a16z Podcast a16z

The Olympics features over 11,000 athletes competing in 32 sports, attracting an audience of more than 10 million.

In this episode, Charlie Ebersol, co-founder of the Alliance of American Football and Infinite Athlete, explores how new innovations like AI and bespoke broadcasting technologies are shaping the future of sports.

Charlie also reflects on the storytelling legacy of his father, Dick Ebersol, a legendary sports producer who transformed how we experience the Olympics. We discuss the importance of making sports more accessible and engaging through technology that enhances, rather than distracts from, the human stories at the heart of the games.

Whether you're a tech enthusiast or a sports fan, this episode offers a unique look at the convergence of these two worlds.

On June 27th, the a16z team headed to New York City for the first-ever AI Artist Retreat at their office. This event brought together the builders behind some of the most popular AI creative tools, along with 16 artists, filmmakers, and designers who are exploring the capabilities of AI in their work.

In this episode, we hear from the innovators pushing the boundaries of AI creativity. Joined by Anish Acharya, General Partner, and Justine Moore, Partner on the Consumer team, we feature insights from:

Ammaar Reshi - Head of Design, ElevenLabs
Justin Maier - Cofounder & CEO, Civitai
Maxfield Hulker - Cofounder & COO, Civitai
Diego Rodriguez - Cofounder & CTO, Krea
Victor Perez - Cofounder & CEO, Krea
Mohammad Norouzi - Cofounder & CEO, Ideogram
Hang Chu - Cofounder & CEO, Viggle
Conor Durkan - Cofounder, Udio

These leaders highlight the surprising commonalities between founders and artists, and the interdisciplinary nature of their work. The episode covers the origin stories behind these innovative tools, their viral moments, and their future visions. You'll also hear about the exciting potential for AI in various creative modalities, including image, video, music, 3D, and speech.

Keep an eye out for more in our series highlighting the founders building groundbreaking foundation models and AI applications for video, audio, photography, animation, and more.

Learn more and see videos on artists leveraging AI at: a16z.com/aiart

Gaming is not just entertainment—it's a revolution reshaping our culture, technology, and economy.

a16z’s Jonathan Lai and Andrew Chen dive into the current gaming renaissance and its future impact. Joining them are Michael Chow, CEO and Steven Snow, CPO of The Believer Company, and Eros Resmini, Founder and Managing Partner of The Mini Fund.

They explore the intersection of tech, art, psychology, and design in gaming, discussing how startups can navigate intense competition, distribution challenges, and high production costs. With insights from these industry leaders, this episode covers the transformative potential of AI, the importance of player feedback, and strategies to stand out in a crowded market.

Recorded during Speedrun, a16z’s extensive games accelerator, this episode offers a glimpse into the strategies and innovations driving the gaming industry forward.

Former gymnast and current investor Aly Raisman joins general partner Julie Yoo and investment partner Daisy Wolf of a16z Bio + Health.

In this episode, Aly Raisman shares her quest for healthier living—physically, mentally, and financially—on her journey from gymnast to a business investor. Having transitioned from an intensely structured routine, Aly emphasizes the need for more open conversations about mental health and financial literacy. She speaks passionately about the gap in women’s health solutions and hopes to inspire entrepreneurs to create impactful businesses. Aly’s experiences as a patient, survivor, and global figure adds a unique dimension to her perspective as an investor. This candid conversation with Aly and Julie Yoo sheds light on Aly’s passion for more education within the investment space, offering invaluable insights for entrepreneurs, particularly in biotech and healthcare.

Less than two years since the breakthrough of text-based AI, we now see incredible developments in multimodal AI models and their impact on millions of users.

As part of New York Tech Week, we brought together a live audience and three leaders from standout companies delivering AI-driven products to millions. Gaurav Misra, Cofounder and CEO of Captions, Carles Reina, Chief Revenue Officer of ElevenLabs, and Laura Burkhauser, VP of Product at Descript discuss the challenges and opportunities of designing AI-driven products, solving real customer problems, and effective marketing.

From the critical need for preventing AI misuse to ensuring international accessibility, they cover essential insights for the future of AI technology.

In this special episode, Marc and Ben dive deep into the REAL story behind the creation of Netscape—a web browser co-created by Marc that revolutionized the internet and changed the world. As Ben notes at the top, until today, this story has never been fully told either in its entirety or accurately. The two discuss Marc's early life and how it shaped his journey into technology, the pivotal moments at the University of Illinois that led to the development of Mosaic (a renegade browser that Marc developed as an undergrad), and the fierce competition and legal battles that ensued as Netscape rose to prominence. Ben and Marc also reflect on the lessons learned that still resonate in today's tech landscape (especially with AI).