No matter how you look at it, the rapid development of AI will continue to shape our world in the years to come. Once again, Silicon Valley, together with San Francisco, is the beating heart of this technological (r)evolution. Fortunately, for us Europeans—as relative outsiders—it’s easier than ever these days to keep our finger on the pulse of the American West Coast. We’d like to recommend a few podcasts that help us do just that.
That said, it’s important to note one key nuance: most of these hosts have had long, successful careers in the industry and have often evolved into investors themselves (~ “Venture Capital”). The podcasts are therefore an effective medium for continuing to fuel the AI hype and enthusiasm among other investors—always keep this in mind while listening.
On the west coast, everything exudes disruption and futurism; the march toward general artificial intelligence (“AGI”) dominates the conversations here.
Moonshots:Peter Diamandis, who once launched the famous X Prize competition for technological breakthroughs, is Silicon Valley’s ultimate tech optimist. Together with a regular panel, he reviews the most important news stories and breakthroughs each week and ties them to an almost utopian long-term vision. The latest episodefeatures an interview with Ray Kurzweil, who is rightly and widely regarded as one of the most important futurists.
All-In Podcast:The unofficial, boisterous virtual hangout for Silicon Valley’s elite. Hosted by four prominent venture capitalists who were once among the first employees at PayPal, Facebook, and Google. David Sacks, one of the regular panelists, has since made it into the Trump administration as a special advisor on AI, crypto, and science policy. Unburdened by false modesty, the show often delves into a wide variety of topics beyond AI.
Big Technology Podcast:Alex Kantrowitz provides a welcome counterbalance to his more exuberant colleagues, both in style and content. The episodes offer a calm, critical journalistic voice that examines (the feasibility of) business models and the societal impact of AI.
In contrast to California’s visionary enthusiasm stands the cool pragmatism of the U.S. East Coast. On Wall Street, people are primarily interested in the financial impact of AI; from this perspective, the series listed below are highly recommended.
Invest like the Best:Host Patrick O’Shaughnessy takes plenty of time to engage in conversation with the world’s sharpest investors and asset managers. Inevitably, these conversations are also dominated by (the impact of) AI. The following recent episodes are highly recommended:
- Krishna Rao, CFO of Anthropic
- Dan Loeb, investor
- Gavin Baker, technology investor
- Dylan Patel, SemiAnalysis
The Vergecast: The Verge’s flagship weekly show, hosted by Nilay Patel and David Pierce, is the ultimate East Coast counterpoint to the VC hype. A down-to-earth, somewhat cynical New York perspective on the messy (AI) reality from the standpoint of the everyday consumer.
