Ejaaz and David reunite to unpack the DeepSeek shockwave: how a mere $6M open-source AI model rattled OpenAI’s dominance, nudged Nvidia’s stock, and sparked a fresh “arms race” in crypto AI. Meanwhile, Trump’s massive AI funding pledge and Solana’s record DEX volumes signal that the space might be heading for its biggest bull run yet.

On the builder side, ARC’s rust-based agents partner with the Solana Foundation, AI16Z launches a $10M fund, and Virtuals teases multi-chain expansions that could redefine how agent tokens earn revenue. Between China’s fast breakthroughs and America’s big AI bets, the race to integrate AI and crypto has never been hotter. Buckle up, anon.

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----- ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/base:0x4be6cd4d402fed49eb2de95fbc8e737e8ffd3e7f/25

------ TIMESTAMPS & RESOURCES

0:00 China & DeepSeek

12:43 Why Markets Rattled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

24:32 OpenAI & Perplexity Agent Products https://x.com/OpenAI/status/1882509286439637448 https://x.com/perplexity_ai/status/1882466239123255686 https://x.com/sama/status/1884066337103962416

34:12 AI Agent Chain Wars

39:42 Virtuals is expanding to SOLANA! https://x.com/virtuals_io/status/1883107553183162507 https://x.com/state_of_mika/status/1883107601183048078 https://x.com/vaderresearch/status/1883597990830731678 https://www.lookonchain.com/articles/1035

53:01 AIXBT is becoming a product https://x.com/aixbt_terminal/status/1882755705586982969

56:01 VeniceAI launches a token that pays for your agent’s expenses https://x.com/askvenice/status/1883925135825990091 https://x.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1884051994324947001

1:03:13 Griffain now has a Shopify integration for their agents https://x.com/griffaindotcom/status/1883230795764322328

1:05:22 ARC partnered with Solana https://x.com/arcdotfun/status/1884325639047819476

1:06:36 Ai16z $10M x Jupiter Fund & Rebrand? https://x.com/shawmakesmagic/status/1883124194013319340 https://x.com/shawmakesmagic/status/1884376511391674742

1:08:45 What is Ejaaz paying attention to?

1:10:02 Closing & Disclaimers

------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures ⁠

AI ROLLUP #9: $6M DeepSeek Shocker | $500B AI Push | Venice’s Billion-Dollar Airdrop | Solana DEX Record