Ted Persson
8 Apr 2026TBPN Acquired, New Yorker Vs. Sam Altman, Author of The Infinity Machine, Citrini Field Trip
EQT Ventures' Ted on StarCloud & Deep Tech
Ted, a partner at EQT Ventures, introduces the firm (a spinout from the Wallenberg family office, now 2,000+ people) and explains why EQT backed StarCloud, which put H100s in orbit shortly after graduating YC. He describes the deep tech renaissance — comparing today's tailwinds to 1990s venture coverage of biotech, space, and semiconductors — and argues data access is why hardware-first robotics companies like 1X are well positioned, citing the Exploration Company's momentum as a sign of the space sector's shift.
Sebastian Mallaby: DeepMind's Secret Hedge Fund & the Google Marriage
The interview with Demis Hassabis biographer Sebastian Mallaby continues. He explains how DeepMind secretly built a trading operation (which Hassabis never told him about directly; he learned via contacts from his Renaissance Technologies book), then walks through the failed safety-and-ethics commission with Elon Musk, Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman's three-year "Project Mario" fight to force an independent safety board on Google — including a $1 billion Reed Hoffman spin-out offer — and the post-ChatGPT merger of Google Brain into DeepMind that made the Pichai–Hassabis duo "the most important buddy act in global business." It closes with why 2 AM is Hassabis's favorite hour for science and quasi-spiritual thinking, before the hosts thank Mallaby and plug The Infinity Machine.