E148: McCarthy ousted, border chaos, Cruise's robotaxi "accident" & more
Jason Calacanis (host), David Sacks (host), Chamath Palihapitiya (host), David Friedberg (host), David Sacks (host), Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of All-In Podcast, featuring Jason Calacanis and David Sacks, E148: McCarthy ousted, border chaos, Cruise's robotaxi "accident" & more explores mcCarthy’s ouster, border breakdown, robotaxis, and tech risk backlash The hosts open with a brief correction on earlier claims about Airtable’s valuation and growth, using it to illustrate how stale or misleading online data can distort perceptions of late‑stage startups. They then dive into Kevin McCarthy’s historic removal as Speaker, arguing it reflects a revolt against omnibus spending, endless continuing resolutions, and unaccountable Ukraine funding rather than a simple ‘far‑right’ coup. The conversation shifts to the southern border, where they contend the Biden administration is being forced—politically and practically—to reverse course and adopt Trump‑like border security measures, including physical barriers and ‘virtual wall’ technologies. In the back half, they discuss the Cruise robo‑taxi accident, the broader backlash against autonomous vehicles and other frontier tech, and how an extreme aversion to risk and regulatory capture are slowing down transformational innovations like AVs, nuclear, biotech, and even experimental airlines such as JSX.
McCarthy’s ouster, border breakdown, robotaxis, and tech risk backlash
The hosts open with a brief correction on earlier claims about Airtable’s valuation and growth, using it to illustrate how stale or misleading online data can distort perceptions of late‑stage startups. They then dive into Kevin McCarthy’s historic removal as Speaker, arguing it reflects a revolt against omnibus spending, endless continuing resolutions, and unaccountable Ukraine funding rather than a simple ‘far‑right’ coup. The conversation shifts to the southern border, where they contend the Biden administration is being forced—politically and practically—to reverse course and adopt Trump‑like border security measures, including physical barriers and ‘virtual wall’ technologies. In the back half, they discuss the Cruise robo‑taxi accident, the broader backlash against autonomous vehicles and other frontier tech, and how an extreme aversion to risk and regulatory capture are slowing down transformational innovations like AVs, nuclear, biotech, and even experimental airlines such as JSX.
Key Takeaways
Verify private company data, especially when it comes from viral threads.
The hosts walk back earlier comments on Airtable after speaking directly with its CEO, noting ARR is likely around $500M with solid growth—far above the stale figures circulating on X. ...
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McCarthy’s removal is fundamentally about rejecting status‑quo spending practices.
They argue the decisive issue wasn’t just personality or ‘far‑right’ ideology, but McCarthy’s failure to honor promises to end giant omnibus bills and return to 12 single‑subject appropriations bills. ...
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Exploding debt and rising long‑term rates mean deficits now tangibly constrain growth.
With long rates rising due to a higher term premium, the bond market is finally pricing in U. ...
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Border policy is politically forcing Democrats toward Trump‑style enforcement tools.
Record migrant encounters, overwhelmed cities like New York, and DHS quietly authorizing new ‘physical barriers’ suggest the administration is effectively conceding that a strong border (wall plus sensors and manpower) is necessary. ...
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A mix of physical walls and advanced sensor towers is likely the pragmatic border solution.
They suggest rapidly deploying high‑range surveillance towers (from firms like Elbit and Anduril) along the border to gather real‑time data and identify hotspots, then concentrating walls and enforcement resources where crossings are heaviest. ...
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Statistically, autonomous vehicles can save far more lives than they risk—if allowed to scale.
With ~45,000 U. ...
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Regulatory risk aversion and capture are delaying high‑impact tech across sectors.
From halting gene‑therapy trials after a single death, to nuclear being frozen post‑Chernobyl and Fukushima, to SpaceX’s Starship delays over debris concerns, they see a pattern: wealthy societies adopt ‘zero‑loss’ ethics that block innovations which would disproportionately benefit the world’s poorest via cheaper energy, food, and medicine.
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Notable Quotes
“This isn’t Republican versus Democrat; it’s about forcing Congress to follow the law and pass 12 spending bills instead of hiding everything in one massive CR.”
— Chamath Palihapitiya
“We’re finally at the point where rising interest rates mean deficits actually matter.”
— David Sacks
“We’re defending Ukraine’s border but not our own.”
— David Sacks
“Fifty thousand people a year are dying on U.S. roads because of basic human stupidity—DUIs, speeding, not wearing seatbelts—and autonomous driving can take most of that off the streets.”
— David Friedberg
“Those of us who are rich and in charge can say, ‘I don’t want to take any more risks because one person died,’ while a million people are starving to death. That’s the cost of our lost risk tolerance.”
— David Friedberg
Questions Answered in This Episode
If Congress were forced back to 12 stand‑alone appropriations bills, what specific spending cuts or reforms would realistically emerge that omnibus bills currently hide?
The hosts open with a brief correction on earlier claims about Airtable’s valuation and growth, using it to illustrate how stale or misleading online data can distort perceptions of late‑stage startups. ...
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Where should the line be drawn for acceptable risk in deploying new technologies like AVs, nuclear, and gene therapy, and who should get to decide that risk threshold?
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What concrete, data‑driven border policy would balance humanitarian asylum obligations with the need for order and economic sustainability in receiving cities?
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How can regulators be redesigned to internalize the opportunity cost of slowing innovation—for example, the lives lost or wealth foregone during multi‑year delays?
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Given Tesla’s data advantage in full self‑driving, what—if anything—can legacy automakers and AV startups do to catch up, and should regulators treat those approaches differently?
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Transcript Preview
How was your colonoscopy, by the way?
(laughs) Oh, yeah.
Oh, well, uh, that was, uh-
Talk about your anus.
Talk about my anus?
(laughs)
Have you guys had yours recently? Who's had a colonoscopy?
I had mine in December, my first one.
Was that your first one?
I had it... Yeah, my first one.
Yeah, I was delinquent on mine too.
They... It used to be 50, and they moved the age down to 45.
Yeah, they did move the age down. Friedberg, have you had one yet? That's a yes. We got a yes.
I'm due.
Sacks, have you had yours?
I'm due.
By the way, I got a report, because, uh, actually, Sacks, you did have one, and they found, uh, a bunch of DeSantis merchandise up there.
(laughs)
(laughs)
They found a DeSantis hat, a DeSantis pin. Tons of DeSantis stuff right up your ass. (laughs)
(laughs)
At our age, we should be four for four on the colonoscopies. We're one for four. They gotta get that stat up. Every week, I wanna check in here. Propofol, uh, Mi-... Shout out Michael Jackson, is the greatest drug ever. I counted 15 seconds, I was knocked out. I woke up, and the next thing I know, I was in m- the recovery room.
Were you groggy?
I was not groggy. No, I was fine. You literally don't remember anything, no pain, no suffering. I did have-
But were you able to have a regular schedule the rest of the day?
Not really. So, uh, I don't wanna dissuade anybody from having this, but you do have to take a drink called Prep, which clears you out. And when I say clears you out-
Oh, I love that. Oh, I love it. I love that.
... it clears you out. Yeah, I hit a record low weight. I'm 168 now, so that was the one benefit, but I di-
Well, how much weight did you lose?
Three pounds, maybe?
Come on.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Were you working when you were prepping? No.
I was working when I was prepping, so Monday when I was prepping, but then literally, (laughs) you take this Prep stuff. An hour later, you're, you need to be ready to evacuate at any time.
Normally, the diarrhea is coming out of your mouth.
Absolutely, absolutely. (laughs)
(laughs)
(laughing) Well played. There's your call to open, folks.
I'm going all in.
Let your winners ride.
Rain Man David Sachs.
I'm going all in.
And I said- We open source it to the fans, and they've just gone crazy with it.
Love you guys.
West Side Queen of Quinoa.
I'm going all in.
All right, everybody. Welcome to another amazing episode of the All In podcast, Episode 148. The docket is absurd. Uh, the number of lawsuits and the amount of news that has happened in just the last week has been insane. Uh, but we wanna, at the top of the show, do a quick correction, right? It's an all-in correction. If we make a mistake here, we don't hide it in the show notes. We just talk about it right up front. Sacks, you were in touch with the Airtable CEO, Howie Liu, who's been a guest on This Week in Startups. I'm gonna have him on again, actually, soon. Maybe you could just discuss what we got wrong, e- and how we got it wrong-
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