Sarah Guo

Redefining Chip Architecture with Arm CEO Rene Haas

Sep 3, 2026 · 37:07

Arm CEO Rene Haas argues that the CPU, not the accelerator, remains the heart of every system: AI workloads still depend on microprocessors to orchestrate tokens, so Arm moved from licensing IP to building full compute subsystems, including the Arm AGI CPU for Meta. He says the shift was driven by customers like Meta who wanted complete solutions rather than components, and that Arm's design wins in smartphones, data centers and automobiles prove the model. Haas contends supply constraints in memory, substrates and advanced packaging will throttle industry growth for three to five years, making US fab capacity a national-security priority. He predicts AI will become a utility embedded in every device, from edge sensors to robots, and that fears of job loss are overstated because electricians, engineers and skilled tradespeople will be needed in greater numbers to build out data centers, fabs and the physical infrastructure AI requires.

From Restoring Sight to Reimagining the Brain, with Max Hodak

Aug 20, 2026 · 31:39

Max Hodak, CEO of Science.xyz, tells Sarah Guo the brain is literally a computer, and his PRIMA retinal implant—just approved in Europe—restores formed vision to people blinded by macular degeneration by putting a chip under the retina that receives laser images from glasses. He argues this is the first step toward a BCI strategy focused on vision, hearing, balance, and motor control, not brain keyboards. Hodak ties consciousness to continuity rather than identity, making substrate independence the goal. He defends the Platonic Representation Hypothesis, saying AI model internals align with animal brain recordings, and outlines Science's pipeline—vision, biohybrid neural interfaces, and perfusion program VESSEL—to reduce human fragility and enable adapting to space.

How Chess.com Became the World’s Biggest Chess Community with CEO Erik Allebest

Aug 13, 2026 · 46:08

Erik Allebest, CEO of Chess.com, tells host Sarah Guo how he turned a $56,000 bankruptcy-auction domain into a 250-million-member platform with 10 million daily users and $200M+ revenue. He bootstrapped after VCs called chess an uninvestable niche, and credits cultural spikes like Queen's Gambit and COVID for growth. General Atlantic and CVC bought secondary shares, keeping the company capital-light. He argues chess engines made the game more exciting, not obsolete, and AI now powers coaching, puzzles, and internal ops. He discusses Gambit, a poker site applying Chess.com ratings to prioritize skill over chips. He advises founders to ignore market dogma and offers cautious AGI optimism, stressing guardrails and cultural change.

Building an Autonomous Delivery Experience with DoorDash Co-Founders Andy Fang and Stanley Tang

Jul 23, 2026 · 49:20

DoorDash co-founders Andy Fang and Stanley Tang explain how they are building an autonomous delivery ecosystem with their in-house robot Dot, which has operated at L4 autonomy in Phoenix for over two years, weighing 300 pounds and traveling 20 mph. They discuss how Ask DoorDash, a natural-language interface, drives 50% of restaurant trajectories to new places and 40% larger grocery basket sizes. The founders argue that a multimodal strategy—using Dot for 3-5 mile suburban deliveries, drones for rural areas, and Dashers for complex orders—is key, and that despite autonomy, DoorDash will have more Dashers in 10 years due to 25% annual growth and 9 million active Dashers. They emphasize that their advantage comes from combining world-class operations with real-world data from 10 billion deliveries, solving the first and last 100 feet problem that general-purpose autonomy companies overlook.