Episodes

How did Axon go from a garage startup and near-bankruptcy to an IPO? CEO Rick Smith traces the pivotal move into policing, proving TASER through relentless field demos and later betting on body cameras and cloud software. Smith and Jason Calacanis examine drones, robots and the future of public safety, including surveillance concerns, data governance and Axon’s bright line: “Any decisions about using force on another person will be made by humans.”

Was affordability, not ideology, behind the midterm backlash? Chamath argues, “The economic reality in America is broken,” as the besties debate war-related inflation, cost-of living, and Trump’s path back through populist priorities and tangible relief. Plus, data center backlash, compute scarcity, AI regulation, the $4T market cap selloff, and OpenAI’s reported solution to the Exponential Time Hypothesis.

Anthropic’s S-1 makes the case that AI demand is still early, highly profitable and capable of creating enormous value across the compute stack. But can power, data centers and capital keep pace? The besties break down Anthropic’s economics, AI’s competition with government borrowing for liquidity, and Google’s $500 billion market-cap drop as investors question search advertising. Plus, the risks of an AI-driven economy and final midterm predictions.

Can just over 50 billion hours of continuous physiological data predict health problems before traditional testing? WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed joins Jason to unpack the subscription pivot that made retention and long-term member outcomes the priority. They discuss AI coaching, journaling and early illness detection, plus WHOOP’s push into the gray zone between wellness and medical care through blood pressure insights, ECG, lab integrations and its battles with the FDA.

Is AI spending creating durable productivity, or circulating within a concentrated startup economy? Nikesh Arora joins Jason, Chamath and Friedberg to debate enterprise adoption, open-source infrastructure, cyber defense, rogue agents and unresolved liability. Plus, France’s unrest, weak growth, integration failures and fiscal reality, and Trump’s second-half strategy.

How soon will quantum computing break today’s cryptography? Arvind Krishna and Nikesh Arora discuss the 2030 security deadline, post-quantum migration, frontier versus open-weight AI economics, cyber warfare and regulation. Plus, why vertical integration could consolidate software stacks while keeping companies accountable for what their systems produce.

Is design the new code? Figma CEO Dylan Field joins Jason to explain why taste, brand and point of view matter more as AI makes code easier to produce. They discuss Figma’s origin story, Adobe’s blocked $20 billion deal, the “SaaS apocalypse,” and why AI lowers the floor for creation while human curiosity, agency and boldness still raise the ceiling.

Did the AI bubble just pop? Ben Horowitz joins Jason, Chamath and Sacks to assess CoreWeave’s debt risk, AI financing and Anthropic’s outlook. They debate software’s Jevons paradox, open-source and small models, self-replicating AI warnings, and why power, land and compute may be the ultimate moat.