No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups cover art

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

Written by: Conviction
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 At this moment of inflection in technology, co-hosts Elad Gil and Sarah Guo talk to the world's leading AI engineers, researchers and founders about the biggest questions: How far away is AGI? What markets are at risk for disruption? How will commerce, culture, and society change? What’s happening in state-of-the-art in research? “No Priors” is your guide to the AI revolution. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com. Sarah Guo is a startup investor and the founder of Conviction, an investment firm purpose-built to serve intelligent software, or "Software 3.0" companies. She spent nearly a decade incubating and investing at venture firm Greylock Partners. Elad Gil is a serial entrepreneur and a startup investor. He was co-founder of Color Health, Mixer Labs (which was acquired by Twitter). He has invested in over 40 companies now worth $1B or more each, and is also author of the High Growth Handbook.© Copyright 2023 Conviction. All Rights Reserved. Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Science
Episodes
  • How Capital is Powering the AI Infrastructure Buildout with Magnetar Capital Managing Director Neil Tiwari

    How Capital is Powering the AI Infrastructure Buildout with Magnetar Capital Managing Director Neil Tiwari
    Feb 26 2026
    By the end of 2026, AI capital expenditure is projected to hit nearly $700 billion. The question isn’t who has the best model, but who has the most creative financing to build out AI infrastructure and beyond. Sarah Guo is joined by Neil Tiwari, Managing Director at Magnetar Capital, a financial innovator helping the AI industry scale from billions to trillions of dollars in CapEx. Neil explains some of the debt structures used to finance massive GPU clusters, who is taking the risk, and how the industry is maturing. Sarah and Neil also discuss how power distribution, energy storage, and physical materials like steel are the bottlenecks of the AI industry. Plus, Neil gives his take on the future of inference-optimized clouds, and why the market shift away from software and into infrastructure might be an overreaction. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil Chapters: 00:00 – Cold Open 00:05 – Neil Tiwari Introduction 00:26 – Magnetar’s Story 01:28 – Why CoreWeave Helped Magnetar Win 06:15 – Scaling CapEx Efficiently 09:02 – Debunking GPU Collateral Risk 11:42 – How Deal Structures Evolve 13:01 – What Bottlenecks Buildout 15:28 – Circular Financing Critiques 17:35 – The Shift from Training to Inference Workloads 23:10 – AI Factories 24:12 – Constraints of the Current Power Grid 28:27 – Sovereign Compute Buildouts 29:54 – Physical AI Capital Needs 32:48 – The Capital Rotation Away from SaaS 36:04 – Conclusion
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    36 mins
  • From SaaS to AI-First: How Companies Are Reshaping Innovation

    From SaaS to AI-First: How Companies Are Reshaping Innovation
    Feb 19 2026
    In this episode of No Priors, Sarah and Elad dive into the evolving landscape of software, exploring how AI is transforming the traditional SaaS model. They discuss whether SaaS as we know it is coming to an end, what new business and sales strategies are emerging, and how AI is reshaping the way software is built, sold, and scaled. The conversation also examines whether or not these shifts are a good thing for both big and small companies, and how coders and software experts are reacting to abrupt AI transitions. They also dig into how AI is reshaping sales, automating workflows, and enabling more predictive customer strategies. Beyond individual companies, they examine how tech giants are increasingly dominating the S&P 500, and what this concentration of power means for the future of startups, innovation, and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | Chapters: 00:00 – Cold Open 00:35 – The SaaS-polcalypse discussion 4:55 – AI Change Management in Large vs. Small Companies 05:43 – “Is Software Eating the World?” 08:38 – Addressing the Unsolved Problems 14:00 – The Noise of the Last Month vs. Excitement 21:32 – What Proportion of GDP is Tech? 23:20 – Market Cap Shifts 25:02 – As a Company, When Should You Sell? 29:05 – Multi-Product Bundle Defense 30:45 – Conclusion
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    41 mins
  • Rivian’s Roadmap to AI Architecture and Autonomy with Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe

    Rivian’s Roadmap to AI Architecture and Autonomy with Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe
    Feb 12 2026
    Autonomous vehicle technology has moved past human-coded rules and into an era of neural networks and custom computer chips. And to solve the most difficult driving scenarios, electric vehicle company Rivian abandoned its original technology platform to build a vertically integrated data stack. Sarah Guo sits down with Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe to explore the seismic shift in the automotive industry toward AI-driven, software-defined vehicles . RJ discusses the move away from function or domain-based architecture for vehicle electronic systems to software-defined architecture, which allows for dynamic, monthly updates to features in Rivian’s vehicles. RJ also talks about the upcoming launch of Rivian’s R2 model, which aims to be a distinct, affordable, mass-market alternative to the Tesla Model Y. Plus, RJ shares his vision for a future where vehicles don’t just drive us, but inspire personal freedom and exploration. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @RJScaringe | @Rivian Chapters: 00:00 – Cold Open00:35 – RJ Scaringe Introduction0:58 – Rivian’s Autonomy Evolution05:19 – Why Rivian’s Tech is Vertically Integrated10:06 – Levels of Autonomous Driving Technologies14:00 – Importance of a Software-Defined Architecture19:28 – Differentiating Autonomous Vehicle Models23:20 – R2: The First Mass Market Autonomous Vehicle25:02 – Do Americans Want EVs?29:05 – How Our Relationship to Vehicles is Evolving30:45 – Conclusion
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    32 mins
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