Podcast Summary: "Can Israel Create the Next Nvidia?" — What's Your Number?

Podcast: What's Your Number?
Hosts: Yonatan Adiri & Michal Lev-Ram
Guest: Elad Raz (Founder & CEO, Next Silicon)
Date: October 29, 2025
Produced by: Ark Media

Episode Overview

This episode examines Israel's position in the global semiconductor and AI technology race through the lens of recent developments, major tech investments, and a deep-dive interview with Elad Raz, founder and CEO of Next Silicon. The hosts discuss Nvidia's growing commitment to its Israeli R&D center, the complexities of global geopolitics—particularly U.S.-China tensions—and Israel's potential to produce world-leading semiconductor technology. Elad Raz offers insight into his company's breakthrough chip technology, the evolution of Israel's tech ecosystem, and the symbolism his team has engraved into their chips.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Numbers of the Week: Nvidia, Antitrust, and Geopolitics

[00:10–01:57]

• Yonatan's number: "Three"—Nvidia’s announcement to triple down on its Beersheva, Israel, R&D center, reflecting the company's confidence and strategic investment in the region.
• Michal's number: "Two"—the number of Chinese antitrust investigations into U.S. acquisitions of Israeli startups (notably Nvidia’s Mellanox and Qualcomm’s Autotalks). Highlights Israel's role at the intersection of escalating U.S.-China tech tensions.
• Quote [00:36, Michal]: "Israel is kind of in some weird ways caught in the middle."
• Discussion emphasizes both the strategic importance and geopolitical challenges of Israeli tech.

2. The AWS Outage—A Caution on Cloud Reliance

[02:16–03:40]

• Anecdotal effects of the AWS global outage, including on seemingly mundane areas (e.g., smart mattresses malfunctioning).
• Broader concern about the economy's dependence on single cloud providers for critical services.
• Quote [03:16, Yonatan]: "...clearly we're the least significant casualty of this. But...the reliance on Amazon Web Services and other cloud providers...it is a cautionary tale."

3. Ceasefire, Economic Normalcy, and Israel’s Future Vision

[04:05–09:19]

• Signs of normalization post-ceasefire: sports teams returning, non-war-related news cycles, packed nightlife—important for the nation’s psyche and economy.
• Discussion of Naftali Bennett's proposed education reform; signal that civilian issues are returning to the political forefront.
• Quote [04:05, Yonatan]: "...being back to normal is a key thing for the Israeli economy."
• Michal raises global concerns: Jewish community relations, philanthropy, the role of academia, and the international perception of Israel.
• Yonatan urges a Ben-Gurion–era mentality: "not to lean back" but to pursue bold national tech projects, especially in materials science, AI, robotics, quantum, and synthetic biology.
• Quote [08:25, Yonatan]: "...double down, triple down, quadruple down on what I call the marks, right? Materials science, AI, robotics, quantum space, and synthetic biology..."

4. Israel’s “Silicon Posture”—Tech Ecosystem and Global Standing

[10:07–12:47]

• Israel compared to “silicon powers” like Taiwan (which has a "silicon dome"), South Korea, the Netherlands, and the U.S.
• Israel's unique ecosystem supports world-class chip design, thanks to its creative, iterative practitioners (ex-Intel, Mellanox, Habana, etc.).
• Observation that recent years are seeing more Israeli founders betting on creating their own companies instead of joining established multinationals.
• Quote [11:31, Yonatan]: "There are about four or five countries...where people can come out with an idea for a new chip with the ecosystem around it to build a company."

5. The Windex Update—Israeli Public Tech Performance

[13:05–16:24]

• Windex: Index tracking Israeli-founded/traded companies.
• After a brief dip, it's back to 2.26% growth (in line with S&P/Nasdaq).
• Notable stock moves:
  • Protalix (biotech; +25%)—approved drug candidate and innovative carrot-based protein production.
    • Quote [14:05, Yonatan]: "It's like a sci-fi movie...huge orange canisters in which they grow the proteins."
  • Il Makiage (DTC cosmetics; –10%)—hit by "AI washing" lawsuit (overstating the role of AI in their products).
    • Quote [16:06, Michal]: "I had to look up this AI washing concept which I wasn't familiar with. But this is a huge warning sign..."

6. Interview with Elad Raz, Next Silicon: Chip Innovation from Israel

[17:33–35:50]

Elad Raz introduces Next Silicon:

• Next Silicon creates high-performance computing chips, focusing on the most critical portions of code ("the Pareto principle, the 80/20 rule"); acceleration comes from optimizing code kernels that matter most.

Noteworthy Segments & Quotes

• Tech Explanation for All Ages

  • [17:36–18:24, Michal]: Used ChatGPT to explain Next Silicon for a seven-year-old: “A regular computer chip gives each car one path and they all wait their turn. But Next Silicon's chip is like a magical maze that changes its shape while the cars are driving so the toy cars can go through faster and fewer get stuck.”
  • [18:24, Elad]: "I like it, I love it... Let’s focus on these small kernels that run the majority of the time and accelerate them."

• Israel’s Deep Tech Roots & Mindset

  • [23:28, Elad]: Recalls the Weizmann Institute debate in the 1950s on whether to invest in Israel's first computer (vacuum tubes era)—an audacious, costly bet shaping Israeli innovation DNA: "There was a big celebration. VIPs came in...they turn on the machine...fire broke."
  • Emphasizes the “trust me, it’s going to be okay” attitude as emblematic of Israeli founders.

• From Mellanox to Next Silicon

  • [26:52, Elad]: “At heart, I'm a software engineer... At Mellanox, I got exposed to supercomputing, high-performance networking... Can we make it better? I don't know, but it looks fun. That’s the start of Next Silicon.”

• Israel’s Place in the Global Semiconductor Race

  • [27:37, Yonatan; 28:12, Elad]: Israel’s strengths lie in chip design, not fabrication (“I don’t believe investing $30 billion for leading edge fab makes sense for Israel”). Israel contributes key innovation (Apple’s iPhone chips, Mellanox NVLink).
  • Quote [29:47, Michal]: “Are both [AI and energy breakthroughs] equally important? What’s going to lead the way forward...?”
  • [30:26, Elad]: “Performance and power consumption are tightly coupled... Next Silicon aims to get 4x performance with half the power... every vendor is doing its part to gain more power efficiency.”

• On Geopolitics & National Tech Vision

  • [32:36, Elad]: "Compute is a nation need, it's a nation mission ... A nation that leads that market is going to win big time. The fact that we have the talent that thinks differently, that innovate... That's great. That's an opportunity."

• National Spirit Engraved on Silicon

  • [33:36–35:16, Michal & Elad]: Elad describes engraving the Hebrew words “בראשית” (“In the beginning”) and subsequently “עם ישראל חי” (“The people of Israel live”) onto his chips.
    • [34:28, Elad]: "This is a message for resilience. ... I’m so proud that we etched that on the chip. It just reflects everything that Next Silicon stands for and Israel stands for."
    • [35:16, Yonatan]: "To think about all the BDS folks who will be calling for boycotts with a chip in their computer or the cloud somewhere that ... has 'Am Yisrael Chai.' I love it."

7. Closing Reflections and Words of the Week

[35:57–39:04]

• Hosts moved by the national symbolism embedded in hardware and Elad's approach—unexpected emotion in a semiconductor episode.
• Historical perspective: Israel's bold tech bets during national austerity; current era calls for the same audacious push forward, particularly as Israel approaches its centennial.
• Final cultural note: Israeli singer Omer Adam’s sold-out show at Madison Square Garden symbolizes psychologic recovery, unity, and Israeli presence abroad.
  • [37:52, Michal]: "Am Yisrael Chai actually is a really nice thread to the interview with Elad ... This is a really, I thought, a really special moment."
• [38:45, Yonatan]: “Now is the time to make the tough decisions and not to lean back...this is exactly the time to reinvent...for Israel’s future.”

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• "Israel is kind of in some weird ways caught in the middle."
  — Michal Lev-Ram [00:36]
• "At the end of the day the reliance on Amazon Web Services... it is a cautionary tale, you know, going forward as the dependency just becomes bigger and bigger."
  — Yonatan Adiri [03:16]
• "Double down, triple down, quadruple down on what I call the marks, right? Materials science, AI, robotics, quantum space, and synthetic biology. We're good at that. But the world is moving fast and we were not moving as fast in the last two years."
  — Yonatan Adiri [08:25]
• "Compute is, is a nation need, it's a nation mission. It's not just cyber...A nation that...will lead that market is going to win big time."
  — Elad Raz [32:36]
• "This is a message for resilience. ... I’m so much proud that we etched that on the chip. It just reflects everything that Next Silicon stands for and Israel stands for."
  — Elad Raz [34:28]
• "Now is the time to make the tough decisions and not to lean back...for the sake of Israel's future, its hundredth year of Jewish sovereignty...this is exactly the time to reinvent."
  — Yonatan Adiri [38:45]

Key Timestamps

| Segment | Start Time | |-------------------------|-----------| | Numbers of the Week / Geopolitics | 00:10 | | AWS Outage & Cloud Dependency | 02:16 | | Ceasefire and Economic Recovery | 04:05 | | Israeli Tech Vision & Ben-Gurion Model | 07:10 | | Israel as “Silicon Power”—Overview | 10:07 | | Windex (Public Markets Update) | 13:05 | | Interview: Elad Raz, Next Silicon | 17:33 | | Elad’s Early Influences & Mellanox | 26:42 | | Israel in Semiconductor Ecosystem | 27:37 | | National Symbolism on the Chip | 33:36 | | Reflections & Words of the Week | 35:57 |

Tone & Style

• Candid, optimistic yet realistic.
• Deeply rooted in both Israeli national pride and awareness of global headwinds.
• Engaging, sometimes humorous (e.g., ChatGPT toy car analogy; smart mattress outage anecdotes).
• Embraces both high-level geopolitics and ground-level tech details.

Summary Takeaway

"Can Israel Create the Next Nvidia?" explores not just the technical and business acumen propelling Israel’s semiconductor sector, but the national ethos—resilience, bold bets, and relentless innovation—that underpins the country's continued relevance in the global tech race. Through Elad Raz’s journey and vision, the episode demonstrates how even a small nation, when audacious and purposeful, can shape the future of AI and high-performance computing.