The a16z Show

From politics to technology to real estate, Keith Rabois has bold predictions for America’s next decade.

In this conversation with Erik Torenberg, Keith breaks down why he believes the U.S. is entering a new economic expansion driven by AI, productivity, and sovereign technology. They discuss how AI could lift GDP growth to 5%, why sovereign AI projects are inevitable, and why America can “grow its way out” of debt.

Keith also shares his takes on Trump’s second term, the decline of legacy institutions, OpenAI’s dominance, the future of Google and Microsoft, and how startups like Ramp and Opendoor are rewriting the rules of fintech and housing.

Resources:

Follow Keith on X: https://x.com/rabois

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Ben Horowitz founded Loudcloud in the middle of the dot-com bust and sold it for $1.6 billion, then led Andreessen Horowitz from its founding to $46 billion in committed capital. Ali Ghodsi co-founded Databricks, stepped in as CEO during a crisis, and led it to a valuation of over $100 billion.

In this episode of “Boss Talk”, Ben and Ali join a16z General Partners Sarah Wang and Erik Torenberg to share founder war stories, how to hire and make deals, how to keep culture intense without burning employees out, and why founders should raise their ambitions even higher.

Resources:
Follow Ali on X: https://x.com/alighodsi

Learn more about Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/

Follow Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

Follow Sarah on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang

Follow Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Nathan Labenz is one of the clearest voices analyzing where AI is headed, pairing sharp technical analysis with his years of work on The Cognitive Revolution.

In this episode, Nathan joins a16z’s Erik Torenberg to ask a pressing question: is AI progress actually slowing down, or are we just getting used to the breakthroughs? They discuss the debate over GPT-5, the state of reasoning and automation, the future of agents and engineering work, and how we can build a positive vision for where AI goes next.

Resources:

Follow Nathan on X: https://x.com/labenz

Listen to the Cognitive Revolution: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Watch Cognitive Revolution: https://www.youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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From GPT-1 to GPT-5, LLMs have made tremendous progress in modeling human language. But can they go beyond that to make new discoveries and move the needle on scientific progress?

We sat down with distinguished Columbia CS professor Vishal Misra to discuss this, plus why chain-of-thought reasoning works so well, what real AGI would look like, and what actually causes hallucinations.

Resources:

Follow Dr. Misra on X: https://x.com/vishalmisra

Follow Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Zach Dell is founder and CEO of Base Power, an energy tech company that builds affordable, reliable power via home batteries.

In this episode of Monitoring the Situation, a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg, Katherine Boyle, and Erin Price-Wright sit down with Zach to discuss the current state of home power generation, what’s misunderstood about the data center buildout, and how to fix the US electricity grid. Plus, Erik and Katherine talk with a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin about Silicon Valley’s favorite Dark Enlightenment philosopher, Nick Land.

Resources:

Follow Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

Follow Eddy on X: https://x.com/eddylazzarin

Follow Zach on X: https://x.com/ZachBDell

Learn more about Base Power: https://www.basepowercompany.com/

Learn more about Nick Land: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/who-is-nick-land

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Sam Altman has led OpenAI from its founding as a research nonprofit in 2015 to becoming the most valuable startup in the world ten years later.

In this episode, a16z Cofounder Ben Horowitz and General Partner Erik Torenberg sit down with Sam to discuss the core thesis behind OpenAI’s disparate bets, why they released Sora, how they use models internally, the best AI evals, and where we’re going from here.

Resources:

Follow Sam on X: https://x.com/sama

Follow OpenAI on X: https://x.com/openai

Learn more about OpenAI: https://openai.com/

Try Sora: https://sora.com/

Follow Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Opendoor is trying to make it easier to buy a home. Kaz Nejatian just joined as CEO to help them succeed.

In this episode, a16z General Partners Alex Rampell and Erik Torenberg sit down with Kaz to cover all things real estate and marketplaces. They cover Kaz’s vision for Opendoor, the problem with copying the hedge fund model, how to build through economic downturns, and the importance of ambition and long-term thinking.

Resources:

Follow Kaz on X: https://x.com/CanadaKaz

Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/arampell

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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From high-speed rail to electric cars to batteries to AI, it’s clear that China can operate with incredible speed at massive scale. Can the US still compete?

We sat down with Dan Wang, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future” to discuss.

Timecodes: 

0:00  Introduction

1:36   Lawyers vs. Engineers: Cultural and Economic Differences

4:06  Urban and Rural Life: Comparing Infrastructure

7:20  Barriers to Progress: Regulation and Governance

11:00  Industrial Policy and Public-Private Partnerships

14:20  The Double-Edged Sword of Legal and Engineering Mindsets

16:50  Social Engineering and Policy in China

23:00  Competition, Intellectual Property, and Business Culture

27:10  Manufacturing, Scale, and Global Supply Chains

36:00  Lessons from Japan and Korea

41:30  Complacency, Quality, and the Future of Competition

48:45  Strategic Resources and Industrial Policy

54:00  Foreign Policy: Engineering Diplomacy vs. Alliances

59:00  Taiwan, Demographics, and the Future of US-China Relations

Resources:

Follow Dan on X: https://x.com/danwwang

Read Dan’s blog: https://danwang.co/

Buy Breakneck on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1324106034/

Follow Steven on X: 

https://x.com/stevesi

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Two trends in media have been abundantly clear since 2020: legacy media is dying, and independent media is rising.

a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Katherine Boyle sit down with Tablet founder and editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse to discuss the great media realignment, why real institutions will outlast the new “internet pirates", Alana’s deeply personal case for gene editing, and how faith, science, and community can coexist without giving in to government referees.

Resources:

Read Tablet magazine: https://www.tabletmag.com/
Follow Alana on X: https://x.com/alananewhouse

Follow Tablet on X: https://x.com/tabletmag

Follow Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Software has fundamentally changed the way we record, store, and share information. Its next act is to fundamentally change the nature of our economy, capturing trillions of dollars of value in the process.

In this talk from the 2025 a16z LP Summit, a16z General Partner Alex Rampell discusses the history of filing cabinets and databases, how SaaS pricing moved from seats to outcomes, and how AI agents will accelerate the trend of the last 70 years of software progress.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction

0:58 The Scale of the Labor Market vs. SaaS  

1:41 Capital, Labor, and Automation: A Historical Perspective  

3:32 The Filing Cabinet Metaphor: Digitizing Work  

3:50 Case Studies: From Airlines to Accounting  

8:42 The Limits of Efficiency: Humans Still in the Loop  

9:02 Rethinking SaaS Pricing Models  

10:21 The Impact of AI on Labor and Software  

11:41 Outcome-Based Software: Moving Beyond the Filing Cabinet  

17:41 Real-World Examples: AI in Action  

22:05 The Expanding Market: New Opportunities with AI  

25:44 Conclusion and Takeaways  

25:48 Podcast Outro and Disclaimers 

Resources: 

Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/arampell

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Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z

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Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.