Maya woke up to Happy New Years texts from people she hadn’t heard from in awhile. She thought it was really special till she realized she texted them first the night before and forgot. Including Anika and Priya who got 5 Happy New Years texts from her each. Another year, and the same friends.

The pod talks about 2026 as an IPO comeback year and highlight SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cerebras. Maya gives her hot take on why SpaceX’s Starlink numbers look better than they are because their EBITDA hides how much depreciation their satellite business has. Anika explains why she’s still bullish. Next they discuss why OpenAI and Anthropic are considering a 2026 IPO. The trio breaks down why both companies are sprinting toward IPOs and how many $Bs they’re spending each quarter. Priya draws a comparison to Uber IPO-ing pre-profitability, but model technical growth may mean the product catches up with the spend in this case. Lastly, is Cerebras, the AI chip company with a previously attempted IPO. The group explains why having one customer account may be tough in the public markets. They also discuss the recent Groq <> Nvidia deal’s impact on the company.

The episode then pivots into full scale political discourse with the California billionaire tax debate. What started as a policy discussion on X quickly turned into tech billionaires threatening to move to Austin and Ro Khanna who was once their go to guy joking that he doesn’t care if they leave. The pod talks about the right way to tax wealth and if they think there will actually be an exodus to Austin. Priya also debriefs the why behind Austin’s cheap housing.

Finally, this week the “Get the Check” segment goes global with Arya.ag, a company helping Indian farmers store grain, access cheaper loans, and use AI to improve crop yields. Maya and Anika are bias on this one because it reminds them of a Parafin and Fay combo.

00:00 Intro

02:35 Companies that are predicted to IPO in 2026

03:23 SpaceX’s IPO

06:37 Data centers in space

12:05 OpenAI and Anthropic’s race to IPO

22:52 Cerebras take two on an IPO

23:40 Cerebras G42 Controversy

28:06 Debate on X about billionaire tax in California

39:14 SF vs. Austin future tech hub debate

44:09 Would Arya.ag “Get the Check”?

In the final episode of the year, the pod gives out superlatives:

• Most likely to dupe the FTC
• Moment of the year
• Most questionable purchase of the year
• Biggest startup product letdown

They kick things off by debriefing the Somali-run fraud scandals in Minnesota (Anika’s home state), then dive into their superlatives.

They pick Nvidia and Groq’s $20B licensing deal as Most Likely to Dupe the FTC. Groq, last valued around $7B just months ago, is known for building Language Processing Units (LPUs) — chips designed specifically for inference, the process of generating real-time outputs from AI models. Unlike GPUs, which handle everything from training to inference, LPUs are narrowly optimized, which becomes a major advantage as inference costs explode across consumer and enterprise AI products. The pod also chats about Groq CEO Jonathan Ross, who originally helped create Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). The deal is part of a larger trend this year: licensing technology, absorbing talent, and leaving a shell company behind.

They name prediction markets like Kalshi as the Moment of the Year. With an estimated $44B in trading volume, major platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi raising significant funding, and partnerships with CNN and CNBC, prediction markets are increasingly positioned as the new media. The pod also discusses the “death of the expert” and how people are turning to prediction markets as a source of truth in a post-truth world. They debate whether insider trading is possible and get into all the tea around AlphaRaccoon, who some believe is an insider trader at Google. Use the podcast’s exclusive Kalshi sign-on deal before the year is over: https://kalshi.com/r/getthecheck.

Next, Scale AI takes Most Questionable Purchase of the Year, after Meta acquired a 49% stake for $14.3B. Since the purchase, Meta has seen high-profile departures, including Yann LeCun, Meta’s Chief AI Scientist. Meta is rumored to be working on a closed-source model, but nothing has launched yet, and there are rumors that former Scale CEO Alexandr Wang has a different vision for Meta than its previous executive team, which has been focused on existing products like WhatsApp and Instagram.

Finally, 1X’s NEO humanoid wins Biggest Startup Product Letdown. Despite ambitious goals to perform household tasks like folding clothes, the robot currently requires someone to remote in and complete tasks while effectively peering into your house. Priya says that’s chill with her, if it’s doing her dishes. The hosts discuss why humanoids are such a hard problem to crack and why 1X decided to “launch” before the product was truly ready. Even though NEO was a letdown this year, the pod is excited to see what it can do once the company collects more data.

00:00 Intro

05:53 Most likely to dupe the FTC: Nvidia and Groq’s $20B licensing agreement

18:02 Moment of the year: prediction markets like Kalshi

35:00 Most questionable purchase of the year: Meta’s stake in Scale AI

48:05 Biggest startup product letdown: the NEO humanoid

59:43 Conclusion

In this episode of Get the Check, Anika and Priya debrief booking a flight 2 hours before it left to surprise their college friend for his birthday. Once they settle in, they break down power struggles across AI, the economy, and autonomous vehicles.

They start with OpenAI’s internal code red after Google’s Gemini 3 launch began cutting into ChatGPT market share. The hosts explain why this moment actually matters. OpenAI’s daily visits fell about 6% and user growth slowed for multiple months in a row. They unpack why Google’s distribution advantage through Chrome, Android, YouTube, and Workspace becomes critical now that model quality is converging. They also discuss the positive industry reactions to OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 launch. The model is designed for professional use that outperforms human benchmarks on more than 70% of tasks and reduces hallucinations with longer context windows. OpenAI frames this less as a consumer release and more as a direct grab for enterprise budgets.

From there they zoom out to a market most US coverage ignores, which is India. Google and OpenAI both dropped prices by close to 90% bundling AI subscriptions with telecom plans. With more than 1B internet users, even a small conversion rate could translate into $2 to $3B in annual revenue. The hosts explain why Android dominance matters here and how prepaid bundles quietly turn AI search into an expected feature rather than a premium add on.

The episode then moves to the Fed’s third rate cut of the year, a 25 basis point reduction that passed with rare internal disagreement. Two members voted for no cut and one wanted a larger cut highlighting how split the Fed is right now. Anika Maya and Priya walk through the data driving the decision like unemployment rising from 4.1% to 4.4%, job openings falling below unemployed workers for the first time since 2021, and monthly job growth slowing. They also connect tariffs to everyday impact noting that tariffs account for roughly 0.5% of current inflation.

They wrap with an autonomous vehicle industry update. Rivian announced its first custom autonomy chip and a driver assist system built on cameras, radar, and front mounted lidar, pushing back on Tesla’s camera only approach. Uber expanded its robotaxi strategy through a partnership with Avride reinforcing its role as the operating layer for autonomy rather than the manufacturer. Nissan quietly enters the conversation with a hands off eyes on system targeting 2028 at an estimated $4K price point showing that advanced driver assistance is quickly becoming standard rather than premium.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

04:00 OpenAI’s code red

12:30 GPT 5.2 and the enterprise shift

27:00 AI price war in India

32:00 Fed cuts rates for the third time

40:30 Rivian’s AV updates

46:00 Uber’s robotaxi strategy

50:00 Nissan and the future of semi autonomous cars

In this episode of Get the Check, the pod covers one of the largest deals of the year: Netflix’s $82B bid for Warner Brothers. Also, Harvey AI’s third raise this year for a total of $760M at an $8B valuation, and why Meta is making cuts to Reality Labs.

Netflix’s $82B bid to acquire Warner Brothers gives it access to some of the best IP in the world like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. The hosts break down how Netflix would inherit 117M global subscribers, a century of IP, and about $30B in Warner Bros’ debt. There’s also a $5B break-up fee that Netflix will have to pay if the deal falls apart because of regulatory issues. They unpack why the industry is panicking: from Hollywood insiders warning about the death of film culture to regulators pointing out that a Netflix–HBO merger could control over 30% of the streaming market, which is generally considered a monopoly. Meanwhile, Paramount’s CEO, who also happens to be Larry Ellison’s son, is still trying to convince Warner Brothers that they have time to change their mind and pick Paramount instead.

Next, the group dives into Harvey, the “it girl” in vertical AI. The company has gone from $50M to $150M ARR in a year, raised three rounds from Tier 1 VCs in 12 months, and is valued at $8B. They debrief the founding story: from answering legal questions on Reddit using GPT-3, to cold-emailing OpenAI’s general counsel (who ended up investing), to naming the company after Harvey Specter. They also talk about the actual product and Harvey’s moat, which comes from data and creating a sticky platform not just a chatbot.

The episode ends with Meta’s Reality Labs, which just bought an AI pendant. Meta quietly acquired Limitless, a wearable that records everything you say. The hosts make the point that “always-on” devices haven’t worked in the real world, which is why Meta likely bought Limitless for the talent, not the product. Reality Labs still lost $4.4B last quarter alone, which is why Meta is cutting budgets, delaying future headsets, and potentially regretting the rename.

If you want to trade on anything from Taylor Swift to hockey download Kalshi: https://kalshi.com/sign-up?referral=getthecheck.

Follow us on Instagram @getthecheckpod and DM us any thoughts on the episode :)

00:00 Intro

02:31 Netflix’s $72B bid for Warner Bros

03:47 History of the streaming wars

04:53 Deal terms of the offer

10:53 How Warner Bros ended up for sale

12:19 Paramount’s fight for Warner Bros

14:18 Industry and regulatory reactions

26:00 Would Harvey AI get our check?

27:46 Harvey’s founding story

29:39 Harvey’s customers

34:21 Harvey’s product suite

36:38 Harvey’s moat

39:19 Harvey’s competitors

41:01 The vertical AI landscape

42:47 Harvey expanding beyond legal

45:01 Update on Meta Reality Labs

45:09 Meta acquiring Limitless

49:57 Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses

51:25 Reality Labs cuts

In this episode of Get the Check the pod returns from Thanksgiving break and their podcast offsite. They debrief the Gemini 3 model drop, AI music start up Suno, and Nucleus Genomics’ current controversies.

They start with Gemini 3 and how Google has been able to catch up in the AI race by proving they don’t need Nvidia GPUs to create a state of the art model. TPUs deliver significantly more performance per watt which becomes a huge deal when you are spending billions on training cycles. A big part of the conversation is whether Gemini 3 is bearish for Nvidia. Even though the stock reacted to the announcement the girls argue that Nvidia is still printing money with a 62 percent revenue jump and that Gemini’s success might actually be bullish because it validates even more demand for training compute. Long term there could be competition between GPUs and TPUs but today the world needs both.

Then they jump into Suno and the very spicy Warner Music settlement. They unpack how text to music models work, what this partnership actually means for artists, and why Warner agreed to this deal instead of continuing with their lawsuit. Tune in to hear Priya and Anika’s old diss track which they run through Suno’s tech. Finally they discuss the ethics of AI generated music and why this company has faced so much internet backlash. They give their hot take on why they disagree with some of it.

For the Get the Check segment they revisit a company they previously said would get their check called Nucleus Genomics which provides embryo selection software and explain why they are taking their imaginary check back. They go through the plagiarism allegations, the scientific concerns, the wild competitor drama, and the huge NYC subway campaign that made everyone on the internet mad although of course it still led to a massive spike in sales. They explore the parallels and differences compared to 23andMe, Theranos, and the broader question of what happens when tech optimism collides with actual clinical validity.

If you want to trade on anything from Taylor Swift to hockey download Kalshi. https://kalshi.com/r/getthecheck

Follow us on Instagram @getthecheckpod and DM us any thoughts on the episode :)

00:00 Intro

01:09 Google’s Gemini 3

07:00 Anthropic’s Opus 4.5

16:35 Google’s AI history

20:33 TPU vs GPU debate and impact on NVDA

24:41 AI music start up Suno

25:12 Warner Music Group partnership announcement

27:20 Lawsuits with record labels

28:11 Comparison to Anthropic’s lawsuit

29:47 AI music ethical debate

38:24 Nucleus Genomics controversies

38:46 Embryo selection product

39:17 Limitations of Preimplantation Genetic Screening

43:18 Current controversies overview

43:42 Alleged plagiarizing of their white paper

51:51 Poaching their competitor’s founder

53:44 NYC subway campaign and AI generated customer photos

In this episode, the pod takes a break from analyzing tech and instead analyzes themselves. Anika, Priya, and Maya sit in Priya’s childhood home during Thanksgiving break and walk through their early career paths, their recruiting wins and disasters, and the moments that made them question everything, including the time Anika almost peed her pants at her first job?!

Maya breaks down how she landed seven job offers in one month and explains the actual playbook behind getting first rounds at startups. Unlike other career advice you may have gotten, Maya gets tactical. She talks about working with external recruiters, and why cold applying is not dead no matter what LinkedIn says.

Priya talks about jumping from data science to TPM to product to finding her niche in cybersecurity. She also shares her hot take on why she doesn’t regret leaving her first job in less than two years, and how sometimes going against traditional advice can truly accelerate your career.

They also get into honest thoughts on work life balance, promotions, and negotiating your salary.

If you want to bet on yourself listen to this episode, if you want trade on basically anything else, download Kalshi. https://kalshi.com/r/getthecheck

Follow us on Instagram @getthecheckpod and DM us any follow up questions about career or anything else :)

00:00 Elevator pitches from Maya, Anika, Priya

07:04 How Maya got 7 job offers in 1 month

17:48 Why 9-9-6 is fake

24:27 Embarrassing moments from their first jobs

31:09 Underrated skills in the workplace

36:24 Career advice they are happy they ignored

37:51 Maya on getting told to be “softer” as a woman

39:05 How to get paid 20-30% more

39:31 How Maya got promoted in less than a year

In this episode, we sit down with Daksh, the CEO and co-founder of Greptile: the AI code-review agent used by thousands of engineering teams and backed by Benchmark. If you don’t know him from Greptile, you probably know him from his viral quote on SF culture that talked about 996, steak and eggs, and marrying early.Daksh tells us how he went from high school musical theater and almost joining a band full-time to discovering early GPT models before anyone else cared, meeting his co-founder through Paul Graham essays, and deciding big-tech stability was actually the wrong path for him. The pod also dives into his lessons as a founder. He talks about why you shouldn’t hire until you can say joining your company would be the best career decision someone could make.On the product side, the hosts unpack the origin story of Greptile. How it started as a codebase chat tool and why code review is as or more important than code gen going forward. Daksh explains how AI-generated code mandates an independent verification layer to keep code bug free. He also chats about the growth side of his org and the crazy stunts they have pulled off.Finally we deep dive into culture: Daksh on the current San Francisco vibe, why he doesn’t drink, the most controversial thing he’s ever posted on X, and how Greptile ended up making a Steve Ballmer cookie box that plays developers, developers, developers when you open it.

00:00 Intro

00:37 Going full-time on music

04:24 Building Greptile and finding product-market fit

07:16 ChatGPT’s release

29:52 Waiting to hire

31:31 Reviewing a billion lines of code a month

35:53 The future of software development

48:49 Hot takes on SF culture

This week's episode is brought to you by Kalshi :) trade on anything! Receive a bonus after trading 100 contracts: https://kalshi.com/r/getthecheck

In this episode of Get the Check, Maya, Anika, and Priya break down the biggest stories in AI this week, from Google’s latest moonshot to the rise of AI-generated music.

They start with Project Suncatcher, Google’s plan to move AI data centers into space and harness the power of the sun. The hosts explain why Google is doing this, how it fits into the company’s history of moonshots, and what challenges come with putting compute in orbit.

Next, they dive into a wave of new model releases, including Moonshot AI’s Kimi K2 Thinking, Cursor’s coding model Composer, and Cartesia’s Sonic 3 voice model. They discuss open vs. closed AI models, why China’s open-weight strategy could shape the future of AI, and how companies like Cursor are racing to build faster, cheaper, and more specialized models.

They also explore the rise of AI music, focusing on Xania Monet, the fully AI-generated artist who just landed a record deal, and what her success says about how people actually feel about AI music.

Finally, they unpack OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar’s comments about a possible government “backstop,” why it sparked market backlash, and what it reveals about the economics of AI infrastructure. They also dive into Sam Altman’s interview this week where he was asked how OpenAI can ink over a trillion dollars in deals with less than $20B in revenue

00:00 Intro

04:33 Google’s Project Suncatcher

19:03 Update on key AI models

29:02 Composer

45:43 AI Music and the rise of Xania Monet

50:24 OpenAI calls for a government backstop

This week the hosts sit down with Saikat Chakrabarti, who was Stripe’s second engineer and later worked on the Bernie Sanders campaign and served as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s first Chief of Staff. He is now running for California’s 11th House district, which represents San Francisco, against Nancy Pelosi and Scott Wiener. Pelosi has held this seat for nearly four decades.

They talk about why Saikat left tech and how to encourage more young and ambitious people to get involved in politics. Saikat shares his vision for a Democratic Party that supports candidates that are builders from different backgrounds and do not take donor money.

The conversation dives into key policy issues, including:

• Public power in SF, and why the city has a legal right to replace PG&E.
• The housing crisis, and what meaningful affordability solutions could look like.
• Homelessness, and the potential for models that blend harm reduction, real treatment, and clearer systems of enforcement.

They also discuss AI regulation. Saikat argues that focusing only on catastrophic AGI risk overlooks the more immediate concern: concentrated economic power and widespread job displacement.

The episode ends with a fun speed round where Saikat responds to his haters including YC CEO Garry Tan.

You can learn more about this platform at https://www.saikat.us/en.

If you want to bet on Saikat, or on the odds of basically anything else, download Kalshi. You will receive a $40 bonus after trading 100 contracts: https://kalshi.com/r/getthecheck

00:00 Intro

00:34 From Stripe’s second engineer to a bid for Congress

05:31 DOGE

09:12 Changing the Democratic Party

18:45 Why PG&E shouldn’t exist31:26 The free market and when it fails

33:28 How Congressional Reps influence city budgets

39:33 Reviewing Daniel Lurie’s first year as mayor

42:33 The homelessness problem in SF

48:18 AI regulation

52:11 Responding to the haters

55:32 AOC running for president in 2028

58:07 How to get involved with Saikat’s campaign

Maya, Priya, and Anika start by unpacking why they need to edit the podcast, while their other podcaster friends just upload the raw file.

This week they dive into reports that the Trump administration may (or may not?) take a stake in quantum computing companies. The hosts break down what quantum is and what the important use cases are. They dive into Google’s new “Quantum Echo” breakthrough, which is basically the first time a quantum computer has done something verifiably useful and repeatable.

Next they talk about the latest X tech drama, which is David Sacks the Crypto Czar arguing with Anthropic about AI regulation like SB 53. The hosts outline SB 53 and discuss whether it actually hurts AI startups like Sacks claims. They also talk about how Trump tried to pass anti-AI regulation in the “Big Beautiful Bill” and what the future of regulation can and should look like.

After a brief tangent on cafes in SF, it’s time for the usual Get the Check segment. The girls investigate a viral video accusing food distributor Sysco of ruining American restaurants. While mostly true, the viral video got some key stats wrong.

00:00 Intro

00:30 Rumors Trump admin is taking stakes in quantum computing

03:58 What is quantum computing

06:46 What use cases does quantum computing solve

12:17 Google's Quantum Echo breakthrough16:22 David Sacks vs. Anthropic on AI regulation

23:59 Jack Clark’s essay

26:57 SB 1047, Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier AI Act

32:11 Our thoughts on the AI regulation debate

37:27 State vs. federal AI regulation

43:20 Would Sysco “Get the Check”

46:09 Side note about coffee shops in SF

51:34 Sysco’s company background52:23 Sysco's controversies