Episodes
Adam Foroughi, Applovin CEO: Surviving a 92% Drawdown, Ads as ML 1.0 & the $50B Game Ad Market
All-In Podcast
9/20/2026
In this deep-dive interview, Adam Foroughi, the CEO of AppLovin, shares the entrepreneurial journey of building a dominant player in the $50 billion Mobile Gaming Market. He details how AppLovin leveraged early data acquisition via its M&A Strategy—briefly owning game studios to secure a Data Advantage—to train proprietary Deep Learning Models. This allowed the company to pioneer advanced Recommendation Systems that power Performance Advertising and E-commerce discovery. Foroughi explains that early ad-tech was essentially Advertising as ML 1.0, which laid the groundwork for today's Machine Learning and Large Language Models (LLMs). While Google and its parent company Alphabet dominate search-based Bottom of Funnel Advertising, AppLovin focuses on creating a highly effective Discovery Loop that generates organic demand. This strategy places them in direct competition with Meta and its platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which also excel at generating intent. Foroughi discusses the remarkable turnaround of AppLovin after its 2021 IPO, when the stock suffered a 92% drawdown. Embracing the mindset of Founder-led companies, he executed a massive $6B Share Buybacks program. This was funded by the company's incredible Profitability and industry-leading 84% Gross Margins, achieved through a highly lean, Tech-enabled Business Model focused on Capital Efficiency. By maintaining engineering hubs in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, China, Beijing, and Sin
Bill Gurley: Searching for Feynman
All-In Podcast
9/18/2026
In a compelling presentation at the All-In Summit, Bill Gurley highlights the urgent need to discover the root cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. To frame the problem, he explores historical catastrophes where independent investigators sought the truth despite Institutional Failure and Technical Failure. He points to Richard Feynman, who circumvented NASA during the Challenger shuttle disaster; Kiyoshi Kurokawa, who investigated TEPCO and the Fukushima nuclear meltdown; and journalists at the Miami Herald and the New York Times who exposed the flaws behind the Champlain Towers collapse. Similarly, when competitive pressure from Airbus led Boeing to rush the Boeing 737 Max with flawed MCAS software, investigators exposed Regulatory Capture by the FAA. Another cited failure is the Army Corps of Engineers' role in the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Gurley argues that the scientific community should apply CAPA and rigorous Root Cause Analysis to the pandemic. However, instead of searching for the truth, he asserts that top virology experts like Anthony Fauci, Francis Collins, Peter Daszak, Jeremy Farrar, and Ralph Baric acted as blockers. Because of their prior support for Gain-Of-Function Research, they allegedly orchestrated a Misinformation Campaign—spearheaded by the rushed Proximal origins paper—to suppress the Lab Leak Theory. Gurley points out that the Eco Health Alliance authored the critical DEFUSE proposal, an unpublicized document de
Jared Isaacman: A New Era for NASA and American Space Exploration
All-In Podcast
9/18/2026
In a keynote address, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman outlines a bold vision for the United States of America in the emerging Space Race 2.0. Highlighting intense geopolitical competition, Isaacman notes that China and Russia are partnering to establish a lunar base, specifically targeting the Shackleton Crater at the resource-rich Lunar South Pole on the Moon. Backed by the national space policy of Donald Trump, NASA is determined to secure this high ground and revitalize its technological edge. The strategy involves moving away from bureaucratic delays and fostering a robust Space Economy. To do this, NASA is heavily leveraging partnerships with commercial space companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, and ULA. The return to the Moon is already underway. Following the success of Artemis 2, upcoming missions like Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 will see astronauts return to the lunar surface. To execute these missions efficiently, they will rely on next-generation launch vehicles like Starship, which aim to vastly outperform historical benchmarks set by the Saturn 5 rocket. Over time, the Department of Commerce will help foster this commercial ecosystem, which envisions orbital platforms like Commercial Space Stations, manufacturing, and eventually Asteroid Mining. At the heart of the agency's technological pivot is the embrace of Nuclear Power for deep space. The upcoming SR1 Freedom mission will deploy a 100-kilowatt fission reactor to t
Meta's Dina Powell McCormick: The Case for Data Centers, Backlash, AI Job Boom & Meta’s Future
All-In Podcast
9/17/2026
In this episode of the All-In Podcast, hosted by Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, and David Friedberg, the group interviews Dina Powell McCormick, a former advisor to Donald Trump and current executive at Meta. The discussion highlights Meta's massive AI Infrastructure Buildout, heavily focused on expanding Data centers. Dina details a major economic success story in Richland Parish, Louisiana, where a tax surplus from a Meta facility provided huge bonuses for local teachers, a narrative confirmed by local superintendent Sheldon and state commerce secretary Susan. Meta's partnership with regional energy provider Entergy was critical to this effort. Despite Meta actively fighting Disinformation campaigns that oppose such infrastructure, the company is successfully expanding operations into Texas and Ohio. The hosts humorously referenced checking public sentiment on Polymarket. To address the labor shortage required for these facilities, Meta launched America's Workforce Academy to upskill workers in cities like Pittsburgh. This program involves strategic partners like CBRE, the Association of Builders and Contractors, and the trades union NABTU, led by Sean McGarvey. The academy has also attracted support from other corporate leaders joining a broader workforce alliance, including Ruth Porat of Google, Larry Fink of BlackRock, and Mary Barra of General Motors. The conversation then shifted to Meta's social media settlement, which
Nick Shirley: Exposing Government Fraud, Suing California & Taking on the Media
All-In Podcast
9/17/2026
At the All-In Summit, investigative reporter Nick Shirley premiered a video exposing massive Government Waste and Government Incompetence surrounding the California High-Speed Rail. Originally intended to link San Francisco and Los Angeles, the project has squandered $15 billion over 18 years without laying any track in the Central Valley. Contrastingly, China successfully built vast rail networks in the same period. The rail line redundantly mirrors existing Amtrak routes. Gavin Newsom and the California State Government have struggled with accountability, with Newsom privately admitting the project may never finish. Shirley’s Citizen Journalism frequently highlights severe Fraud and Entitlement Fraud, notably the Minnesota Daycare Fraud. This massive scandal drew scrutiny to the Minnesota State Government and policies overseen by Tim Walz, eventually involving ICE and leading to major arrests by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Shirley also noted vulnerabilities in federal benefit programs under Joe Biden and the Federal Government, resonating with JD Vance's critique of the misuse of public Taxation. Threatened by Shirley’s independent exposure of NGOs profiting from Immigration programs, California passed AB 2624. Championed by Mia Bonta and supported by organizations like CHIRLA, the law attempts to ban filming at specific taxpayer-funded facilities. Shirley is challenging this unconstitutional Censorship and Lawfare to protect his First A
Brad Gerstner: No AI Bubble, Semis Eat the Nasdaq & AI's Take Off Problem
All-In Podcast
9/16/2026
During his presentation at the All-In Podcast, Brad Gerstner of Altimeter provided a comprehensive market update, arguing strongly that we are not in an AI Bubble. Instead, he highlighted a massive, earnings-driven expansion fueled by a historic Capex Boom and AI Capex. This buildout of AI Infrastructure is heavily supported by the Mag 7 companies, including Microsoft (led by Satya Nadella), Google, and Amazon, who are expanding capacity to rent it out. The primary beneficiaries of this capital expenditure are Semiconductors and hardware providers like Nvidia (led by Jensen Huang) and Dell. Gerstner noted that AI lab revenues from organizations like OpenAI (led by Sam Altman), Anthropic (creator of Claude and Claude 3 Opus), and notably SpaceX, are critical to justifying these investments. The potential Anthropic IPO remains a major upcoming market catalyst. Gerstner emphasized the disruption of Knowledge Work through the exponential growth of AI Tokens and consumer-facing AI Agents. These technologies are creating immense Productivity Gains and driving Margin Expansion. He cited Uber and Snowflake as prime examples of companies growing revenue without increasing headcount. He also referenced a bet with Bill Gurley regarding consumer AI booking tools, pointing to startups like Muse Spark and Instinct as early proof points. Despite the bullish outlook, Gerstner identified three major systemic risks: AI Regulation, Energy Consumption for AI
Satya Nadella on the AI Doomer Slowdown, Microsoft’s Master Plan & Who Wins AI
All-In Podcast
9/15/2026
In a recent episode of the All-In Podcast, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, sat down with hosts David Friedberg, Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, and David Sacks to discuss a wide range of topics surrounding the AI revolution. The dialogue began by exploring AI Safety and the pace of frontier development, inspired by writing from Dario Amodei. Nadella emphasized that as AI progresses towards autonomous agent swarms, the industry faces novel AI Risks, including reward hacking and insider threats. He cited the need for stringent AI Model Security, referencing commentary by Dwarkesh Patel on testing runs involving Hugging Face. Shifting to economics, David Friedberg inquired about token compression, noting how companies like Deep Seek and OpenAI are dramatically driving down the cost of AI Tokens. Nadella viewed this as a positive, comparing the dynamic between Open source AI and Closed source AI to historic rivalries like Windows versus its competitors. This competition prevents margin capture solely at the model layer and empowers a booming ecosystem of Enterprise Applications built upon Foundation Models. To ensure successful enterprise integration, Nadella stressed the importance of AI Sovereignty—the ability of companies to maintain control over their data and workflows. As the industry moves into a landscape of Multimodal Models and multiple foundational options (such as those from Anthropic), establishing Open Standards for interoperability and implementing
JD Vance on AI, Entitlement Fraud, Iran War, Israel, H-1B Abuse & the Midterms
All-In Podcast
9/15/2026
In a comprehensive episode of the All-In Podcast, JD Vance joins hosts Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, and Brad Gerstner to evaluate the progress of the current administration under Donald Trump. The conversation highlights significant policy achievements, such as securing the Southern Border and promoting Re-industrialization to reverse the decades-long trend of unrestricted Globalization. Addressing economic concerns, Vance notes that Inflation has been substantially reduced compared to the highs experienced during the Biden Administration. On the geopolitical front, discussions cover tensions in the Middle East, particularly the disruptive actions of Iran, and the administration's commitment to stabilizing the global Oil and Gas Industry. Vance also addresses the pragmatic and independent approach to alliances with Israel and its leader Benjamin Netanyahu, comparing it to the US's strategic stance on NATO. Domestically, tackling the US Deficit remains a priority. This involves combating massive Entitlement Fraud within the Federal Government, an effort championed by DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and supported by Elon Musk. Together with figures like Scott Bessent at the Treasury Department, they aim to reduce the deficit as a percentage of GDP despite resistance from Congress. Vance specifically points to uncooperative blue states like California, Illinois, and New York, where programs like Medicaid face billions in wast
Jensen Huang: The Doomer Hoax, Superintelligence is Here, and The Future of AI (ft. President Trump)
All-In Podcast
9/14/2026
In this episode of the All-In Podcast, hosts Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya, and David Friedberg conduct a deep-dive interview with Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of Nvidia. The discussion opens with a critical analysis of AI Doomerism, sparked by a high-profile essay from Dario Amodei, CEO of anthropic, a leading developer of Frontier models. Jensen Huang firmly opposes catastrophic narratives, pointing out that past fears regarding widespread AI Job Displacement have failed to materialize. The conversation transitions to sensible AI Regulation, referencing practical perspectives from Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis. Addressing the rapid evolution of technology, the panel explores how techniques like Recursive self-improvement—a strategy aggressively pursued by Chinese lab Zhipu utilizing synthetic data and Reinforcement Learning—are natural engineering progressions. Jensen Huang details the necessity of both Closed source AI models like Google's Gemini and Open Source AI like Meta's Llama 3. By supporting open platforms like Hugging Face, Nvidia champions democratized access to empower startups and maintain AI Sovereignty globally. This strategic posture is contextualized within the broader US vs China AI Race, where the United States and China fiercely compete to exploit AI for economic and technological supremacy. A surprise live call from former US President Donald Trump dramatically shifts t