Latest Interviews
Showing 1–4 of 4 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- a16z43 min
GPT-5 and Agents Breakdown – w/ OpenAI Researchers Isa Fulford & Christina Kim
Isa Fulford, Christina Kim, Erik Torenberg, Sarah Wang
OpenAI leadership and key architects Christina and Issa unveil GPT-5 as a significantly more useful frontier model that prioritizes cross-domain utility, massive coding improvements, and reduced hallucinations over isolated benchmark scores. The update integrates advanced reasoning capabilities and autonomous agent functions to lower barriers for non-technical users while shifting evaluation metrics toward real-world usage data and specialized synthetic datasets. By optimizing pricing and balancing helpfulness against sycophancy, the release aims to establish a new baseline for general intelligence that transforms complex, multi-step workflows into accessible daily tools.
- a16z35 min
How to Build a Thriving AI Ecosystem with Lisa Su, CEO of AMD
AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su outlines the company's transformation into a leading AI infrastructure provider through strategic acquisitions of Xilinx and ZT Systems, alongside a commitment to open standards like UALink. Su emphasizes that overcoming current supply bottlenecks in advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory requires a shift from efficiency to supply chain resiliency supported by the CHIPS Act. This approach enables AMD to partner with major hyperscalers and startups to deliver heterogeneous computing solutions capable of training next-generation models with trillions of parameters.
- a16z37 min
How Waymo Is Using GenAI to Build a Better Driver
Dmitri Dolgov, David George, Sarah Wang
Dimitri Dolgov traces the evolution of autonomous driving from the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge to Waymo's current deployment of generalizable AI across four major US cities. By combining foundational machine learning breakthroughs like Transformers with massive synthetic simulation, Waymo has demonstrated a 76% reduction in property damage and operates 24/7 in diverse weather conditions. The company now focuses on scaling complex urban logistics while maintaining a hybrid market strategy that partners with Uber and prioritizes rigorous safety validation over short-term commercial shortcuts.
- a16z30 min
Bringing AI to the Masses with Adam D'Angelo, CEO of Quora
Adam D'Angelo, David George, Sarah Wang, Max Wiethe, Dan Morehead, Matt Rowe
Former Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo launched Poe as a multi-platform aggregator to navigate the shift from human-centric knowledge publishing to an instant, multi-model chat paradigm driven by generative AI. The platform differentiates itself by supporting diverse fine-tuned models and an open API that enables independent creators to deploy specialized tools while sharing revenue to offset high inference costs. D'Angelo anticipates a bifurcated market where Poe serves the downstream application layer of accessible AI, eventually evolving into a symbiotic network that complements Quora's human expertise with scalable automated agents.