How 3 CEOs Use AI to Run $10B in Companies | This Week in AI

April 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In a roundtable discussion on This Week in AI, three CEOs—Jeremy Frankel of Fundamental, Victor Riparbelli of Synthesia, and Nick Harris of Lightmatter—explain how their companies apply AI to structured data, enterprise video, and data center interconnects. They highlight technical tradeoffs, the need for focus amid rapid scaling, and infrastructure bottlenecks like energy and bandwidth.

Large Tabular Models for Enterprise Data

Fundamental builds large tabular models (LTMs), distinct from large language models (LLMs), to handle structured data in rows and columns, such as spreadsheets, databases, CRMs, and ERPs. Frankel notes that LLMs excel at unstructured data like text or images but falter on tabular data due to positional encoding in transformers, which makes outputs sensitive to column order—unacceptable for deterministic tasks like predicting patient cancer risk or credit card fraud.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Podcast Intro and AI Hype** - Oliver sets stage for AI roundtable with 3 CEOs discussing weekly issues and big picture.
2 (01:52) **Jeremy Frankel Introduces Fundamental** - CEO explains large tabular models (LTMs) as ChatGPT moment for enterprise structured data like spreadsheets/databases.
3 (05:38) **LTM Benefits and Nexus Model** - LTMs outperform LLMs on tabular predictions; Fundamental's Nexus is flagship for enterprise scale.
4 (07:00) **Victor Riparbelli on Synthesia** - CEO details AI video platform evolution from PowerPoint-to-video tool to high-fidelity models for Fortune 100.
5 (09:25) **Sora Shutdown and Focus Lessons** - OpenAI cuts video to prioritize code gen like Anthropic's Claude; Victor stresses focus over "side quests" for B2B success.
6 (11:27) **Nick Harris on Lightmatter Photonics** - CEO outlines photonic interconnects as new Moore's Law for AI: big chips networked via light for 3x faster training.
7 (14:49) **Photonics Bandwidth Demo** - Explains petabit-scale throughput (e.g., 1.6Tbps per fiber, 1600x house internet) for massive GPU clusters.

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Show Notes

This Week in AI, JCal sits down with three CEOs building the infrastructure, intelligence, and interfaces for the next era of AI: Jeremy Fraenkel (CEO, Fundamental), Victor Riparbelli (CEO, Synthesia), and Nick Harris (CEO, Lightmatter). We break down what's actually happening beneath the AI hype: the data modality LLMs completely missed, why copper is the real bottleneck in AI data centers, OpenAI shutting down Sora, the build vs. buy debate for AI tools, and how close we really are to AGI.

AI's Biggest Blind Spot, Tabular Data: LLMs transformed text, images, and code, but 70-80% of enterprise data lives in rows and columns.
Copper Can't Keep Up: Nick explains why AI data centers are hitting a wall. GPUs compute faster than they can communicate. Lightmatter's photonic chips push 1.6 terabits per fiber and can 3x training speed.
Why OpenAI Killed Sora & Anthropic's Focus is Winning: Victor breaks down why even OpenAI had to learn the lesson of focus, and why Claude Code has every founder talking.
Vibe Coding Your Own CRM vs. Buying Salesforce: Jeremy reveals Fundamental built their own internal CRM using vibe coding. The panel debates when building beats buying and when it's a distraction.
The Omnipresent CEO: Jason shares how he's using AI agents for root access to Slack, Gmail, and Notion, resurrecting former employees as AI personas, automating SDR workflows, and summarizing employee inboxes while they're on vacation.
Are We Already at AGI?: Nick says the rate of progress is a double exponential. Jeremy argues AGI is a moving goalpost. Victor warns of "Future Shock" and societal disruption.

🔗 Learn more about Fundamental: https://fundamental.tech🔗 Learn more about Synthesia: https://www.synthesia.io🔗 Learn more about Lightmatter: https://lightmatter.coThis Week In AI is made possible by:PayPal Open - One Platform for all Business: paypalopen.comTimestamps:00:00 Welcome & intro to Jeremy Fraenkel, Victor Riparbelli, and Nick Harris01:47 What is Fundamental? Large tabular models explained07:01 Victor Riparbelli on Synthesia & why OpenAI killed Sora11:09 Claude Code dominance & the Lightspeed founder retreat12:08 Nick Harris on Lightmatter, photonics & the new Moore's Law14:38 Copper vs. fiber: why AI data centers are hitting a wall18:44 Reinventing video: interactive, real-time, personalized21:32 The economics of a custom AI movie23:55 Why Amazon, Google & Meta are building their own chips28:06 Tables have a bandwidth problem too32:27 When will compute be as cheap as storage?36:10 The future of software: every company gets a custom stack38:06 Vibe coding your own CRM vs. buying Salesforce45:57 Jason's quest for root access to Slack50:18 The omnipresent CEO: Doctor Manhattan meets Jesus CEO52:13 Resurrecting former employees as AI personas53:25 Victor's executive changelog for a 650-person company55:07 Whisper Flow & the Plaud Pin1:00:03 AGI: is it