Possible

Reid and Aria unpack three emerging fault lines in the AI era: where real power sits in the AI stack, how AI is reshaping human creativity, and whether governments could ultimately treat AI as critical national infrastructure. Reid responds to Jensen Huang's "five-layer cake" framing of AI, arguing that while compute, infrastructure, and models carry geopolitical weight, the greatest economic value tends to emerge at the application layer. The episode then turns to a broader debate over a viral NYT experiment that pitted humans against AI writing. Reid and Aria close by examining Palantir CEO Alex Karp's warning about AI nationalization, weighing the tensions between innovation, national security, and democratic values as AI becomes foundational technology.

Reid and Aria unpack new research on AI decision-making in simulated nuclear crises—and what it reveals about the limits of machine reasoning. They explore why frontier models consistently escalated to nuclear conflict in war game scenarios, and what that says about the enduring importance of human judgment. Then Reid examines the rise of software agents that can be hired like employees, and the broader shift from hourly labor toward ownership and leverage in the AI economy. The episode closes with Reid and Aria debating AI-powered manufacturing—why automation may be the only viable path to rebuilding U.S. industrial capacity, and why embracing AI-amplified industries is essential for long-term competitiveness.

In this episode of Possible, Reid and Aria talk with Ivan Zhao, co-founder of Notion, about what happens when intelligence becomes abundant rather than scarce. Zhao shares his philosophy of treating computing as a material — like steel or steam — and why organizations must be built for human scale in an AI-driven world. From Renaissance cities to Xerox PARC, the conversation traces a shift from productivity software to cognitive infrastructure, and arrives at a clear conclusion: in an AI-powered future, human judgment, taste, and values matter most.

For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/

In this episode, Reid and Aria are live from New York as they unpack why predictions about the “death” of San Francisco and New York keep missing the mark and how network effects continue to anchor these cities as the world’s leading tech and finance hubs. Reid also shares advice for young founders choosing where to build and explains how to align your startup with the right economic network by breaking down lessons from companies like Shopify and Spotify that scaled outside Silicon Valley. The conversation then shifts to the future of AI in biotech as Reid offers an update on Manas AI and why curing disease hinges on regulation as much as technological breakthroughs. The episode closes with a candid discussion on media, political pressure, and the dangers of “pre-obeying” authority. Reid reflects on free speech, institutional courage, and what a volatile post-midterm landscape could mean for American democracy.

In this episode, Reid and Aria examine a growing tension at the heart of the AI moment: whether these tools are actually saving time or simply accelerating the pace, volume, and expectations of work. The conversation touches on workflows across investing, engineering, legal, and management and why faster output rarely means less work. From there, Aria and Reid engage with competing essays about the AI moment, pushing back on both apocalyptic predictions of immediate white-collar collapse and dismissive claims that today’s AI are merely “tool-shaped objects.” The episode closes with a reframing of AI not as an inevitable force of gravity, but as a strategic capability that rewards those who are able to learn how to adapt more effectively as the landscape continues to shift.