Basic Intelligence: https://basic.in

Kevin Rose left venture capital to start an incubator. Plus: robots outrunning people, Apple's AI miss, and the greatest insurance scam involving a bear suit.

Kevin and Alex hadn't seen each other in over a month and had a lot to catch up on. Kevin walked through why he stepped away from TruVentures after nine years to go back to building full time - and what he's been working on at Basic Intelligence. The short version: he crawled 9 million connections on X and built a recursive ranking system that surfaces the 1,000 people who actually drive AI discovery. The algorithm works so well that Kevin isn't even in his own top 1,000.

They also dug into Apple replacing Tim Cook with John Ternus and whether Tim missed the AI window when he had Siri in every pocket. A bipedal robot beat the human half marathon world record by 7 minutes - one year after the fastest robot took 2 hours and 40 minutes. Amazon dropped another $25 billion into Anthropic, whose Mythos model just found exploits in OpenBSD after 12 years of zero breaches. Alex is hand-building a mechanical watch and won't shut up about it. And they close with the best insurance scam you've ever heard - a guy in a bear suit, barbecue shredders, and a $400,000 Rolls-Royce.

0:00:00 Kevin and Alex catch up over Pliny the Younger
0:01:27 Why Kevin Rose left venture capital to build again
0:04:23 Announcing Basic Intelligence and the future of Digg
0:06:16 Building PageRank for humans with 9 million social connections
0:13:28 Alex is building a mechanical watch from scratch
0:19:31 Alaska road trip north of the Arctic Circle
0:21:31 Tim Cook missed AI and Apple has a new CEO
0:28:14 A robot beat the human half marathon record by 7 minutes
0:31:35 Robot firefighters and buying your first robot at Costco
0:37:53 Amazon bets $25 billion more on Anthropic
0:43:31 Anthropic Mythos cracked the most secure OS after 12 years
0:46:55 App Store submissions up 60% because everyone codes with AI
0:48:04 44% of Deezer music is AI and fake sympathy Shopify scams
0:50:37 Trent Reznor reinvented his sound and crushed Coachella
0:57:29 The bear suit Rolls-Royce insurance scam

Kevin Rose: https://x.com/kevinrose | / kevinrose
Alex Albrecht: https://x.com/alexalbrecht

Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht sit down for a heavy one. Digg's beta has been shut down, and the team had to make painful layoffs. Kevin breaks down the two forces that hit at the same time: usage that never reached the right product-market fit, and a relentless wave of AI-powered SEO spam attacks that exploited Digg's legacy Google authority and eroded platform trust faster than a small team could fight back. Kevin announces he's leaving True Ventures to return to Digg full-time, and lays out a vision for rebuilding with a tiny AI-augmented team that can punch above its weight class. The nostalgia play is done, and the next version of Digg will break the mold entirely. The rest of the episode covers the state of AI coding tools, how Claude Code is turning non-engineers into builders, the agentic future of computing, a hands-on look at the MacBook Neo, reactions to the AirPods Max 2 and Rivian R2 announcements, and a spirited debate about a color-changing condom that detects STIs.

SPONSORS
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CHAPTER MARKERS
0:00 Cold Open
0:48 Welcome to Diggnation Ep. 28
1:32 "It's Been a Week"
1:55 Digg Beta Shut Down and Layoffs
2:39 Why Product-Market Fit Wasn't There
3:12 AI Coding Crossed the Last Mile
4:10 Helping the Team Find New Homes
4:38 Back to the Drawing Board
5:12 Parasitic SEO Attacks on Digg
7:07 AI Agents Are Destroying Platforms
8:39 When Trust Is Your Product
10:05 The Go-Forward Plan for Digg
12:23 Kevin Leaves True Ventures to Return Full-Time
12:37 Why Now Is the Best Time to Be a Builder
13:45 Using Claude Code as a Technical Co-Founder
13:58 How AI Changed the Way Alex Talks to Humans
17:04 Robocalls, Prompt Injection, and the Cupcake Test
18:30 AI-Generated Snoop Dogg Birthday Song Demo
21:16 Team Regroup: Funding Intact, New Direction
23:04 Silver Lining: Now Digg Can Break the Mold
26:55 iPhone 17E First Look
28:20 Claude Cowork and Scheduled Tasks Explained
30:50 AI Will Be Intertwined with Every OS
33:11 Chat vs. Agents vs. Code: What's the Difference?
34:50 Claude Code /mobile: Code from Your Phone
35:30 The Post-Software World
37:25 YOLO Mode and Dedicated AI Machines
42:46 AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Too Heavy
45:33 Bowers and Wilkins and Nothing Headphones
47:40 Live Translation with AirPods
49:01 Rivian R2: Range, Price, and Self-Driving
50:54 What Are the Levels of Self-Driving? (Live AI Q&A)
55:10 Rivian Fleet Vans and the Camper Van Dream
57:20 MacBook Neo Hands-On: $599 Apple Laptop
59:55 Neo as a Dedicated AI Coding Machine
1:02:18 Mac Mini vs. MacBook Neo at the Same Price
1:03:31 Teens Invent STI-Detecting Color-Changing Condom
1:10:35 See You in a Few Weeks

In this week's episode, Kevin and Alex reunite after Alex's whirlwind trip to the UK, where he survived Manchester, explored Edinburgh's frigid beauty, and spectacularly broke his Dry January streak at a house party on January 31st. The conversation quickly turns to Kevin's upcoming birthday and his ambitious "year of health" plan to get absolutely shredded by his next tortoise-year milestone (yes, they calculated his age in giant tortoise years - he's only 34). The duo dives deep into the AI revolution, discussing the massive news that OpenClaw's creator Peter Steinberg has joined OpenAI, and what this means for the future of AI agents that can literally call restaurants, navigate phone trees, and order more booze for your party via robot dog. They also unpack a new study claiming AI fails at 96% of jobs - but Kevin points out the terrifying flip side: it's only been three years and AI has already captured 4% of human work.

The episode takes a wild turn when Alex pulls up footage of Chinese humanoid robots performing kung fu at the Spring Festival Gala, prompting legitimate concerns about why anyone would train robots in martial arts. Apple's upcoming March 4th event gets the skeptical treatment it deserves - when was the last time an Apple announcement actually blew anyone's mind? The hosts wrap up by discussing Logan Paul's $16.4 million Pokemon card sale and Kevin's newfound obsession with Disney's Lorcana trading card game, complete with a heartbreaking reminder that Kevin lost his entire comic book collection (including first-edition X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man) in the LA fires. Justin stops by to tease Digg's upcoming video posts feature and the new Grid View for visual communities.

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Chapters
0:00:00 - Kirkland Champagne: The Official Drink of Chaos
0:00:18 - Welcome to Diggnation, Ex-Girlfriends Please Email In
0:01:51 - Kevin Doesn't Know What Spin the Bottle Is (Sure, Jan)
0:
02:07 - Alex's Scotland Adventure Was Beautiful and Freezing
0:03:42 - Alex's Dry January: A Heroic 30.5 Day Journey
0:05:05 - Ten Hours in the Frankfurt Airport, Send Help
0:06:36 - Kevin Is Only 34 in Giant Tortoise Years
0:09:01 - The Year of Getting Absolutely Shredded
0:10:45 - Ben's Philosophy: Does Booze Increase Enjoyment?
0:14:06 - OpenClaw Creator Joins OpenAI, VCs Are Crying
0:18:36 - AI Agents That Call BMW So You Don't Have To
0:21:03 - Robot Dog Orders More Alcohol for Your Party
0:25:16 - China Is Teaching Robots Kung Fu, We're All Doomed
0:28:45 - Would You Get a Massage From a Kung Fu Robot?
0:35:33 - The Costco Wine Hack That Changed Heather's Life
0:37:14 - Kevin's Childhood String Cheese Column Obsession
0:39:34 - AI Fails at 96% of Jobs (But Give It Five Years)
0:43:44 - Your Fitness App Is About to Become Obsolete
0:46:48 - Alexa, Say "Breakfast" in Every Room Challenge
0:47:07 - Apple's March Event: When Did We Stop Caring?
0:50:50 - Remember When the iPhone Was Actually Exciting?
1:00:00 - Logan Paul's $16.4 Million Pokemon Card Flex
1:02:00 - Kevin Discovers Lorcana and Catches the Bug
1:05:50 - Kevin Lost First-Edition X-Men in the Fire
1:09:01 - Digg Updates: Grid View and Video Posts Coming Soon
1:11:07 - Until Next Time, Stay Sober (Or Don't)