Podcast: a16z

Is AI the Fourth Pillar of Infrastructure?

Infrastructure doesn’t go away — it layers. And today, AI is emerging as a new foundational layer alongside compute, storage, and networking.

Erik Torenberg interviews a16z’s Martin Casado, Jennifer Li, and Matt Bornstein breaking down how infrastructure is evolving in the age of AI — from models and agents to developer tools and shifting user behavior.

We dive into what infra actually means today, how it differs from enterprise, and why software itself is being disrupted. Plus, we explore the rise of technical users as buyers, what makes infra companies defensible, and how past waves — from the cloud to COVID to AI — are reshaping how we build and invest.

Today we’re sharing an episode from American Optimist featuring Marc Andreessen in conversation with Joe Lonsdale, recorded live at the inaugural Ronald Reagan Economic Forum.

They explore one of the most urgent and complex questions of our time: Can AI and robotics catalyze a new era of American industrial strength—and how do we ensure the entire country, including rural communities, shares in the upside?

Marc walks through the history of U.S. industrialization, the lessons of tariffs and trade from leaders like McKinley, and how America’s shift to a services-based economy helped fuel our current urban-rural divide. The conversation spans immigration policy, housing, education, energy, and the path to a true AI-powered manufacturing revival—touching on what needs to change and how.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone thinking about the future of American productivity, growth, and leadership in the age of AI.

U.S. per capita energy usage peaked in 1973. Since then? Flat. Meanwhile, China’s per capita energy use has grown 9x.

Today, AI, EVs, manufacturing, and data centers are driving demand for more electricity than ever—and our grid can’t keep up.

In this episode, a16z general partners David Ulevitch and Erin Price-Wright, along with investing partner Ryan McEntush from the American Dynamism team, join us to unpack:

– How America’s grid fell behind
– Why we "forgot how to build" power infrastructure
– The role of batteries, solar, nuclear, and software in reshaping the grid
– How AI is both stressing and helping the system
– What it’ll take to build a more resilient, decentralized, and dynamic energy future

Whether you’re a founder, policymaker, or just someone who wants their lights to stay on, this conversation covers what’s broken—and how to fix it.

In this episode, a16z General Partner Martin Casado sits down with Box cofounder and CEO Aaron Levie to talk about how AI is changing not just software, but the structure and speed of work itself.

They unpack how enterprise adoption of AI is different from the consumer wave, why incumbents may be better positioned than people think, and how the role of the individual contributor is already shifting from executor to orchestrator. From vibe coding and agent UX to why startups should still go vertical, this is a candid, strategic conversation about what it actually looks like to build and operate in an AI-native enterprise.

Aaron also shares how Box is using AI internally today, and what might happen when agents outnumber employees.

This week on the a16z Podcast, we're sharing a feed drop from Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu, featuring a wide-ranging conversation with a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz.

Artificial intelligence isn't just a tool — it's a tectonic shift. In this episode, Ben joins Tom to break down what AI really is (and isn't), where it's taking us, and why it matters. They dive into the historical parallels, the looming policy battles, and how innovation cycles have always created — not destroyed — opportunity.

From the future of work and education to the global AI race and the role of blockchain in preserving trust, Ben shares hard-won insights from decades at the forefront of technological disruption. It's a masterclass in long-term thinking for anyone building, investing, or navigating what's coming next.

a16z Crypto General Partners Ali Yahya, Arianna Simpson, and Erik Torenberg break down what’s actually working in crypto today - starting with the rise of stablecoins as a real-world payments layer. They discuss how stablecoins are being adopted by companies like Stripe and SpaceX, why regulatory shifts are opening new doors for crypto startups, and how AI and crypto are beginning to intersect.

They also cover:
- The future of decentralized social networks
- Where Ethereum, Solana, and others stand today
- Misconceptions still holding the space back

A grounded conversation on what’s real, what’s hype, and where crypto’s finally finding traction.

On this episode, taken from The Ben & Marc Show, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz dive deep into the unfiltered story behind the founding of Andreessen Horowitz—and how they set out to reinvent venture capital itself.

For the first time, Marc and Ben walk through the origins, strategy, and philosophy behind building a world-class venture capital firm designed for the future—not just the next fund. They reveal how they broke industry norms with a bold brand, a full-stack support model, and a long-term commitment to backing exceptional builders—anchored in the radical idea that founders deserved real support, not just checks.

Joining them to guide the conversation is Erik Torenberg—Andreessen Horowitz’s newest General Partner—who makes his Ben & Marc Show moderating debut. Erik is a technology entrepreneur, investor, and founder of the media company Turpentine.

Taken from the AI + a16z podcast, Arcjet CEO David Mytton sits down with a16z partner Joel de la Garza to discuss the increasing complexity of managing who can access websites, and other web apps, and what they can do there. A primary challenge is determining whether automated traffic is coming from bad actors and troublesome bots, or perhaps AI agents trying to buy a product on behalf of a real customer.Joel and David dive into the challenge of analyzing every request without adding latency, and how faster inference at the edge opens up new possibilities for fraud prevention, content filtering, and even ad tech.Topics include:

-Why traditional threat analysis won’t work for the AI-powered web
-The need for full-context security checks
-How to perform sub-second, cost-effective inference
-The wide range of potential actors and actions behind any given visit

As David puts it, lower inference costs are key to letting apps act on the full context window — everything you know about the user, the session, and your application.

What if now is the best time in decades to start a company?

In this episode, taken from Speedrun, a16z’s accelerator for early-stage founders, Marc Andreessen joins games General Partner Jonathan Lai to make the case that we’re entering a once-in-a-generation window for innovation. From the rise of AI to the cultural and policy shifts reshaping the global economy, Marc explains why the next four years present a rare opportunity for builders to seize the moment.

Along the way, they discuss market timing, platform shifts, and what sets successful founders apart - including lessons from Steve Jobs, insights into AI’s impact on storytelling and games, and why being “too early” can feel just like being wrong.

Why does seriousness feel radical today?

a16z General Partner Katherine Boyle joins The LaBossiere Podcast to explore what it means to build for the national interest—and why that starts with purpose. Katherine, part of the American Dynamism team at a16z, shares how we got to a place where public service became uncool, how tech can help rebuild trust in government, and why suffering, friction, and responsibility are essential ingredients for growth. From the collapse of civic duty to the rise of meme-driven politics, they dig into the cultural forces shaping America—and the opportunity to reclaim a sense of mission.

They also discuss why Silicon Valley is more idea than place, what journalists and investors have in common, and why being laughed at might be the clearest sign you’re on the right path.

In this episode of ‘This Week in Consumer’, a16z General Partners Anish Acharya and Erik Torenberg are joined by Steven Sinofsky - Board Partner at a16z and former President of Microsoft’s Windows division - for a deep dive on how today’s AI moment mirrors (and diverges from) past computing transitions.

They explore whether we’re at the “Windows 3.1” stage of AI or still in the earliest innings, why consumer adoption is outpacing developer readiness, and how frameworks like partial autonomy, jagged intelligence, and “vibe coding” are shaping what gets built next. They also dig into where the real bottlenecks lie, not in the tech, but in how companies, products, and people work.

What if virality wasn’t a tactic — but the entire product?

In this episode, a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Bryan Kim sit down with Roy Lee, cofounder and CEO of Cluely, one of the most talked-about consumer AI startups of 2025. Cluely didn’t raise a mega round or drop a feature suite to get traction - it broke through by turning distribution into design: launching viral short-form videos, pushing polarizing product drops, and building in public with speed and spectacle.

We cover:
– Why virality is Cluely’s moat
– Building a brand-native AI interface
– The Gen Z founder mindset
– What most startups get wrong about attention
– Why creators are the new product managers
– Cluely’s long-term vision for ambient AI

Cluely is a glimpse at the next generation of startups, where the line between product and performance is disappearing.

In this episode, general partner Chris Dixon joins economist and author Tyler Cowen to explore the themes behind Chris’s book, Read, Write, Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet.

They trace the internet’s evolution from open, decentralized beginnings to today’s consolidated platforms—and ask: how can we build something better? From stablecoins, tokenized payments, and open blockchains to AI's impact on coding, media, and politics, this wide-ranging conversation dives deep into how technologies like crypto and AI could help redistribute power online and reshape the future of ownership and innovation.

The two also debate:

Whether banks and legacy institutions will adopt stablecoins
The long-term role of NFTs and digital property rights
How AI might rewrite venture capital, education, and economic planning
Whether we're heading toward a creative renaissance—or a world of AI-generated monoculture

Listen to similar conversations, listen to web3 with a16z: https://web3-with-a16z.simplecast.com/

In this episode, a16z general partner Bryan Kim joins TBPN hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays to discuss the recent launch of Cluely , a consumer AI product. The conversation covers early traction, evaluating distribution and momentum, and how investors assess go-to-market strategies in emerging AI applications.

How is AI actually being used in classrooms today? Are teachers adopting it, or resisting it? And could software eventually replace traditional instruction entirely?

In this episode of This Week in Consumer AI, a16z partners Justine Moore, Olivia Moore, and Zach Cohen explore one of the most rapidly evolving — and widely debated — frontiers in consumer technology: education.

They unpack how generative AI is already reshaping educational workflows, enabling teachers to scale feedback, personalize curriculum, and reclaim time from administrative tasks. We also examine emerging consumer behavior — from students using AI for homework to parents exploring AI-led learning paths for their children.

What if the rise of Apple also built modern China?

a16z’s Erik Torenberg is joined by board partner and former Microsoft Windows chief Steven Sinofsky to unpack how Apple’s pursuit of design excellence and supply chain scale catalyzed China’s manufacturing superpower status - and why that partnership is now under intense scrutiny.

Inspired by the book Apple in China (but not a book review), the episode dives deep into:

- The early days of Apple’s shift to Chinese manufacturing
- What experts got wrong in 1999 about trade, globalization, and China’s trajectory
- How Tim Cook’s operational playbook reshaped the global tech industry
- Behind-the-scenes stories from Microsoft’s own hardware battles and Surface launch
- Why Apple’s entanglement with China may now be a strategic liability
- What COVID revealed about fragile global dependencies — and where innovation goes next
- How national policy, intellectual property, and AI intersect in the new industrial era

The episode opens with a few reactions to WWDC: Apple’s new UI, the iPad’s evolving role, and why Apple’s AI story still feels unfinished - before zooming out into one of the most consequential tech and geopolitical stories of our time.

In this recent episode of The Ben & Marc Show, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz sit down with Adam Neumann—founder of WeWork and now Flow—to unpack one of the most unlikely comeback stories in tech.

What began as a personal reckoning after a very public fall has become a bold new vision for how we live and belong. Flow isn’t just a real estate company—it’s an operating system for community, built on first-principles software, design, and soul.

Joined by a16z General Partner Erik Torenberg, the group goes deep on:

- Why Adam’s childhood shaped his obsession with community
- Adam’s fall from WeWork—and how he found a new path to redemption
- How Flow is re-architecting real estate from scratch
- Why loneliness is the greatest design challenge of our time

With reflections on dyslexia, the American dream, and the thin line between failure and greatness, this is a candid and wide-ranging conversation about redemption, vision, and building something that matters in this world. We hope you enjoy this deeply human conversation about the future of living.

Things in consumer AI are moving fast.

In this episode, Justine and Olivia, investing partners (and identical twins!) at a16z, break down what’s real, what’s overhyped, and what’s next across the consumer AI space.

We cover:
Veo 3: how Google's video model unlocked a new genre of content
OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode: upgrades, realism, and... um, human-like hesitation
Apple's big AI announcements (and the Siri letdown)
11Labs V3: expressive voice tags, real-time interruptions, and narrative tools for creators
New data from a16z: AI consumer startups are ramping revenue faster than ever—and we show you how
Justine walks through how she used GPT, Ideogram, and Krea to launch a fully AI-assisted brand prototype (store photos and all)

Plus, we wrap with a tutorial + demo on making your own AI brand - from ideation to visuals to voice. It’s exhausting (in the best way) to be a creative in the age of AI.

In this episode Jack Altman, CEO of Lattice and host of Uncapped, interviews Marc Andreessen on how venture capital is evolving - from small seed funds to billion-dollar barbell strategies - and why today’s most important tech companies don’t just build tools, they replace entire industries. They cover:

- The end of “picks and shovels” investing
- Why missing a great company matters more than backing a bad one
- The power law math behind fund size and asymmetric returns
- AI as the next computing platform — and a test for Western civilization
- Preference falsification, media power, and what founders can’t say out loud

This is a conversation about ambition at scale, the structure of modern venture, and the deep forces reshaping startups, innovation, and power.

What if crypto isn’t just a speculative asset class—but the next foundational layer of the internet?

In this episode, Chris Dixon, founding partner of a16z crypto and one of the earliest, most forward-thinking investors in the space, joins TBPN for a wide-ranging conversation on the real, long-term promise of crypto—and why we're still early.

He unpacks:

-Why stablecoins are already functioning as internet-native money
-How blockchains can serve as global, programmable financial infrastructure
-Why programmability, not just low fees, is the real unlock
-The evolving regulatory landscape and new bipartisan momentum
-The rise of AI agents, decentralized platforms, and real-world crypto use cases

This episode is about long-term thinking, technical optimism, and building open infrastructure for the future of the internet.