Hill & Valley Conversation: Roelof Botha, Jacob Helberg, Erik Torenberg on Bridging the Hill and Valley Divide, AI, and Decoupling Tech from China

Erik Torenberg interviews Roelof Botha, the managing partner of Sequoia Capital, and Jacob Helberg, advisor to Palantir CEO and organizer of The Hill & Valley Forum. Roelof and Jacob discuss the need for collaboration between Silicon Valley and Washington, especially on national security and frontier technologies, TikTok as a bellwether for the technological decoupling between the US and China, and debate the challenges of open-source and AI regulation.

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LINKS:

• The Hill and Valley Forum 2024
• Silicon Valley Can’t Be Neutral in the U.S.-China Cold War by Jacob Helberg

FOLLOW ON X:

@roelofbotha (Roelof)

@jacobhelberg (Jacob)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(02:00) The Importance of Silicon Valley and DC

(06:45) Sequoia's Bullish Stance on Defense and Frontier Tech

(09:17) The New Arms Race with China and TikTok's Ban

(11:55) Sequoia's Separation from Chinese Entity

(14:17) Technological Decoupling and TikTok as a Bellwether

(24:27) AI Supply Chain and Export Controls Discussion

(31:26) AI Regulation and the Open vs Closed Source Debate

(46:55) Closing Statements and Future Outlook