Is Apple losing its edge in the AI race? And what does it mean for startups when big tech strip-mines entire companies for talent?

Many early entrepreneurs believe giant tech firms are unbeatable, but this episode reveals how even industry leaders can stumble, and what founders can learn from their missteps.

In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein discuss the chaotic week in AI that the tech industry just witnessed. From Apple’s AI leadership crisis to Intel’s shocking admission of defeat in AI chips, they share hard-earned insights on strategy, leadership, and staying competitive in a brutal talent war.

In this episode, you will:
* Learn why Apple’s conservative AI strategy is costing it top talent, and what founders can do differently
* Discover why Intel publicly admitting defeat might actually be brilliant strategy for survival
* Explore the brutal Windsurf talent raid and how “acqui-raids” are changing Silicon Valley’s startup culture
* Evaluate whether AI tools actually slow senior engineers more productive
* See what startup founders can learn from big tech’s talent wars when building and retaining teams
* Decide if playing it safe (Apple) or betting big (Meta) is the smarter move in fast-changing markets

Timestamps
00:00 Coming Up
00:33 On Today's Show
01:58 Apple's AI Struggles and Meta's Aggressive Money Moves
08:54 Tim Cook's Leadership and Apple's Future
15:19 Intel's Bold AI Admission and Strategic Shift
21:07 NVIDIA's China Strategy and US Export Controls
24:50 OpenAI's Windsurf Acquisition Flops, Google Swoops In
32:18 Elon Musk's Grok Wreaks Havoc (Again)
40:11 Senior Engineers and AI Productivity
43:23 Final Thoughts and Social Media Plugs

The Pact
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Key links
Get your question in for our next Q&A episode: https://forms.gle/NZzgNWVLiFmwvFA2A
The Startup Podcast website: https://www.tsp.show/episodes/

Learn more about Chris and Yaniv
Work 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/
Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/
Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/

Producer: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthur
Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/

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