Yale fails its exam, Apple's new CEO, the AiPhone for teens, will Sam Altman make it to OpenAI's IPO? Anthropic goes to the White House, and more insider insights…
“Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” [Scene from Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams.]
The Ivies’ shocking show of humility
A 10-professor panel convened by Yale’s president just released a report that—shockingly—acknowledges the sharp decline in public trust in higher education is the fault of universities, especially elite Ivies. Why? In no particular order: ridiculous tuition ($90k/year, 60% to overhead), overpriced books and living costs, backroom admissions deals, political bias, free-speech crackdowns, and curricula disconnected from the real world.
This single bit of advice is worth more than an Ivy League degree, which is highly concerning given its outsized cultural influence.
Our youth suffer like never before. The modern education system, corporate media, Hollywood, political parties, and social networks have stolen their identities. We send them to “four-year colleges” that prolong adolescence under the guise of “learning to live on their own”—while stacking them with criminally high debt. They emerge at 22, when they should be launching at 16.
Parents dream of their kids landing in jobs they are passionate about and can make a living. Silicon Valley hires many overeducated ones—but Gen Z has a notorious rep: self-entitled, low initiative, dodging calls, craving safe spaces, brittle under feedback. Studies show 74% of managers find Gen Z the hardest to work with; 60% fire them within months; many skip recent grads entirely.
Cryptonite education drop – The new model
We can keep pretending, but the premise that a “four‑year college degree” is the default path to a meaningful life is dead. It is dated, overpriced, inefficient, and sustains mediocre instruction while unnecessarily prolonging adolescence and piling on debt. We are from Silicon Valley, where new industries are built by fixing broken systems. Here is a “big‑picture” change that is worth considering.
Blockchain‑based transcripts
The first step in rethinking education is to let go of the idea that being “educated” means attending a single institution and graduating. Learning begins before school and continues long after; it is a lifelong sequence of experiences, many of which happen outside formal classrooms. To reflect that reality, we need to move beyond the notion that any one school controls and curates a student’s record.
One practical way to do this is a public, immutable, blockchain‑based merit‑badge system that records and validates all educational experiences, allows users to rate programs in an Airbnb‑like fashion, and opens them to critique in return. This system would begin in early childhood and extend throughout a person’s life.
Instead of transcripts managed by school administrators, individuals would own their own records. They could share them in whole or in part—when applying for classes, internships, or jobs—while retaining control over who sees what. The records would include a far broader range of achievements than traditional grades: lifeguard certificates, sports‑team participation, languages learned, books read, math levels completed, internships, part‑time jobs, and educational travel.
A merit‑badge model like this would make learning more visible, more granular, and more motivating. It would give young people a concrete way to track their progress and build self‑esteem around real accomplishments, not just institutional evaluations at a fixed point in time. It would also create a more transparent, fraud‑resistant infrastructure for verifying skills and experiences across borders and institutions.
The substantial taxpayer savings under this new structure could be redistributed to students in the form of tokens they can use to pay for external educational classes, mentors, tools, and activities aligned with their interests.
Guided self‑education from 2.5 to 16
In this new model, education is less about sitting in rows and more about directed self‑learning, team‑based projects, and experiential work. Teachers and parents shift from authority figures into guides, counselors, and expert mentors who help children discover and develop their passions and validate their accomplishments. From about 2.5 years old to 16, the system unfolds across three broad stages.
Stage 1: Ages 2.5–12 – Brain development, core knowledge, and skills From roughly 2.5 to 12, the focus is on brain development, language acquisition, and foundational literacy and numeracy. This includes substantial time for free reading, self‑paced math and science (in the spirit of tools like Khan Academy), learning a computer language, and open‑ended play or gaming that allows children to explore as deeply as they choose.
Each public‑school environment would be organized around an immersive, collaborative language program so that students become conversationally fluent in at least one additional language by about age 12. There would also be a strong emphasis on communication through writing, journaling, reading aloud, acting in plays, singing, team science‑project presentations, and public speaking.
Outside‑of‑class time would be rich in social‑interaction activities: free play, nature exploration, gardening, and preparing meals together. History, geography, world cultures, and other “minimum viable subjects” would be taught through lectures, field trips, and documentaries rather than rote memorization. All of this would be accompanied by teacher‑led assessment, validation, and accountability, as well as structured transition planning toward the next stage.
“I think all young people should learn a computer language and how to program a computer. It’s not about building programs; it’s more about learning how to think in a certain way—mirroring your thought process. Take a one-year course. I view computer science as a liberal art.”
Stage 2: Ages 12–16 – More choice, depth, and responsibility Between roughly 12 and 16, students gain more freedom to choose passion projects, external learning options, and self-paced curricula. Teachers spend less time lecturing and more time tutoring, providing passion‑development counseling, and helping students find external experiences such as workplace visits, internships, and high‑value online courses taught by world‑renowned faculty. Throughout, students continue to earn merit badges for specific skills and achievements.
This stage balances greater freedom with structured reflection: students learn how to initiate tasks, set priorities, manage time, and follow through on commitments. These are the habits that determine whether they can show up reliably, meet deadlines, and earn trust in any workplace.
Standing on their own feet at 16.
Stage 3: Ages 16+ – Expanded class choice, real work & launch From 16 onward, students work with counselors and mentors to identify and apply for college‑level courses, trade‑school programs, paid jobs, and internships—from auto‑repair shops to tech‑oriented roles. The goal is to provide early exposure to real employers, real schedules, and real feedback so that students learn to handle phone calls, emails, and constructive criticism in a professional setting.
The program would also include explicit instruction in responsible decision‑making, goal‑setting, and financial literacy, including personal money management. Students would learn how to use AI tools to aggregate their blockchain‑based records into CVs tailored to the opportunities they are pursuing.
Flying the roost
From this point forward, education would be framed not as something that ends with a graduation ceremony, but as a lifelong process of learning, experimentation, and adaptation. There would be no fixed end date or time limit, and students would be encouraged to keep learning, pivoting, and reshaping their paths as their interests and markets evolve—all while documenting their achievements in a way that can be leveraged to open up the next opportunity.
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion... poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
— John Keating, Dead Poets Society
Everyone wins—except mediocre professors
The goal is to create a more broadly educated, sophisticated, and self‑directed generation—youth oriented around genuine passions, not institutional checkboxes, and capable of holding a job by about 16. This model would radically reduce education costs and disrupt the traditional college system. College professors would no longer face a captive audience of students locked into a single campus, insulated from competition, and shaped mainly by campus‑specific culture and groupthink.
The best and the brightest teachers should get rich!
Instead, professors would be subject to public scrutiny, with feedback, ratings, and outcome data recorded on an open, verifiable infrastructure. In that environment, the free market would reward actual teaching quality, and the best instructors—whether from MIT, Stanford, or smaller institutions—could reach far larger audiences and earn dramatically more than they do today. That combination of scale, visibility, and upside would attract higher‑caliber teaching talent into the system.
Students from more diverse socioeconomic backgrounds would gain access to high‑quality instruction without navigating opaque admissions pipelines or paying elite‑university tuition. Donors and public funders could invest directly in specific learning experiences for economically disadvantaged students, knowing that results would be transparent and verifiable. Running on an immutable network with minimal overhead, the system would enforce tight fraud controls, ensure clear accountability, and gradually phase out weak programs.
The result would be a more dynamic, accountable, and merit‑driven education ecosystem—explosive in its potential, verifiable in its outcomes, and fundamentally oriented around what is best for young people. Drop complete.
Apple cofounder Steve Jobs ran on the 80/20 rule (80% signal, 20% noise). Rumor has it, Elon Musk hits 100% signal—zero distractions.
Ruthlessly focusing on execution wins every time.
Speaking of paying attention to seminal signals—that’s the business Cryptonite is in.
John Keating nails it —“Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”Pure signal. 📡
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Think Simple.
Apple gets a new boss — Welcome, John Ternus 🍏
As the original Apple cult used to say when the company had a rainbow‑colored Apple logo: “We bleed Apple colors.” Microsoft was the enemy for stealing the Apple graphical user interface back in the 1980s. Google became the new enemy when its CEO, Eric Schmidt, smugly sat on Apple’s board and engaged in what Steve Jobs viewed as “grand theft” by suddenly introducing Android, which clearly mimicked the iPhone experience.
We therefore care deeply about who Apple’s CEO is because we have never used a Windows box or an Android phone. We do not know John Ternus , but we like that he was a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania (discipline!), grew up at Apple since 2001, and sat right at the intersection of industrial design and engineering for his first ~10–12 years. This means he overlapped significantly with Steve Jobs and then Chief Design Officer Jony Ive for at least a decade, so we assume he was sufficiently indoctrinated.
The current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering and soon‑to‑be CEO, John Ternus .
Wall Street should love him because his strength is in execution—scaling hardware (iPads, AirPods, the Apple Silicon transition, iPhone engineering, etc.), and bridging design with manufacturability and margins. With Tim Cook, John has had the best mentor in the world in that department.
“An iPod’s really just software. If you look at what a Mac is, it’s OS X. It’s in a cool, beautiful box, but its software in the cloud… And if you look at what an iPhone will hopefully be, it’s software... At Apple, we see ourselves as a software company, because it’s the customer interface.”
—Steve Jobs, 2007 iPhone keynote
Steve Jobs frequently referenced Alan Kay’s line: “People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.” For Jobs, tight integration of hardware and software was essential to delivering a superior user experience. But Jobs knew the customer doesn’t “interact” with chips, supply chains, or casings. The hardware and the rest of the Apple ecosystem were designed to support the software and the apps, not the other way around. This is a tradition we expect to see continued under Mr. Ternus.
Get back to Zen mode
Speaking of software and the customer experience, our major bone to pick with Apple is (as it is with most users) that there has been too much feature creep, which is creating an increasingly disorienting user experience. What happened to Steve Jobs’ Zen approach? A happy life is a simple life. A happy Apple customer is a simple user experience. Is anyone counting the taps to get what we want?
John Ternus has had a gigantically successful career at Apple thus far—that’s why he will soon be the new boss. All of us cult members will be praying for his continued success—for all of our sakes. Our only advice for John is — Keep it simple, bro.
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”
—Steve Jobs, cofounder, Apple, Pixar, 2008
The AiPhone — Help save our youth’s state of spirit
It is well‑documented that The Rap feels our country’s greatest crisis is the state of our kids’ mental health. The social‑media platforms and the Google services that have spun out of Silicon Valley are huge contributors to this epidemic. Previously, we’ve recommended that users under 16 should be outright prohibited from using social‑media apps. We prohibit kids this age from buying cigarettes before they are 18, so why can’t we prevent them from accessing these engines of mental destruction?
For 16‑ and 17‑year‑olds, the same robust ID verification and parental consent should be required, along with real‑time usage monitoring, strict daily time limits, chronological feeds rather than algorithmic ones, bans on direct messages from strangers, and prohibitions on targeted advertising. Parents must also have an effective “kill switch” to shut down access when needed.
Now, for the solution that represents a true Silicon Valley–scale commercial opportunity, we offer up to Apple’s new CEO—let’s call it the AiPhone.
Parents typically allow kids access to smartphones at age 14—90%+ of 14‑year‑olds have them. The value for parents is that they can track and communicate with their kids—a comforting thing. So let’s create the best of all worlds. Imagine an “AiPhone” for teenagers that offers internet‑enabled texting and phone calls, plus a carefully gated AI research chatbot and assistant for looking up information, homework help, and learning, and highly restricted Apple Store options. It would come out of the box with a carefully choreographed selection of health, exercise, nutrition, language translation, writing assistance, calculator, and gated music apps. Include robust location tracking for parents.
Crucially, it would keep young users off the uncensored open web and—above all—away from social‑media networks and any apps approaching PG‑plus content or images. No Google. No dopamine loops. No targeted ads. No stranger or spam text messages. Just tools that support curiosity, learning, and safety without the risks that dominate today’s offerings. Its AI‑enhanced features would also help prepare them for the future, as most jobs will require AI skills and proficiency. The AiPhone elegantly fits into the educational revolution discussed above.
Our prediction: the pricey folding iPhone will distract and underwhelm. If Apple goes downmarket with an Apple Intelligence‑powered, affordable AiPhone, it will be a blockbuster—and will help save the next generation’s mental health.
Apple News abuse
Speaking of saving our kids’ mental health. Dear John, do something about Apple News, which Tim Cook has been ignoring. Creating political echo-chambers and division is not a business Apple should be in.
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OpenAI looking to replace Sam Altman ahead of IPO?
OpenAI shareholders are privately floating board chair Bret Taylor as a potential CEO replacement for Sam Altman amid concerns over outside investments and conflicts ahead of an ~$850B IPO targeted for late 2026. Investors are also questioning the $852B valuation as the company shifts into enterprise software while rival Anthropic surges with business customers.
On the IPO block.
Other potential IPO woes
OpenAI is also grappling with a high‑stakes lawsuit from co‑founder Elon Musk, who alleges the company breached its original nonprofit founding agreement by converting to a for‑profit structure and prioritizing commercial gains over its mission to benefit humanity.
Elon is seeking the ouster of Altman and President Greg Brockman as officers, along with up to $134 billion in damages (with proceeds reportedly directed to charity), and the case is headed to a jury trial with selection beginning April 27, 2026—just weeks away.
This litigation introduces significant additional uncertainty for OpenAI’s IPO prospects: it could trigger lengthy disclosures and potential delays in the offering timeline, erode investor confidence during roadshows, create reputational and governance risks, and raise questions about the company’s legal structure and valuation stability amid fierce competition from Anthropic and others. OpenAI has flagged the Musk suits as key risk factors in its IPO‑related planning.
Anthropic: Out of the outhouse and back to the White House.
Anthropic CEO Dario “Doomer” Amodei met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to resolve a Pentagon dispute blocking the use of its AI models—including Mythos—for cyber defense; the meeting was described as “productive.” Co‑founder Jack Clark confirmed ongoing briefings with the Trump administration, despite prior labeling of supply‑chain risks.
Kudos to Dario for pushing past his fears and making it happen.
For the good of the country, we hope Anthropic gets back on track with the Pentagon. We give a new deal a close to 100 percent chance of closing. As we understand it, Anthropic’s two non‑negotiable red lines—no fully autonomous lethal weapons and no mass domestic surveillance—are almost certainly staying intact. More details here.
SpaceX on a post-IPO hunt for Cursor
San Francisco‑based Cursor, a prominent AI coding tool for developers and enterprises, is in talks to raise an additional $2 billion from Thrive and Andreessen Horowitz (co‑leads), and Nvidia (a returning backer), at a pre‑money valuation of more than $50 billion. That’s not the only news humming around the company. IPO‑bound SpaceX (which includes xAI and X) is said to have secured an option to buy the popular platform at a $60 billion valuation later this year, presumably with their new public‑market cash.
The deal rumor comes on top of last week’s announcement that xAI would begin renting computing power from Cursor’s data centers, while the coding startup is using tens of thousands of xAI chips to train its latest AI model. Also, last month, two of Cursor’s most senior engineering leaders, Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg, left the company to join xAI, where both report directly to Elon.
Below is the breaking news and inside wisdom you need to stay relevant and on top of emerging private tech companies, VC investors, Big Tech, and the innovation trends shaping the global Silicon Valley. All links lead to AI-generated research from a decisively venture-capital perspective.
📈 Cerebras Systems (Sunnyvale, CA) files S-1 for IPO | Semiconductors/Deep Tech Hardware/AI chips (wafer-scale engines for AI training/inference) | Nasdaq: CBRS planned; targeting $35 billion+ valuation and planning to raise >$3 billion (premium to prior $23B valuation in Feb 2026). (April 17)
💰 Cursor (San Francisco, CA) in talks to raise $2B+ | AI (AI coding tools for developers and enterprises) | Expected investors: Thrive and Andreessen Horowitz (co-leads), Nvidia (returning backer) at pre-money valuation of more than $50 billion (April 17)
💰 Slate Auto (Troy, MI) raises $650M Series C | Autonomous Vehicles/Mobility (affordable electric pickup trucks; total raised ~$1.4B) | Investors: TWG Global (lead) (April 13)
💰 Sygaldry (Ann Arbor, MI) raises $105M Series A | Semiconductors/Deep Tech Hardware/AI Infrastructure (servers using quantum computing to accelerate AI training and inference) | Investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures (lead), YC, Rock Yard Ventures, IQT, University of Michigan, others (April 13)
💰 Slash (San Francisco, CA) raises $100M Series C at $1.4B valuation | Fintech (business banking, corporate cards, transfers, crypto; Ramp competitor; ~$300M annualized revenue) | Investors: Ribbit Capital, Khosla Ventures, Goodwater Capital (leads), NEA, YC (April 16)
💰 Neomorph (San Diego, CA) raises $100M Series B | Healthcare/Biotech (molecular glue therapies) | Investors: Deerfield Management (lead), Regeneron Ventures, Longwood Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments, Binney Street Capital (April ~13–20)
💰 Loop (San Francisco, CA) raises $95M Series C | AI (supply chain data analysis, disruption prediction, and AI platform for logistics/finance/supply chain operations) | Investors: Valor Equity Partners and Valor Atreides AI Fund (co-leads; Valor is a major xAI backer), 8VC, Founders Fund, Index Ventures, J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners (April 17)
💰 nEye (Santa Clara, CA) raises $80M Series C | Semiconductors/Deep Tech Hardware/AI Infrastructure (optical interconnects/optical circuit switches for data centers) | Investors: Sutter Hill Ventures (lead), CapitalG (Alphabet), M12 (Microsoft) (April 16)
💰 Adcendo (Copenhagen, Denmark) raises $75M Series C | Healthcare/Biotech (antibody-drug conjugate therapies for cancer) | Investors: Jeito Capital (lead), Vida Ventures, BPI France, EIFO, previous investors including TCGX, RA Capital, TPG, OrbiMed (April ~13–20)
💰 Ulysses (San Francisco, CA) raises $38M Series A | Robotics/Autonomous Vehicles (networked fleets of autonomous vehicles for ocean exploration, monitoring, infrastructure protection) | Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (lead), Booz Allen Ventures, Harpoon Ventures, previous including Lowercarbon Capital (April ~13–20)
💰 pH7 Technologies (Vancouver, BC, Canada) raises $32M Series B | Sustainability/Cleantech (electrochemical process to extract metals from low-grade ores and waste streams) | Investors: Fine Structure Ventures (lead), Asahi Kasei, Circular Innovation Fund, BHP Ventures (April 13)
💰 Parasail (San Mateo / San Francisco, CA) raises $32M Series A | AI Infrastructure/Compute (cloud computing for AI model inference; “tokenmaxxing” focus for fast/cheap token generation; generates ~500B tokens/day) | Investors: Touring Capital and Kindred Ventures (co-leads); total raised now ~$42M (April 15)
💰 TextQL (San Francisco, CA) raises $17M | AI (natural language interface for querying enterprise data with agentic analytics) | Investors: Blackstone (anchor/lead), others (April 18)
💰 Eigen (San Francisco, CA) raises $15M seed | AI (consumer-facing “mutual friend” AI enhancing human connection, collaboration, and emotional intelligence) | Investors: Benchmark (lead), angels including Ben Silbermann (Pinterest co-founder) (April 18)
💰 Nava (New York, NY) raises $8.3M seed | AI/Fintech (guardrails/verification tools for AI agents managing capital/transactions; autonomous financial agents) | Investors: Polychain and Archetype (co-leads) (April 14)
💰 Prefix (New York, NY) raises $7.5M seed | AI (coordination of maintenance and repair across multi-site retail/restaurant locations; consumer-facing ops efficiency) | Investors: Collide Capital and Slow Ventures (co-leads), Connexa Capital, Elevated Huts, I2BF, Bienville Capital (April 14)
💰 Lua (London, UK) raises $5.8M seed | AI (operating system for building, deploying, and managing human + AI agent workflows) | Investors: Norrsken22 (lead), Flourish Ventures, 20VC, P1 Ventures, Phosphor Capital, Y Combinator, angels (April 16)
💰 Round (London, UK) raises $6M seed | Fintech (AI-powered automation for payments, approvals, payroll, treasury) | Investors: Alstin Capital (lead), Backed VC, Love Ventures (April 13)
💰 GetWhys (Boise, ID) raises $5.2M seed | AI (turns buyer research into go-to-market messaging, content, and sales enablement) | Investors: Epic Ventures (lead), CEAS Investments, Portland Seed Fund, existing investors (April 16)
🤝 OpenAI acquires Hiro (Hiro Finance) | AI/Fintech (consumer-facing AI-powered personal finance and financial planning tools; acqui-hire with team joining OpenAI to build capabilities into ChatGPT) | Terms undisclosed; Hiro platform to shut down April 20 (April 13)
🤝 Amazon acquires Globalstar $11.57B (all-cash) | Infrastructure/Compute (satellite services and spectrum; powers Apple’s Emergency SOS; expands Amazon Leo low Earth orbit network for direct-to-device connectivity) | Deal expected to close in 2027 (April 14)
💸 Accel (Palo Alto, CA) – Closed $5B ($4B Leaders Fund V + $650M sidecar vehicle) for late-stage AI-powered technology with a focus on software, hardware, robotics, defense tech, and data center infrastructure (AI/robotics/infra/defense). | Limited Partner Investors: GIC, Coatue (among others). Firm continues backing major AI players (e.g., Anthropic, Cursor, Perplexity); aims for 20–25 investments with ~$200M average checks to scale toward IPOs/exits and strengthen VC brand in the AI cycle. (April 15)
💸 Sequoia Capital (Menlo Park, CA) – Raised ~$7B new expansion/late-stage fund (nearly double the comparable 2022 vehicle) to expand AI bets, including foundational AI technology, applying AI, and late-stage investments in the U.S. and Europe (AI/robotics/infra). First major raise under new co-stewards Alfred Lin and Pat Grady; continues backing leaders like OpenAI, Anthropic, Physical Intelligence (robotics), and Factory. No LPs detailed. (April 16)
💸 Eka Ventures (London, UK) – Closed £80M (~$107M) Fund II (final close) for early-stage impact investments in UK startups focused on preventive healthcare/wellbeing, sustainable consumption, and access to essential services (health/biotech + sustainability/cleantech). Brings AUM to ~$200M (UK’s largest early-stage impact VC). | Limited Partner Investors: British Business Bank (£40M cornerstone), Better Society Capital, The Health Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Vivensa Foundation, and family offices (77% from existing LPs).Average check ~$2M across ~30 companies. (April 13)
💸 Newfund (Paris, France / San Francisco) – Closed €60M (~$65M) HEKA fund (Europe’s first dedicated BrainTech fund) for investments in neurotech, brain-computer interfaces, AI neuroscience, digital therapeutics, and biotech (AI + healthcare/biotech). | Limited Partner Investors: ~100 family offices, entrepreneurs, and reinvesting founders. Plans to back ~25 companies with support for US expansion. (April 14)
💥 Did we miss your VC firm’s announcement for raising a new fund, bringing on a new general and/or venture partner? Post it below in the comments or hit us up directly — @CryptoniteRap or TheEditor@CryptoniteVentures.com
Company Scoops This Week 🗞️
The Magnificent 14 🪄
✨ Snap: Cutting ~1,000 jobs (16% of workforce), citing AI advancements for efficiency gains. Separately, progressing toward a new AI glasses launch via a Qualcomm partnership after a years-long hiatus. (April 15)
✨ Meta (META): Deepened AI chip partnership with Broadcom extended through 2029, with Meta paying Broadcom $2.3 billion in 2025 for AI chip design and related services. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan is stepping down from Meta’s board due to conflict-of-interest concerns from the expanded business scale. (April 17)
🚀 Anthropic: NSA is using Anthropic’s Mythos Preview model (capable of performing computer security tasks) despite Pentagon-level blacklist/restrictions, amid roughly 40 organizations gaining access and the recent White House meeting. (April 19)
🚀 Anthropic: Released Claude Opus 4.7 with major gains in coding, agents, and a new Design tool; integrated into AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex, Microsoft Foundry. Also, Mythos cybersecurity model buzz and White House engagement. (April 16)
🔗 Polymarket: In talks to raise ~$400M at about $15B valuation (adding to prior $600M raised from Intercontinental Exchange). Signals strong momentum in decentralized prediction markets and crypto-native information markets amid growing election and event betting activity. (Apr 19)
“The inner party of AI doomerism is a Berkeley lifestyle grift fueled by unaccountable dark money. The outer party of AI doomerism is young people who believe the propaganda and ruin their lives.” —Marc Andreessen, CoFounder, Andreessen Horowitz a16z
“Comparing AI chips to selling nuclear weapons is lunacy... We’re not enriched uranium. It’s a chip...Selling to China maintains our ecosystem dominance... conceding the market is a disservice to US tech leadership [and] national security. It would be a horrible outcome if China optimizes future models on a non-US stack.” —Jensen Huang, CEO Nvidia
“Universal HIGH INCOME via checks issued by the Federal government is the best way to deal with unemployment caused by AI. AI/robotics will produce goods & services far in excess of the increase in the money supply, so there will not be inflation.”
“AI/Robotics will mean everyone can have a penthouse if they want. The output of goods & services will be several orders of magnitude higher...” —Elon Musk, CEO Tesla, Founder & CEO xAI, Founder & CEO SpaceX
“AI is the fastest-adopted technology I’ve ever seen... it will fundamentally alter every customer experience and is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, moving roughly 10x faster than electricity did. We’re in the middle of a land rush with broad AI capabilities, and AWS is uniquely positioned.” —Andy Jassy, CEO Amazon
“If AI is the new electricity then it shouldn’t be so easy to turn it off. And if it does get turned off, being able to switch to a new provider and minimize disruption is key... AI is too powerful to let hyperscalers gatekeep it; energy and permitting aren’t a real moat. Founders should abstract models in software and avoid bleeding edge/knowledge to any single provider.” —Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder & Managing Partner Social Capital
“The U.S. must take the lead in AI and develop it boldly and responsibly so every American benefits...Search is evolving toward an agent manager that completes tasks... AI models will break pretty much all software via zero-days... we’re living exponential progress internally.” —Sundar Pichai, CEO Alphabet
Jensen Huang: NVIDIA - The $4 Trillion Company & the AI Revolution | Lex Fridman Podcast #494
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