All-In E156: Ivy League antisemitism, macro, SaaS recovery, Gemini, Figma deal delay + big Friedberg update

Episode 156 • 12/8/2023

Discussion of recent Congressional hearings where Ivy League presidents faced questions about antisemitism on campus
Criticized Harvard President Claudine Gay's responses about whether calls for genocide violate code of conduct
Sacks argued universities are hypocritical about free speech, noting Harvard's poor track record on protecting controversial speech
Friedberg noted the presidents seemed torn between allowing expression of oppressed groups while maintaining standards
Group discussed how Jews are being categorized differently than other minority groups in "woke ideology"
Predicted this could lead to Jewish donors and students reconsidering their relationship with elite universities

Discussed "expressive responding" where people's view of economy is influenced by political tribalism
Key indicators discussed:
- Credit card debt surpassing $1T
- Increased 401k hardship withdrawals
- Mixed holiday spending data
- Inflation at 3.2% vs 9.1% peak
- Housing sales at 13-year low
Chamath highlighted Federal Reserve data showing increasing household wealth across segments

Google announced Gemini AI model, claiming it outperforms GPT-4 in 30/32 benchmarks
Features multimodal capabilities (text, images, video)
Friedberg noted Google's massive data advantage through YouTube
Discussion of potential impact on Google's search business model

UK CMA effectively blocking $20B Adobe-Figma acquisition
Sacks criticized the 15-month review process and novel antitrust theories
Debated whether single country regulators should have such power over global deals
Group concerned about chilling effect on tech M&A

Announced he's becoming CEO of gene editing agriculture company he helped start
Company achieved breakthrough in multiplex editing for crop yields
Discussed decision to focus on single company versus continuing investment activities