Trump's First Week: Inauguration Recap, Executive Actions, TikTok, Stargate + Sacks is Back!

Thomas LaFont attributes Intel's massive underperformance to a complete failure of corporate governance at both the board and CEO level, framing it as a structural rather than cyclical problem.

“I think Intel really missed. It's a complete abdication of corporate governance at the board level and the CEO level.”▶ Listen · 1:47:34 ⚑

FriedbergCommentarytracking against the call

Friedberg contrasts Intel's ~70% decline over 5 years with Broadcom's 8x and Nvidia's 20x gains, framing Intel's underperformance as a structural failure.

“Intel over the last 5 years is what, down 70%? So, you know, I think there's a big divergence.”▶ Listen · 1:46:59 ⚑

FriedbergCommentary

Friedberg is bullish on nuclear/uranium, emphasizing Gen 4 meltdown-proof technology is ready, China is deploying it at scale while the US deploys zero, and the US must act urgently or face severe competitive disadvantage in energy and AI.

“We have new Gen 4 technologies that are meltdown-proof... China's rolling out dozens or hundreds of these, and the United States is rolling out zero, and that needs to change... we only have a couple of months to get the engine stood up.”▶ Listen · 1:30:56 ⚑

Guest (Thomas) argues uranium/nuclear is essential to meet AI energy demand, that nuclear capacity needs to grow significantly, and that the trend toward nuclear will continue over the next 10-20 years as part of the AI arms race.

“Why we buy uranium? I think you can speak to that better... we expect, and we think just the trend generally towards nuclear energy is going to continue... I think it will show to be a part of the AI kind of arms race, you know, over the”▶ Listen · 1:28:30 ⚑

Thomas LaFont is a current investor in OpenAI and is bullish based on ChatGPT's dominant market position (~80%+ share), 300M weekly actives, 1M+ enterprise users, and rapid product improvement — arguing it is a winner-take-most franchise analogous to Uber in ridesharing.

“we do own some OpenAI. I am bullish on OpenAI… it is maintaining 80% plus market share. You know, J Cal, if this was ridesharing, right? Mm-hmm. We would say, wow, this, this company is the winner, right? So to me, I think the, the quality”▶ Listen · 1:13:39 ⚑

JasonBullishtracking against the call

Jason is a shareholder in Netflix and highlights strong subscriber and stock performance, expressing delight at the company's execution.

“I am a shareholder and I am delighted. I don't know what's going on over there, but they seem to be getting their subs right, and that disgraciado of a fight seems to have somehow driven the stock price up, and there's some strategy that's”▶ Listen · 1:36:23 ⚑

Thomas LaFont is an existing investor in ByteDance and values the TikTok US asset at up to ~$100B using a Meta DAU/time-spent comparison, while noting valuation depends heavily on regulatory outcome and deal structure.

“we are investors in TikTok… You know, is $100 billion a reasonable scenario? You know, I think the math proves it. And then could it be a trillion-dollar asset the way Trump has mentioned? I mean, in a world where Facebook's $1.5 trillion,”

ChamathCommentary

Chamath argues the US government's leverage — the ability to shut TikTok down entirely — means any buyer will pay far below intrinsic value, potentially approaching $1, making the asset worth far less than Thomas's ~$100B estimate for any private acquirer.

“the president was very clear that it is completely and entirely worthless without his permit, and he wants to own 50% of this asset. Now, if you're a buyer of something, you're not going to pay $100 billion if you control whether it can exi”▶ Listen · 47:05 ⚑

Thomas LaFont highlights Constellation Energy as an interesting public market idea benefiting from the nuclear energy trend, noting direct power purchase agreements with hyperscalers and even the federal government as validation of nuclear's role in AI infrastructure.

“I don't know if you guys have been following this stock in the public market, guys, called Constellation Energy. Oh yeah, it's a really interesting idea. What's interesting of what Amazon and Microsoft is, they're actually signing deals”▶ Listen · 1:28:46 ⚑

ChamathCommentarytracking with the call

Chamath notes Broadcom as a massively underappreciated $1-2 trillion company built through disciplined M&A roll-ups under Hock Tan, contrasting it with peers that get far more attention despite similar or lower scale.

“it is the only trillion-dollar company that nobody talks about. Everybody knows Nvidia, everybody knows Amazon, Meta, but Broadcom is a $1. $1, $2 trillion business. And it started basically through a whole series of roll-ups.”▶ Listen · 1:45:17 ⚑

ChamathBullish

Chamath argues that US stablecoin payment rails will be hugely disruptive and value-additive to GDP by making payments instantaneous and costless while cutting fraud, calling it one of his top predictions for the year.

“I think a set of stablecoin rails that makes payments instantaneous and costless is an enormous acceleration to GDP. It would cut fraud. And I think that David's going to go and figure that out.”▶ Listen · 1:49:05 ⚑