The QAI Podcast

Founders, funding, and frontier AI

Long-form conversations with the founders and investors building the AI future — funding strategy, scaling playbooks, and the deep tech underneath.

Deep TechStefano Ermon · Inception Labs

The AI Architecture That Could Make Transformers Obsolete

Diffusion LLMs — the deep-tech bet under the next model generation.

Investing

$120B Investor Reveals the Real AI Opportunity in 2026

A top institutional investor on where AI value actually accrues — and what founders should build into 2026.

Scaling

From 0 to $1B in 20 Months: Inside the Fastest-Growing AI Unicorn

The playbook behind one of the fastest $0→$1B runs in AI — what compounded, and what nearly broke.

InvestingSophia Zhao · Alumni Ventures

AI Startup Funding: A Bubble-Proof Strategy from a Top VC

Raising into an AI hype cycle without getting caught when it turns.

FundraisingJames He · Artificial Societies

How a YC Startup Raised $5.3M by Simulating 1,000 VCs

An unconventional raise — and what it says about modern fundraising.

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