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. LINKS: The Hill and Valley Forum...

In the special evening session of the Hill & Valley Forum, Palantir CEO Dr. Alex Karp and house representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) discuss their efforts against discrimination, particularly Anti-Semitism. Karp stress the importance of clarity and honesty within his company, Palantir, and how that culture allows them to deliver superior hard tech products. He also argues this approach has made Palantir a competitive environment attracting top talent, contrasting sharply with institutions...

Jacob Helberg discusses the importance of technological advancements for national defense and the shifting relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington D.C., highlighting an end to the era of neutrality in tech companies.  This session was recorded live at The Hill & Valley Forum in 2024, a private bipartisan community of lawmakers and innovators committed to harnessing the power of technology to address America's most pressing national security challenges. Guests included Venture...

The founders of Scale AI, Anthropic, and AI Fund have gathered to warn the U.S. that China as an adversary is still being underrated. They are no longer the cheap plastics manufacturer of the ’90s. In today’s AI race, they are no longer just copying the United States. They argue that the papers out of Tsinghua University are just as impressive as those coming out of American universities. China is just as creative, but maybe even more motivated. While discussions of regulations have...

Sequoia Managing Partner Roelof Botha, Senator Linsey Graham, and Daniel Gross, the former Head of AI at Apple and Co-Founder of Andromeda discuss the future of dual-use AI. Global trade as a percentage of GDP peaked in 2008. Since then, it’s been in a steady decline. A flat world where economic incentives have the chance to bring people together did not turn out to be true. This led Roelof Botha to cut off all external arms of Sequoia and re-focus Sequoia’s focal point around caring for...

For the next level of having skin in the game, Anduril matched the Australian government dollar for dollar in their contract to develop their Ghost Shark coming in under budget and a year ahead of schedule. There is not a single defense prime that would share the risk with their clients, leading to delayed timelines and over budget projects still producing comfortable bonuses for the executives. Joe Lonsdale, Co-Founder at Epirus and 8VC, Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital and Matthew Steckman at...

The most pressing blockades in tech discussed today revolve around at-risk supply chain systems, acquiring GPUs for model advancement, lean manufacturing systems and more. However, Alex Karp, CEO & co-founder of Palantir makes the argument that the biggest hindrance is a culture problem. Jacob Helberg and Alex Karp sit down to discuss why Palantir is rooted in a foundation of being unpopular in being unapologetically a DoD supporter, and defender of Israel. Karp emphasizes that these are...

Delian Asparouhov, Partner at Founders Fund and Co-Founder at Varda Space brings together Tom Mueller, Founder at Impulse Space, and Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA) to discuss the urgency of why we are diving into the second space race. In 1996, the United States developed the ramjet engine for the first hypersonic missiles reaching Mach 9. In the summer of 2021, China demonstrated a production-ready boost glide hypersonic missile system. In conjunction, reports have stated that Russia is...

Nand Mulchandani, CTO of the CIA and Rob Silvers, Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy and Plans of the DHS, join Senator Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) to discuss the complete overhaul of the most private agency in the United States. With his Silicon Valley background at multiple unicorn startups, Mulchandani is re-architecting every facet of the CIA to partner and keep pace with Silicon Valley. Silvers and Nand discuss the urgent need to not just lower barriers to partnerships between the private and...

Speaker Mike Johnson emphasizes the critical importance of maintaining U.S. leadership in AI, expressing concerns over potential Chinese dominance and the misuse of AI technologies against American interests. Johnson outlines three key strategies to secure America's place as a global leader in AI: fostering a regulatory environment that encourages innovation, strengthening international cooperation to protect U.S. tech companies from harmful regulations, and promoting an 'all of the above'...

House Representative Jay Obernolte (R-CA) discusses pivoting from his background in computer science to entering congress, where he now leads the House AI Task force. Tasked with creating a regulatory framework for AI by year's end, Obernolte addresses the balance between mitigating AI's risks and enabling its beneficial uses, critical for economic competitiveness and national security. Obernolte criticizes the European Union's approach to AI regulation, proposing instead a focus on reducing...

House Republican Elise Stefanik discusses the importance of AI in national security, acknowledges Palantir's support for Israel, and outlines the U.S.'s efforts to maintain technical superiority. She highlights legislation against TikTok and CCP-controlled drones, her role in establishing the National Security AI Commission, the significance of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and the Chief Digital and AI Office, and the need for collaboration between the Pentagon and the private...

Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, and Senator Todd Young (R-IN) dive straight into the most pressing national security concerns regarding the threat of AI. In this techno-economic race, Vinod and Senator Young discuss how the winner will have economic and military control over Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. A technology capable of that much influence is described as being comparable to an atomic bomb. If AI is viewed through the lens of an atomic bomb, should the U.S. be forming a...

The Hill & Valley podcast gives you an insider's look into tech and government, hearing from founders and operators of generational tech companies, elected representatives and policymakers, and more. The podcast is hosted by the co-hosts of The Hill & Valley Forum: Author and Commissioner of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission Jacob Helberg, Partner at Founders Fund and Founder of Varda Delian Asparouhov, and Principal at 137 Ventures Christian Garrett.  For our debut...