a16z (Andreessen Horowitz)

Recent Episodes

1. OpenAI's Joshua Achiam: Did We Already Reach AGI?

   Aug 4, 2026

   Joshua Achiam, Chief Futurist at OpenAI, discusses frontier AI capabilities, cybersecurity threats, and the paradox of AGI normalization. He explores how advanced AI models can identify and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities, the risks of data poisoning and model jailbreaking in adversarial contexts, and why society has quietly adapted to AI capabilities that would have seemed revolutionary just years ago. The conversation covers state-actor cyber threats, recursive self-improvement, and whether intelligence scaling has hard physical limits.

2. Ruby Thelot on Internet Culture, AI, and the Future of Taste

   Aug 2, 2026

   Ruby Thelot, a designer, artist, cyberethnographer, and professor at NYU's Integrated Design and Media program, discusses how digital cultures form, evolve, and shape behavior online. The conversation covers internet folklore, algorithmic influence on aesthetics and taste, AI sentiment among Americans, and how technology is reshaping social norms and communication across different regional and platform-specific subcultures.

3. Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon: What’s at Stake in Crypto Regulation

   Aug 1, 2026

   Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, partners at a16z, discuss the CLARITY Act and comprehensive U.S. cryptocurrency market structure legislation with host Robert Hackett. They explore why regulatory clarity is essential for crypto innovation, addressing debates around stablecoins, securities law, illicit finance concerns, and developer liability. The conversation examines how clear rules could unlock financial infrastructure upgrades, prevent catastrophes like FTX, and secure American technological leadership in blockchain and digital assets.

4. How Enterprise AI Really Gets Deployed

   Jul 31, 2026

   Jesse Zhang (CEO) and Ashwin Sreenivas (President), co-founders of Decagon, discuss how the company deploys enterprise AI agents at scale for customer support, sales, and operational workflows. They explain Decagon's shift to open-source models for 90% of inference to optimize latency and performance, and how the company builds custom fine-tuned models for specific use cases rather than relying solely on frontier models. The conversation covers forward-deployed engineering, the role of application companies alongside foundation model labs, and how AI automation is creating rather than destroying jobs by unlocking latent demand.

5. AI for America's Small Businesses | Lassie

   Jul 30, 2026

   Stein Pella and Frederick Rankin, cofounders of Lassie, discuss building AI agents that automate administrative work for healthcare practices, specifically dental offices. The conversation covers how they identified the problem of small business owners spending hundreds of hours monthly on paperwork, the technical challenges of building autonomous systems that handle insurance billing and patient payments with 98% automation, and why small businesses represent one of AI's biggest opportunities. They explore how AI shifts software from information storage to autonomous work execution, the distribution challenges of reaching thousands of small practices, and the regulatory digitization tailwinds enabling their technology.

6. AI Micro Dramas, Generative Media, and the Future of Creativity

   Jul 29, 2026

   Justine Moore, investor at a16z, discusses the explosive growth of AI-generated micro dramas and generative media. The conversation covers how AI is democratizing content creation, the shift from novelty to compelling storytelling, and emerging opportunities in consumer AI products and agents. Moore shares insights on studio adoption, creator economics, and the future of entertainment formats powered by generative models.

7. Fei-Fei Li on Spatial Intelligence and Robotics

   Jul 28, 2026

   Fei-Fei Li, CEO and co-founder of World Labs, discusses the acquisition of robotics company Scenix and the vision behind combining spatial intelligence with robotics. The conversation covers world models, simulation-based training and evaluation for robots, and how AI must evolve from language understanding to 3D spatial reasoning and physical interaction. World Labs is building foundational AI infrastructure—rather than robots themselves—to enable robotics companies to train and validate systems in digital environments that align with physical reality.

8. Steven Sinofsky: AI Doesn't Need New Rules Yet

   Jul 27, 2026

   Steven Sinofsky, former Microsoft executive and tech analyst, discusses why AI regulation is moving too fast and lacks adequate foundation. He argues that regulators are applying a precautionary principle before understanding what they're regulating, compares AI oversight to failed historical regulatory patterns (cars, antitrust, AT&T), and makes a case for open-source AI models. Sinofsky contends existing laws already address most AI concerns and that premature regulation will constrain innovation rather than protect the public.

9. Ben Horowitz: The Fight Over Open Source AI

   Jul 26, 2026

   Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, discusses the critical policy battle over open-source AI models with hosts Theo Jaffe and Sofia Puccini. The conversation centers on why open-source AI is essential for innovation, safety, and national security, and addresses the pushback from proprietary AI companies attempting to restrict open models. Horowitz argues that open-source models prevent monopolistic control, enable academic participation, and create a healthier competitive ecosystem for startups and application developers.

10. Sriram Krishnan on Open Source AI's Biggest Week Yet

    Jul 24, 2026

    Sriram Krishnan, former White House Senior Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, discusses the rapid emergence of open-source AI models (Grok, Claude 3, Qwen, Kimi K3) and their implications for frontier labs, pricing, cybersecurity, and U.S. competitiveness in the global AI race. He examines the tension between open-source innovation and proprietary model economics, addresses distillation concerns and regulatory considerations, and explores how capitalism and ecosystem competition will shape the AI industry's future.