VC React Podcast VC React SV E2: OpenAl's Power Loop with Thrive, America's Chip Gambit, and Apple's Al Reset
VC React Podcast - Silicon Valley:
Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on Silicon Valley startups, funds, and investment rounds.
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Hosts:
- Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/
- Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/
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Available on:
- Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcast
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMp
- Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384
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Guests:
1. Joe Alalou, General Partner @ Daring Ventures
- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephalalou/
- Company Website: https://hello.daringventures.vc/
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News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.
This Week On The VC React Podcast:
- First up: OpenAI is taking a stake in Thrive Holdings — a services rollup already backed by one of OpenAI’s biggest investors, and built directly on top of OpenAI’s models. Are we watching brilliant ecosystem design that turbocharges enterprise AI… or a circular deal-making loop, that locks everyone else out of the club?
- Next, the U.S. government is writing a $150 million check into xLight, a lithography startup trying to become a homegrown alternative to ASML. Is this smart industrial strategy or is America trying to run a playbook it can’t stick with long enough to win?
- And finally, Apple has hired a senior AI leader from both Google and Microsoft to replace its retiring head of AI. Is this a true reset that puts Apple back in the AI game, or is it too late for founders to treat Apple as anything more than a nice secondary channel behind OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.