This week on Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano talks to Soumith Chintala at Generative NYC, a monthly meetup for AI builders hosted by Lightspeed. Soumith is a Vice President and Fellow at Meta and he co-created PyTorch, one of the world’s most beloved ML libraries. He’s had a front row seat to the rise of AI over the past few years at Meta and previously as a researcher at New York University. Michael and Soumith discuss Meta's open-source strategy, and the role of AI models such as LLAMA, and the broader strategy behind AI advancements.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction to Soumith Chintala, VP at Meta and Co-Creator of PyTorch
(01:05) How PyTorch Was Created
(04:08) Building a Community Around PyTorch
(05:32) Explaining PyTorch and Its Impact
(08:40) Meta's Open Source Strategy and LLAMA
(11:03) AI Models and the Future of Generative AI
(14:16) Implications of AI
(19:45) Open Source vs. Closed Source AI
(23:45) Audience Q&A
(35:03) Closing Thoughts

Stay in touch:

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• X: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp⁠⁠
• LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/⁠⁠
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The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see ⁠⁠lsvp.com/legal⁠⁠.

Semil Shah sits down with Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano for a quarterly conversation about AI and its evolving impact on startups, VCs, and incumbents. They also discuss Chris Paik’s essay “The End of Software,” tech cleanses, Apple’s WWDC, and the difference in thinking between LCs, GPs, and VCs in the landscape of AI. Semil Shah is the Founding General Partner of Haystack and a General Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Intro to Episode

(4:42) “The End of Software”

(7:30) Computer Science and Philosophy

(11:19) Where Technology Won’t Go

(19:33) Tech Cleanse

(24:07) WWDC24 - Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference

(26:40) ChatGPT & Apple Intelligence

(33:13) Tim Cook

(45:20) Ben Thompson

(48:10) Google

(52:09) VC and AI

(59:11) How LPs think about AI

(01:06:57) How GPs think about AI

(01:12:56) Vinod Khosla, OpenAI, and Square

(01:14:49) Opposite George

(01:25:40) Jerry Seinfeld, Neal Brennan, Rick Rubin, Lex Friedman

(01:28:53) “The Greatest Show on Earth”

Stay in touch:

• ⁠www.lsvp.com⁠
• X: ⁠https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp⁠
• LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/⁠
• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/⁠
• Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: ⁠generativenow.co⁠
• Email: ⁠generativenow@lsvp.com⁠

The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see ⁠lsvp.com/legal⁠.

The explosion of generative AI-powered technologies has forever changed the tech landscape. But the path to the current AI revolution was paved by many breakthroughs. Bill Dally had a hand in quite a few of them.

In this week’s episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano speaks with Bill Dally, NVIDIA's Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President for Research, whose nearly four-decade long career spans from experiments with neural networks in the 1980s to leading NVIDIA's groundbreaking research. He discusses the work at NVIDIA in advancing GPU technology, as well as the shift towards generative AI. Michael and Bill also explore the challenges of keeping up with rapid advancements in AI, the future implications for the industry, and advice for aspiring engineers.

Bill Dally joined NVIDIA in January 2009 as chief scientist, after spending 12 years at Stanford University, where he was chairman of the computer science department. He has published over 250 papers, holds over 120 issued patents, and is an author of four textbooks. Bill received a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, a master’s in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from CalTech.

Episode Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(00:22) Bill Dally's Journey from Neural Networks to NVIDIA
(01:39) The Evolution of AI and Computing: A Personal Account
(05:48) The AI Revolution: Expectations vs. Reality
(07:58) Inside NVIDIA: The Role of Chief Scientist and the Power of Research
(10:29) Exploring the Frontiers of Generative AI and Research
(14:23) AI’s Role in the Future of Autonomous Vehicles
(20:53) The Impact of AI on Chip Design and Efficiency
(25:55) Building NVIDIA's Elite Research Team
(36:00) Anticipating the Future: Advice for the Next Generation
(39:58) Closing Thoughts

Stay in touch:
www.lsvp.com
X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co
Email: generativenow@lsvp.com

The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.