Are tech companies resorting to corporate espionage in the cutthroat world of AI? Is the US losing its grip on global tech dominance? The latest episode of The Startup Podcast Reacts dives into these pressing questions and more.

Hosts Yaniv, Chris, and Elli explore the shocking lawsuit between former podcast sponsors Rippling and Deel, where allegations of corporate spying have surfaced. They also examine OpenAI's controversial call to ban Chinese rival DeepSeek, and what it reveals about the shifting landscape of AI competition and geopolitics.

In this episode, you will:

- Uncover the details of alleged corporate espionage between HR tech rivals
- Analyze the geopolitical implications of OpenAI's attempt to ban a Chinese competitor
- Explore groundbreaking developments in robotics from Google and NVIDIA
- Understand why 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for humanoid robots
- Learn about the "great race" to unify company data for AI applications
- Discuss the changing dynamics of global tech leadership between the US and China
- Consider the privacy implications of AI-powered data aggregation

00:00 Intro
00:29 On Today's Show
01:42 Corporate Espionage: Diehl vs. Rippling
02:54 The Broader Implications of Corporate Espionage
04:13 The Role of Technology in Corporate Espionage
13:34 OpenAI vs. DeepSeek: A New Kind of Espionage
16:47 Geopolitics and Technology: A Complex Relationship
25:42 The Rise of Defense Tech
26:28 AI-Powered Robotics Revolution
27:25 Google and NVIDIA's Robotics Innovations
29:00 The Future of Consumer Robotics
32:22 The Fall of iRobot
33:53 Chinese Tech Dominance
35:05 The EV Market Shift
40:21 AI and Data Unification
46:18 The Future of Personal Data Management
50:57 Closing Thoughts

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Key links
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Get your question in for our next Q&A episode: https://forms.gle/NZzgNWVLiFmwvFA2A
The Startup Podcast website: https://tsp.show

Learn more about Chris and Yaniv
Work 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/
Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/
Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/

Editor: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthur
Content Strategist: Carolina Franco https://www.linkedin.com/in/francocarolina/
Intro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/

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