EPISODE
Edward Coristine & Tai Groot, Chad Rigetti, Pim de Witte, Yadin Soffer, Jack Morris, Neil Movva, Jakob Diepenbrock, Chris Altchek
00:01:00 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.
00:02:00 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.
00:03:00 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.
00:04:00 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.
00:05:00 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.
00:06:00 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.
00:07:00 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.
00:08:00 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.