Episode Ep 690 October 2, 2026 2 hr 46 min

BYOCompute, Pope Destroys False Idol, Ben Affleck's White Pill | Joe Gebbia, Molly Fowler, Tom Dotan, Pim de Witte, Greg Castle

From TBPN John Coogan & Jordi Hays

(01:15) - BYOCompute: Bring Your Own Compute
(15:31) - Pope Leo Rejects AI Consciousness
(26:06) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(35:45) - Tesla Beats Expectations
(49:20) - Paramount-Warner Bros Becomes Skydance
(54:34) - Ben Affleck's White Pill
(57:24) - WSJ Mansion Section
(01:27:33) - Joe Gebbia discusses his work modernizing federal digital services through the National Design Studio, including transforming employee retirement from a months-long paper process into a nearly instantaneous online experience. He outlines America.gov, a centralized, AI-powered platform designed to simplify access to government information and services, reduce billions of hours of administrative burden, and establish a new standard for digital government.
(01:41:02) - Molly Fowler discusses her role as a partner at Dorm Room Fund, a venture fund investing in student and alumni founders. She explains its peer-driven investment model, recently raised $50 million fund, and plans to back roughly 75–80 companies with early-stage checks typically under $1 million.
(01:51:55) - Tom Dotan, a technology journalist at Vanity Fair and Newcomer, discusses his profile of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. He examines Ellison’s vast influence across AI, media, TikTok, cancer research, and hospitality, emphasizing his appetite for risk, enduring control of Oracle, and willingness to make enormous bets late in his career.
(02:10:35) - Pim De, co-founder of General Intuition, discusses the company’s $220 million fundraise and its use of large-scale video game data to train AI models that control robots. He explains the technology’s potential across simulations, quadrupeds, drones, gaming companions, and interactive NPCs while offering a grounded view of machine intelligence and shifting gamer sentiment toward AI.
(02:19:34) - Greg Castle discusses his journey from entrepreneur to managing partner of Anorak Ventures, an early-stage deep-tech firm whose third fund totals $35 million. He shares insights on investing in Oculus and Anduril, maintaining a small-fund strategy, and pursuing transformative opportunities in defense, manufacturing, critical materials, and AI-enabled venture research.