E35: Stability AI’s Emad Mostaque and Slow Ventures’ Sam Lessin Discuss Investing in AI

In this episode, Nathan Labenz and Erik Torenberg host a discussion between Emad Mostaque, founder of Stability AI, and Sam Lessin, GP of Slow Ventures and former VP Product at Facebook. These influential technology thinkers tackle topics pertinent to evaluating whether AI is a good investment for venture capital. They talk about the attention and information economy, SaaS markets, how AI-created entertainment will impact society and our relationships, and AI disruption of highly-regulated industries. We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. LINK FOR NATHAN'S LIVE EVENT IN SAN FRANCISCO: Friday June 16th: Why AI with Athena: https://v4p9mjmurpv.typeform.com/to/llRcJSF9 TIMESTAMP: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:17) Nathan explains why we hosted a conversation with Emad and Sam (08:25) Discussion kicks off: AI as an extender rather than a deck shuffler (12:01) Is AI a disruptive or sustaining innovation? (14:22) What is intelligence? (16:00) The attention and information economy (21:56) Storytelling, the stock market, and the economy (23:23) Sponsor: Omneky (23:50) AI in the media industry, Hollywood, and distribution (29:10) Startups vs incumbents (30:30) Disrupting highly-regulated industries (32:30) AI in education: an AI tutor for every child (35:15) AI as StackOverflow 2.0 for engineers (37:23) Regulatory Arbitrage (40:06) The oracle problem in AI (42:00) Apple as the weakest BigTech player in AI (44:30) AI in communities and the future of social media (46:55) Replika on Valentine’s Day and AI-generated porn (53:50) How does the market for inference shape up? Inference vs. cloud (55:08) Price of primary care in US in the next decade (55:38) What are the most likely incumbents to be disrupted? (56:55) Will BigTech continue to opensource? (58:56) Marriage rate in US in the future given AI (01:00:24) Can any AI leader sustain high gross margins in the future? (01:02:04) Stability’s business model TWITTER: @EMostaque (Emad) @Lessin (Sam) @CogRev_Podcast @labenz (Nathan) @eriktorenberg (Erik) SPONSORS: Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/cognitive Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off. This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected]. Download this episode as an mp3: https://chrt.fm/track/993DGA/traffic.megaphone.fm/RINTP2126380296.mp3?updated=1686676812 Music Credit: MusicLM