Alle afleveringen
62 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
-
A quiet investor’s $10 billion bet on AI, chips, and defense
3 november 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Alex Davis plans to put $10 billion into roughly 10 companies. Lees meer
His firm, Disruptive, has maintained a low profile out of Texas while backing Reflection AI, ElevenLabs, Groq, Shield AI, Databricks, and Helsing. Its earlier investments include Palantir, Airbnb, and Spotify.
I sit down with Davis in Dallas for his first-ever podcast interview to understand how he picks the companies worth a billion-dollar check. He focuses on companies he thinks are already winning, even as their valuations climb.
We discuss why he doubled down on Palantir before it went public, what he’s building at Groq after its $20 billion licensing deal with Nvidia, and the opportunities he sees in open AI models, compute, and defense technology.
I also ask where the AI boom goes wrong, from speculative data centers to investment vehicles promising access to private companies.
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Tobi Lütke on the AI agent revolution and future of Shopify
28 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 24 min
Why did Amazon block Meta's Muse but Shopify welcomed it? Lees meer
I sit down with Shopify co-founder and CEO Tobi Lütke in Toronto to discuss why the companies are taking different approaches to agents and how shopping changes when AI starts buying things on your behalf. Lütke explains the early AI shopping behavior he’s seeing.
We also get into why he thinks AI makes starting a business easier, the backlash against the technology, and why everyone will eventually have to embrace it to get ahead in their careers.
We get into how AI agents will make money, who pays when they handle a purchase, and why advertising gets complicated when your assistant is supposed to work for you. We discuss his experience on Meta’s board and working with Mark Zuckerberg.
Lütke also shares why he turned his wine cellar into a GPU server rack and how he uses his personal AI agent that runs entirely from his house.
This episode's presenting sponsor is Hyperagent - https://www.hyperagent.com/?utm_campaign=sources
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Sundar Pichai on what's next for Google Gemini, Waymo, and data centers in space
21 oktober 2026 · 59 min
Even Google can’t get enough compute. I sit down with Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai shortly after the wider release of Gemini 4 Argon to discuss its early reception, where he still wants the model to improve, and what it takes to keep Google at the frontier of AI. Lees meer
Pichai explains the recent leadership shakeup at Google DeepMind and why building frontier models has become an “all-consuming” job. We also get into Google’s answer to the personal agent race, how he predicts Gemini will do more work on your behalf, and whether agents will finally bring Search, Gmail, and Gemini together.
I ask him about Google turning free cash flow negative, the risks in the AI infrastructure buildout, and how he plans for demand years before knowing what the models will be capable of. He explains the signals giving him confidence to keep spending and how he uses AI agents to follow model development and compute usage inside Google.
We also discuss Project Suncatcher, Google’s new effort to put AI data centers in space, and why he thinks it belongs alongside bets like Waymo. He shares what’s next for Waymo and Wing, and when he expects quantum computing to become a real business.
This episode's presenting sponsor is Hyperagent - https://www.hyperagent.com/
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Robinhood’s CEO on letting AI trade your money
13 oktober 2026 · 1 uur
Robinhood wants to put an AI hedge fund in your pocket. Lees meer
CEO Vlad Tenev tells me how Robinhood Agents brings AI trading into the app, and why he expects agents to generate a growing share of individual investors’ trading activity.
We discuss how much control to give an AI that can trade your money, why Robinhood keeps agents in separate accounts, and where investors will find an edge when everyone has access to powerful models.
He also explains his push for every Robinhood employee to have agents working while they sleep. Tenev argues that the AI backlash is partly an ownership problem: most people can’t invest in the companies driving it. We get into Robinhood’s push to open private markets to everyday investors, the coming AI IPOs, and his response to criticism of tokenized stocks. We also discuss prediction markets and why he objects to AI labs keeping their most powerful tools to themselves.
Thanks to the show’s premier sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Qualcomm’s CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
8 oktober 2026 · 47 min
AI could give people a reason to buy a new phone again. Lees meer
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon tells me why he expects a smartphone supercycle as AI agents start using our apps and acting on our behalf. His company makes the chips behind Android phones, Meta’s smart glasses, and coming devices from AI companies like OpenAI, giving it a stake in several competing visions for the next big AI device.
We discuss why he thinks phones aren’t going away, how agents will use our personal context, and why he expects smart glasses to become the biggest category of AI wearables. We also cover differences in consumer AI adoption between China and the US, Qualcomm’s acquisition of Modular to offer developers an alternative to Nvidia’s software, and what 6G could change about the devices we use.
This conversation was recorded live at Qualcomm’s recent Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Reflection’s founders on building a DeepSeek of the West
5 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Reflection is soon releasing Beam, its first open-weight AI model, in a bid to become the DeepSeek of the West. Trained from scratch, Beam is designed for coding, reasoning, and AI agents. Reflection's benchmarks put it alongside the strongest open models, with substantially more efficient token economics. Lees meer
To mark Beam’s debut, I'm joined by Reflection's co-founders: CEO Misha Laskin, who led reward modeling for Google’s Gemini, and CTO Ioannis Antonoglou, who helped create AlphaGo and AlphaZero before leading Gemini’s RLHF effort. Reflection has raised $4.6 billion from investors that include Nvidia, Sequoia, and Lightspeed.
We discuss why Chinese labs pulled ahead in open AI models, how Reflection built Beam, and why the founders think companies and countries will increasingly want to control their own models. I ask how they plan to make money from open-weight AI, whether openness can make these systems safer, and what comes next for Reflection.
Thanks to the show’s premier sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
OpenAI’s Dots lead on the future of ChatGPT
1 oktober 2026 · 45 min
OpenAI’s next big bet is Dots, personal AI agents that can find ways to help you without waiting for a prompt. Lees meer
Alexander Embiricos, OpenAI’s Dots product lead, tells me why the company is moving beyond chatbots and what that means for the future of ChatGPT. We discuss why Dots have their own computers, how they share context across the places you talk to them, and why he thinks most people will only need one personal agent.
I ask him how much control people should give these agents, how OpenAI approaches permissions and privacy, and why Dots ask before taking action by default. He also explains Space, a new workspace where people and agents can collaborate on documents, data, and projects.
We get into how OpenAI plans to price an always-available assistant, how these capabilities could eventually reach free ChatGPT users, and the story of an employee who woke up to discover his Dot had helped fix a bug.
This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at OpenAI's 2026 DevDay conference.
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Factory CEO on why AGI is already here
29 september 2026 · 50 min
Matan Grinberg is the co-founder and CEO of Factory, a $5 billion AI coding startup building Droid agents to automate the engineering process. He tells me how AI is changing the job of a software engineer and why Factory is betting on a future with many competing models. Lees meer
We get into how it balances model performance with token costs and why he thinks companies should avoid depending on one AI provider.We also discuss why he thinks AGI is already here, how Factory hires its own engineers, his view of the open-versus-closed AI debate, competition with companies like Cognition, and when companies should outsource to AI rather than build in-house.
Thanks to the show’s premiere sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Satya Nadella on Microsoft's agent bet and AI’s trust problem
25 september 2026 · 53 min
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks AI agents will create a market “orders of magnitude” bigger than the cloud. Lees meer
I recently sat down with him in Seattle for the unveiling of the new Copilot.
We discuss Autopilot, Microsoft's new OpenClaw-based agent that can work on your behalf, and why he thinks newer AI models are finally capable of delivering on more of Copilot’s promise.
Nadella also has a blunt assessment of the AI industry: “We are way too self-obsessed.” I ask him why the industry has struggled to explain its benefits and what it will take to earn people’s trust. We get into his concerns about agents acting deceptively, when a safety problem should stop a release, and why he doesn’t want AI oversight to become a “cartel-like arrangement.”
We also discuss Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, the models Microsoft is building itself, and why Nadella wants investors to think about its apps, agents, and infrastructure as one connected business. He explains how he uses AI to track Microsoft’s capital spending, shares his vision for “unmetered intelligence” on Windows, and gives an update on Xbox’s path back to growth.
Thanks to the show's premier sponsors: Mercury, Granola, and Atlassian.
-
Marc Benioff on the AI boom, SaaSpocalypse, and future of Slack
22 september 2026 · 49 min
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and I discuss his framemogging at Dreamforce, the state of the SaaSpocalypse, and how Slack is more important than ever in the age of AI. Lees meer
We also discuss the resurgence of San Francisco, his role in the recent acquisition of Hugging Face, the wealth being created by the IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, and what he thinks the industry can learn from the social media era.
Thanks to the show's premier sponsors: Granola, Atlassian, and Mercury.
-
Baseten’s CEO on why every company will want to own its AI
15 september 2026 · 48 min
Tuhin Srivastava is the CEO and co-founder of Baseten, an AI cloud startup recently valued at $13 billion. He tells me why every company will want to own its AI and what’s driving the explosion in demand for inference. Lees meer
We discuss the rise of agents using browsers and virtual machines to get things done and Baseten’s acquisition of Blaxel to power that shift.
We also talk about the data center backlash, why companies are embracing Chinese open models, his plans for Baseten’s new research lab, and why he thinks inference becomes the only market left after AGI.
Thanks to the show's premier sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Mark Zuckerberg on Muse, Meta's biggest AI bet yet
9 september 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
As Meta releases Muse, Mark Zuckerberg tells me why he thinks a personal AI agent that works for you around the clock will make you money. Lees meer
He explains how Meta plans to make that business work and why he thinks keeping the most powerful AI models in the hands of a few companies is dangerous.
We also discuss the growing backlash against data centers, Meta’s recent youth safety settlement, and the privacy scare over its smart glasses. And he shares what went wrong with Llama 4, how he rebuilt Meta’s AI lab, and what’s coming next.
Thanks to the show's premier sponsors: Granola, Atlassian, and Mercury.
-
Sam Altman on OpenAI’s next model and the AI backlash
1 september 2026 · 1 uur 9 min
After an unreleased OpenAI model recently escaped its sandbox and hacked Hugging Face, Sam Altman tells me why the company is slowing down frontier research. We also discuss Astra, OpenAI’s next-generation family of models, which is coming soon. Lees meer
We talk about the growing backlash against AI. He explains why a faster path to recursively self-improving AI could push an OpenAI IPO further out.
And he shares more about the coming consumer hardware he’s developing with Jony Ive, including the privacy questions around an ambient AI device and the first hints at the form factors they’re building.
This conversation was recently filmed in two parts and in collaboration with TIME.
Thanks to the show's premier sponsors: Atlassian, Granola, and Mercury.
-
Trailer: Sam Altman on the Sources Podcast
1 september 2026 · 1 min
In the launch episode of the Sources Podcast, Alex Heath sits down with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to discuss the future of OpenAI, from its next-generation Astra models to the growing importance of AI safety, the AI backlash, robots, and hitting AGI.
-
Meet the most AI-pilled CEO on Earth
30 juli 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Dan Shipper, CEO of Every, to talk about what it actually looks like to be the most AI-pilled company that isn't a frontier lab. They get into how Dan uses ChatGPT Voice to read Heidegger at 6am, why he accidentally spent 2 billion tokens overnight, and why he thinks OpenAI just pulled off something that almost never happens in tech. They also discuss what the new Siri could do to ChatGPT, and whether that's the Instagram Stories moment for the assistant market, why the developers building at the edge today are a 12-month preview of what every knowledge worker will be doing next, and what "after automation" means for people whose job is to have original ideas. Then Alex and Ellis reflect on one year of Access, why they're winding the show down, and what's next for both of them. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
This AI will push back if you're rude to it
16 juli 2026 · 56 min
Ellis sits down with Quinten Farmer, founder of Tolan, the AI companion doing over $20M in annual revenue by being a genuinely good friend, not a yes machine. They get into why Tolan's little aliens accidentally became beloved by moms 35 to 45, how Tolans stick up for themselves when users are mean to it, and why Quinten dropped "companion" as a word entirely. They also talk about why he went premium-only at $25 a month when Character.AI and ChatGPT couldn't afford to go free, how 78% of Tolan users say it improved a real-world relationship, and what it looks like to build the calmest startup culture in tech from an island off the coast of Seattle. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The AI writing app fighting AI slop
9 juli 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Jon Steinback, founder of Marker, the AI writing tool that refuses to write for you. They get into why Google Docs hasn't changed in 20 years, how most AI writing tools are quietly making you a worse thinker, and what Marker does differently: an editor that asks questions instead of generating answers. They also dig into Alex's own AI writing workflow and whether outsourcing too much is slowly turning him into a slop version of himself, why voice input might replace typing for the next generation, and why the co-founder of Google Docs called Marker the first real advancement in writing software in years. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
This AI tells you what your friends won't
24 juni 2026 · 53 min
Ellis sits down with Jason Yuan, founder of Hivemind, an AI that lives in your iMessage and sources answers from the people you actually trust instead of scraping the internet. They get into how Hivemind set Jason up on a New Year's Eve date by secretly polling his friends, why the product has a "constitution" for what makes a good story, how it scooped the Wall Street Journal on the Manus acquisition by six hours, and what happens when AI starts reasoning about your friendships. They also talk about the ethics of AI gossip, why Biz Stone invested after his own attempt at this with Jelly, and Jason's take on taste, meaning, and why great design should alienate. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The billionaire paying AI researchers to stay out of Big Tech
18 juni 2026 · 1 uur 15 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Andy Konwinski, co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity, to talk about his new effort Laude, which is putting over $100 million behind AI researchers to keep their work in the open. They discuss why top researchers are turning down millions to stay in academia, what happens to open science if the closed labs win, and why Andy thinks the AI industry has a serious communication problem. They also get into Anthropic's recent Fable controversy, the dystopian views some researchers privately hold, and how Andy used Claude to help his family navigate his mother's cancer diagnosis. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
12 juni 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Ryan Jones, founder of Flighty and 13-year top indie developer, to talk about what it actually takes to build a beloved app in the age of AI. They talk about Apple's big WWDC announcements, the new Siri, and why every vibe coder who tries to clone Flighty eventually gives up. They also break a scoop about Flighty's upcoming AI launch, get into whether craft and design still matter when anyone can build an app, and discuss whether Apple is falling dangerously behind on AI or not. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
Subscriber Q&A: Live @ Apple WWDC
9 juni 2026 · 16 min
-
AI is turning sketches into real-world products
4 juni 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Jordan Taylor, founder of Vizcom, to talk about the AI design tool that lets anyone go from a rough sketch to a finished product. They discuss how Jordan built Vizcom out of a viral Reddit post during COVID, why a drawing is still a better creative input than a text prompt, and how hundreds of thousands of designers are already using it to design shoes, cars, and physical products. They also get into the caterpillar shoe that started as a doodle and became a 3D printed product you can actually wear, what the IKEA catalog looks like in 2030, and whether anyone will eventually be able to design and manufacture their own products from scratch. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Is Polsia AI slop or the future of startups?
28 mei 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Some say he's making an AI slop factory. Others say he'll be the first one-man $1 billion startup. Lees meer
Ellis and Alex sit down with Ben Cera, founder of Polsia, a controversial AI startup that claims to build and run entire companies autonomously. They get into whether the product is vaporware or a genuine glimpse at the future of startups, what early users are creating with Polsia, and what a company even means when AI is doing most of the work.
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Substack’s CEO on AI slop, free speech, and taking on YouTube
22 mei 2026 · 1 uur 16 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Chris Best, CEO of Substack, for a live interview at the ACCESS launch party at Notion HQ in San Francisco. They get into Substack's growth, the future of media, and the ongoing debate around free speech and moderation. They also press him on the Substack creator exodus narrative, break news about the platform's upcoming AI features, and discuss what happens to independent media when AI rewrites the internet. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Subscriber Q&A: Live @ Google I/O
19 mei 2026 · 17 min
-
Anthropic’s hunt for the next Claude Code
14 mei 2026 · 1 uur 21 min
Alex sits down with Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram and head of Anthropic Labs, to talk about what the team is working on after Claude Code and where AI is headed next. They discuss how Anthropic's skunkworks lab operates, why Mike stepped down as CPO to return to building, and what the competition with OpenAI's Codex looks like from the inside. They also get into the white spaces Mike is most excited about, why human creativity becomes more valuable as AI gets better, and what Anthropic's culture has in common with Apple. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
'AI Coachella' Stanford prof on data center backlash
7 mei 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Anjney Midha, a venture capitalist, Stanford AI lecturer, and founder of AMP, to discuss why zero-sum thinking is holding the AI industry back. They discuss what it would look like if labs actually cooperated, why compute needs to work like electricity, and what his viral Stanford class on AI has revealed about the next generation of founders. They also get into the GameStop and eBay acquisition, why data centers need something like a nutrition label, and what AI is doing to startup culture right now. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
What happens when AI runs a store
30 april 2026 · 1 uur 16 min
Alex and Ellis sit down with Andon Labs co-founder Lukas Petersson to talk about what it looks like when AI moves out of the chat window and into the real world. They discuss AI-run stores and vending machines, why people behave differently when interacting with AI, and what happens when machines start managing businesses on their own. They also get into the idea of humans working for AI, whether all software is about to disappear, and how close we really are to that shift. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Silicon Valley finally has its “Succession”
23 april 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
What happens when Silicon Valley becomes the subject of its own satire? Lees meer
Alex and Ellis sit down with The Audacity showrunner Jonathan Glatzer to talk about building a TV series that takes on Big Tech, the battle for your private data, and the power dynamics shaping Silicon Valley — and Hollywood too. They also go deep into the role of satire in critiquing power, AI's role in the writing process, and why AMC was the only network brave enough to greenlight the show.
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Canva’s CEO on what happens when AI does the design
16 april 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Alex and Ellis talk about why they are getting less hyped on OpenClaw, the Social Network sequel that might actually be great, and why recent attacks on Sam Altman signal a real reputational crisis for the AI industry. Then they're joined by Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva, fresh off the company's biggest product announcement in over a decade. They discuss Canva's shift from design platform to AI platform and what 9 years of profitability actually buys you. They also get into how Canva trained its own AI model, why every app on your computer is changing with AI, and why so many of Ellis's clients want to disrupt Canva. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
OpenClaw for normies is here
9 april 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
Alex and Ellis talk about OpenAI’s acquisition of TBPN, the tension between media and corporate ownership, and why so many people in AI seem to be working themselves into the ground. Then they’re joined by Marvin von Hagen, CEO of Poke, an AI assistant that lives in your texts and connects to everything from your email to your calendar. It's basically OpenClaw for normies. They discuss why Marvin believed in AI agents early, why he thinks texting is the best interface for AI, how Poke handles automation and security, why he sued Meta, and why a billionaire ended up paying $136,000 a month for Poke. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The future of AI might be on your finger
2 april 2026 · 1 uur 15 min
Alex and Ellis talk about why Codex is becoming central to OpenAI's strategy and the competition with Claude. Then they’re joined by Mina Fahmi, CEO and co-founder of Sandbar, who is building a smart ring that acts like an AI interface for your entire life. They discuss Mina’s path from neural interface research at MIT and CTRL-Labs to consumer hardware, why he thinks the next big AI product has to feel personal and controllable, and what it means to design a wearable that remembers, responds, and stays out of your way. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The real reason CEOs want you using AI meeting notes
26 maart 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
Alex and Ellis talk about navigating ethics in media and programming the pod, the rise of film photography, and Alex’s trip to OpenAI. Then they’re joined by Granola co-founder Sam Stephenson to talk about building one of the breakout AI meeting tools. They discuss why meetings are still where decisions actually get made, the London tech scene, opening an office in SF, and how Granola is evolving as a product. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
When your bank account talks to Claude
20 maart 2026 · 1 uur 15 min
Alex and Ellis break down why SXSW no longer feels like a true tech conference and how Nvidia’s GTC has become the new center of gravity for the industry. Then they’re joined by Mercury CEO Immad Akhund to talk about building one of the most important fintech companies for startups. They discuss how Mercury thinks about plugging into AI tools like Claude, Immad's side gig as a VC, the SF poker scene, and more. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Meet Starboy, the alien toy that hates being called AI
13 maart 2026 · 1 uur 15 min
Alex and Ellis talk about Alex’s visit to Anthropic’s headquarters as Claude downloads surge and the company faces growing scrutiny over its stance on government AI use. They discuss AI culture inside the labs, image generation experiments with Claude, and why some companies are betting that coding—not multimodal—is the fastest path to AGI. Lees meer
Then they’re joined by Daniel Kuntz, the creator of Starboy, a tiny AI-powered creature designed to hang off your bag like a charm. They talk about why he chose to build a toy instead of another productivity tool, the idea of “hardware as art,” and why he thinks Silicon Valley has forgotten how to make fun products. They also discuss designing Starboy with former Disney animators, why it doesn’t connect to your phone, the influence of fashion and collectibles, and his belief that AI companions and productivity gadgets are heading in the wrong direction.
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
What happens to Google when AI answers everything?
6 maart 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
Alex and Ellis talk about using Claude to organize their digital lives, the rise of agent platforms like Dreamer, and a mysterious AI hardware sighting in San Francisco. Then they’re joined by Liz Reid, VP and Head of Search at Google, to talk about what it’s like running one of the most influential products on the internet during the AI boom. They discuss how AI overviews are changing search, the difference between Google Search and the Gemini app, whether agents could become the main users of the web, and how Google is responding to the rise of tools like ChatGPT. Liz also reflects on her two decades at Google, the early days of Google Maps, the challenge of fighting AI-generated slop online, and how she thinks about the future of the open web and search itself. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman on surviving the AI slop-pocalypse
26 februari 2026 · 1 uur 13 min
Alex and Ellis break down the viral AI essay that tanked stocks and debate whether agents could end white-collar work as we know it. Then they’re joined by Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman to talk about fighting AI slop, why Reddit has resisted becoming traditional social media, and how the platform is navigating bots, moderation, and creators. They discuss prediction markets, Reddit’s anti-self-promotion culture, the challenge of onboarding new users, local communities, government censorship pressure, age verification laws in Australia, and Reddit’s AI data licensing deals with companies like Google and OpenAI. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Prediction markets are invading everything
21 februari 2026 · 28 min
Nearly every tech CEO I talk to right now is obsessed with two things: AI and prediction markets. In that order, but barely. Lees meer
Yesterday, I interviewed Substack CEO Chris Best about his new integration with Polymarket, which he confirmed is the deepest outside partnership Substack has ever done. It lets writers embed live prediction market data directly into their posts, and Polymarket has joined Substack’s ads beta by paying select creators to include markets in their stories.
Best wouldn’t get into the financial details of the deal itself, though sources tell me Polymarket has paid X and other similar platforms for the same kind of exclusive partnerships. I pushed Best on why he chose an exclusive with Polymarket over also integrating with Kalshi. He deflected and said he wanted to find a partnership that “worked really well.”
Sources is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
What’s going on here is bigger than Substack. Prediction markets are subsuming the internet, whether you like it or not. They’re getting embedded into the surfaces where people already consume news, opinion, and analysis. Despite the strong, negative reaction many people have to what prediction markets represent, I expect more integrations like the one Substack announced in the coming weeks and months.
Best told me he’s a prediction market nerd who traces his interest back to the sci-fi-adjacent fascination that’s long animated a certain kind of tech founder. He pointed to two moments that made it feel real for him: watching prediction markets call election results faster than the New York Times needle, and using Polymarket odds on the TikTok ban to make an actual business decision about how Substack should prepare. “The fact that I could see a market signal on, hey, there’s a substantial chance that this event is gonna happen, and then potentially change how you plan your business, felt very powerful.”
There…
-
Notion's CEO on if AI is really killing software companies
19 februari 2026 · 1 uur 15 min
Ellis tells Alex about his storytelling speech for AI founders at Andreessen Horowitz, and they discuss how OpenAI beat Meta to hire the founder of OpenClaw. Then they’re joined by Notion co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao to talk about the rise of AI agents. They discuss building custom agents inside Notion, his own AI workflow, why he's focused on hiring young people, and why he thinks every software company needs to become agent-friendly to survive. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
OpenAI's Fidji Simo on why ads are coming to ChatGPT
11 februari 2026 · 1 uur 33 min
Alex and Ellis recap the AI ads at the Super Bowl and talk about Jony Ive showing Alex the first-ever electric Ferrari Luce he designed. Then, they sit down with Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, for a wide-ranging conversation about where ChatGPT is headed next. They talk about ads coming to ChatGPT, people having emotional attachment with AI, working with Sam Altman, the state of Sora, and the shift from a reactive chatbot to a proactive personal assistant. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Where AI video is headed next, with Synthesia's Victor Riparbelli
5 februari 2026 · 1 uur 17 min
Alex and Ellis analyze AIs talking to each other on Moltbook, the implications of Elon Musk merging SpaceX and xAI, new moves in the OpenAI versus Anthropic coding race, and a favorite AI app getting a controversial redesign. Lees meer
Then they’re joined by Victor Riparbelli, CEO of Synthesia, to talk about how he turned deepfakes into a business that just raised $200 million. They discuss how AI video is changing how we interact with each other, trust on the internet, and whether raising the bar for corporate videos also raises new risks.
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Where we'll go when the bots take over, with Sublime's Sari Azout
30 januari 2026 · 1 uur 19 min
Alex and Ellis talk about the tech industry's new obsession with Clawdbot/Molbot, the scary aspect of AI agents, AI invading group chats, and the new viral essay from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Then they’re joined by Sublime founder Sari Azout to discuss what she learned from the crypto bubble, taste as a differentiator in the age of AI, founder life in Miami, the limits of “second brain” tools, and what it actually means to design for curiosity on the internet. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Home robots are coming faster than you think, with Sunday's Tony Zhao
22 januari 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Alex and Ellis talk about robotics hype, questionable demos, and what it really takes to build useful machines. First, we hear from Alex live in Davos at the World Economic Forum, where they discuss nightcaps with big wigs, what Thinking Machines was really thinking, and more. Lees meer
Then they’re joined by Tony Zhao, founder of Sunday Robotics, to talk about Memo, a household robot designed for everyday chores. They discuss why most robotics startups rely on simulations, how Sunday Robotics is collecting real-world training data with the Memory Glove, the challenge of making robots feel helpful rather than threatening, and what it would take for robots to actually belong in our homes.
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Building an autonomous car utopia with Rivian's RJ Scaringe
15 januari 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
Alex and Ellis discuss Meta's metaverse layoffs and why Claude Cowork might finally make them switch from ChatGPT. Then they're joined by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe to talk about large driving models, why most people want boring car colors, the stress of EV range anxiety, building charging infrastructures, and why driving might become as nostalgic as riding a horse. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The AI glasses race is heating up
9 januari 2026 · 50 min
Alex and Ellis talk about the strange gadgets, taglines, and smells at CES in Las Vegas. Then they’re joined by Meta’s head of wearables, Alex Himel, to talk about the rise of smart glasses, what the company has learned from the recent release of the Meta Ray-Ban Displays, AI rings, meat slicers, and more. Lees meer
Follow ACCESS on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accesspodcast/
Follow Alex
https://sources.news/https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
ACCESS Wrapped: Our favorite guest moments so far
31 december 2025 · 1 uur 2 min
Ellis and Alex recap their holidays and the nerdy gifts their wives gave them. They go through their ChatGPT year-in-review, discuss the significance of Nvidia's reverse acquisition of Groq for $20 billion on Christmas Eve, and reminisce about CES in Las Vegas. Then, they recap the first four months of ACCESS guests, including the most viral moments from conversations with Mark Zuckerberg, Eugenia Kuyda, Dylan Field, and more. Lees meer
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
18 december 2025 · 1 uur 5 min
This week, Alex and Ellis talk about the rise of storytelling in tech and why X is now openly pleading for its haters to come back. Then they sit down with Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, to discuss insider trading, his rivalry with Polymarket, regulatory chaos, sports betting, and why prediction markets are having a real moment. Lees meer
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
French founders and AI priests with Maxime Germain
12 december 2025 · 1 uur 7 min
This week, Ellis and Alex go behind OpenAI's "Code Red," discuss why Netflix says it wants Warner Bros. because of YouTube, and analyze why algorithms are becoming more customizable. Then, they sit down with guest Maxime Germain, founder and CEO of Beside: an AI receptionist answering millions of calls for everyone from priests to winery owners. Lees meer
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO
4 december 2025 · 1 uur 18 min
Ellis, Alex, and Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki dive straight into the child-safety discussion, why Roblox is rolling out facial age checks, and whether the entire internet is headed toward age-gating. They unpack the Hard Fork controversy, how Roblox thinks about user safety, and how AI will shape moderation, online communities, and the future of communication. Lees meer
What we cover
- Facial age checks to access chat and age-based communication controls.
- Hard trade-offs in moderation at scale, from Snap lessons to Roblox today.
- How Dave is thinking about AI and its impact on Roblox.
Follow ACCESS
Instagram: http://instagram.com/accesspodcast
TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@accesspod
Follow Alex:
https://sources.news/
https://x.com/alexeheath/
Follow Ellis:
https://meaning.company/
https://x.com/hamburger
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
How to win as an AI wrapper with Harvey's Winston Weinberg
20 november 2025 · 59 min
Ellis and Alex chat about Apple succession rumors, group chats in ChatGPT, and ill-advised pre-show oysters. Then, they sit down with Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg to discuss how AI is changing the future of law, how to succeed as an AI wrapper, and the worst advice VCs give. Lees meer
For full video episodes, subscribe on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@accesspod
Follow ACCESS on Instagram and TikTok:
http://instagram.com/accesspodcast
http://tiktok.com/@accesspod
Follow Alex's Sources newsletter and on X @alexeheath.
Follow Ellis at Meaning and on X @hamburger.
ACCESS is produced in partnership with the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices