Marc Andreessen

We've got a bit of a tech sell-off this morning, and it's being caused by earth-shattering developments in the AI space. And here's why. There's a Chinese startup that has emerged as a real player in the AI arms race. It's called DeepSeek, and DeepSeek's AI model has developed technology that can actually be competitive with open AI and Google and XAI and all these more established players.

We've got a bit of a tech sell-off this morning, and it's being caused by earth-shattering developments in the AI space. And here's why. There's a Chinese startup that has emerged as a real player in the AI arms race. It's called DeepSeek, and DeepSeek's AI model has developed technology that can actually be competitive with open AI and Google and XAI and all these more established players.

Investor Marc Andreessen calls the new Chinese AI a Sputnik moment. Somebody else called it ChatGP Xi.

Investor Marc Andreessen calls the new Chinese AI a Sputnik moment. Somebody else called it ChatGP Xi.

So I'm happy to talk about all of that. I started out in rural Wisconsin in farming country, kind of basically the polar cultural opposite of Silicon Valley in many ways, and the polar political opposite for a very long time. By the way, I didn't discover until much later that I'm an archetype.

So I'm happy to talk about all of that. I started out in rural Wisconsin in farming country, kind of basically the polar cultural opposite of Silicon Valley in many ways, and the polar political opposite for a very long time. By the way, I didn't discover until much later that I'm an archetype.

Tom Wolfe wrote a famous profile of Robert Noyce, who was the original founder of Intel, the original CEO. and the father of the chip industry. And actually, Noyce and I followed very similar paths. I never met him, and he was an earlier generation, but he grew up as an Iowa farm boy. I grew up as a Wisconsin farm boy.

Tom Wolfe wrote a famous profile of Robert Noyce, who was the original founder of Intel, the original CEO. and the father of the chip industry. And actually, Noyce and I followed very similar paths. I never met him, and he was an earlier generation, but he grew up as an Iowa farm boy. I grew up as a Wisconsin farm boy.

And we and a lot of other people like us over the years have kind of made this trek. And then basically, I'm a product of the great land-grant universities, right? So the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, which from where I came from was like a huge leap to actually leave the state and go to a university that large.

And we and a lot of other people like us over the years have kind of made this trek. And then basically, I'm a product of the great land-grant universities, right? So the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, which from where I came from was like a huge leap to actually leave the state and go to a university that large.

And they had this incredible influx of money at the time from the federal government for, you know, for supercomputers and then what turned out to be the internet. Actually, by the way, full credit, led by Al Gore when he was in the Senate. I always thought he got unfairly treated by how people describe this later, but he led the push.

And they had this incredible influx of money at the time from the federal government for, you know, for supercomputers and then what turned out to be the internet. Actually, by the way, full credit, led by Al Gore when he was in the Senate. I always thought he got unfairly treated by how people describe this later, but he led the push.

This is actually the thing he gets knocked on. The famous quote is, I invented the Internet. With the actual quote, he never said that, I'll defend Al's honor to the death, is he said, I took the lead in the Senate in creating the Internet. What he meant by that is he was the tip of the spear for funding for national supercomputing centers. They picked four college campuses,

This is actually the thing he gets knocked on. The famous quote is, I invented the Internet. With the actual quote, he never said that, I'll defend Al's honor to the death, is he said, I took the lead in the Senate in creating the Internet. What he meant by that is he was the tip of the spear for funding for national supercomputing centers. They picked four college campuses,

Illinois was one of them. So we basically, Illinois campus, when I was there, it was like living in the future. We had computers that cost up to $30 million a pop that basically were representative of what was to come, but we just had them a decade before everybody else because of this program.

Illinois was one of them. So we basically, Illinois campus, when I was there, it was like living in the future. We had computers that cost up to $30 million a pop that basically were representative of what was to come, but we just had them a decade before everybody else because of this program.

And then I did early research work there, basically, that resulted in the Mosaic browser, which was kind of the browser that kind of broke the concept of the internet and the web kind of through to the mainstream. And then I came to Silicon Valley, not because I was particularly enthusiastic about it at the time, because it was just the default thing to do.

And then I did early research work there, basically, that resulted in the Mosaic browser, which was kind of the browser that kind of broke the concept of the internet and the web kind of through to the mainstream. And then I came to Silicon Valley, not because I was particularly enthusiastic about it at the time, because it was just the default thing to do.

And I figured at least I can get a job and, you know, kind of work in the tech industry. And when I was in college from 89 to 94, I'm sure you probably remember, there was a very severe recession depression that felt like the end of the world. And it felt like the end of the American tech industry.

And I figured at least I can get a job and, you know, kind of work in the tech industry. And when I was in college from 89 to 94, I'm sure you probably remember, there was a very severe recession depression that felt like the end of the world. And it felt like the end of the American tech industry.