Podcasts

Jean-Baptiste Kempf is lead developer of VLC and president of VideoLAN. Kieran Kunhya is a longtime FFmpeg contributor, codec engineer, and the person behind the now-infamous FFmpeg account on X. https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep496-sc Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/ffmpeg-transcript CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: https://x.com/FFmpeg https://ffmpeg.org/ https://www.videolan.org/ https://x.com/videolan https://jbkempf.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbkempf/ https://github.com/jbkempf https://x.com/kierank_ https://bit.ly/3OORhmC https://github.com/kierank SPONSORS: Larridin: Measure AI adoption in your business. https://larridin.com Blitzy: AI agent for large enterprise codebases. https://blitzy.com/lex BetterHelp: Online therapy an

Morgan Brennan speaks with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman about the next phase of American space exploration and the urgency behind returning to the moon. They discuss the Artemis program, the challenges of cost, speed, and execution, and how a new competitive landscape is reshaping NASA’s priorities. The conversation covers the role of public-private partnerships, the rise of commercial space companies, and the need to rebuild core capabilities within NASA. Isaacman also outlines how the agency is shifting toward faster iteration, clearer demand signals for industry, and a more focused strategy to compete in what he describes as a new space race. Resources: Follow Jared Isaacman on X: https://twitter.com/rookisaacman Follow Morgan Brennan on X: https://twitter.com/MorganLBrennan Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenbe

Peter Levine speaks with Ash Ashutosh, CEO of Pinecone, about the launch of Nexus and the shift from vector databases to knowledge engines. As agents become the primary users of software, they discuss why traditional retrieval systems break down and how AI systems need to evolve to support machine-to-machine interactions. The conversation explores how agents currently spend most of their time retrieving and reasoning over data, why that approach is inefficient, and how moving reasoning closer to the data can dramatically improve performance, accuracy, and cost. Ash also explains how Pinecone is rethinking the stack for agentic applications, introducing new abstractions, query languages, and developer workflows. Resources: Follow Ash Ashutosh on X: https://x.com/ashashutosh Follow Peter Levine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-levine-681386172/ Check out everything a16z is doing with artificial intelligence here, including articles, projects, and more podcasts. Please note

with Tony James

David Haber speaks with Tony James about building enduring firms across multiple eras of finance. From joining DLJ when it was a subscale firm to helping grow Blackstone into one of the largest asset managers in the world, James reflects on the decisions, structures, and cultural principles that enabled long-term success. They discuss the origins of leveraged buyouts, the evolution of private markets, and how identifying structural opportunities early can create lasting competitive advantage. James also shares lessons from backing companies like Costco, where culture, customer focus, and long-term thinking drove exceptional outcomes. The conversation covers leadership, talent development, and the challenges of scaling organizations while maintaining performance. James also reflects on succession, firm-building, and why culture, incentives, and alignment ultimately determine whether an organization compounds or stagnates. Resources: Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z

Katherine Boyle speaks with Sarah Rogers, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, about the intersection of AI, free speech, and global information systems. They discuss how major technological shifts, from the printing press to the internet to AI, have reshaped communication and power, and why this moment may be even more consequential. Recorded at the a16z American Dynamism Summit, the conversation explores the role of public diplomacy in the digital age, the risks of censorship and overregulation, and how governments are approaching AI as both a national security priority and a platform for global influence. Rogers also highlights the importance of maintaining “AI with a Western soul,” and why preserving open systems and freedom of expression will shape the future of innovation. Resources: Follow Sarah B. Rogers on X: https://x.com/UnderSecPD Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on A

This week, OpenAI announced a loosened partnership with Microsoft and an aggressive new strategy to secure computing power. We unpack what these updates signal about OpenAI’s business strategy and whether the company can scale while balancing a trial against Elon Musk and investor concerns over missed financial targets. Then, the A.I. researcher Dr. Adam Rodman, of Harvard Medical School, returns to tell us about the most significant ways A.I. is changing how doctors treat patients. And finally, can an LLM trained only on very old texts predict the future? We’re talking with one of the creators of the chatbot talkie. Guests: Dr. Adam Rodman, internal medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. David Duvenaud, associate professor at the University of Toronto, former team lead at Anthropic and co-creator of talkie. Additional Reading: Microsoft and OpenAI Loosen Their Partnership Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s Epic Fight Heads

Theo Jaffee speaks with Balaji Srinivasan and Taylor Lorenz about how AI is reshaping media, trust, and online communication. Building on prior public disagreements between the two, the conversation revisits core tensions around media, technology, and power in a rapidly changing information environment. They discuss the breakdown of traditional information systems, the rise of AI-generated content, and why new models for verifying identity and truth may be necessary. The conversation lays out competing visions for the future of media, from decentralized “webs of trust” and cryptographic verification to the role of journalism, privacy, and public accountability. Resources: Follow Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis Follow Taylor Lorenz on X: https://x.com/TaylorLorenz Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host

Elena Burger speaks with Joe Schmidt, partner on the enterprise team at a16z, about the future of enterprise software in the age of AI. Using Workday as a case study, they discuss why many of today’s most important enterprise systems feel broken, how platform shifts reshape entire categories, and what an AI-native replacement might look like. The conversation covers the limits of legacy SaaS, why “AI revenue” may be overstated, and how agents could fundamentally change how companies manage workflows, permissions, and internal systems. They also explore why even the most defensible software businesses may now be vulnerable to replatforming. Resources: Follow Joe on X: https://x.com/joeschmidtiv Follow Elena on X: https://x.com/elenaburger Read more from ‘Workday’s Last Workday?’: https://a16z.com/workdays-last-workday/ Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our h

with in Global Drug Development

Theo Jaffee and Gabriel Dickinson speak with Cremieux about China’s rapid rise to the top of global clinical trial output. They discuss the regulatory reforms that accelerated China’s progress, the surge in novel drug development, and what the US would need to change to stay competitive in biomedical innovation. Resources: Follow Cremieux on X: https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil Follow Theo on X: https://x.com/theojaffee Follow Gabriel on X: https://x.com/gbrl_dick Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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 compa

Elena Burger speaks with Malika Aubakirova, partner on the AI infrastructure team at a16z, about why today’s AI systems struggle to learn over time. They discuss the limits of in-context learning, the case for continual learning, and how models may need to evolve from static systems into ones that learn from experience. Resources: Follow Malika on X: https://x.com/MaikaThoughts Follow Elena on X: https://x.com/VirtualElena Read more on Why We Need Continual Learning: https://a16z.com/why-we-need-continual-learning/ Check out everything a16z is doing with artificial intelligence here, including articles, projects, and more podcasts. 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 p

This interview with Stripe cofounders John and Patrick Collison originally aired on TBPN. They discuss Stripe's 34% growth and new employee tender offer, how agent commerce and stablecoins may require high-throughput blockchains built for millions of transactions per second, and why the economics of software are shifting from mass-produced products to bespoke, on-demand systems cooked fresh at the moment of use. Resources: Follow TBPN on Twitter: https://x.com/tbpn Follow Patrick Collison on Twitter: https://x.com/patrickc Follow John Collison on Twitter: https://x.com/collision Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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 directe

Anjney Midha, founder of AMP PBC, speaks with Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z, about how venture capital changed from a small, relationship-driven business into a scalable system for backing new technology companies. They discuss network effects, firm design, leadership, culture, and how AI is reshaping both the capital race and the kinds of companies that can be built now. Resources: Follow Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz Follow Anjney on X: https://x.com/AnjneyMidha Watch more from CS 153: Frontiers: https://www.youtube.com/@CS153Team Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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

with Andrew Yang + HatGPT

This week, Tim Cook announced he would step down as chief executive of Apple. We discuss what he got right and what he got wrong, and we offer some unsolicited advice for his replacement, John Ternus. Then, Andrew Yang joins us to discuss A.I.-powered job automation and why universal basic income may be making a comeback. And finally, we catch up on more recent tech news with a round of HatGPT. Guest: Andrew Yang, chief executive of Noble Mobile and author of “Hey Yang, Where’s My Thousand Bucks?” Additional Reading: Tim Cook Will Step Down as Apple C.E.O. Who Is John Ternus, Apple’s Low-Profile Leader? Why U.B.I. Is Making a Comeback His 2020 Campaign Message: The Robots Are Coming This Pasta Sauce Wants to Record Your Family Chinese Robot Beats Human Best Time in Half-Marathon, After a Stumble What Happens When A.I. Runs a Store in San Francisco? Meta to Start Capturing Employee Mouse Movements, Keystrokes for A.I. Training Data SpaceX Strikes Deal With Cursor for $60 Billion OpenAI

Steven Sinofsky, board partner at a16z, Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, and Martin Casado, general partner at a16z, discuss the reality of AI inside enterprises. They cover the gap between Silicon Valley and the rest of the world, why most AI initiatives fail in large organizations, and how agents, infrastructure, and workflows are evolving beyond the hype. Resources: Follow Aaron Levie on X: https://twitter.com/levie Follow Steve Sinofsky on X: https://twitter.com/stevesi Follow Martin Casado on X: https://twitter.com/martin_casado Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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

Erik Torenberg speaks with Martin Shkreli, American investor and businessman, about how he sees the AI landscape, from OpenAI to Anthropic, and what actually matters beyond the hype. They also talk through the future of computing, the limits of “vibe coding,” and why biotech and pharma remain some of the toughest industries to get right. Resources: Follow Martin on X: https://x.com/MartinShkreli Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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.

Erik Torenberg and Theo Jaffee speak with Balaji Srinivasan, angel investor, entrepreneur, and author of The Network State, about how AI is transforming media, eroding trust, and reshaping how information is created and verified. They discuss why systems like hiring, journalism, and online communication are breaking under synthetic content, and what replaces them. The conversation also examines the role of cryptography, on-chain data, and new models of proof in rebuilding trust online. Resources: Follow Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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

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: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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

with Anish Acharya on The Kevin Rose Show

This episode originally aired on The Kevin Rose Show. Kevin Rose speaks with Anish Acharya, general partner at a16z, about how AI is rewriting the rules of consumer software, the defensibility of network effects in a world where anyone can spin up an app in 48 hours, and why the real threat to consumer founders may be the cost of inference, not competition. They also discuss model pricing, the future of the four-day work week, and peptides. Resources: Follow Anish on X: https://x.com/illscience Follow Kevin on X: https://x.com/kevinrose Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow 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 i

This week, amid violent attacks on the homes of the OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and the Indianapolis councilman Ron Gibson, we debate why artificial intelligence and data centers are so unpopular. Then, Kara Swisher returns to the show to discuss her new docuseries on Silicon Valley’s obsession with living longer. And finally, can chief executives replace themselves with A.I.? Mark Zuckerberg seems to be trying. Guests: Kara Swisher, tech journalist and host of the podcasts “Pivot” and “On With Kara Swisher.” Additional Reading: Shots Fired at Indianapolis Councilman’s Home, After Vote Backing Data Center Man Held in Attack on OpenAI Chief’s Home Had List of A.I. Leaders, Officials Say Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever Meta Builds A.I. Version of Mark Zuckerberg to Interact With Staff We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe

with Dmitri Dolgov

Waymo is now delivering hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous rides each week — but getting there required more than better models. It meant building a complete system for training, evaluating, and deploying a driver in the real world. In this episode — originally aired on the Cheeky Pint podcast — Waymo Co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov joins John Collison to break down how self-driving actually works today: from sensor fusion across LiDAR, radar, and cameras, to simulation, “critic” models, and the role of AI in decision-making. They also explore why full autonomy is fundamentally different from driver-assist, what it takes to scale globally, and how recent advances in AI are reshaping the path forward. Resources: Follow Dmitri Dolgov on X - https://x.com/dmitri_dolgov Follow John Collison on X - https://x.com/collision Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: