Startups in voice tech are growing 50% month-over-month and raising hundreds of millions. After decades of false starts, speech-to-text and AI dictation tools like Whisper, Willow, and Abridge are finally crossing the usability threshold. Yaniv and Chris explore what’s changed: better transcription + smarter LLMs = truly usable voice interfaces.…
Can Silicon Valley really “take over the world”? According to two viral videos – one from Peter Thiel, another from Yaz and Feras – it might already be happening. Not with robots and war, however, but with quiet influence, big money, and addictive products. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv…
Can AI be trained on copyrighted material without permission? Yaniv and Chris break down two explosive legal battles shaking up the AI industry. First, Aardman Animations (of Wallace & Gromit fame) and the BBC threaten legal action over AI scraping, while in the US, Anthropic is facing a lawsuit for…
Is training AI on copyrighted content stealing, or just learning? A major U.S. court just weighed in, and the verdict could rewrite the rules for startups using generative AI. Too many founders assume "training data" is fair game but that blind spot could cost them billions. In this episode, Yaniv…
What’s an AI agent, and why are so many people getting it wrong? In this clip from The Startup Podcast, investor and analyst Jeremiah Owyang breaks down the real definition of AI agents, drawing from interviews with 20+ founders in the space. From autonomous meal planning to email triage to…
Meta just took a 49% stake in Scale AI—at a $30B valuation. But with Scale’s CEO now reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg, is this really just a “strategic investment”? In this segment of The Startup Podcast, Chris and Yaniv unpack what looks like a stealth acquihire. They compare it to…
Sam Altman says the singularity will be “gentle.” But in this episode of The Startup Podcast, hosts Chris and Yaniv break down whether that’s visionary optimism or calculated reassurance. They analyze Altman’s recent blog post, The Gentle Singularity, and its timeline: superintelligence by 2026, real-world robots by 2027, and an…
AI usage in the workplace has nearly doubled since 2023, with over 40% of U.S. employees now using tools like ChatGPT. But are they using it well? In this clip, Chris and Yaniv dive into Gallup data on AI adoption and a disturbing Oxford study: people working with AI sometimes…
Is AI about to transform the world… gently? Sam Altman says yes, but are we being lulled into complacency while the real risks go unchallenged? Startups everywhere are rushing to embed AI into their workflows, but few understand just how flawed that human-AI interaction can be. From broken prompting to…
What if your next startup competitor doesn’t have a single employee? AI agents aren’t just another software trend — they’re redefining the interface between humans, data, and execution, yet many founders still confuse basic chatbots with the true potential of these agents. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv are joined…
What makes a consumer AI startup fundable in 2025? Andreessen Horowitz just dropped their playbook, and we’re breaking it down. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv react to Justine Moore’s viral post and podcast from a16z on what matters most: tokens-as-oil, product velocity, PLG-led enterprise expansion, and why business models…
Apple’s new research paper, The Illusion of Thinking, argues that large language models (LLMs) can’t truly reason. But is this thoughtful caution or just corporate bias? Chris and Yaniv dissect the research, explore why Apple keeps publishing skeptical AI papers, and debate what it reveals about the limits of today's…
Elon Musk and Donald Trump just ended their long-running alliance in a flurry of public attacks. But this isn’t just political theatre, it’s a major shift in the MAGA-Silicon Valley axis. In this episode, we unpack how this feud affects David Sacks, Emil Michael, and the broader right-wing tech bro…
Ukraine just launched a $10B strike deep inside Russian territory using AI-powered drones smuggled in on trucks. This isn’t science fiction; it’s a clear signal that warfare is being rewritten in real time. Chris and Yaniv explore what this means for the military-industrial complex, how consumer-grade tech is disrupting national…
Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote skipped the AI revolution, and said a lot in the silence. Siri’s revamp was delayed (again), but Apple quietly shipped updates across iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS that signal a company recalibrating. From ChatGPT integrations to the controversial “liquid glass” design language, is Apple finally getting serious…
Apple’s WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a lot – just not what you’d expect. Siri’s long-awaited AI upgrade was quietly delayed, and instead Apple rolled out a grab bag of long-overdue features, flashy design updates, and deep ChatGPT integrations. Is this a bold product reset, or proof that Apple is falling…
[Editor's note: This episode has been re-uploaded to correct a video export error.] Are you building a startup strategy—or just making it look like you have one? Too many founders mistake polished slide decks for actual strategic thinking, leading to misalignment, wasted resources, and failed products. In this episode, Yaniv…
Can consumer tech like Facebook and Oculus really help win wars? As governments get serious about AI and startups, Silicon Valley is being dragged—sometimes unwillingly—into the global military and geopolitical game. In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein unpack how Meta is teaming up with Anduril—the military tech startup…
90% of college students are using ChatGPT for school assignments, but are they actually learning? In this clip, Chris and Yaniv explore how students are outsourcing problem solving and critical thinking to AI tools like ChatGPT, and why this poses a bigger threat to education than cheating alone. They break…
