Transcript
Ben Horowitz (0:00)
Over 70% of people in China are optimistic about AI and kind of less than 30% in America. We're optimistic about AI.
David Ulevitch (0:10)
We have placed the largest bet in American history on the proposition that this country will win the next century of technology.
Ben Horowitz (0:18)
We won the Industrial Revolution, and we did that because we had superior technology. And here we are on the dawn of a new technological revolution, the AI revolution. Every interesting company that gets started started is a technology company. Now, America does give everybody a chance, and entrepreneurs can really count on that.
David Ulevitch (0:38)
If America loses its technology edge and its dominance, the entire world will lose as well. What makes the American system irreplaceable for the world at large?
Ben Horowitz (0:49)
Everybody's in the same game, but the rules of the game have changed. And what I mean by that is,
Podcast Host (0:54)
what does it mean to lead an industry at a moment of technological change? For decades, venture capital has been about funding companies. But at a certain scale, it becomes something else. Shaping industries, influencing policy, and helping determine which technologies define the future. Today, that responsibility is growing as AI and other frontier technologies reshape the global landscape. The question is no longer just what to build, but how to ensure those systems strengthen the broader society around them. The States extend beyond any single company or sector. They reach into how countries compete, how innovation spreads, and who gets the opportunity to contribute. A16Z co founder Ben Horowitz speaks with general partner David Ulovich about betting on America and building for the next century.
David Ulevitch (1:45)
So we've had a lot of excellent discussions. We've talked a lot about policy, but we're actually going to start this more on the venture capital and technology side. You recently shared a blog post that the firm has raised over $15 billion in a new fundraising set of funds for the firm, the largest in a 16Z history. What do you think are the new obligations that come with that kind of scale? We are the largest venture capital firm in the world, and how does that tie into the mission?
Ben Horowitz (2:15)
Yeah, so it's interesting. My old mentor Andy Grove said to me, he said, ben, when you're a leader in an industry, then the whole industry, the size of it, the ethics of it, the morality of it, kind of depends on you. And I remember thinking when he said that to me, he was running intel at the time, I thought, wow, I'm glad I'm never going to be the leader of an industry, because that's a lot of responsibility. But here I am, here we are. And I think for us, you have to take a step back and say, okay, for the technology industry, and particularly for kind of New technology companies, what does it need to be? And you have to think about it on a large scale. And the way we've been thinking about it as well, if you go all the way back to humanity, like, what's important for humanity, what advances humanity? And it really kind of comes down to, do people have a chance to contribute? Because when people have a chance to contribute, then they can have an impact and then they can kind of advance the state of things for everybody. And there's really been no country in the world that comes close to America at giving people a shot, giving them a chance to succeed. And it's not a completely equal chance. Some people are born rich, some people are born poor, some people have better genetics, some people live in dysfunctional families and so forth, but a chance. And most countries, people don't have a chance, or they have a very small chance, a very slim chance. And so that ends up being really important. And then if you think about why does America have the influence it has today from a military standpoint, from an economic standpoint, from a cultural standpoint, it comes back to, well, we won the Industrial revolution, and we did that because we had superior technology. And here we are on the dawn of a new technological revolution, the AI revolution. And are we going to win and. And are we gonna have that influence and are we gonna be able to give people a shot and kind of continue to advance humanity? I think that's an open question right now. And so when I think about our role in the industry, it's what can we do to help America win technologically? And that's everything from what we invest in to how we integrate into the government and make it accessible to all the citizens and integrate with our allies and so forth. And so it's a big mission, it's a lot of work. And, you know, it's why dynamism in a conference and everything.
