Latest Interviews
Showing 316–330 of 3,131 interview transcripts.
- Milken Institute18 min
A Conversation with Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance of Brazil | Global Conference 2025
Fernando Haddad, Laura Deal Lacey
President Lula's administration projects a sustainable 3% annual economic growth trajectory through structural tax reforms, a new carbon market, and a Vice Presidential-led reindustrialization plan targeting hundreds of billions in private investment. This domestic strategy is reinforced by a dedicated National Data Center Policy promoting green digital infrastructure and solidified international partnerships under the G20 and BRICS frameworks to drive climate governance and the upcoming COP30 summit. With advanced infrastructure concessions and commitments such as a $34 billion corporate investment package, Brazil positions itself as a secure hub for sustainable capital seeking alignment with its 90% clean energy matrix.
- The Economist9 min
Will China be the real winner from the Iran war? | The Economist
Edward Carr, David Rennie, Adam Roberts, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Ed
Chinese strategic leadership now prioritizes establishing new economic chokeholds in pharmaceuticals and chemicals while explicitly exploiting Donald Trump's transactional nature to secure high-end chip access, fearing that his potential political decline would empower hawkish rivals like Marco Rubio. This approach is underpinned by a cynical calculation that the United States is losing global favorability and alliance cohesion, prompting Beijing to cautiously normalize relations with Southeast Asian partners and free-ride on the existing US-led security order. Despite acknowledging the need for systemic adaptation, China's strategy remains paralyzed by an internal contradiction, lacking a viable plan for a destabilized "law of the jungle" environment while simultaneously avoiding the risks required to lead a new global order.
- The Economist9 min
How America is racing China to the Moon | The Economist
The Artemis II crew successfully launched on NASA's largest rocket, marking the first human spaceflight beyond Low Earth Orbit since the Apollo era. Under Administrator Jared Isaacman's leadership, this reconnaissance mission accelerates U.S. lunar ambitions to counter China's 2030 landing plans and establish a permanent lunar presence rather than a temporary visit. The spacecraft is currently executing a unique trajectory designed to culminate in a splashdown near San Diego by mission day ten, paving the way for the eventual Artemis III lunar landing.
- a16z42 min
How Bots, Deepfakes and AI Agents Are Forcing a New Internet Identity Layer | Alex Blania on a16z
Alex Blania, Ben Horowitz, Erik Torenberg
World ID is deploying its Orb hardware and cryptographic protocols to verify unique human individuals against the rising threat of autonomous AI agents and deepfakes. With a strategic pivot targeting the U.S. market contingent on the "Clarity Act," the company aims to scale its 18 million verified users through mobile distribution models and enterprise partnerships like Tinder. This infrastructure seeks to secure democratic processes, financial systems, and social welfare by distinguishing biological humans from algorithmic impersonators.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
AI Exchanges: Power Problems?
Brian Singer, Alison Nathan, George Lee
Goldman Sachs projects a 220% surge in global data center power demand by 2030 as hyperscalers commit over $300 billion to infrastructure, a trajectory comparable to adding the world's sixth-largest power consumer to the grid. This aggressive expansion faces severe bottlenecks in skilled labor and transmission supply, forcing a near-term reliance on natural gas simple-cycle generators while industry leaders navigate regulatory hurdles and "agentic" AI traffic growth. Despite the high capital intensity and a potential $40 per megawatt-hour premium for green energy, major technology firms maintain robust balance sheets to fund these transition costs while seeking to decouple their power expenses from consumer utility rates.
- The Economist9 min
Is a private-credit meltdown the next financial crisis? | The Economist
Private credit, a non-bank lending sector estimated at $1.5 to $3 trillion, surged following post-2008 regulatory shifts and a 2010s boom in private equity buyouts. Despite attracting institutional investors through high illiquidity premiums, recent redemption crises at major firms like Blue Owl Capital and Blackstone have exposed governance weaknesses and asset quality concerns. While experts predict a prolonged economic impact rather than a sudden systemic collapse, the sector faces ongoing scrutiny over the viability of its semi-liquid business model.
How Roblox Turned Game Developers Into $1.3M+ Earners
Last year, Roblox generated $6.8 billion in bookings and facilitated $1.5 billion in creator earnings across 35 billion hours of usage, targeting a significant expansion of the global gaming market. The company distinguishes its platform as an immersive "human co-experience" supported by proprietary AI models and a "4D" physics architecture designed to lower development barriers and enhance real-time social interaction. Looking forward, leadership plans to leverage this unique data and technology to drive augmented reality integration while maintaining strict safety protocols and a culture that prioritizes on-site collaboration and metabolic health.
- Y Combinator31 min
This Startup Catches Fraud at Scale
Jared Friedman, Karine Mellata
Variance has officially exited stealth mode following a $21 million Series A round to commercialize AI agents that automate trust and safety infrastructure for Fortune 500 clients like GoFundMe and IAC. Founded by ex-Apple engineers Karine and Michael, the 12-person team leverages a unique "agentic" architecture to solve complex unstructured data problems in fraud detection and compliance without manual rule updates. Despite a 2024 leadership injury that threatened operations, the company is scaling its full-stack decisioning platform to replace traditional human review workflows with adaptive, self-healing systems designed to trace sophisticated abuse graphs.
- Goldman Sachs37 min
The Business Builder: New Mountain Capital's Steve Klinsky
Steve Klinsky, the CEO of the $60 billion New Mountain Capital, established the firm in 2000 to pursue a "defensive growth" investment strategy focused on operational improvements within non-cyclical sectors like infrastructure and healthcare technology. Under his leadership, the firm has achieved significant milestones including the $8 billion expansion of supply chain software provider Blue Yonder and the creation of over $100 billion in enterprise value through private credit. Klinsky continues to drive the firm's integration of Generative AI to optimize portfolio margins while maintaining active philanthropic leadership through his Modern States Education Alliance and long-term vision for the private equity landscape.
The Public Venture Fund That 9x’d in 3 Days (Fundrise VCX)
Ben Miller, Benjamin Miller, Molly O'Shea
Fundrise's VCX fund has emerged as a novel public venture capital vehicle that democratized access to private tech assets by raising a $700 million valuation and attracting 100,000 investors. Within three days of its listing, the fund's shares appreciated to a $6.5 billion valuation, driven by a 193% weighted average growth in its portfolio which includes major holdings like Anthropic, Databricks, and OpenAI. By leveraging a direct network investing strategy and bypassing traditional fee structures, the fund positions itself as a primary capital bridge that challenges the collapsing IPO exit model while preparing for future expansion into larger check sizes.
- The Economist9 min
Peptides are not a miracle drug | The Economist
Natasha Loder, Tim Cross, Jason Palmer
Driven by high-profile endorsements and internet culture, the unregulated global market for peptides bypasses clinical trials to offer performance-enhancing substances riddled with purity risks and unknown long-term health effects. Regulatory bodies in the United States and United Kingdom are attempting to address this crisis through compounding pharmacy oversight and vendor crackdowns, yet enforcement struggles against the speed of online sales and social media promotion. Experts warn that without rigorous scientific validation, the current environment prioritizes profit and self-experimentation over the biological safety required to distinguish beneficial compounds from dangerous contaminants.
- The Economist9 min
Big Oil’s Iran windfall won't last | The Economist
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Alice Fulwood, Ethan Wu
At the record-breaking CIRA Week conference convened by historian Daniel Yergin, global energy executives expressed immediate financial jubilation regarding windfall profits from high oil prices while grappling with severe geopolitical risks threatening the Strait of Hormuz. Key figures like ADNOC CEO Sultan Al-Jaber and General Mattis warned that disruptions to this critical choke point endanger not only crude shipments but also essential fertilizer supplies and semiconductor helium, creating potential global food and technology crises. Simultaneously, the assembly noted a strategic disconnect in US policy regarding the conflict and observed that current instability is accelerating a structural shift toward electric vehicles and clean energy in emerging economies to reduce reliance on volatile supply chains.
- All-In Podcast1h 20m
Anthropic's Generational Run, OpenAI Panics, AI Moats, Meta Loses Major Lawsuits
Chamath, Jason, Friedberg, Sacks
President Trump has appointed David Sacks and Michael Kratios to co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, directing a 15-member body to accelerate industrial policy in semiconductors, biotech, and AI while countering China's scientific surge. This appointment coincides with significant market shifts where Anthropic's aggressive enterprise growth challenges OpenAI's declining consumer dominance, prompting Sacks to critique regulatory capture strategies and advocate for parental responsibility over product liability in social media harms. Together, these developments signal a strategic pivot toward aligning government advisory structures with private sector "builders" to manage the transition from scientific discovery to industrial deployment.
- The Economist6 min
Christine Lagarde: “Europe-bashing is vastly excessive” | The Economist
Christine Lagarde, Zanny Minton Beddoes
Despite the European Union's historical success in preventing war, the bloc now faces severe economic stagnation relative to the United States, characterized by a widening GDP gap, declining competitiveness, and growing populist unrest. While former Prime Minister Mario Draghi proposed extensive reforms and external pressures from Donald Trump's administration further exposed European vulnerabilities, progress remains incremental rather than transformative. This deteriorating landscape forces a strategic reckoning as the EU attempts to leverage its superior healthcare and social stability while navigating increasing diplomatic hostility from the US.
- a16z50 min
What Tesla and SpaceX Teach Founders About Building Hardware | a16z
Erin Price-Wright, Chandler Luzsicza, Turner Caldwell
Chandler Lujitsa, former lead propulsion engineer for SpaceX's Starship, and Turner Caldwell, who built a billion-dollar lithium refinery at Tesla, founded Galadai and Mariana Minerals respectively to apply aerospace and automotive efficiency to defense and critical mineral supply chains. Both founders have operationalized flat organizations, aggressive scheduling, and factory-style manufacturing to solve industry-specific bottlenecks, such as underproducing missile systems and lacking software coordination in mining. Their ventures are currently targeting rapid scale-up through vertical integration strategies, autonomous robotics adoption, and aggressive hiring pipelines designed to sustain high-velocity execution in capital-constrained environments.