10 Oct 2026Non-Competes Scrapped | SpaceX Mobile Carrier | OpenAI Safety Team Fired | Pomp & Arena Join
5 Sep 2026Astra Release | The Singularity | UK Exit Tax | Rhine Group Exec Chair Joins
5 Aug 2026Dario’s Concerns | Bending Spoons | Aperol Vs. Hugo Spritz | AI Talent Wars
Dom Hallas (Startup Coalition): AI Politics Across the US, UK & EU
Dom Hallas joins in the studio for his third appearance to run through AI politics: a US shift toward a more security-conscious, regulatory approach driven by China fears, including a White House meeting on pre-release testing, while the UK is 'monitoring the situation' under Kanishka's new Cabinet Office role and Europe presses ahead regardless. They discuss US anti-data-center sentiment, faster US corporate adoption versus sluggish European corporates, and the French government effectively forcing Mistral on CAC 40 companies. The conversation also covers tech diplomacy (including the book Apple in China), whether governments might nationalize labs, the UK's National Security and Investment Act and dual-use tech, and OpenAI's Atlas math breakthroughs versus open-source concerns.
Dom Hallas: Industrial Revolution Lessons for AI — Grow the Pie
Dom Hallas wraps his interview by arguing today's AI debates mirror the Industrial Revolution, citing Middlemarch, Manchester's history, Saltaire, and the social movements that emerged then, and saying societies find muddled ways through rather than stopping change. He warns the biggest risk is 'shaving the edges off success' — ending up with a $7B company instead of $10B while the public stays unhappy. The core takeaway is growing the economic pie, illustrated by Microsoft paying ~$20M/year in data center property taxes to a small Wisconsin town and the case for UK fiscal devolution.
Anu: Should AI Labs Have a Creative Director?
Anu, writer of Working Theories, agrees frontier AI labs lack narrative cohesion and must speak to both 'insider' tech audiences and a wary general public getting bearish coverage from outsider media. The discussion traces Sam Altman's shift from buttoned-up PR posts to podcasts, personal essays, and even drunk-tweeting, crediting the hiring of 'cultural unicorns' for easing OpenAI's communication. Anu argues the real differentiator is culture and brand: Anthropic has planted its flag as the safe, thoughtful AI lab, while OpenAI positions around 'intelligence for all.'
5 Mar 2026Claude Vs Gov, OpenAI Backs Down, Framer CEO Joins Live
Dom Hallas on Tech-Politics & UK Spring Statement
Dom Hallas discusses the Anthropic-OpenAI-government saga, framing it as a tension between who gets to decide how technology is used: companies or democratically elected governments. He notes the politicization of AI labs and American brand politics exemplified by Katy Perry. The conversation then shifts to Rachel Reeves' spring statement, UK GDP forecasts, and the Startup Coalition's work on the Treasury consultation around the tax environment for entrepreneurship, focusing on keeping top founders in the UK.
19 Jan 2026Europe’s Newest Unicorn, Hiro Capital Deep Dive, Thinking Machines Drama, Listen Labs does $100M
Dom Hallis on Nick Clegg, Hiro Capital & Europe's Growth-Cap Gap
Dom Hallis, executive director of the Startup Coalition, joins from London to unpack Nick Clegg joining Hiro Capital and Yan LeCun's growing European presence, including his advisory role at Prior Labs. He argues Europe should build on its own strengths—fintech, research universities, adaptability to fragmented markets—rather than clone Silicon Valley, and breaks down the growth-stage "valley of death," capital supply, pension fund reform, and why different industries need different return profiles, tangenting into his Sharia-compliant pension fund outperforming everything else.
18 Oct 2025Jack and Jill raise $20m, Oura hits $11bn, UK IPO Market, IPO push for Nscale, Waymo announce London
Dom Hallas on UK tech policy & the budget
Startup Coalition's Dom Hallas, joining from rural Wisconsin at 6 a.m., unpacks Jensen Huang's UK visit and the wave of AI infrastructure commitments from US tech giants, questioning how much of the money is real. He argues the UK shouldn't copy US or Chinese industrial policy but should find leverage points in the AI stack (pointing to ARIA's moonshot bets), supports EU Inc-style work to complete the digital single market, and previews Startup Coalition's priorities ahead of the UK budget — stock options reform on offense, tax rises on defense. He also weighs in on Revolut founder Nik Storonsky's Dubai tax move and calls Trump's $100,000 H-1B fee a major talent opportunity for the UK.