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Open-Source AI Battle, Google Throttles Meta, Micron Margins Moon | Edward Coristine & Tai Groot, Chad Rigetti, Pim de Witte, Yadin Soffer, Jack Morris, Neil Movva, Jakob Diepenbrock, Chris Altchek

TBPN

Jun 29
TBPN

TBPN

Jun 29

Shownote

* (02:21) - Open-Source AI Battle * (14:33) - GLM-5.2 Review * (21:38) - Google Throttles Meta * (27:20) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions * (34:38) - Micron Margins Moon * (38:48) - Comcast Splits in Two * (43:04) - Europe Meets Suburbia * (48:18) - Edward G...

Highlights

This podcast episode covers a wide range of topics, from the open-source AI battle and its geopolitical implications to the latest in quantum computing, defense technology, and health tech. The discussion features interviews with founders and CEOs of emerging companies, including those focused on privacy, AI inference, and chronic disease management.
00:00
China resetting the AI race
02:21
Open-source AI models spark geopolitical debates.
17:22
Distilled models generalize worse despite high benchmark scores.
21:40
Google restricts Meta's access to Gemini AI capacity
30:21
Never sell your company.
34:40
Micron's profits surged due to high demand for AI memory chips
42:17
HBO cannot build a theme park because its content is R-rated.
43:04
Visitors see abundance and kindness where Americans see division.
48:18
Ramparts keeps personal data on-device for AI interactions.
1:00:52
Extreme fandom is a form of self-importance.
1:21:23
Quantum will become mainstream when it runs production workloads in data centers
1:31:45
Models predict actions in unforeseen environments
1:39:28
Diameter is expensive while length is free.
1:42:53
AI that continually learns to understand users' specific contexts and workflows.
1:50:35
Background tasks will dominate this year.
1:54:34
Raising a $30 million fund for hard tech.
2:14:12
AI is used to deliver clinical care, not replace people.
2:14:40
Don't pull out your phone to show something in conversation.

Chapters

Open-source AI debate and guest previews
00:00
Open-Source AI Battle
02:21
GLM-5.2 Review
14:33
Google Throttles Meta
21:38
𝕏 Timeline Reactions
27:20
Micron Margins Moon
34:38
Comcast Splits in Two
38:48
Europe Meets Suburbia
43:04
Edward Gorberstein, head of engineering at the National Design Studio, discusses the launch of Ramparts, a local-first privacy model that allows users to control the data they share with AI by keeping personal information on their devices. He explains that existing AI models are too large to run in browsers, preventing in-browser PII removal, and emphasizes that Ramparts is open-source, with weights available on Hugging Face, enabling technical users to create custom applications. Gorberstein highlights the studio's mission to improve the American digital experience by developing user-centric software, citing previous successes like Trumper X, which saved users over $500 million in drug costs.
48:18
𝕏 Timeline Reactions
57:53
Chad Rigetti, founder of Rigetti Computing, discusses his journey from developing quantum computing at IBM to establishing his own company, which went public in 2022. He highlights the importance of integrating quantum technologies into data centers to enhance AI capabilities, emphasizing the need for a multimodal approach to quantum hardware. Rigetti also addresses the challenges of transitioning from private to public markets and the significance of long-term strategic planning in the evolving quantum computing landscape.
1:03:16
Pim de Witte, CEO of General Intuition, discusses the company's unique approach to AI development by leveraging extensive datasets of action-labeled video game footage to train models capable of spatial-temporal reasoning. He emphasizes the competitive nature of the AI industry and highlights General Intuition's distinct advantage: a proprietary dataset that enables their models to predict actions in both virtual and physical environments. Additionally, de Witte announces a recent $320 million funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $2.3 billion, which will support further advancements in their AI research and applications.
1:28:42
Yadin Sofer, co-founder and CEO of Tracer, discusses the company's emergence from stealth with the launch of a subterranean defense technology firm. He highlights the challenges of underground operations, such as unpredictable geology, and emphasizes the importance of small-diameter, long-length designs for efficiency. Sofer also mentions Tracer's $25 million seed round aimed at collaborating with the military to establish a U.S. subterranean strategy for warfare.
1:36:39
Jack Morris, co-founder and head of research at Engram, discusses the company's recent emergence from stealth with $98 million in funding from investors like General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, and Sequoia. Engram focuses on developing AI systems that enhance human intelligence by creating models capable of understanding users' unique contexts and workflows, thereby improving efficiency and reducing costs. Early enterprise partners include Microsoft, Notion, and Harvey, who benefit from these AI solutions that adapt to specific organizational needs.
1:42:52
Neil Movva, co-founder and CEO of Sail Research, discusses his company's focus on building the most efficient inference systems for AI agents that operate autonomously over extended periods. He highlights their commitment to open-source models, such as GLM 5.2, and emphasizes the importance of optimizing the entire stack—from hardware to API—to enhance efficiency. Movva also notes the shift in AI workloads from human-in-the-loop tasks to background processes, predicting that background tasks will soon dominate, and underscores the need for infrastructure that supports long-running agents effectively.
1:48:03
Jakob Diepenbrock, the 22-year-old General Partner of Discipulus Ventures, recently closed a $30 million fund targeting early-stage investments in defense-tech, energy, mining, manufacturing, and other critical industries. In the conversation, he discusses the firm's strategy of securing significant ownership in startups at low valuations by being the first investor, often assisting with company incorporation and subsequent fundraising. He highlights the advantages of El Segundo's robust engineering talent and supply chain infrastructure for hardware development, noting a shift from defense-focused investments to sectors like manufacturing, chemicals, industrials, space, and energy.
1:54:34
Chris Altchek is the founder and CEO of Cadence, a health technology company that partners with major health systems to provide remote patient monitoring and management for chronic conditions. In the conversation, Altchek discusses Cadence's recent $100 million Series C funding, the company's rapid progress in automating chronic disease treatment, and the significant impact their technology has had on patient outcomes, including preventing strokes and heart attacks through real-time monitoring and intervention.
2:02:52
𝕏 Timeline Reactions
2:14:40

Transcript

Jordi Hays: You're watching TBPN. John Coogan: Today is Monday, June 29, 2026. We're live from the TBPN in Ultratown, the temple of technology, the fortress of finance, The capital of capital. Let me tell you about ramp.com. Time is money. Say both. Easy ...