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The Peel with Turner Novak

The Peel with Turner Novak

The State of AI: Rise of Reasoning, Surge in Chinese Open Source, Sovereign AI , How to Invest in AI Today | Nathan Benaich, Air Street Capital

Jan 22, 2026 · 2h 23m

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About this episode

Nathan Benaich is the founder of Air Street Capital and author of the State of AI report. On its eighth year, the report is a year-long effort on the biggest things happening in AI, across research, industry, politics, and safety. This episode covers the biggest takeaways from the latest report, like the rise in reasoning, the surge in China’s open source models, where AI is working in practice, the rise of sovereign AI, where he thinks value will actually accrue over the long-term, if we’re in an AI bubble, and how he’s investing in AI today at Air Street. Thanks to Nico at Adjacent and Dan at Michigan for helping brainstorm topics for Nathan. Try Numeral, the end-to-end platform for sales…