Sriram Krishnan on Open Source AI's Biggest Week Yet
Sriram Krishnan joins Theo Jaffee and Sofia Puccini just after concluding his tenure as Senior White House Policy Advisor on AI to discuss one of the biggest weeks yet for open-source AI. They unpack the rapid release of models including Kimi K3 and Qwen, why open models are putting pressure on frontier labs, and what it means for pricing, competition, and the future of AI infrastructure.
They also discuss AI policy, distillation, cybersecurity, the role of open-weight models, whether the U.S. should respond to China's growing AI capabilities, and how governments and frontier labs should navigate the next phase of AI development.
Resources:
Follow Sriram Krishnan on X: https://x.com/sriramk
Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee
Follow Sofia Puccini on X: https://x.com/schisofrenia
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
America’s Plan to Dominate the Full AI Stack with Sriram Krishnan
Sriram Krishnan was never interested in policy. But after seeing a gap in AI knowledge at senior levels of government, he decided to lend his expertise to the tech-friendly Trump administration. Senior White House Policy Advisor on AI Sriram Krishnan joins Elad Gil and Sarah Guo to talk about America’s AI Action Plan, a recent executive order that outlines how America can win the AI race and maintain its AI supremacy. Sriram discusses why winning the AI race is important and what that looks like, as well as the core goals of the Action Plan that he helped to author. Together, they explore how AI is the latest iteration of American cultural exportation and soft power, the bottlenecks in upgrading America’s energy infrastructure, and the importance of America owning the “full stack” from GPUs and models to agents and software.
Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com
Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @skrishnan47 | @sriramk
Chapters:
00:00 – Sriram Krishnan Introduction
01:00 – Sriram’s Role in Government
03:43 – Impetus for the America AI Action Plan
06:14 – What Winning the AI Race Looks Like
10:36 – Algorithms and Cultural Bias
12:26 – Main Tenets of the America AI Action Plan
19:13 – Infrastructure and Energy Needs for AI
22:56 – Manufacturing, Supply Chains, and AI
24:52 – Ensuring American Dominance in Robotics
26:30 – Translating Policy to Industry and the Economy
29:30 – Should the US Be a Technocracy?
32:33 – Understanding the Argument Against Open Source Models
36:07 – Conclusion
166 - Leaving Web2 with Sriram Krishnan
Sriram Krishnan is a GP at a16z Crypto and a defector from Web2 to Web3. Formerly a Product Lead at Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, Sriram has seen basically everything there is to see in the world of Web2, and especially Web2 social. He also hosts a podcast with his wife covering tech and internet creators, so he knows a thing or two about the world of creators, internet social platforms, and crypto.
------ ✨ DEBRIEF | Unpacking the episode: https://www.bankless.com/debrief-sriram-krishnan ------ What’s broken about Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook? And how can it be fixed? Can it be fixed? Sriram has many profound ideas.
Growing up in a small town in India with little opportunity, Sriram used the internet to change the course of his life. Now he worries that these same opportunities won’t be available for the next generation. He believes Web3 is the only way to keep the internet full of opportunity for the next generations.
In today’s episode, we cover why Sriram defected from Web2 to Web3, why Twitter can topple world governments but can’t sell ads effectively, why every social media network has to start with status, how crypto and AI intersect, and much more.
------ Topics Covered
0:00 Intro 7:14 Eliezer Yudkowsky 8:19 Sriram’s Thoughts on A.I. 11:35 Sriram’s Background & North Star 16:10 The Early Internet Explained 19:54 The Permissionless of the Internet Today 22:18 What Are API Keys? 25:55 Towers vs. Townsquares 28:24 TikTok Hearings & Web2 Solutions 36:13 Twitter 43:25 New Age of Twitter 49:29 Web3 Social Tour 1:02:46 Overcoming Web2 Network Effects 1:20:20 How to Crypto-Pill Elon 1:22:38 Web2 Pausing Web3 Adoption 1:26:32 Future of Creators 1:30:25 Web3 & Creators 1:35:06 Crypto & AI 1:40:33 Sriram’s Closing Arguments 1:42:22 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Sriram & His Wife’s Podcast https://www.youtube.com/@AarthiAndSriram/videos https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/
Sriram’s Twitter https://twitter.com/sriramk
Eugene Wei’s Status-as-a-Service https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
The Art and Science of Podcasting
It’s both easier and harder than ever to build a successful podcast. In this episode, we chat with Sriram and Aarthi from the Good Time Show, who ventured into the world of audio peak pandemic and have since interviewed the likes of Elon Musk, Calvin Harris, and Naomi Osaka.
We get their perspective on how to succeed in this competitive landscape, differentiation and the sliding scale of entertainment and information, the difference between an audience and a community, podcast analytics and how they’re changing, and even what Sriram has learned from his frontrow experience at Twitter recently.
Topics Covered:
00:00 - Intro
02:20 - Podcast trivia
06:07 - Starting a podcast
08:45 - Differentiating
13:10 - Information vs entertainment
18:08 - Getting off the talk track
20:40 - Growth and metrics
22:31 - Authenticity
27:10 - Secret sauce of podcasting
28:10 - Advice for new podcasters
29:58 - In-person events
32:06 - Tech as a force for good
34:50 - The next wave of social
37:23 - Creator middle class
41:16 - Podcast infrastructure
42:55 - ChatGPT
45:10 - Swapping lives with a celebrity
52:26 - Your personal monopoly
Resources:
Find Sriram on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sriramk
Find Aarthi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthir
Find Aarthi and Sriram on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AarthiAndSriram
Check out the Good Time Show: https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/
Stay Updated:
Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple | Sriram and Aarthi
Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision | LMNT—Zero-sugar hydration
—
Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan are founders, angel investors, and product leaders who host the podcast Aarthi and Sriram’s Good Time Show. They have both held leadership roles at major technology companies including Meta, Twitter, Snap, Microsoft, and Netflix. In today’s episode, we dive into how and why to build your personal brand, how to deal with impostor syndrome, and stories from Aarthi’s time at Clubhouse and Sriram’s time working with Zuck. Aarthi and Sriram share their lessons from past failures, their experience building communities, and their techno-optimism, and Sriram offers his hot take on the Jobs to Be Done framework.
Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/hot-takes-and-optimism-from-techs
Where to find Sriram Krishnan and Aarthi Ramamurthy:
• Aarthi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthir
• Sriram’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sriramk
• Good Time Show Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarthisrirampod
• Good Time Show website: https://www.aarthiandsriram.com/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
Referenced:
• Naval Ravikant on Twitter: https://twitter.com/naval
• Marc Andreessen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmarca
• Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/
• Eugene Wei’s Status as a Service: https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service
• Kylie Jenner on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/kyliejenner
• The Rock on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therock/
• Cristiano Ronaldo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristiano
• Charli D’Amelio on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charlidamelio
• Addison Rae on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@addisonre
• The founder of TikTok’s speech: https://ludlow.notion.site/Alex-Zhu-TikTok-4631f80fdcc4423a845e145e807d8e2b
• Naval’s network tweet: https://twitter.com/naval/status/847134295600746496?lang=en
• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/
• How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth
• Hunter Walk on impostor syndrome: https://hunterwalk.com/2023/03/01/imposter-syndrome-is-definitely-misnamed-might-be-a-condition-of-privilege-has-a-fascinating-history/
• On Reviews: https://boz.com/articles/reviews
• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90
• First-principles thinking: https://fs.blog/first-principles/
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Sriram and Aarthi’s backgrounds
(04:16) How Sriram and Aarthi got Elon Musk on their podcast
(08:47) Reflections on Clubhouse and other social networks
(14:14) Why Aarthi and Sriram are optimistic about tech
(25:53) Why you should put yourself out there and build your personal brand
(27:09) Why you should build a network with authentic relationships, and how to do it
(28:56) Sriram’s curated communities
(31:20) What you need to get right when starting a community
(38:35) Why everyone who wants to should create content
(44:22) Why you shouldn’t try to project expertise when you’re still learning
(47:54) Dealing with impostor syndrome, and why you should lean into your strengths
(54:01) Transitioning to a role of authority
(57:30) What Sriram learned about effective management from Mark Zuckerberg
(1:01:20) The biggest failure Aarthi had, and why you shouldn’t fall for fads
(1:02:08) Sriram’s lesson from building mobile
(1:09:21) Why Sriram hates the Jobs to Be Done framework
(1:18:06) Advice for immigrants
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
%20-%20Sriram%20Krishnan.jpg?width=400){kind=small}