AI Viruses, OpenAI's First Device, WSJ Mansion Section | Samir Kaul, Patrick Wendell, Grant LaFontaine

Episode notes

(01:31) - AI Viruses (08:18) - OpenAI's Device Takes Shape (16:39) - Meta Faces Major Child Safety Case (25:25) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions (36:10) - WSJ Mansion Section (43:41) - Samir Kaul, a general partner at Khosla Ventures, discusses the firm’s investment in Jeff Dean’s Discovery Loop and its potential to apply AI to scientific research with tangible outcomes. He also shares his views on AI regulation, inflated private-market valuations, venture capital strategy, founder support, and the importance of taking bold risks to generate exceptional returns. (01:09:45) - Patrick Wendell discusses his role as Databricks co-founder and VP of Engineering, where he leads AI products and internal AI adoption. He explains how AI coding tools can nearly double engineering capacity while creating rapidly escalating consumption costs, and highlights model switching, intelligent routing, and optimization as key ways to control spending without sacrificing productivity. (01:27:30) - Grant Lafontaine discusses Whatnot’s $545 million Series G funding round at a $20 billion valuation and the live-shopping platform’s rapid growth.

Related episodes across the Index

Other episodes covering the same guests and topics, from across The B2B Podcast Index.

• The Race to Build the Next Trillion-Dollar AI Chip CompanyTechSurge: Deep Tech Podcast · on Venture capital90 / 100
• Bayt’s Rabea Ataya on 26 Years of Building and Why the Old MENA Startup Playbook No Longer WorksFWDstart · on Venture capital86 / 100
• EP 148: Is the AI boom cracking? Inside July’s sell-off and beyondBeyond the Benchmark by EFG · on Investing85 / 100
• The Best of Series Six: The Professional Investment PodcastThe Professional Investment Podcast · on Venture capital81 / 100
• He Made It To The NFL. Now He Wants To Prove Himself All Over Again.Catalyst by Camber Creek · on Venture capital74 / 100
• Edward Robson - Capital Allocation in TechnologyCloud Returns · on Venture capital68 / 100

• Tesla’s Roadster, Car Week Takes, Unwell Beverages Shuts Down | Diet TBPN52 / 100
• Cursor Acquisition Closes, Bezos x Liverpool, Flying Roadster, Car Week, Gen Z Trends & More
• North Korea’s Secret US Workforce, Canceling the SaaSpocalypse, MSL’s Latest Exits | Diet TBPN
• SaaSpocalypse Revisited, Singer x Louis Vuitton, Aman vs Ryan Walker | Igor Babuschkin, Brannin McBee, Garret Langley, Sonya Huang, Sean Cole
• Kushner & Iger’s $12.5B Lakers Deal, Grok 4.6 Launches, Anthropic’s Watermarking Move | Diet TBPN