know, if Linus Tova is saying that the AI coding is no better than he is like. Like, that's, that's never happened before. That's theswyx: benchmark.Marc: Yeah. That's never happened before. And so now we know that it's, it's gonna sweep through coding and, and then, and then we, we know, you know, we know that if it's gonna work in coding, it's gonna work in everything else.Right. It's just then, because that's, that's like, that's like, that's like the hardest in many ways. That's the hardest example. And how everything else is gonna be a, a derivative of that. And then on top of that, we just got the agent breakthrough, you know, with Open Claw, which is fantastic. Which is amazing and incredibly powerful.And then we just got the, the, um, the auto research, uh, you know, the, the self-improvement. You know, we're now into the self-improvement breakthrough. And so the, so the way I think about it is we've had four fundamental breakthroughs in functionality, l OMS reasoning, uh, agents, um, and then, uh, and, and then now RSI, um, and, and they're all actually working.Um, and so I'm, I'm just, as you like, you can tell I'm jumping outta my shoes. Like, like this is, like this is it like this, this is the culmination of 80 years worth of worth of work, and this is the time it's becoming real.Alessio: Yeah.Marc: I, I'm completely convinced.Alessio: I think the anxiety that people feel is like during the transistor era, yet Mors law, and it's like, all right, we understand why these things are getting better.We understand the physics of it. Yeah. With ai, it's. It's so jagged in like the jumps where like, like you said, it's like in three months you have like this huge jump like, and people are like, well this can keep happening. Right? But then it keeps happening,Marc: it'll keep happening.Alessio: And so like how do you think about also timelines of like what's we're building?I think we always have this question with guests, which is like, you know, should you spend time building harness for a model versus like the next model just gonna do it one shot in the lead space. Right. And how does that inform, like how you think about the shape of the technology? You know, you talk about how it's a new computing platform.If you have a computing platform, then like every six months it like drastically changes in what it looks like. It's hard to build companies on top of it.Marc: Yeah. So, so a couple things. So one is like, look, the, the Moore's law was what we now call a scaling law. Like Moore's Law was a scaling law and for your younger viewers, more Moore's Law was every chip chip chips either get twice as powerful or twice as cheap every, every 18 months.And that, and that and that, you know, that it's gotten more complicated in the last few years. But like that, that was like the 50 year trajectory of, of, of the computer industry. And then, and then by the way, and that's what took the mainframe computer from a $25 million current dollar thing into, you know, the phone in your pocket being, you know, a million times more powerful than that.Like that, you know, for, for 500 bucks. And so that, that was a scaling law. And then, and then, and then key to any scaling law, including Moore's Law and the AI scaling laws is, you know, they're not really laws, right? They're, they're, they're, they're predictions, but when they work, they become self-fulfilling predictions because they, they, they, they, they set a benchmark and, and then the entire industry, right?All the smart people in the industry kind of work to make sure that, that, that actually happens. And so they, they kind of motivate the breakthroughs that are required to, to keep that going. And, and in and in chips, that was a 50 year, that was a 50 year run. Right. And it, it was amazing. And it's still happening in, in some areas of, of chips.I think the same thing is happening with the, the core scaling laws. The core scaling laws. In, in, in ai, you know, they're, they're not really laws, but like they, they are basically. There are predictions and then they're motivating catalysts for the research work that is required to be. And, and, and, and by the way, also the investment, uh, dollars, um, uh, you know, required to basically keep, you know, keep the curves going and, and look, it, it is, it's gonna be complicated and it's gonna be variable and they're, you know, there're gonna be walls that are gonna look like they're fast approaching, and then they're gonna be, you know, engineers are gonna get to work and they're gonna figure out a way to punch through the walls.And obviously that's, you know, that's been happening a lot, you know, and then look, there's gonna be times when it looks like the walls have, you know, the, the, the laws have petered out and then they're gonna, they're gonna pick up again and surge and then, and then, and then it, it appears what's happening to the eyes is there's not multiple, you know, multiple scaling laws.Um, there's multiple areas of improvement. And, and I think, you know, I don't know how many more there are already yet to be discovered, but there are probably some more that we don't know about yet. You know, they, like, for example, there's probably some scaling law around, um, world models and robotics that we don't fully understand, you know, kind of acquisition of data at scale in the real world that we don't fully understand yet.So that, that, that one will probably kick in at some point here. There's a bunch of really smart people working on that. Um, and so, yeah, I, I think the expectation is that, that, you know, the, the scaling laws generally are gonna continue. Yeah. The, the pace of improvement will continue to move really fast.Um. To your question on like what to build. So, uh, I'm a complete believer the scaling laws are gonna continue. I'm a complete believer the capabilities are gonna keep getting amazing, um, you know, leaps and bounds. Uh, the part where I kind of part ways a little bit with how, what I would describe as the AI purists, um, you know, which is, which I would characterize as like the people who are.In many ways, the smartest people in the field, but also the people who spend their entire life, like at a lab, um, and have, have, I would say, have very little experience in the outside world. Um, the, the, the nuance I would offer is the outside world of 8 billion people and institutions and governments and companies and economic systems and social systems is really complicated.Um, and, um, and doesn't, you know, it it 8 billion people making collective decisions on planet Earth is not a simple process of like, just like you see this happening now. It's like a bunch of AI CEOs have this thing, which is just like, well, there's just this, they just all have this kind of thing when they talk in public where they're just like, well, there's these, these obvious set of things that so society to do.Alessio: Mm-hmm.Marc: And then they're like, society's not doing any of those things. Right. And it's like, how can society not, you know, what, whatever their theory is, how can society not see x, y, Z? Mm-hmm. And the answer is, well, society is number one. There's no single society, it's like 8 billion people. And they like all have a voice, and they all have a vote, like at the end of the day of how they, they react to change.And then, you know, it just like, it's just human reality is just really complicated and messy. Um, and, and, and so the specific answer to your question is like, as usual, it depends. Um, you know, it, it depends. Look, pe there's no question people are gonna, like, there's no question they're gonna be companies.It's already happening. There are companies that think that they're building value on top of the models and then they're just gonna get blissed by the, by the next model. There's no question that's happening. But I think there's no question also that just the process of adaptation of any technology into the real and into the real messy world of humanity is, is just going to be messy and complicated.It's, it's not going to be simple and straightforward. It's gonna be messy and complicated. And there are gonna be a lot of companies and a lot of products, um, uh, and in, in fact entire industries that are gonna get built to, to, to basically actually help all of this technology actually reach real people.Alessio: The amount of capital going into these companies, I mean, Dario talked about it on the Door Cash podcast and Door Cash was like, why don't you just buy 10 x more GPUs? And he is like, because I'm gonna go bankrupt if the model doesn't exactly hit the, the performance level. How do you think about that?Also as a risk on, you know, you guys are investors, open AI and thinking machines and world apps. It seems like we're leveraging the scaling loss at a pretty high rate, right? Like how comfortable, I guess, do you feel with the downside scenario, like, and say like things Peter out, you think you can kind of like restructure uh, these build outs and uh, you know, capital investments.Marc: Yeah. So should start by saying, so I live through the.com crash, um, and I can tell you stories for hours about the.com crash and it was horrible. No, it was awful. It was, it was, it was apocalyptic by the way. The, a lot of the.com crash was actually at the time, it was actually a telecom crash. It was a bandwidth crash.Like the, the thing that actually crashed, that wiped out all the money with the tele, the telecom companies.swyx: GlobalMarc: crossing. Global, global, yeah.swyx: I'm from Singapore and they, they laid so much cable o over over our oceans.Marc: Actually there was a scaling law in the.com. Era. And it was literally the, the US Commerce Department put out a report in 1996 and they said internet traffic was doubling every quarter.Um, and, and actually in 1995 and 1996, internet traffic actually did double every quarter. And so that became the scaling law. And so what all these telecom entrepreneurs did was they went out and they raised money to build fiber, anticipating that the demand for bandwidth is gonna keep doubling every quarter.Doubling every quarter though is like, you know, grains of chess and the chessboard, like at some point the numbers become extremely large. Right. And, and, and it really, and really what happened was the internet. The internet by the way, continuously kept growing basically since inception. And it's, you know, it's, it's continuously grown.It's never shrunk. And it's grown really fast compared to anything else. Mm-hmm. You know, in, in, in human history. But it wasn't doubling every quarter as of 19 98, 19 99. And so there was this gap in the expectation of what they thought was a scaling law versus reality. And that's actually what caused the.com crash, which was the, it they, they way over companies like global crossing way overbuilt fiber, which is sort of the, and by the way, fiber, telecom equipment, you know, so all the, all the networking gear, you know, and then, and then by the way, the actual physical data centers, like that was the beginning of the, of the, of the data center build and then, and the data center overbuild.And so you had that, but it was, it was literally, I think it was like $2 trillion got wiped out, right? It was like Jesus, it was like a big, it was. And by the way, the other, the other subtlety in it was the internet companies themselves never really had any debt. ‘cause tech, tech companies generally don't run on debt, but the telecom companies run on debt.Physical infrastructure companies run on debt. And so the companies like Global Crossing not just raise a lot of equity, they also raise a lot of debt. So they're highly levered. And so then you just do the thing. It's just like, okay, you have a highly levered thing where you're, you're just over, you're overbuilding capacity.Demand is growing, but not as fast as you hoped. And then boom, bankrupt. Right. And, and then it, and then it's like they say about the hotel industry, which is, it's always the third owner of a hotel that makes money. It has to go bankrupt twice, right? You have to wash out all of the over optimistic exuberance before it gets to actually a stable state.And then it makes money. So by the way, all of those data centers and all of those, all the fiber that they're in use, it's all in use today. Yeah. But 25 years later. But it, it, it took, and actually the elapsed time was, it took 15 years. It took 15 years from 2000 to 2015 to actually fill, fill up all that capacity.The cautionary warning is the, the overbuild can happen. Um, and, and, and, and, you know, you, you get into this thing where basically everybody, everybody who basically has any sort of institutional capital, it's like, wow. It's just, I, I don't know how to invest in these crazy software things. For sure I can put build data centers and for sure I can buy GPUs that I can deploy, you know, compute grids and, and all these things.Um, and so, you know, if you're a pessimist, you could look at this and you could say, wow, this is like really set up to be able to basically replicate, you know, what we went through, what we went through in 2000. Obviously that would be bad. The counter argument, which is the one I I agree with, which is the counter on, on the other side is a couple things.One is the companies that are investing all the, the companies that are investing the money are like the bluest chip of companies. And so back, back, back in the, in the do, like Global Crossing was like a, it was like an entrepreneur. It was like a, a new venture, but like the money that's being deployed now at scale is Microsoft, and, you know, and Amazon and Google, Facebook and Facebook and Nvidia and, you know, these, these, these, and, and now you know, by the way, open ai philanthropic, which are now at like, you know, really serious size, um, you know, as companies with, you know, very serious revenue.These are very large scale companies with like, lots, lots of cash, lots of debt capacity that they've, they've never used. And so th this is institutional in a way that, that really wasn't at the time. And then the other is, at least for now, every dollar that's being put into anything that results in a running GPU is being turned into revenue right away.Like so, and you guys know this, like everybody's starved for capacity, everybody's starved for compute capacity and then, you know, all the associated things, memory and, and, and interconnected and everything else. Um, data center space. And so e every dollar right now that's being put into the ground is turning into revenue.And, and it, and in fact, I actually think there's an interesting thing happening, which is because everybody starve for capacity, the models that we actually have that we can use today are inferior versions of what we would have if not for the supply constraints. That's true. Um, if Right pose a hypothetical universe in which GPUs were 10 times cheaper and 10 times more plentiful mm-hmm.The models would be much better. ‘cause you would just allocate a lot more money to training and you'd just build better models and they would be better. Um, and so we're, we're actually getting the sandbag version of the technology.swyx: Yeah. No. Everything we use is quantized because the, the labs have to keep the, the full versions,Marc: right?swyx: LikeMarc: we're not even getting the good stuff.swyx: Yeah.Marc: But, but getting the good stuff, it's, it's just, even if technical progress stops. Once there's like a much bigger build of like GPU manufacturing capacity and memory, you know, all, all the things that have to happen in the course of the next five or 10 years.Once it happens, even the current technology is gonna get, gonna get much better. And then as you know, like there's just like a million ways to use this stuff. Like there's just like a million use cases for this. Mm-hmm. Like, it, it, you know, this isn't just sending packets across a, a thing, whatever, and hoping that people find something to do with it.This is just like, oh, we apply intelligence into every domain of human activity. And then it works like incredibly well. Yeah. Um. Here's what I know, here's what I know. Um, in the next three or four year, it's like somewhere between three or four years out, basically everything is selling out. So like the, the entire supply chain is, is, is, is sold out or, or, or selling out.And so there, there's no, like, we're just gonna have like chronic supply shortage for, you know, for years to come. Um, there's going to be a response from the market that's gonna result in an enormous, you know, it's happening now. An enormous flood of investment in a new fab capacity and ev you know, every, everything else to be able to do that, at some point the supply chain constraints will unlock, you know, at least to some degree that will be another accelerant to industry growth when that happens.‘cause the products will get better and everything will get cheaper. Um, and so, so I know that's gonna happen. I know that, you know, the deployments, you know, the, the actual use cases are like really compelling. And then, like I said, you know, with reasoning and agents and so forth, like, I know they're just gonna get like much, much better from here.And so I, I, I know the capabilities are like really real and serious. I also know that the technical progress is not going to stop. It. It, it is excel. It is, is accelerating. Like the, the breakthroughs are are tremendous. I mean, even just month over month, the breakthroughs are really dramatic. And so, you know, I think if you were a cynic and there, there are cynics, you can look at 2000, you can find echoes.But I can't even imagine betting it that this is gonna like somehow disappoint and, you know, at least for years to come, I think it would be essentially suicidal to make that bet. Yeah. Um, it was that Michael Burry, uh, uh, that'sswyx: anMarc: interesting guy, huh? We'll pick on a guy. We'll pick, let's pick on one guy.We'll pick. Well ‘cause he did, he he came out with, it was, it was the, heswyx: doesn't mind.Marc: It was the Nvidia short. Right. He came with the Nvidia short. And then if you guys probably talked about this, which is the, the analysis now that like the current models are getting better faster at such a rate that if you are running an Nvidia, if you're running an Nvidia inference chip today, that's three years old, you're making more money on it today than you did three years ago because the pace of improvement of the software is, is faster than the, the, the depreciation cycle, the chip.And then my understanding is Google is running. I don't if they've, I don't know exactly what, uh, these are rumors that I've heard or maybe it's public, but, um, I think Google's running very old TPUs, very profitably. Ference. Yeah. And very profit and very profitably. Yeah. Um, and so, so it actually turns out, as far as I can tell, it's actually the opposite of the Beery thesis is actually.He was actually 180 degrees wrong. It's actually the, the, the, the old Nvidia chips are getting more valuable, which is something that's like literally never happened before. Like it's never been the case that you have an older model chip that becomes more valuable, not less valuable. And that, and again, that's an expression of the just ferocious pace of software progress.Ferocious pace of capability payoff. Yeah. Uh, that you're getting on the other side of this. And so I just, the idea of betting against that, like.swyx: Yeah. Yeah. Well, one ofMarc: my, it seems like an invitation to get your face ripped up.swyx: One of my early hits was like modeling the lifespan of the H 100 and h two hundreds and, and going like, you know, usually they advise like four to seven years and it was, you know, maybe you sort of realistically haircut cut it down to two to three.Yeah. But actually it's going up and not down. Yeah. And, and uh, that's, I mean that's, I think that's the dream. Uh, we are finding utilization and I think utilization solves all problems. Like, you can, you can find use, use cases for even like the poor, like even memory, we're having a shortage. Right. And, and even like the, the shittier versions of, of memory that we do have, we are finding use cases for it.So like That's great.Marc: Yeah.Alessio: How, how important is open source AI and kinda like edge inference in a world in which you have three years of supply crunch. Like, do you think in the, like, you know, if you fast forward like five years, like how do you think about inference, uh, in the data center versus at the edge?Marc: Well, so just to start, yeah. So I think, I think open source is very important for a bunch of reasons. I think edge, edge inference is very important for a bunch of reasons. I, I think just practically speaking, if we're just gonna have fundamental construc, supply crunches for the next, I mean, you, you guys know if you just project forward demand over the next three years, right?Yeah. Relative to supply, one of the, its main predictions you can do is what's gonna, what, what's gonna happen to the cost of, of inference in the core, uh, over the next three years? And like, it may rise dramatically, right? Like, so, so what is, and then is, is, you know, like the, the, the big model competition are subsidizing heavily right now.Right? Right. And so, so what's the, what will be the average person's, you know, per day, per month token cost, you know, three years from now to do all the things that they want to do. And I, I don't know, it's gonna. I mean, I have, you guys probably have friends, I have friends today who are paying a thousand dollars a day for open claw, for claw tokens to run open claw.Right? And so, okay. $30,000 a month. Right? And, and by the way, those, those friends have like a thousand more ideas of the things that they want their claw to do, right? Yeah. And so you, you could imagine there, there's like latent demand of up to, I don't know, five or $10,000 a day of, of, of tokens for a fully deployed, you know, per personal agent.Uh, and obviously consumers can't pay that, right? And so, so, but it gives you a sense of the fu of the fu of the future scope of demand, right? And so, so even, even if there's a 10 x improvement in price performance, that still, you know, goes to a hundred dollars a day, which is still way beyond what people can pay.Mm-hmm. So there's just gonna be like. Ferocious to me, by the way. The agent thing, the other interesting thing is I think the agent thing, so up until now, a lot of the constraints of GGPU constraints, I think the agent thing now also translates into CPU constraints. Mm-hmm. Right?swyx: CPU memory.Marc: Yes. CPU memory, right?And so, like the entire chip ecosystem is just gonna get wait,swyx: wait for network constraints, that that will be the killer.Marc: It's all bottleneck potentially for years. And so, so I, I think that Brad, and, and I think it's actually possible, I mean, generally inference costs are gonna keep coming down, but I think the, let's put it this way, the rate of decline, I think may level out here for a bit because of these supply constraints.And then at some point, maybe the lab stops subsidizing so much and that, that, that again, will be, be an issue. And so there's just gonna be so much more demand for inference than, than can be satisfied. Um, you know, kind of with the centralized model. And then, and then, you know, you guys know this, but like all the, just the dramatic, I mean just the dramatic innovations that have happened in the Apple silicon to be able to do, uh, inferences, it's quite amazing the level of effort being put.Like the open source guys are putting incredible effort into getting, you know, this recurring pattern where the big model will never run on a pc, and then six months later mm-hmm. Oh, it runs in a pc, right? It's like amazing. And there's very smart people working on that. So there's all that. And then look, there's also, you know.There's also like other, there's other motivators. There's other motivators which is just like, okay, how much trust are the big centralized model providers? You know, how much trust are they building in the market versus, you know, how much are, you know, at least for, in certain cases with some people, for certain use cases, people being like, well, I'm not willing to just like, turn everything over.So there, there, there's all the trust issues. Um, by the way, there's also just like straight up price optimization. There's many uses of AI where you don't need Einstein in the cloud. You just need like a, a a, a smart local model. There's also performance issues where you want, you know, you want, you know, you're gonna want your doorknob to have an AI model in it.Right. You know, to be able to, you know, do, um, you know, to be able to do access control. Um, obviously like everything with a chip is gonna have an AI model in it. Mm-hmm. And it, a lot of those are gonna be local. Um, and so, yeah. No, like I think, I think you're gonna have ti and then you're gonna, by the way, also wearable devices, you know, you don't wanna do a complete round trip.You want, you know, you, whatever your smart devices are, you want it to be like super low latency. Yeah.swyx: The question, do we care who makes it? Yeah. One of the biggest news this week was the collapse of AI two, the Allen Institute. Mm-hmm. One of the actual American open source model labs. Yeah. Um, and, uh, I'm not that optimistic on, on American open source.Yeah. Like you, you guys invested in MIS trial and MIS trial's doing extremely well outside of China. That's about it.Marc: Yeah. We'll see. We'll see. I look, I, number one, I do think we care. Uh, I do think we, I do think we care who makes it. Um, I would say this, the, the, the, the previous presidential administration wanted to kill it in the us Oh yeah.They wanted to drown in the bathtub. Um, and so they wanted to kill it. So at least we have a government now that actually like, actually wants it wants it to happen. And youswyx: earned to councilMarc: and Yeah. And the new and the P pcast. Yeah. So the, the, you know, this admin for whatever other political issues people have, which are many, you know, this administration has, I think a very enlightened view and in particular an enlightened view on AI and in particular on open source ai.Uh, and so they're very supportive. Um, my read is the Chi. The Chinese have a very, the various Chinese companies have a very specific reason to do open source, which is, they, they, they don't fundamentally, they don't think they can sell commercial, uh, AI outside of China right now. And or at least specifically not, not in the US for a combination of reasons.And so they, they kind of view, I think, open source AI as a bit of a loss leader against basically domestic, uh, you know, paid, paid services. And then kind of an, you know, kind of an ancillary products. You know, they're, they're very excited about it, by the way. I think it's great. I think it's great that they're doing it.Um, you know, I think Deeps seek was like a gift to the world. Um, I think. The great thing about open source, open source, the, the, the impact of open source is felt two ways. One is you, you get the software for free, but the other is you get to learn how it works, right? And so like the paper, the paper, the paper and, and the code, right?And the code. And so, like, for example, I thought this was amazing. So open comes out with L one and it's an amazing technical breakthrough, and it's just like, absolutely fantastic. But of course they don't explain how it works in detail. And then of course they hide the, they hide the reasoning traces, right?And, and then, and then, and then everybody's like, okay, this is great, but like, who's gonna be able to replicate this? Are other people gonna be able to do this? You know, is their secret sauce in there? And then our one comes out and it's just like, there's the code and there's the paper, and now the whole world knows how to do it.And then, you know, three months later, every other AI model is, is adding reasoning. And so, so you get this kind of double, like even if the Chinese models themselves are not the models that get used, the education that's taken place to the rest of the world, the information diffusion, you know, is incredibly powerful.So that happens and then, I don't know. We'll, we'll see. You know, there are a bunch of American, you know, open source, you know, ai, uh, model companies. I mean, look, there's gonna be tremendous, you know, there already is. There's, you know, there's gonna be tre there's tremendous competition, uh, among the primary model companies.You know, there's, depending on how you count, there's like four or five, you know, big co model companies now that are, you know, kind of neck and neck, uh, in different ways. Um, uh, you know, and, and, and, um, you know, and then obviously Bo Bo both X and then MetAware involved are, you know, both have huge, you know, huge attempts to, you know, kind of, to kind of leapfrog underway.And then you've got, you know, a whole fleet of startups, new companies, including a whole bunch that we're backing, that are, you know, trying to come out with different approaches. And then you've got whatever it is. I don't know how, how many, how many, like main line foundation model companies are there in China at this point?It's probably six. It'sswyx: five Tigers is what they call it. Yeah. Uh, Quinn is in questionable because there's change in leadership,Marc: right?swyx: Yeah.Marc: But that, does that include, that includes like Moonshot,swyx: yes. Can deep seek, uh, uh, ZI, um, Quinn oh one is in there.Marc: Right. And then, um, and by dance and, and then you see,swyx: ance would be like the next tier ance.They weren't as prominent. They weren't, didn't haveMarc: a leading. Yeah. But they, you at least, you know, ance is very inspiring and presumably they have more stuff coming and Tencent probably has more stuff coming and, and so forth. And so, so, so like, look, here, here would be a thing you can anticipate, which is there are not these markets, there are not going to be between the US and China right now, there's like a dozen primary foundation model companies that are like at scale, at, at some level of a critical mass.It's not gonna be a dozen in three years, right? Like, it just because these industries don't bear a dozen, it's, it's gonna be three or you know, there's gonna be three or four big winners or maybe one or two big winners. And so there's gonna be like a whole bunch of those guys that are gonna have to figure out alternate strategies.Um, and I think like open source is one of those strategies. And so I, I think you could see like a whole, i, I, I think the questions like, who's gonna do open source? I think that could change really fast. I, I think that, that, that's a very dynamic thing. I think it's very hard to predict what happens. And, and I think it's very important.swyx: NVIDIA's doing a lot.Marc: Well, I was gonna say. Well, exactly. And then you're got Nvidia and then, and then, you know, just to, again, indu, there's an old thing in business strategy, which is called, uh, commoditize Compliments. Commoditize the compliment. That's right. And so if your Jensen is just kind of obvious, of course, you wanna commoditize the software.Yeah. And he's, and to his enormous credit, he's putting enormous resources behind that. And so maybe it, maybe it's literally Nvidia and I think that would be great.Alessio: Yeah. Uh, narrative violation to European projects, uh, in the, uh, damn.swyx: I'm hosting my, uh, Europe, uh, conference soon. And I got both of them.Alessio: They got us.They got us. MarkMarc: finished. They got us, us. Well, wait a minute. Where was Peter? So where was Steinberger when he did? In AustriaAlessio: was, yeah, yeah, yeah.Marc: He was in what? He was in Vienna. Oh, he was in Vienna. And then where is he now?swyx: Uh, he's moving to sf.Marc: Okay. Okay. Alright. Okay, there we go. And then, yeah, the PI guy, right?The PI guys are European.swyx: Yeah, they're also, they're buddies inAlessio: Australia. Mario's also there. Yeah.Marc: Right. And are they, yeah, they haven't announced yet. Any sort of change changed or have theyAlessio: No, they're, they have a company there.Marc: Okay. Got, okay. Good.Alessio: Good, good,good.Alessio: Um,Marc: yeah, good.swyx: Anyways, I think pie and open cloud very important software things and, and I just wanted you to just go off on what you think.Marc: Yeah. So I think in co the, the combination of the two of them I think is one of the 10 most important softwares. Openswyx: Claw got all the attention, but Right. Talk about pie,Marc: pi pie's, kind of the Yeah. PI's, PI's kind of the architectural breakthrough for those of us who are older. There was this whole thing that was very important in the world of software basically from like 1970 to, I don't know, it still is very important, but like 19, from 1973 to like basically the creation of Linux, which is basically this, this thing used to call like the Unix mindset.Like so, so, ‘cause there were all these different, you know, theories. There are all these different operating systems and mainframes and, and then you know, all these windows and Mac and all these things. And then there was this, but kind of behind it all was this idea of kind of the Unix mindset. And the Unix mindset was this thing where basically you don't have these, like, like in the old days, like, like the operating system that like made the computer industry really work, like in the 1960s mm-hmm.Was this thing called o os 360, which was this big operating system that IBM developed that was supposed to basically run everything. And it was this like giant monolithic architecture in the sky. It was like a, you know, it was like a giant castle. Um, of software. And, and by the way, it worked really well and they were very successful with it.But like, it was this huge castle in the sky, but it was this thing, it was almost unapproachable, which is like, you had to be kind of inside IBM or very close to IBM. And you had to really understand every aspect, how the system worked. And then the, the Unix sky is originally out of at and t and then out out of Berkeley, um, you know, came out and they said, no, let's have a completely different architecture.And the way architecture's gonna work is we're gonna have, we're gonna have a, a prompt and, and a, and a shell. And then, and then we're gonna, all, all the functionality is gonna be in the form of these discreet modules, and then you're gonna be able to chain the modules together. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so like the, the, the op, it's almost like the operating, operating system itself is gonna be a programming language.Um, and then that led led to the, the, the sort of centrality of the shell. Um, and then that led to sort of, uh, you know, basically chaining together Unix tools. And then that led to the emergence of these, these scripting languages like Pearl, where you, you could basically kind of very easily do this, and then the shells got more sophisticated and then, and then, and then look like, you know, that, that, that number one, that worked and that, that was the world I grew up in.Like I was, I was a Unix guy. You know, sort of from, call it 1988 to, you know, kind of all, all the way through my work and it worked really well. It, it's in the background, um, you know, nor normal people don't need to, didn't need to necessarily know about it, but like, if you were doing like system architecture, application development, you, you, you knew all about it.Um, and then, you know, it's been in the background ever since. And, you know, look, your Mac still has a Unix shell, you know, kind of in there, and your iPhone still has a Unix shell kind of buried in there somewhere. So they're kind of in there. And then, you know, the Windows shell is kind of a, you know, sort of a weird derivative of that.But, um, you know, but look, the inter, the internet runs on Unix, um, and that smartphones, actually, both iOS and Android are Unix derivatives. And so, you know, kind of Unix did end up winning. But, but anyway, and then we just started taking that for granted. And then, and then so, so basically the, the way I think about what happened with Pie and then with Open Claw is basically what those guys figured out is, I always say the, the great breakthroughs are obvious in retrospect, right?Which is the best kind, the best kind. They weren't obvious at the time or somebody else would've done them already. Um, and so there is a, like a real conceptual leap, but then you look at it sort of the backwards looking and you're just like, oh, of course. Mm-hmm. Like the, the, to me those are always the best breakthroughs.Well, actually language models themselves are like that. It's just like, oh, next token completion. Oh, of course.swyx: Yeah. What other objective mattered?Marc: Yeah, exactly. But, but like it, right. But she's even saying it wasn't obvious until somebody actually did it. Right. And so the conceptual breakthrough is real and deep and powerful and, and very important.And so the way I think about pie and olaw is it's basically marrying the, the language model mindset to the un to the Unix, basically shell prompt mindset. And so it's, it's basically this idea that what, what, so what is an agent, right? And as, as, and as you know, like many smart people who have been trying to figure out what an agent is for, for, for decades, and they've had many architectures to build agents and the whole thing.And it turns out what is an agent. So it turns out what we now know is an agent is the following. It's, so it's a language model. And then above that, it's a ba, it's a bash shell. Um, so it's a, it's a Unix shell, and then it's, and then the agent has access, uh, has access to, to the shell. And, you know, hopeful, hopefully in a sandbox, maybe in, maybe in a sandbox.So it's, it's the model. Um, it's the shell. Um, and then it's a fi, it's a file system. Um, and then the state is stored in files. And then, you know, there's the markdown format for the, you know, for, for the files themselves. And then, and then there's basically what in Unix is called Aron job. There's a loop and then there's a heartbeat for the, there's heartbeat and, and the thing basically Wake Wakes up.Wakes up. So it's basically LLM plus shell, plus file system, plus markdown, plus kron. And it turns out that's an agent. And, and, and every part of that, other than the model is something that we already completely know and understand. And in fact, it turns out that like the latent power of the Unix shell is like extraordinary because basically like all, like, there's just like an, there's just enormous latent power in the shell.There's enormous numbers of Unix commands, there's enormous number of command line interfaces into all kinds of things already in the, you know, your entire, I mean your entire, just to start with, your computer runs on a shell. If you're running a Mac or a, or, or a phone, your computer, your computer's running on a shell, uh, already.And so like the full power of your computer is available at the command line level. Um, and then it turns out it's really easy to expose other functions as a command line interface. And so like this whole idea where we need like MCP and these like product mm-hmm. Fancy protocols, whatever, it's like, no, we don't, we just need like a command, command line thing.So that's the architecture. And then it turns out what is your agent? Your agent has a bunch of files starting a file system. And then there's the thing that just like completely blew my mind when I write my head around it as a result of this, which is like, okay. This means your agent is now actually independent of the model that it's running on.Because you can actually swap out a different LLM underneath your agent and your, your agent will change personality somewhat. ‘cause the model is different, but all of the state stored in the files will be retained.swyx: Yeah. Different instruction set, but you just compiledit.Marc: Right, exactly. And it's all right.It's like right. Swapping out a ship and recompiling, but it's, it's still, it's still your agent with all of its memories. Um, and with all of its capabilities. And then by the way, you can also swap out the shell, uh, so you can move it to a different execution environment that is also, is also a b shell, by the way, you can also switch out the file system, right.Uh, and you can, and you can, and you can swap out the, the, the heartbeat for the, the crown framework, the, the loop that the agent framework itself. And so your agent basically is ba basically at the end of the day, it's just. It's just, its files. Um, and then, and then there's of course it a openswyx: call.Marc: Yeah, it's, it's basically, it's, it's just the files.Um, and then by the way, as a consequence of that, the agent and then the agent itself, it turns out a couple important things. So one is it, it's, it, it can migrate itself, right? And so you're, you can instruct your agent, migrate yourself to a different, uh, runtime environment, migrate yourself to a different file system, migrate yourself to a different, you know, swap out the language model.Your agent will do all that stuff for you. And then there's the final thing, which is just amazing, which is the agent is the agent actually has full introspection. It actually, it actually knows about its own files and it could rewrite its own files. Right. Which by the way, is basically no widely deployed software system in history where the, the, the thing that you're using actually has full introspective knowledge of how it itself works and is able to modify itself.Like that, that, I mean, there have been toy systems that have had that, but there, there's never been a widely deployed system that has that capability and then that leads you to the capability. That just like completely blew my mind when I wrap my head around it, which is you can tell the agent to add new functions and features to itself and it can do that.Extend yourself. Yeah. Right? Extend, extend yourself. Like extend yourself. Give yourself a new capability. Right? And so, and so literally it's just like you run into somebody at a party and they're like, oh, I have my open claw, do whatever, connect to my eat, sleep bed, and it gives me better advice and sleep.And you go home at night and you tell your claw, or if they're at the party, by the way, you tell your claw, oh, add this capability to yourself. And your claw will say, oh, okay, no problem. And it'll go out on the internet and it'll figure out whatever it needs and then it'll go out to claw code or whatever.It'll write whatever it needs. And then the next thing you know, it has this new capability. And so you don't even have to, like, you can have it upgrade itself without even having to, without having to do anything other than tell it that you want it to do that. And so anyway, so the, the combination of all this is just, I mean, this is just like a massive, incredible, I mean, it's just incredible.Like if I, if I were, if I were 18, like this is a hundred, this is what I would be spending all of my time on. This is like such an incredible conceptual breakthrough. Yeah. And again, pe people are gonna look at it and they already get this response. People are gonna look at it and they're gonna say, oh, well, where's the breakthrough?‘cause these, the, all of these components were already known before. Mm-hmm. But, but this is the key, the key to the breakthrough was by using all these components that were known before, you get all of the underlying capability of that's buried in there. And so all, and so for example, computer use all of a sudden just kind of falls, trivi, trivial.Of course it's gonna be able to use your computer. It has full access to the shell. Right. And then, and then you just, you, you give it access to a browser, and then you've got the computer and the browser and, and often away it goes. And, and then you've got all the abilities of the browser also. Um, yeah.And so, and so the capability unlock here is profound. My friends who are, you know, deepest into this, are having their claw do like a, like, literally like a thousand things in their lives. They have new ideas every day. They're just like constantly throwing new challenges at the thing. And by the way, it's early and, you know, these are, you know, these are prototypes and there are, you know, as you guys know, there's security issues.Yeah. And, and so, you know, there's a bunch of stuff to be ironed out, but the, the unlock of capability is just incredible.swyx: Yeah.Marc: And I, I have absolutely no doubt that everybody in the world is gonna, is gonna have at least, you know, an agent like this, if not an entire family of agents. And w

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PaperOS - https://PaperOS.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agent- https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistEvery.io - https://Every.ioPlaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistToday's show:Silicon Valley just lined up its biggest liquidity event in years: SpaceX filed confidentially for an IPO that could target a $1.75 trillion valuation — potentially the largest public offering in history. Meanwhile, a new Quinnipiac poll shows that 62% of Americans aren't excited about AI, and 70% think it will destroy their jobs. The disconnect between Sand Hill Road and Main Street has never been wider, and this panel is here to argue about what to do about it.Jason Calacanis and co-host Alex Wilhelm are joined by Delian Asparouhov, Partner at Founders Fund and co-founder of Varda Space Industries; Salen Churi, General Partner at Trust Ventures, focused on regulated industries and physical infrastructure; and Larsen Jensen, Founder and GP of Harpoon Ventures and former Navy SEAL.They dig into the SpaceX IPO and what it means for LP liquidity, founder formation, and venture capital's comeback story; the gap between Silicon Valley's AI optimism and public hostility; whether defense tech is in a bubble after $49 billion flooded the sector in 2025; the Marc Andreessen "zero introspection" thesis for founders; America's reindustrialization challenge and the rare earths supply chain crisis; and Artemis's path to putting boots back on the Moon.Timestamps:00:00 Intro1:09 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!3:50 SpaceX files confidentially for IPO: $1.75T valuation, June target9:00 Will the SpaceX IPO reinvigorate venture capital?10:25 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io14:40 Quinnipiac poll: Americans use more AI but trust it less17:31 AI's PR crisis: Dario vs. Jensen, and who's communicating well18:02 Jason's "Invest America" proposal: give workers equity stakes19:55 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist21:39 Larsen: Silicon Valley is walking into the same trap as China offshoring29:04 PaperOS - Whether you're raising a round, launching a fund, or managing a venture portfolio, PaperOS can unlock simplicity and scale across your empire of capital, contracts, and companies. Claim your $10,000 credit at https://paperos.com/twist29:50 Polymarket: 24% chance of a federal AI data center moratorium33:57 Marc Andreessen on zero introspection (David Senra podcast clip)46:48 Is defense tech in a bubble?1:10:32 Saronic raises $1.75B for autonomous drone boats1:25:07 Anthropic vs. OpenAI: where would you put your entire net worth?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This episode originally aired on The Twenty Minute VC with Harry Stebbings. Marc Andreessen explains why learning from past investment mistakes can be a trap, shares his framework for evaluating founder greatness through IQ, courage, and drive, and makes the case that venture investors should back the person over the business plan. They also discuss why AI is reconcentrating the tech industry in Silicon Valley, the concept of consumer surplus and where 99% of AI's value will actually go, and why the labor displacement narrative is fundamentally wrong.   Resources: Follow Marc Andreessen on X:  https://twitter.com/pmarca Follow Harry Stebbings on X:  https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings  Listen to 20VC: https://www.youtube.com/@20VC Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Marc Andreessen is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. The firm now manages over $90BN and has invested in the likes of OpenAI, Airbnb, Coinbase, Anduril and many more. Marc is an innovator and creator, one of the few to pioneer a software category used by more than a billion people and one of the few to establish multiple billion-dollar companies. Marc co-created the Mosaic internet browser and co-founded Netscape (sold to AOL for $4.2 billion). He also co-founded Loudcloud, which as Opsware, sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion.  AGENDA: 05:00 — Why Introspection is Overrated: The Dangers of Learning from the Past 08:00 — The One Trait Marc Andreessen Looks For in Every Founder 14:30 — Are the Best Founders Broken? What Makes the Best Founders? 16:00 — "Extreme Ownership": Why Everything Being Your Fault Changes Everything 19:00 — "Do You Read the Comments?" Fame, Criticism & How to Deal with Haters 26:00 — Is Venture Now Go Big or Go Home? The Real Future of VC 30:00 — Does Price Matter Anymore? The Dangerous Truth About Valuations 33:00 — "Stop Chasing Diamonds in the Rough": Why Most VCs Get This Completely Wrong 36:00 — Do You Actually Need to Like Founders? The Uncomfortable Answer 40:00 — Are Companies 75% Overstaffed? The Most Controversial Take on Hiring 45:00 — When Will a16z Go Public?  50:00 — Why Labour Displacement Theory Around AI is Totally Wrong 55:00 — Why Silicon Valley Is More Dominant Than Ever? 01:00:00 — Why a16z Invested $300M into Adam Neumann  01:05:00 — What Still Drives Marc Andreesen? 01:10:00 — What is the Biggest Mistakes VCs Still Make Today?  

“Why does someone need to be the first trillionaire? The damage it's doing just to get to that level is extreme.” — Glen GalaichExcessive wealth disorder. It sounds like a disease — which, at least according to Glen Galaich — CEO of the Stupski Foundation and author of Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short, it is. There's $2 trillion sitting in American charitable accounts Galaich says, mostly invested in hedge funds and real estate. Foundations are legally required to distribute only 5% a year — the bare minimum — and invest the remaining 95% to ensure they can make that back and live forever. The system rewards perpetuity over impact. The money is stuck — like most other things in America. And this philanthropic wealth is predicted to grow to $18 trillion by 2050 — twice the size of the annual federal budget. A truly excessive wealth disorder.Galaich wants to unstick the system. When a donor puts money in a private foundation, they receive up to a 70% tax exemption. The public is forgoing taxation in return for public stewardship. But donors still think it's their money. That's Galaich's Control problem. Carnegie pioneered this idea that the wealthy know best how to distribute their wealth. The Sacklers perfected its dark arts. Bill Gates sits somewhere in between. While billionaires like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen reject it entirely.Galaich's own foundation is giving up control — returning all its resources to communities by 2029. In Hawaii, he gave $15 million to people who actually lived there. They moved all of it within five months to health clinics on neighbouring islands that had never had discretionary money. His deeper frustration is with progressive philanthropy's failure to coordinate. Conservative donors give around two issues — free markets and liberty — in coordinated fashion. Progressive philanthropy, in contrast, is fragmented, fearful, and obstinately sitting on its capital. There's a new institute in the Bay Area called the Excessive Wealth Disorder Institute. The disease is real. And so is its cure.•       $2 Trillion Is Sitting in Charitable Accounts: Mostly invested in hedge funds and real estate. Philanthropic wealth in the US is predicted to grow from $2 trillion to $18 trillion by 2050 — twice the size of the annual federal budget. Foundations are required to give only 5% a year. The rest grows. The money isn't moving because the system rewards perpetuity over impact.•       It's Not Their Money Anymore: When a donor puts money in a private foundation, they receive up to a 70% tax exemption. The public is forgoing taxation in return for public stewardship. But donors still think it's their money. That's the control problem at the heart of Galaich's book — and why so much of big giving serves the donor, not the community.•       Excessive Wealth Disorder Is Real: Galaich cites the Excessive Wealth Disorder Institute in the Bay Area. Why does someone need to be the first trillionaire? The damage done to society just getting to that level — environmental, human, democratic — is extreme. And the Giving Pledge is collapsing: Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen have pulled out. Andreessen argues his investments are his philanthropy.•       The Hawaii Example: Stupski gave $15 million to people from Hawaii who lived and worked there. They moved all of it within five months to health clinics on the neighbouring islands that had never had discretionary money. Palliative care, community outreach, home visits — none of which Medicaid allowed. That's what happens when you let go of control.•       Progressive Philanthropy Can't Coordinate. Conservatives Can: Conservative donors give around two issues — free markets and liberty — and they give in coordinated fashion over long periods. That's how you get the Federalist Society, Heritage, ALEC, and possibly Donald Trump. Progressive philanthropy is fragmented, siloed, and in a state of fear that the current administration will freeze their assets. The left has moved into protection mode when it should be distributing. About the GuestGlen Galaich, PhD, is the CEO of the Stupski Foundation, one of the nation's most ambitious philanthropic spend-down efforts. He hosts the Break Fake Rules podcast and writes the Who Gives? Substack. Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short is published by Wiley, with a foreword by Ibram X. Kendi.References:•       Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short by Glen Galaich (Wiley, 2026) — the book under discussion.•       Who Gives? Substack — Galaich's newsletter on reforming philanthropy.•       Episode 2845: Let's Ban Billionaires — Noam Cohen on the Know-It-Alls. Galaich picks up where Cohen left off.About Keen On AmericaNobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters:(00:31) - Introduction: Noam Cohen, banning billionaires, and the tide turning (02:33) - What is philanthropy? Carnegie and the love of humanity (05:04) - Sloan, Rockefeller, Stanford: the first generation of know-it-all givers (06:49) - Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen pull out of the Giving Pledge (09:05) - The Sacklers: the worst argument for philanthropy (09:57) - Bill Gates: for or against control? (11:53) - It's not their money anymore: the public stewardship illusion (14:00) - Andreessen vs. community: who decides what people need? (15:33) - The Stupski model: $374 million returned to communities (18:47) - Hawaii: $15 million moved in five months to clinics that never had discretionary funds (21:27) - Can philanthropy save democracy? (24:22) - Democracy Forward and the $2 trillion sitting in accounts (29:38) - Excessive Wealth Disorder: why does anyone need to be a trillionaire? (33:00) - Progressive philanthropy's failure to coordinate (35:14) - The Monty Python troll: the CEO as gatekeeper to the donor

This podcast is a deep dive into the tension between active progress and psychological introspection, sparked by tech mogul Marc Andreessen's viral dismissal of self-reflection. The conversation explores whether our modern obsession with "feelings" is actually a roadblock to the very well-being we seek. The Core Tension: Building vs. Navel-Gazing - Progress as the Ultimate Healer: The speakers argue that "progress solves all problems" and that mental health is often an output of achievement rather than an input you can manufacture through therapy alone. - The Problem of Abundance: In survival mode, humans don't have time for introspection; the "crisis of well-being" may be a byproduct of an abundant society that has too much time to over-examine itself. - The "Adlerian" View: Referencing Alfred Adler, the discussion suggests that much of what we call introspection is actually a sophisticated form of avoidance used to justify neurotic behavior rather than changing it. Key Perspectives - Motivation: It is a result of winning or making progress, not something you sit around waiting to feel before you start. - Failure: Success is defined as moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm; introspection after failure can lead to "stasis". - Meta-cognition: The participants distinguish between "navel-gazing" (bad) and being aware of one's thoughts to improve future performance (good). - Resilience: Hard times create strong people through action and "getting on with it," whereas excessive reflection can lead to fragility. The Outcome: The speakers don't entirely write off self-reflection, but they insist it must be in service of progress. As they put it, "Stasis is death; progress is life," and any introspection that doesn't lead to a better version of yourself or a better outcome is essentially a waste of time.Would you like me to expand on the "Adlerian demolition" concept mentioned in the talk or perhaps summarize the specific points made about how school results affect well-being?

We are back! It has only been one week, but in the world of pop culture, it feels like an entire decade has passed.    In This Episode: • The "Year-Long" Week & Oscar Leftovers: We touch on the lingering vibes from the Oscars before diving into why the news cycle felt like it was on steroids this week. • The Bachelorette's Historic Cancellation: ABC has officially scrapped the upcoming season of The Bachelorette. We discuss the unprecedented drama behind the scenes, the investigations, and why the network decided to walk away from an entire finished season. • Afroman's Major Legal Win: In a victory for the ages, Afroman has won the lawsuit brought against him by the Ohio sheriff's deputies who raided his home. We break down the judge's ruling and why the "Lemon Pound Cake" songwriter came out on top after being sued for using his own security footage. • Marc Andreessen's No-Introspection Policy: The tech billionaire is trending after claiming he has "zero introspection" and that "the unexamined life is the only one worth living." Is it a visionary mindset or just a refusal to take accountability? • The Erewhon Viral Food Craze: We wrap things up with the latest high-priced item from Erewhon taking socials by storm.    Afroman videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw https://youtu.be/9xxK5yyecRo Kara Swisher Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-with-kara-swisher/id1643307527?i=1000756110216 PCM: https://popculturemondays.com/2026/03/23/and-we-are-back-baby/

El episodio 112 llegó con todo.Arrancamos con Marc Andreessen y su filosofía que divide aguas: nunca mira hacia adentro, no cree en la introspección y dice que ninguna persona exitosa que conoce la practica. Solo hacia adelante, siempre. Lo conectamos con una idea fascinante sobre los horizontes de tiempo como medida real del talento ejecutivo: desde vendedores que piensan en trimestres hasta estadistas que piensan en siglos.Después hablamos de Tesla. Según una fuente que trabajó más de una década adentro desde los inicios, Elon está cambiando la compañía de raíz: los autos siguen como máquina de hacer dinero, pero todo el R&D está puesto en los robots Optimus y los Robotaxis. Tesla como empresa de autos está terminando.Luego nos metemos en uno de los conceptos más importantes que viene en tech: el fin del Product-Led Growth y el nacimiento del Agent-Led Growth. Ya no alcanza con tener un gran producto. Lo que importa es qué tan preparado está tu producto para ser leído, interpretado y recomendado por agentes de AI.También analizamos la crisis silenciosa del mundo VC: cuatro años sin exits globales. Ni en Latinoamérica, ni en Asia, ni en Estados Unidos. Un universo entero de inversores esperando liquidez que no llega, y lo que eso significa para el futuro del asset class.Después la historia que no te podés perder: Ben Affleck, sí, Batman, vendió su startup de AI a Netflix por 600 millones de dólares con solo 16 empleados. La clave detrás del valor: una patente tecnológica temprana y estratégica sobre generación de contenido con AI.Cerramos con dos bombas. Primera: Delph, una startup apoyada por Y Combinator y con founders del Forbes 30 Under 30, acusada de fraude masivo con cientos de reportes corporativos idénticos y shell companies en India. Segunda: Anthropic levantó 30 billones reales de inversores. OpenAI anunció 110 billones, de los cuales 105 son créditos de NVIDIA y tiempo aire de Microsoft. El humo más caro de la historia del tech.__

Marc Andreessen joins David Senra for a conversation about entrepreneurship, history, and what drives some of the world's most ambitious builders. In this conversation with David, Marc reflects on patterns he's seen across great founders, why many of them focus relentlessly on building rather than introspection, and how technology and entrepreneurship continue to shape the future.   Resources: David Senra Website: https://www.davidsenra.com X: https://x.com/davidsenra Show notes: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/ma... Marc Andreessen X: https://x.com/pmarca a16z: https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com   Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Erik Torenberg, Ben Horowitz, and Marc Andreessen discuss how the media landscape has fundamentally changed and what a16z is doing about it. They cover why offense beats defense, why individuals now matter more than corporate brands, why speed wins in the new media landscape, and the difference between oral and written culture on the internet.   Resources: Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz Stay Updated:Find a16z on YouTube: YouTubeFind a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jeetu Patel is the president and chief product officer at Cisco, where he leads a team of 30,000 people and is playing a central role in the massive AI infrastructure buildout happening right now. Previously, he spent five years as CPO at Box and 17 years running his own startup. Recently Jeetu organized an AI summit featuring industry leaders like Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Marc Andreessen, and Fei-Fei Li.We discuss:1. How Cisco went AI-first across 90,000 employees2. His six-part framework for building great companies: timing, market, team, product, brand, distribution3. Why he says he couldn't have done this job without AI4. His “right to win” strategic framework5. His communication framework for preventing “packet loss” across an organization6. Why he flips “praise in public, criticize in private” and does the exact opposite7. The important communication lesson his mother taught him—Brought to you by:Sentry—Code breaks, fix it faster: https://sentry.io/lennyFramer—Build better websites faster: https://framer.com/lennySamsara—Saving lives with AI built for physical operations: https://samsara.com/lenny—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-is-critical-for-humanitys-survival—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Jeetu Patel:• X: https://x.com/jpatel41• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeetupatel• Website: https://blogs.cisco.com/author/jeetupatel—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction and welcome(04:15) Insights from Cisco's Al summit(08:45) Transforming Cisco into an Al-first company(15:33) What Cisco actually does in the Al infrastructure stack(19:09) The future of Al(24:36) Raising kids in the AI era(29:46) “Permission to play” framework(36:50) Lessons from great CEOs(42:02) Leading at scale(50:54) Why Jeetu inverts the ‘praise in public, criticize in private' rule(57:45) Surrounding yourself with good human beings(58:35) Lessons from loss(01:03:21) Career advice: platforms, hunger, and preparation(01:10:21) The six-part framework for building great companies(01:19:05) Lightning round and final thoughts—Resources and episode mentions: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-is-critical-for-humanitys-survival—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

With only nine months until the midterm elections, Democrats will scrutinize every move President Donald Trump takes as they fight to reclaim control of the House and the Senate. Victor Davis Hanson lays out the narrow road ahead to victory for Trump and the GOP during the 2026 midterm elections. History is not on the incumbent's side. Messaging mistakes and unforced errors could shift key voters and hand Congress back to Democrats. Hanson explains what it will take to hold a Republican majority—and why the stakes for these midterm elections could not be higher—on today's episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words." “There's another advantage that Trump has. They've raised, I think, $90 to $100 million. They've out-raised the Left by three or four times. And the billionaire class of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, not to mention Marc Andreessen or Elon Musk, they have defected and it's really hurting the Democrats. “What they're looking at in California with this billionaire's tax, you can be a billionaire and have property and investments, homes, but you might only have, I don't know, $100 million. They're gonna take $50 million from you on your aggregate worth. That's not gonna go over well with the billionaire class. And there, that's just a foretaste of what Kamala Harris will do if she has a Democratic Congress.” (0:00) Midterms Ahead (2:04) Unforced Errors (4:34) Incumbents Usually Lose Seats (5:35) What's Working (9:11) Outraging Democrats (10:08) Known Unknowns (10:55) Final Playbook

Cisco president and CPO Jeetu Patel speaks with a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen about why AI may finally break a 50-year productivity slump—and what's at stake if America doesn't win the race. They discuss where value will accrue in the AI stack, why open source complicates the US-China competition, and what's blowing Andreessen's mind right now. Resources:Follow Marc Andreessen on X:  https://twitter.com/pmarcaFollow Jeetu Patel on X: https://twitter.com/jpatel41 Stay Updated:If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16zFind a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zListen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYXListen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenbergPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.     Stay Updated:Find a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alphabet earnings. Claude goes to the Superbowl. Why AI brand loyalty isn't even remotely a thing yet. And is the whole Marc Andreessen theory of software eating the world in the process of being eaten by AI? Wall Street is worried about that very scenario. Google set to double AI spending to $185bn after strong earnings (FT) OpenAI Frontier is a single platform to control your AI agents (The Verge) Anthropic says ‘Claude will remain ad-free,' unlike ChatGPT (The Verge) Microsoft's Pivotal AI Product Is Running Into Big Problems (WSJ) New Data: OpenAI's Lead Is Contracting as AI Competition Intensifies (Big Technology) Threat of New AI Tools Wipes $300 Billion Off Software and Data Stocks (WSJ) AI Won't Kill the Software Business, Just Its Growth Story (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Ovitz co-founded CAA and helped reshape Hollywood, then took the same playbook into tech investing and advising founders. In this conversation, he breaks down the operating rules that kept CAA from losing clients, and the personal disciplines that kept him grounded when the stakes got massive. You'll learn how to build momentum, tell the truth without hesitation, read for context instead of noise, hire people who raise the standard, and package ideas into outcomes. ----- Upgrade: Get a hand edited transcripts and ad free experiences along with my thoughts and reflections at the end of every conversation. Learn more @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Approximate Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:58) Appetite For Learning (03:41) Always Tell The Truth (05:50) The Loneliest Professions (08:17) Where Does Hollywood Go Wrong? (10:16) Importance of Being Well Read (16:42) Don't Fight Your Job (18:28) Managing Relationships (19:15) Ad Break (20:46) Hiring Top Performers (22:35) Creating Depth in Knowledge (26:47) Staying Grounded (30:27) What Do You Look For in People? (33:28) A Meeting with Marc Andreessen (36:44) Being Fearless (42:12) Allow People to Keep Their Dignity (43:42) You Fail, So What? (47:48) Advice From Michael Crichton (49:46) What Drives You Today? (52:49) What This Generation Really Wants to Learn (57:51) The Woke Culture Influence (01:01:30) How Do You Keep Up With the Flow of Information? (01:11:30) What Makes A Good Leader? (01:14:13) Business Education Curriculum (01:16:28) How Do You Gain Momentum? (01:18:16) How Important is Packaging? (01:24:43) What Would You Tell Your Younger Self? (01:26:30) How Important is Trust? (01:29:15) What is Success For You? ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it's completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish: X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/shaneparrish⁠ Insta: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/⁠ ------ Thank you to the sponsors for this episode: Granola AI, The AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings: https://www.granola.ai/shane Check out the Granola Notes Download The League App today and find your perfect match! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marc Andreessen is a founder, investor, and co-founder of Netscape, as well as co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). In this conversation, we dig into why we're living through a unique and one of the most incredible times in history, and what comes next.We discuss:1. Why AI is arriving at the perfect moment to counter demographic collapse and declining productivity2. How Marc has raised his 10-year-old kid to thrive in an AI-driven world3. What's actually going to happen with AI and jobs (spoiler: he thinks the panic is “totally off base”)4. The “Mexican standoff” that's happening between product managers, designers, and engineers5. Why you should still learn to code (even with AI)6. How to develop an “E-shaped” career that combines multiple skills, with AI as a force multiplier7. The career advice he keeps coming back to (“Don't be fungible”)8. How AI can democratize one-on-one tutoring, potentially transforming education9. His media diet: X and old books, nothing in between—Brought to you by:DX—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchersBrex—The banking solution for startupsDatadog—Now home to Eppo, the leading experimentation and feature flagging platform—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Marc Andreessen:• X: https://x.com/pmarca• Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com• Andreessen Horowitz's website: https://a16z.com• Andreessen Horowitz's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@a16z—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Marc Andreessen(04:27) The historic moment we're living in(06:52) The impact of AI on society(11:14) AI's role in education and parenting(22:15) The future of jobs in an AI-driven world(30:15) Marc's past predictions(35:35) The Mexican standoff of tech roles(39:28) Adapting to changing job tasks(42:15) The shift to scripting languages(44:50) The importance of understanding code(51:37) The value of design in the AI era(53:30) The T-shaped skill strategy(01:02:05) AI's impact on founders and companies(01:05:58) The concept of one-person billion-dollar companies(01:08:33) Debating AI moats and market dynamics(01:14:39) The rapid evolution of AI models(01:18:05) Indeterminate optimism in venture capital(01:22:17) The concept of AGI and its implications(01:30:00) Marc's media diet(01:36:18) Favorite movies and AI voice technology(01:39:24) Marc's product diet(01:43:16) Closing thoughts and recommendations—Referenced:• Linus Torvalds on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linustorvalds• The philosopher's stone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stone• Alexander the Great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great• Aristotle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle• Bloom's 2 sigma problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem• Alpha School: https://alpha.school• In Tech We Trust? A Debate with Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen: https://a16z.com/in-tech-we-trust-a-debate-with-peter-thiel-and-marc-andreessen• John Woo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woo• Assembly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language• C programming language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)• Python: https://www.python.org• Netscape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape• Perl: https://www.perl.org• Scott Adams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams• Larry Summers's website: https://larrysummers.com• Nano Banana: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation• Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org• Ethereum: https://ethereum.org• Satoshi Nakamoto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto• Inside ChatGPT: The fastest-growing product in history | Nick Turley (Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-chatgpt-nick-turley• Anthropic co-founder on quitting OpenAI, AGI predictions, $100M talent wars, 20% unemployment, and the nightmare scenarios keeping him up at night | Ben Mann: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropic-co-founder-benjamin-mann• Inside Google's AI turnaround: The rise of AI Mode, strategy behind AI Overviews, and their vision for AI-powered search | Robby Stein (VP of Product, Google Search): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-google-built-ai-mode-in-under-a-year• DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com• Cowork: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-getting-started-with-cowork• Definite vs. indefinite thinking: Notes from Zero to One by Peter Thiel: https://boxkitemachine.net/posts/zero-to-one-peter-thiel-definite-vs-indefinite-thinking• Henry Ford: https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/henry-ford• Lex Fridman Podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast• $46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/46b-of-hard-truths-from-ben-horowitz• Eddington: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31176520• Joaquin Phoenix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Phoenix• Pedro Pascal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Pascal• George Floyd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd• Replit: https://replit.com• Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad• Grok Bad Rudi: https://grok.com/badrudi• Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai• Star Trek: The Next Generation: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092455• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8622160• a16z: The Power Brokers: https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Recently, Marc Andreessen joined Lenny Rachitsky on Lenny's Podcast. They talked about why 2025 may be the most significant year in tech history, how AI is reshaping the future of product managers, designers, and engineers, and what founders need to understand about building in this moment—from where moats actually exist in AI to what the most AI-native companies are doing differently to the skills Marc is teaching his own kids to thrive in what comes next. Resources:Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarcaFollow Lenny Rachitsky on X: https://twitter.com/lennysanCheck out Lenny's Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/podcast Stay Updated:If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16zFind a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zListen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYXListen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenbergPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures. Stay Updated:Find a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Show on SpotifyListen to the a16z Show on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ralph welcomes professor and historian Daniel Immerwahr to discuss the history of the United States' overseas possessions and his book "How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States."Daniel Immerwahr is a professor and historian at Northwestern University. He is the author of Thinking Small: The United States and the Lure of Community Development and How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States.What I wanted to do in the book was to look at the United States and to take seriously the parts of the United States that don't always feature in the textbooks—that are outside of the mainland, the contiguous blob. And what I discovered when I did that was that these places were often in the mainland's mind seen as peripheral places, but this was not a peripheral history…It turns out that once you've got the territories in view, you have a different understanding of them. And so a lot of US history (and really important parts of US history) has actually taken place outside of the part of the country that we normally think of as the United States.Daniel ImmerwahrI got really interested in the book in how it came to be and why it mattered that US standards prevailed and how other countries dealt with that by either jumping on the ship or trying to resist and that became difficult for them. And how emotionally hard it is for other parts of the world to [face] this onslaught of not just the US military, not just US planes, its bombs—we know all that stuff, and I don't want to diminish it, but all the US stuff and ways of talking and the English language and the dollar. And each one of those comes as a kind of challenge: Are you going to adopt this or not? Because life's going to be a little harder if you don't, but if you do, you're kind of a puppet. And everyone in the world has had to deal with that challenge on a daily basis—what screws they use, what language they speak, all that kind of stuff. And we don't talk about that a lot, but that actually strikes me as a really important facet of US power.Daniel ImmerwahrNews 1/23/26* Our first two stories this week come to us from New York City. On January 16th, Mayor Zohran Mamdani drew a line in the sand in an address celebrating a historic settlement with A&E real estate. While A&E is a serial offender, racking up “over 140,000 total violations, including 35,000 in the last year alone,” Mayor Mamdani made clear that this was to serve as an example for other landlords, saying “City Hall will not sit idly by and accept this illegality, nor will we allow bad actors to continue to harass tenants with impunity.” Mayor Mamdani made tenants rights a central pillar of his campaign and is signaling that it will be a major aspect of his administration as well, with the centerpiece being the “Rental Ripoff” hearings he plans to hold in all five boroughs. Yet again, Mamdani provides a blueprint for other Democratic elected officials in cities across the nation, if only they would pick up the mantle.* In other news out of New York, on January 13th New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a “settlement ending Betar US's…campaign of violence, harassment, and intimidation against Arab, Muslim, and Jewish New Yorkers.” Betar, an extremist Zionist outfit, is considered so fringe that even the ultra-Zionist Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has labeled it an “extremist group” for its “embrace of Islamophobia and harass[ment] of Muslims.” Examples of Betar's bias-motivated harassment include labeling keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves – as “rape rags” and claiming that the number of babies who had died in Gaza was “not enough,” adding, “we demand blood in Gaza.” According to this announcement, Betar is seeking to dissolve its nonprofit corporation and intends to wind down operations in New York. Mayor Mamdani added, “For years, Betar has sowed a campaign of hatred across New York, trafficking in Islamophobic extremism and harassing those with whom they disagreed. There is no place for their bigotry in our politics, and I'm grateful for [Attorney General James's] unflagging pursuit of justice.”* In more Israel news, earlier this week Israeli human rights lawyer Alon Sapir recounted the following story on social media. “On Saturday, I represented an American Jewish activist in deportation proceedings from the country due to his leftism. In the hearing, they presented him with a photo from a demonstration in the US to link him to anti-Israel organizations.” The photo in question was “taken at a demonstration against the Nazis in Charlottesville [Virginia],” and the Israelis “apparently took it from a page that promotes white supremacy.” This deportation proceeding – wherein the Israeli government used a white-supremacist photograph of an activist protesting Nazism to deport him on the grounds of being anti-Israel, is of course, stunningly backwards. But, as Sapir writes, “Indeed, [this is] grounds for deportation from the Jewish state.” * In more news from abroad, the New York Times reports the People's Republic of China has hit a new economic milestone: the world's largest trade surplus ever. According to economic data released by the country's General Administration of Customs, “China's surplus, the value of goods and services it sold abroad versus its imports, reached $1.19 trillion, an increase of 20 percent from 2024.” As this piece notes, “The enormous trade surplus…came despite efforts by President Trump to use tariffs to contain China's factories.” While the tariffs succeeded in reducing China's trade surplus with the United States by 22% last year, Chinese firms compensated by increasing sales to other regions and “in many cases bypassing American tariffs by shipping goods to the United States through Southeast Asia and elsewhere.” In short, the tariffs have succeeded only in raising prices for American consumers by forcing Chinese firms to route their products through secondary markets instead of selling directly to Americans – further enriching China while further immiserating everyday Americans.* This trade surplus is expected to widen further with news of an economic thaw between China and Canada. AP reports Canada has “agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products,” according to Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney added that there would initially be an annual cap of 49,000 Chinese EVs coming into the Canadian market at a tariff rate of 6.1%, but this cap would grow to about 70,000 over the next five years. In return, China will “reduce its total tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from 84% to about 15%,” and allow visa-free travel to China for Canadian citizens, many of whom are of Chinese descent. This deal is obviously a humiliating disaster for President Trump, who sought to both isolate China economically and force Canada to further subjugate itself to the United States, going so far as to muse about annexing the country and making it the “51st state.” Like the Greenland fiasco, this is a case of Trump needlessly alienating American allies, driving them into the open arms of more rational partners like China.* Meanwhile, in South Korea, Al Jazeera reports former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for his role in the failed coup attempt orchestrated by ousted president Yoon Suk-yeol. In a moving statement, Judge Lee Jin-gwan of the Seoul Central District Court, said Han “disregarded his duty and responsibility as prime minister,” and “As a result…South Korea was in danger ​of returning to the dark past ‌when the basic rights and liberal democratic order of the people were violated, potentially preventing them from escaping from the quagmire of dictatorship.” These words sound especially tragic to American ears at this moment, as our country slides ever further away from basic rights and liberal democratic order. Han is “the first member of Yoon's cabinet to be found guilty and sentenced to jail,” and his sentence gives an indication of how seriously the court is taking this matter. As we discussed last week, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Yoon himself.* Moving back to American politics, NOTUS reports Congresswoman and Senate hopeful Jasmine Crockett is amassing money from some unsavory donors. These include, “Tech titan and conservative provocateur Marc Andreessen [and] Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Facebook fame,” as well as several super PACs funded by the cryptocurrency lobby. Perhaps most damningly though, she has received donations from the PACs for BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, and massive defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Crockett's acceptance of these donations has sent ripples through the progressive community. Fellow Texas Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett called it “very troubling that she would be reliant on those kinds of contributions.” Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, is quoted in this piece refuting characterizations of Crockett as in line with that group's preferences, saying “To call her in any way the progressive or leftist candidate is a misnomer...She's a somewhat effective anti-Trump troll and resistance liberal, but is not one of us when it comes to a progressive populist or anti-corporate warrior.” Green added that his group will likely endorse Crockett's opponent in the primary, Texas State Representative James Talarico. As of mid-January, Talarico leads Crockett 47% to 38% in the polls, with 15% undecided, per Emerson.* Another red state senate race, this one in Montana, just got more interesting in its own way. According to the Montana Free Press, “University of Montana President Seth Bodnar is expected to run for U.S. Senate as an independent,” which the paper claims is “part of an elaborate plan apparently backed by former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.” Apparently, this move has angered Montana Democrats, two of whom have filed long-shot bids to run against incumbent Republican Senator Steve Daines. The Free Press reached out to Tester for a comment, and he sent back a text message explaining his reasoning behind backing the independent bid, writing “Every race I ran as Montana Senator and U.S. Senator it was about distancing myself from the Democratic Party…. During my last two races the democratic Party was poison in my attempts to get re-elected.” Tester is likely taking some inspiration from the Independent Senate campaigns of Dan Osborn in Nebraska. Osborn ran against incumbent Republican Deb Fischer in 2024 and made the race unusually competitive, eventually losing 53% to 47%. Osborn is now running against Nebraska's other incumbent Republican Senator, billionaire Pete Ricketts, and the two are in a statistical dead heat in the polls.* Next, with tax season on the horizon, the neutering of the Internal Revenue Service is starting to be felt. More Perfect Union reports “The IRS is effectively unable to audit private equity, venture capital, and real estate investment firms,” because “Thousands of workers have been fired from the agency,” post-DOGE. According to the numbers, audits of the aforementioned giant enterprises have “dropped 80 or 90%.” Stunningly, Forbes reports that instead of fighting to re-fund the IRS and restore some oversight to the lawless corporate sector, lawmakers from both parties are seeking to slash $11.7 billion of the $80 billion allocated to the agency in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. As this piece notes, that number itself is deceptive; a report issued by the Treasury Inspector General, found that that $80 billion has already been shrunken down to just $37.6 billion, and the IRS has only spent about $13.8 billion of the IRA funding. The Treasury Inspector General's projections of the additional funds available to the IRS is approximately $19.3 billion, meaning an additional cut of $11.7 billion would effectively curtail any plans to expand the IRS to police large, complex financial entities.* Finally, on January 14th, Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois formally introduced three articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. These articles, accusing Noem of obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust, self-dealing, and directing ICE to make “widespread warrantless arrests, forgo due process, and use violence against United States citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals,” initially garnered 80 Democratic cosponsors. But that list appears to be growing. Newsweek reports that as of January 21st, the list has grown to 100 cosponsors, nearly half of the 213-member Democratic caucus in the House. A successful impeachment vote is unlikely, as Republicans still control the House, but as provocative and unpopular actions across the country – by DHS in general and ICE specifically – continue to escalate, this list is only expected to grow. The larger question remains however: even if Noem is removed, will that force the administration to change course or will they simply appoint another pliant enforcer in her place. We can't know unless we try.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Preston and Seb unpack AI's implications for safety, governance, and economics. They debate AGI risks, corporate centralization, Bitcoin's regulatory role, and Elon Musk's ventures in space and autonomous tech. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:04:37 – Why AI safety and autonomy are increasingly at odds00:11:30 – How AGI could reshape governance and policy-making00:07:40 – Preston's skepticism about AI self-preservation claims00:15:18 – The unintended consequences of AI regulation00:22:15 – How Bitcoin could hold corporations accountable00:20:10 – The dangers of centralizing economic power via AI00:34:45 – Why generalist thinking matters in a post-pandemic world00:37:20 – The role of curiosity and deep reading in future-proofing00:41:59 – How SpaceX is redefining launch economics with reusable rockets00:57:41 – The hidden potential of Tesla's AI chips and compute power Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Clip 1: AI Expert: We Have 2 Years Before Everything Changes! We Need To Start Protesting! with Tristan Harris. Clip 2: Marc Andreessen explains the future belongs to generalists in the AI era. Clip 3: Elon Musk on the Future of SpaceX & Mars. Official Website: Seb Bunney. Seb's book: The Hidden Cost of Money. Related ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ mentioned in the podcast. Ad-free episodes on our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Premium Feed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. NEW TO THE SHOW? Join the exclusive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Mastermind Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Follow our official social media accounts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bitcoin Fundamentals Starter Packs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Finance Tool⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy exclusive perks from our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠favorite Apps and Services⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Intrinsic Value Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠best business podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our ⁠sponsors⁠: HardBlock Human Rights Foundation Masterworks Linkedin Talent Solutions Simple Mining Plus500 Netsuite Fundrise References to any third-party products, services, or advertisers do not constitute endorsements, and The Investor's Podcast Network is not responsible for any claims made by them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Greg McKeown is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most. 200,000 people receive his weekly 1-Minute Wednesday newsletter, and he recently released The Essentialism Planner: A 90-Day Guide to Accomplishing More by Doing Less. Sponsors:Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support: https://livemomentous.com/Tim (Code TIM for 35% off your first subscription.)Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail businessHelix Sleep premium mattresses: https://helixsleep.com/timCoyote the card game​, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens: https://coyotegame.com*Show notes: https://tim.blog/2025/01/09/personal-reboot-greg-mckeown/*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim's email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim's books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.