Open Source AI Is How America Loses | Diogo Mónica

Diogo Mónica co-founded Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US, and now argues for a position most of Silicon Valley won't say out loud: America should be building closed AI, not open source. In this episode of Endgame, Amanda Cassatt sits down with Diogo, Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital and General Partner at Haun Ventures, to break down why he thinks open-sourcing AI just hands China a free ride, why he calls AI "the ultimate weapon," and why he considers defending US AI intellectual property "perfectly legitimate." They also discuss his board seat at Erebor, Palmer Luckey's new bank for crypto, AI, and defense companies; why stablecoins bridge crypto anarchism and financial regulation; and why he calls building in crypto an act of American patriotism. Timestamp 0:56 – Kicking off with Katie Haun and Haun Ventures  2:13 – Reconciling his crypto-anarchist roots with his own philosophy 3:15 – Founding a regulated bank: Anchorage Digital  4:18 – Stablecoins: centralized control on decentralized rails  5:26 – Would a crypto anarchist say regulation just protects incumbents?  6:38 – Is building in crypto an act of American patriotism?  8:11 – Can crypto be "American-made" if it was born borderless?  13:25 – Introducing Palmer Luckey and the US-China AI/crypto landscape  14:21 – Is America on the right side of technology history?  15:39 – Why he believes America should build closed AI, not open source  16:31 – Does intellectual property even make sense in the AI age?  17:55 – Is the "China competition" narrative a political red herring? 18:18 – AI as "the ultimate weapon" and the end of mutually assured destruction 19:46 – Turning the protectionism question back on China (Google, Gmail, Twitter)  20:21 – Building Erebor: Palmer Luckey's bank for crypto, AI, and defense  22:55 – Toward a left-wing and right-wing version of every business? 24:14 – Crypto's real legacy: financial education for an entire generation Stay Connected ● Amanda on X:  https://x.com/amandacassatt   ● Serotonin on X: https://x.com/serotonin\_hq  ● Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/45B9szUxVXEwfCDA6uRxwq?si=HT9XXqF9Q2CcM9hfLbmkVg    Endgame on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/endgame-with-amanda-cassatt/id1801809440   Follow Diogo Monica https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogomonica https://x.com/diogomonica?lang=en Don’t forget to subscribe! #EndGame #AI #crypto  #bitcoin  #fintech