Latest Interviews

OpenAI's Codex Lead: Why Coding as We Know It is Over

Alexander Embiricos, Harry Stebbings

Alexander Mberikos outlines a strategy where AI adoption accelerates by prioritizing user fluency through internal coding tools and open standards before deploying autonomous agents to non-technical users. He argues that while LLMs will compress specialized roles into full-stack builders and render traditional product management optional for small teams, sustainable enterprise value depends on securing deep customer relationships in regulated industries rather than acting as disposable integration layers. The ultimate vision involves a market consolidation around "super-agent" providers that enable effortless, context-aware intelligence, shifting the primary engineering metric from revenue to task completion within a conversational interface framework.

The AI Agent Economy Is Here

Founders and non-technical CEOs are rapidly adopting autonomous AI workflows, creating a parallel "agent economy" where software selection is driven by swarm intelligence rather than human developers. This shift forces a strategic pivot for developers, requiring tools to offer superior, structured documentation and open APIs to be chosen by autonomous agents as primary decision-makers. Industry leaders like Maltbook and Supabase are capitalizing on this transition, while institutions like Y Combinator begin redefining their frameworks to support a future where agents act as the primary economic actors choosing infrastructure.

Epstein Files Special: Prince Andrew Arrested, Global Network, Mythology, Reid Hoffman Files

Prince Andrew, Reid Hoffman, David Sacks, Saagar Enjeti, Michael Tracey, Kevin Bass

Host David Sacks moderated a solo episode featuring Sagar, Michael Tracy, and Kevin Bass to examine conflicting perspectives on the Jeffrey Epstein files, ranging from claims of an elite impunity class to arguments that the narrative is a financially driven mythology. The discussion detailed specific controversies, including Prince Andrew's unrelated arrest, discrepancies in Reid Hoffman's contact history with Epstein, and debates over the legal validity of the "over 1,000 victims" figure and associated settlement structures. Participants concluded by contrasting the view of a coordinated global criminal enterprise against the assertion that the story represents mass hysteria fueled by litigation incentives and political weaponization.

Has Putin pushed Russia’s economy too far? | The Economist

Putin, Arkady, Adam, Zannie, Al-Qadi

Russia has incurred approximately 1.2 million total casualties in a conflict where President Putin's reliance on a paid mercenary force drawn from rural areas prioritizes fiscal containment over social cohesion. This strategy has accelerated the country's transition into a war economy, creating a fiscal drag that has pushed the budget deficit to 2.6% of GDP while forcing the state to extract capital from investment and civilian living standards. Although an immediate macroeconomic collapse remains unlikely, experts warn that current recruitment incentives and resource diversion are eroding long-term state power by consuming future potential faster than it can be replaced.

Tech Comeback Ahead?

Peter Callahan, Mike Washington

In 2026, the technology sector is experiencing a 3% to 4% year-to-date decline and lagging the broader market for the first time in 15 years as investor focus shifts from generative AI infrastructure builds to commercial implementation and revenue verification. Despite "best-in-class" earnings growth across the Mag Seven cohort, equity valuations remain suppressed because companies face intense pressure to convert massive capital expenditures into immediate top-line growth within the next 6 to 24 months. Analysts maintain a constructive outlook on clean tech valuations but anticipate high volatility in the coming weeks as the market transitions from sector-wide moves to stock-specific differentiation.

The Infrastructure Imperative: Mobilizing Capital for a Resilient Economy | GIS São Paulo

Anya Prusa, Tufi Daher, Karen Fang, Laurent Fayollas, Michael Kelly, Tanya, Eliane

Industry leaders and institutional investors gathered to address the $2.1 trillion global clean energy finance landscape, emphasizing the critical need for stable public policies and de-risking instruments to unlock capital for projects ranging from Brazil's TransNordestina railway to Canada's $15 billion Growth Fund. The panel highlighted emerging technologies like advanced geothermal and carbon capture alongside the transformative potential of AI in grid optimization, while noting that demand-side behavior change and Indigenous legal reforms are essential drivers for scaling decarbonization efforts. Ultimately, the discussion concluded that achieving a balance between affordability, security, and sustainability requires overcoming geopolitical supply chain risks and shifting political focus toward concrete project execution in resource-rich but underfunded regions like Africa.

Why are so many Colombians becoming mercenaries? | The Economist

Carla Subirana Artús, Rosie Blau

Colombia is rapidly emerging as a primary global source of mercenaries driven by a cohort of 13,000 soldiers exiting the military under President Gustavo Petro's policies combined with a lack of domestic veteran support. These former soldiers are increasingly recruited via social media to serve in high-risk foreign conflicts ranging from Sudan to Ukraine, while their deployment facilitates serious international crimes such as the assassination of Haiti's president. Although Colombia ratified the UN Anti-Mercenary Convention, experts argue that without comprehensive domestic pension reforms, the economic incentives for this growing export of armed labor will remain unchecked.

Thrive Raises New $10B Fund | OpenAI Buys OpenClaw | Stripe at $140B: Is Adyen Wildly Undervalued?

Jason Lemkin, Rory O'Driscoll, Harry Stebbings

Anthropic secured a $30 billion round at a $380 billion valuation while Thrive Capital closed a $10 billion fund, driving a market shift where venture capital prioritizes massive, concentrated stakes in AI infrastructure over traditional early-stage diversification. This momentum has inverted sentiment toward mature SaaS, causing public software stocks to trade at depressed multiples despite strong fundamentals as enterprises aggressively adopt AI agents that risk rendering legacy user interfaces obsolete. Meanwhile, the competitive landscape is evolving with OpenAI's acquisition of OpenClaw and Workday's leadership return, signaling that autonomous agents are reshaping security paradigms and forcing incumbent founders to confront the rapid disruption of established workflow tools.

The Man Who Climbs Without A Rope: Sitting At Home Is More Dangerous Than Climbing | Alex Honnold

Alex Honnold, Steven

Alex Honnold, the renowned free solo climber, reframes risk as a calculated choice for self-actualization while contrasting his disciplined training against the unintended dangers of sedentary living. Beyond his athletic feats and family life, Honnold directs significant personal resources toward the Honnold Foundation, which has deployed over $13 million to provide energy access to 650,000 people across 30 countries. Looking forward, he advocates for "connecting the dots" through action rather than rigid planning, aiming for ambitious challenges like the "Free Triple" while urging others to embrace purposeful risk to avoid unfulfilled potential.

Opportunities in Sustainability: Voice of Global Investors | Global Investors' Symposium São Paulo

Patricia Torres, Clara Barby, Tony Lent, Jens Nielsen, Wolfgang Schwerdtle

A recent high-level forum brought together investors from GIC, the World Climate Foundation, and Just Climate to align capital strategies with Brazil's mandate to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 59% to 67% below 2005 levels by 2035, prioritizing land use and agriculture over traditional energy transition. Participants identified a maturing market where average deal sizes are rising to $30 million, yet emphasized that overcoming data gaps and currency risks requires innovative financial instruments like off-take guarantees and specialized intermediaries. The dialogue concluded with a unified call for asset owners to appoint dedicated NBS executives and reallocate 2–3% of assets by 2025 to support scalable nature-based solutions that bridge the gap between venture and infrastructure capital.

How to play chess like a grandmaster | The Economist

Jennifer Shahade, Alok Jha

This analysis positions chess as a rigorous framework for human cognition, illustrating how expert players balance intuitive pattern recognition with deliberative calculation across the game's three distinct phases. The discussion highlights how modern AI engines, which prioritize probabilistic outcomes over traditional material evaluation, have paradoxically driven human players toward more aggressive and creative styles rather than rendering the game obsolete. Ultimately, the enduring surge in chess popularity despite AI dominance serves as a resilient precedent for human adaptation in an increasingly automated landscape.

Finland’s president: are Europe and America’s interests still aligned?| The Economist

Alexander Stubb, Donald Trump, David Rennie

Recent US policy shifts driven by MAGA ideology and an "America First" pecking order have inflicted irreparable damage on transatlantic morale, despite maintaining strategic alignment on Arctic defense and containing Russian influence in Europe. While Finland has bolstered its self-reliant military with conscription and advanced weaponry, the alliance remains fragile due to lingering US control over critical assets like long-range missiles and Starlink capabilities. Bilateral cooperation continues through massive joint exercises in Northern Norway and Finnish acquisition plans, yet the relationship risks escalation if diplomatic off-ramps at venues like Davos fail to prevent trade wars or military threats over issues such as Greenland.

By 2050 we could get "10,000 years of technological progress"

Ajeya Cotra, Rob Wiblin

Ajaya Kocha outlines a "crunch time" strategy where society redirects rapidly accelerating AI capabilities toward defensive alignment and infrastructure projects during a critical window before potential loss of control. She advocates for mandatory transparency measures, such as regular benchmark reporting and misalignment disclosures, to ensure verifiable data drives policy rather than industry secrecy. To operationalize this approach, Open Philanthropy is considering rapid financial mobilization, including computing infrastructure investment and streamlined grantmaking, to secure resources for high-stakes safety research when an intelligence explosion is detected.

Inside Claude Code With Its Creator Boris Cherny

Boris Cherny, Mark Mandelmann, Jr., Francesc Campoy, Melanie Warrick

Anthropic has accelerated its engineering velocity to a 150% growth rate by leveraging *Claude Code* to generate 70% to 90% of its own source code and rewriting its entire codebase every six months to avoid technical debt. The organization operates a bimodal workforce of specialists and generalists while predicting that traditional software engineering roles will fade as AI automates coding tasks. With *Claude Code* now powering the majority of developer sessions and influencing 4% of public industry commits, the company is simultaneously expanding into non-technical domains through *Co-work* and monitoring its safety rating at ASL 3.

The New AI Trades

Ryan Hammond, Allison Nathan

In early 2026, software stocks suffered a 25% valuation collapse as forward earnings multiples compressed, while investors grappled with AI-driven disruption risks across sectors like legal and media. Simultaneously, five U.S. hyperscalers are projected to spend $660 billion on capital expenditures this year, a surge consuming 90% of their operating cash flows that has forced reduced buybacks and increased debt reliance. Amidst these headwinds, Goldman Sachs forecasts an S&P 500 recovery driven primarily by 12% fourth-quarter earnings growth and a market rotation toward cyclical sectors rather than AI-centric leaders.