No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

What if we could pause biological time to wait for a cure for a disease? Thanks to innovations and research in reversible cryopreservation, this possibility is no longer just science fiction. Sarah Guo sits down with Laura Deming, CEO and co-founder of biotech startup Until, to dive deep into the growing field of reversible cryopreservation. Laura talks about how her time as a Thiel Fellow as well as her founding of the Longevity Fund fueled her obsession with solving the “social blindspot” of aging. Laura details how her new startup, Until, seeks to build tools that allow for “pressing pause”...

Why are there only a handful of companies in the world with over $10 billion in pure-play software revenue? CJ Desai believes the reason is that products are replaceable, but platforms are forever. For No Priors’ very first live from MongoDB.local SF, Sarah Guo is joined by CJ Desai, CEO and President of software developer MongoDB, to discuss the shifting landscape of enterprise software. CJ discusses whether AI will erode the value of software, and what truly constitutes a “moat” in the age of generative AI. CJ also talks about why AI adoption with Fortune 500-sized companies is still laggin...

Today’s arms race looks a little different from those of the past. Under the Trump administration, the US Department of War (DoW) is deploying generative AI to millions of employees in order to maintain a strategic edge over our global adversaries. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering of the United States, to discuss the radical technological transformation of the US military. Emil outlines the architecture and launch of GenAI.mil, a DoW internal AI platform powered by Gemini and Grok that reached over one million un...

Even if ChatGPT never existed, the tech giant NVIDIA would still be winning. The end of Moore’s Law—says NVIDIA President, Founder, and CEO Jensen Huang—makes the shift to accelerated computing inevitable, regardless of any talk of an AI “bubble.” Sarah Guo and Elad Gil are joined by Jensen Huang for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of artificial intelligence as we begin 2026. Jensen reflects on the biggest surprises of 2025, including the rapid improvements in reasoning, as well as the profitability of inference tokens. He also talks about why AI will increase productivity without necessarily taking away jobs, and...

Pundits are screaming about the so-called “AI bubble.” But historically slow-to-adopt industries like medicine and law are actually embracing AI at an unprecedented speed. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil look ahead to 2026, breaking down the major trends that will define the next era of AI technologies. They explore the future of AI foundational models, predicting breakthroughs in solving complex scientific problems. They share competing views on the timeline for robotics and self-driving cars, debating whether startups have a chance for survival or if incumbents will dominate. Elad and Sarah also discuss the return of tech IPOs and M&As, fore...

Imagine learning chess from a grand master, or negotiating tactics from an expert FBI hostage negotiator. ElevenLabs’ voice AI technology is making that unlock possible. Sarah Guo sits down with Mati Staniszewski, co-founder of ElevenLabs, to explore how the three-year old company is transforming how humans interact with technology through voice. Mati talks about the technical challenges of building foundational audio models, the strategic thinking between conducting research and deploying products in tandem, and why voice is the ultimate interface for everything from computers to robots to immersive media. They also discuss how the coming revolution of AI personal tu...

In just over three years, Harvey has not only scaled to nearly one thousand customers, including Walmart, PwC, and other giants of the Fortune 500, but fundamentally transformed how legal work is delivered. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil are joined by Harvey’s co-founder and president Gabe Pereyra to discuss why the future of legal AI isn’t only about individual productivity, but also about putting together complex client matters to make law firms more profitable. They also talk about how Harvey analyzes complex tasks like fund formation or M&A and deploys agents to handle research and drafting, the stra...

The robotics industry is on the cusp of its own “GPT” moment, catalyzed by transformative research advances. Enter Memo, the first general-intelligence personal robot, focused on taking on your chores to give back your time. Sarah Guo sits down with Tony Zhao and Cheng Chi, co-founders of Sunday Robotics, to discuss the state of AI robotics. Tony and Cheng speak to the challenges they faced while developing their technology, the innovative glove system employed to scale real-world data collection, and the impact of diffusion policy and imitation learning. Plus, they talk about their 2026 in-home beta program and why personal robo...

Bringing new drugs to market is a costly, time-consuming endeavor. On top of that, most medicines fail at some point in the research and development phase. Sarah Guo is joined by Sajith Wickramasekara, co-founder and CEO of Benchling, a company that has not only become the central system of record for biotech R&D, but uses AI agents to assist scientists to help fix this broken system. Sajith details the roadblocks that impede drug development and approval, the “dot com” bust occurring in biotech, and how AI agents and simulation can help scientists experiment faster. Plus, they talk about Chin...

Snowflake is moving beyond the data warehouse. Its new Snowflake Intelligence is an agentic platform for every employee, not just data teams. Sarah Guo sits down with Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy to discuss his first 18 months at the helm, as well as the massive pivot to make the data giant AI-first. Sridhar talks about Snowflake Intelligence, the company's new AI agent platform, and its implications for enterprise data management. They also explore how Sridhar navigates partnerships with major tech companies, how he fosters a culture of continuous improvement within the organization, and how he envisions Snowflake’s future as an...

2025 has thus far been a year of great leaps and advances in AI technology. And Sarah and Elad have spoken with some of the most enterprising founders and scientific minds in the field of AI today. So we’re revisiting a few of our favorite conversations on No Priors so far in 2025 – Winston Weinberg (Harvey), Dr. Fei-Fei Li (World Labs), Brendan Foody (Mercor), Dan Hendrycks (Center for AI Safety), Noubar Afeyan (Flagship Pioneering), Brandon McKinzie and Eric Mitchell (OpenAI o3), Isa Fulford (OpenAI), Arvind Jain (Glen), and Dr. Shiv Rao (Abridge).  Sign up for new podcasts every week...

For decades, the developer terminal has remained largely unchanged. But for Warp CEO and co-founder Zach Lloyd, reinventing this core tool is the key to unlocking AI agents for coding, debugging, and automating the entire development process. Zach joins Elad Gil to discuss how seeing this opportunity for innovation led to Warp’s agentic terminal for developers. Zach talks about the phases of software development, from coding by hand to the current "develop by prompt" era, and the coming age of fully automated development. Plus, Zach and Elad explore the deep philosophical questions around intelligence versus consciousness in AI mo...

With demand from AI for energy already exploding, our electric grid is facing a crisis. Base Power CEO and co-founder Zach Dell is ready to re-architect its future from the ground up. Zach sits down with Elad Gil to talk about Base Power’s recent $1 billion fundraise from major investors. Zach discusses the role of energy across industries, as well as Base Power's mission to lower electricity costs through vertical integration. Zach and Elad also explore the future of energy, the role of batteries in transforming the grid, and the regulatory challenges facing the energy industry. Plus, Zach pitches wh...

The AI industry is obsessed with making models smarter. But what if they’re building the wrong kind of intelligence? In launching his new venture, humans&, Eric Zelikman sees an opportunity to shift the focus from pure IQ to building models with EQ. Sarah Guo is joined by Eric Zelikman, formerly of Stanford and xAI, who shares his journey from AI researcher to founder. Eric talks about the challenges of building human-centric AI, integrating long-term memory in models, and the importance of creating AI systems that work collaboratively with humans to unlock their full potential. Plus, Eric shares his vi...

Between the future of search, the biggest threats in cybersecurity, and the jobs and platforms of tomorrow, Nikesh Arora sees one common thread connecting and transforming them all—AI. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with Nikesh Arora, CEO of cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks and former Chief Business Officer of Google, to talk about a wide array of topics from agentic AI to leadership. Nikesh dives into the future of search, the disruptive potential of AI agents for existing business models, and how AI has both compressed the timeline for cyberattacks as well as fundamentally shifted defense st...

What if kids could master their academics in just two hours a day and spend the rest of their time developing real-world skills they’re passionate about? Joe Liemandt, founder of the software company Trilogy, is doing just that. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil are joined by Joe Liemandt, principal of Alpha School, to discuss his AI-driven vision of reinventing K-12 education. Joe talks about the strategies that Alpha School employs: reducing the traditional six-hour school day to two, replacing teachers with “Guides,” using financial incentives as motivation, and dedicating the remainder of the school day to project-based workshops that r...

The traditional call center may soon be a thing of the past. Jessie Zhang is building AI agents designed to replace monotonous human labor and transform how consumers interact with brands. Elad Gil sits down with Jesse Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Decagon, an AI agent company at the forefront of AI customer service. Jesse talks about how Decagon secured large enterprise clients and the impact of its AI agents, his journey as a second-time founder, and Decagon’s company culture. Plus, they discuss what the future of agentic customer service may look like. Sign up for ne...

From negotiating with world leaders to partnering with top entrepreneurs, businessman and investor Jared Kushner has traveled the unique path of bringing private sector knowledge to government work and back again. Jared Kushner joins Sarah Guo and Elad Gil to cover a wide range of topics, from his founding of investment firm Affinity Partners, to his time in government, to his new AI venture BrainCo. Jared discusses Affinity Partners’ mission and strategy, how he has leveraged his government experience in business and investing, and the geopolitics of technological advancements like AI. Plus, he makes a case for why private se...

How does a new technology get adopted by 40% of American doctors in just 18 months? In an era where the golden age of biotechnology has also created a dark age of physician burnout, OpenEvidence found the answer by fundamentally changing how doctors access critical information. OpenEvidence founder Daniel Nadler sits down with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil to discuss how his company solved the semantic search problem in medicine. He talks about the strategy of treating doctors as consumers, striking the balance of keeping patients in the loop in medical conversations, and how technology will reshape both medicine and medical...

AI doomers say that the technology will be the ultimate job-killer. But Jacob Helberg wants people to see AI as a tech that will boost, not replace, human workers and give them superpowers. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jacob Helberg joins Sarah Guo and Elad Gil to talk about AI’s role in reshoring manufacturing in America, supply chain security, and transforming the US energy grid. He also discusses the CapEx revolution, why he sees opportunity for tech and energy partnerships in the Middle East, and the path to more nuclear energy for th...