Trump-Xi Summit, Inflation Fears, Space Data Centers | Max Levchin, Delian Asparouhov, Richard Socher, Brandon Hill, Nate Tepper, Joubin Mirzadegan, Roman Chernin

May 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The podcast covers a packed news cycle blending geopolitics, AI tensions, space tech ambitions, and rapid company updates from founders, set against rising inflation signals.

Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing

President Trump met Xi Jinping in Beijing, arriving on Air Force One with Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang—whose last-minute inclusion followed speculation and a Trump Truth Social post correcting media reports. Other business leaders like Tim Cook (Apple), Tim Cook (wait, no—Tim Cook Apple, Jensen Nvidia, Kelly Ortberg Boeing, David Solomon Goldman Sachs, Larry Fink BlackRock, and Dana Palmcook Meta attended separately. The Wall Street Journal editorial framed stakes around trade stability, tariff truces, rare earth supplies (after past Chinese restrictions), and AI/chip exports amid Beijing's industrial-scale theft of US models (e.g., Super Micro indictment). Xi may offer farm goods and aircraft buys (Boeing's presence noted), but past promises underdelivered for US farmers. Taiwan loomed as a trap: Xi pushing US opposition to independence, testing Trump's defense posture without disrupting alliances like Japan. No top AI lab CEOs (e.g., Altman, Amodei) attended, signaling a Silicon Valley-geopolitics disconnect on superintelligence scenarios. Markets seek chaos avoidance; pre-negotiated deals likely for optics.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:02) **Intro and Guest Tease** - Hosts preview guests including Max Levchin, Delian Asparouhov, and others amid major news.
2 (00:44) **Trump-Xi Summit Coverage** - Trump arrives in Beijing with Musk, Huang, Cook; WSJ details stakes on trade, rare earths, AI, Taiwan.
3 (11:17) **WSJ Editorial on Summit Risks** - Analysis warns of Xi's Taiwan trap, AI theft, Iran aid; urges US dominance, rare earth diversification.
4 (16:03) **Anthropic Grants Japan Banks Claude Access** - US Treasury vets amid China AI lag; DeepSeek's founder control contrasts Anthropic's structure.
5 (20:26) **SpaceX-Google Orbital Data Centers Talks** - Partnership for space GPUs ahead of SpaceX IPO; sun-synchronous orbit challenges discussed.
6 (37:32) **Data Center Power Myths Debunked** - XAI Colossus hybrid grid/gas; Lake Tahoe power rumor clarified as utility contract shift.
7 (44:14) **Unitree Unveils Transformer Mech Robot** - Giant bipedal/quadruped robot demos wall-breaking, sorting; timing amid China summit noted.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

(00:50) - Trump-Xi Summit
(28:35) - Space Data Centers
(37:29) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(57:39) - Wall Street's Inflation Fears Rise
(01:01:37) - Max Levchin, a Ukrainian-American software engineer and entrepreneur, co-founded PayPal in 1998 and currently serves as the CEO of Affirm, a financial technology company offering "buy now, pay later" services. In his recent conversation, Levchin discussed his deep dive into the mechanics of espresso machines, emphasizing his passion for mastering complex systems. He also highlighted the importance of specialization and depth of knowledge in one's field, advocating for young professionals to pursue expertise in areas like computer science to remain competitive in an evolving job market.
(01:30:40) - Delian Asparouhov, co-founder and president of Varda Space Industries, discusses the company's collaboration with United Therapeutics to manufacture pharmaceuticals in microgravity, aiming to improve drug formulations for rare pulmonary diseases. He highlights the significance of this partnership as the first instance of a publicly traded company investing its own resources to produce physical products in low Earth orbit. Asparouhov also elaborates on the technical processes involved, including the benefits of microgravity for drug crystallization and the logistics of launching and retrieving these products from space.
(02:01:19) - Richard Socher, former Chief Scientist at Salesforce and founder of You.com, is now leading Recursive Superintelligence, an AI startup focused on developing self-improving AI systems. In the conversation, he discusses the company's mission to build recursive, self-improving superintelligence capable of automating knowledge discovery, emphasizing the importance of AI systems that can autonomously enhance their own capabilities. He also highlights the recent funding success, with Recursive Superintelligence raising over $650 million at a $4.65 billion valuation, led by GV (Google Ventures) and Greycroft, with participation from Nvidia and AMD.
(02:12:38) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions
(02:18:17) - Brandon Hill, CEO and co-founder of Vori, is a third-generation grocer whose family has been in the grocery industry for over 40 years. In the conversation, he discusses Vori's mission to modernize grocery store operations by automating processes such as inventory management, pricing, and ordering, aiming to enhance efficiency and profitability for independent retailers. Hill also highlights Vori's recent $22 million funding round, which will support the company's expansion and further development of its autonomous operating system for supermarkets.
(02:26:03) - Nate Tepper, founder and CEO of True Short, an AI-driven film studio and streaming platform, discusses the company's innovative approach to creating and distributing vertical, short-form content inspired by China's successful micro-dramas.