Podcast Summary: TECH013: Monthly Tech Round-up – Davos WEF, Claude Cowork, Macrohard w/ Seb Bunney

We Study Billionaires – The Investor’s Podcast Network Host: Preston Pysh
Guest: Seb Bunney
Date: January 28, 2026

Episode Overview

In this electrifying Monthly Tech Round-up, Preston Pysh and Seb Bunney explore the whirlwind of rapid technological transformation in 2026, with a focus on the World Economic Forum (Davos), AI breakthroughs like Claude Cowork, the societal and economic implications of AI-driven productivity, the intersection of Bitcoin and computation as currency, and revolutionary advances in health and longevity. The conversation highlights the ongoing “hockey stick” curve in tech, the shifting priorities among world leaders, and growing questions around the distribution and ethics of future wealth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Living Through the Singularity: The 2026 Tech Acceleration

• Both hosts reflect on the feeling that technological progress has entered a “hockey stick” phase since the release of ChatGPT in 2023.
  Preston: “This feels like a hockey stick moment… we're literally going through the Singularity right now.” (02:02)
• Davos 2026 is portrayed as a turning point: AI dominates conversations formerly focused on climate change, with world leaders openly debating the New World Order.

2. Davos WEF: Geopolitics, Bitcoin, and the End of the “Old Elite”

• Notable appearances (e.g., Trump’s statement rejecting globalist governance).
• Central banks and finance elites now openly acknowledge Bitcoin as competition.
  Seb: “People are seeing technology is outrunning us… I’ve never had so much uncertainty about what does the world look like in three years.” (03:14)
• The AI-driven shift is seen as much broader than economic—touching every aspect of society.

3. Anthropic’s Claude Cowork: AI Builds Apps in Minutes

• Preston shares a hands-on account of building a meditation app using Claude Cowork, marveling at its design coherence and code generation.
  Preston (on Claude): “It builds this PowerPoint presentation… like a professional design studio… the UX was flawless. I was blown away.” (07:48)
• Seb emphasizes the transformative impact:
  Seb: “AI these days is just eating all of these SaaS products… we’re moving into an era of personalized applications.” (09:49)
• Discussion of how agents like Claude are destroying traditional SaaS business models and enabling “one-person billion-dollar companies.”

4. The Rise of AI “Coworkers” and RALPH

• Introduction to “RALPH,” an AI-persistence framework (created by Geoffrey Huntley), which automates repeated task attempts until success—a game changer for solo developers:
  Seb: “[RALPH is] an AI persistence machine… you find these loops of AI agents building profound things. It’s pretty profound.” (28:08)
• Real-world examples: building entire new programming languages, winning $50K contracts with minimal intervention and $297 API spend.

5. Computation as Wealth in a Post-SaaS, AI-Native Economy

• The podcast explores a future where computation units (energy = currency) determine wealth and creative potential, potentially measured in Bitcoin/Sats.
• AI’s need for true digital scarcity (as embodied by Bitcoin) is examined in the context of future abundance and digital sovereignty: Preston: “These are computation units… the person with all the intelligence and computation units is going to be able to create whatever they want.” (31:01)

6. Elon Musk & Macro Hard: The Custom Software Future

• Elon Musk’s new venture “Macro Hard” aims to obsolete Microsoft by building custom software via AI, focusing on simulation, 3D environments, and energy-efficient digital training for humanoid robots.
• Preston recounts conversations where the future is “app-less”—software is built on-the-fly for each user.
• The development of more efficient network protocols (Tesla Transmission Protocol vs. TCP/IP) promises massive gains in energy and speed, highlighting how AI will surpass human efficiency—and potentially human auditability.

7. Tokenization on the New York Stock Exchange

• Announcement of a new tokenization platform: trading settles on-chain, custody lives in wallets, trading never stops.
• Skepticism from both hosts: true decentralization and user custody remain elusive due to legal and issuer constraints. Preston: "You don't actually have custody of anything … if some outside party can just take it from you, period. …I don't know of anything that is that, other than bitcoin." (56:24)

8. Longevity Breakthroughs: Stem Cells and the End of Aging?

• Elon Musk, at Davos, calls aging a “solvable problem” and suggests that the mechanism is likely a central cellular clock. (58:37)
• Seb highlights a major study: stem cell therapy restoring natural insulin production in diabetics. Performance metrics: glycemic control from 43% to 98% post-treatment.
• The hosts weigh philosophical and societal questions of longevity, resource use, and the “value of life” if scarcity is removed.
• Concerns about industry pushback—from pharma to medicine—against disruptive cures.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the pace of change:
  “We always overestimate what we do in one year, and we underestimate what we do in ten years. …I feel like it's condensed… we overestimate a month, we massively underestimate a year.” – Seb (04:33)
• On AI’s coding abilities:
  “Code is just language… when you’re using Cowork, not to code but to organize tools… it’s absolutely profound. Like a junior intern helping you out constantly.” – Seb (05:39)
• On the risk of digital assets:
  “If you don't think some entity outside yourself can claw that [token] away from you, you're out of your mind… only Bitcoin can't be taken.” – Preston (56:24)
• On the future of apps:
  “In the future, there’s really not going to be any apps… it’s going to be all custom-built software made for the user.” – Preston (36:39)
• On the implications of longevity breakthroughs:
  “What happens when instead of having someone a lifelong drug… this person can get a $10K–$20K surgery and it repairs the issue in one go?” – Seb (65:26)
• Elon Musk on aging:
  “I haven’t put much time into the aging stuff. I do think it is a very solvable problem. When we figure out what causes aging… it’s incredibly obvious.” – Elon Musk at Davos (58:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:14 | Kickoff: “Living through endless tech breakthroughs” | | 03:14 | Davos WEF, societal uncertainty, world leaders on tech | | 04:33 | The acceleration of technological progress | | 05:39 | Claude Cowork: Reinventing productivity and coding | | 09:49 | AI devouring SaaS; the personalization of apps | | 11:15 | AI agents as coworkers: transforming creative workflows | | 17:24 | RALPH: Persistent AI automation for developers | | 31:01 | Computation units as new currency and the Bitcoin corollary | | 36:39 | Elon Musk’s Macro Hard project and custom “app-less” future | | 40:47 | Tesla’s “TTCP” – more efficient networking for AIs | | 52:43 | NYSE and blockchain tokenization: critique & analysis | | 58:37 | Musk and longevity: reversing (or halting) aging | | 62:02 | Stem cell diabetes breakthrough, longevity industry dynamics | | 67:16 | WEF, big pharma, and regulatory shakeups |

Tone and Style

Casual, energetic, and often incredulous at the pace of change; the hosts mix technical deep-dives with skepticism, humor, and open philosophical inquiry. The conversation is rich with anecdotes, direct experimentation, and lived perspective from both Preston and Seb—as investors, technologists, and lifelong learners.

Final Thoughts

• The future is arriving much faster than anticipated, driven by advances in AI, computation, and biotech.
• Economic and political elites are pivoting—sometimes reluctantly—toward Bitcoin, open-ledger assets, and AI-guided strategies.
• The boundaries between digital agency, personal productivity, and wealth are blurring, but true digital sovereignty remains elusive outside of Bitcoin.
• The next decade’s biggest disruptions may be in health and human lifespan—as much as in finance or technology.

For further learning:

• Follow Seb Bunney: sebbunny.com
• Book: The Hidden Cost of Money
• Listen to previous “We Study Billionaires” episodes on AI, Bitcoin, and longevity.

This summary condenses and structures more than 65 minutes of dense, freewheeling conversation into the most important trends, highlights, quotes, and context for the world’s fastest moving investors and tech enthusiasts.