John Maslin, CEO and Co-Founder of Vulcan Elements, joins Radical Partner Molly Welch to unpack the overlooked physical infrastructure behind AI. While chips dominate most conversations, John explains why rare earth magnets are a foundational dependency across data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, robotics, EVs, and defense systems, and why today’s globally concentrated supply chain poses real economic and national security risk. Drawing on his work rebuilding domestic magnet manufacturing, the discussion explores what it takes to reshore critical industrial capacity, why execution matters more than policy alone, and how physical constraints will increasingly shape AI at scale.

Databricks Chief AI Scientist Jonathan Frankle joins Radical Partner Vin Sachidananda for a special conversation from Radical Ventures’ AI Masterclass Series. Together, they explore what it takes to move AI from academic insight to real-world, enterprise-scale deployment. Drawing on Jonathan’s experience co-founding Mosaic ML and now leading research at Databricks, the discussion covers why early efficiency gains feel “quaint,” how open-source serves as scientific proof, and why evaluation remains the missing infrastructure for enterprise AI adoption. A practical conversation for founders and technical leaders building AI systems that need to perform in production.

The story of modern AI cannot be told without Geoffrey Hinton and Jeff Dean. In this special episode of Radical Talks, recorded live at NeurIPS, the longtime collaborators and friends join Radical Ventures Co-Founder Jordan Jacobs to explore how bold ideas finally met the infrastructure required to scale them. From early breakthroughs at Google to the choices shaping today’s systems, they reflect on the leadership decisions, risks, and responsibilities that will define what comes next for AI.