Where AI x Crypto Converge

02/22/25 • 40 min

Welcome to web3 with a16z, today we’re running a special episode about the intersection of AI and crypto.

Our guests are a16z crypto Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon & a16z Growth General Partner David George. They discuss the broken economics of the internet, new models for creative people, how to think through the first-, second- and third-order effects of big platform shifts, and more.

Today’s episode is a crossover from a16z’s AI Revolution conversation series — and it’s especially timely as the paperback edition of Chris Dixon’s bestselling book Read Write Own goes to print. Check out the show notes for links to those and more.

Watch the video here
Read the transcript here
See more from the AI Revolution conversation series here
Check out Chris Dixon's book Read Write Own here

As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Welcome to web3 with a16z, today we’re running a special episode about the intersection of AI and crypto.

Watch the video here
Read the transcript here
See more from the AI Revolution conversation series here
Check out Chris Dixon's book Read Write Own here

Previous Episode

Why blockchains need privacy

with @1HowardWu @SuccinctJT @rhhackett

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today’s show is all about privacy, why it matters, and how to achieve it technically onchain.

It's fair to say that many blockchains today are quite... revealing. But that openness and transparency doesn’t work for everything — who would want anyone to have full-on X-Ray vision into your finances? That’s one reason why there’s been a growing appreciation for — and trend toward — more blockchain privacy.

Our guest today argues that there are many other reasons you might want some secrecy too, including a whole host of onchain applications and uses that only become feasible when you have a notion of privacy. That guest is Provable Cofounder and CEO Howard Wu who helped invent the protocols behind and build Aleo, a privacy-focused blockchain network. Wu joins a16z crypto Research Partner Justin Thaler, who is also a computer scientist at Georgetown University (as well as the brains behind the cutting-edge, open source zkVM Jolt), plus me, your host, Robert Hackett.

The first voice you’ll hear is mine, then Howard’s, then Justin’s.

Next Episode

Creativity Across Industries, with Uniswap & KidSuper

with @haydenzadams @kidsuper @smc90
This episode involves a special mix of guests:

Hayden Adams, founder and CEO of Uniswap Labs, and inventor of the Uniswap Protocol a leader in decentralized finance (DeFi); they recently announced Unichain; and
Colm Dillane, the multimedia artist behind fashion brand KidSuper, CFDA award winner who has his own Warhol Factory-like creative studio and space; Dillane started out selling t-shirts in his highschool cafeteria, and then went on to present his collection at Paris Fashion week — and has also done creative campaigns for iconic brands from Louis Vuitton and Mercedes Benz to Puma and Converse

...in conversation with editor in chief Sonal Chokshi. The conversation originally took place at our Founder Summit (October 2024) but is more relevant than ever as the crypto industry focuses on mainstream applications and users. It covers:

industry jargon, to making technology not just more broadly available but more culturally and socially understood
the power of naming, including the origin story behind the unicorn and Unisocks and more
the difference between marketing vs. spectacle
the power of early community and what it means to expand to new users vs "sell out”
drops -- “airdrops” in crypto; drops in fashion (a la Supreme), and just product launches in general

We also touch on some questions and issues around open source, including forking and copying -- good or bad? -- and whether a collective can actually do good design.

The theme throughout is about innovating vs. stagnating -- learning from different industries and places; trying (unexpected) new things, even when there may not be a clear business case up front, and much more.
As a reminder: None of the following should be taken as business, investment, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information.