a16z is making its international expansion a formal strategic priority, with Ben Horowitz, former NSC cybersecurity official Anne Neuberger, VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram, and Jen Kha arguing that American technology leadership is now a matter of national power, not just market share. The core claim: the models and infrastructure the world runs on will encode values, and the choice is between Western frameworks or alternatives.
The conversation gets specific in ways the headline does not. The panel breaks down why Japan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the Indo-Pacific are the priority geographies, how AI creates a dual-use dilemma in cybersecurity and defense, and why a16z's approach differs structurally from other VCs operating internationally. The section on what it actually takes to replicate a Silicon Valley ecosystem, starting at the 37-minute mark, is worth reading for anyone building outside the US.
The underlying argument is that products travel faster than companies can, which creates both an opportunity and a risk. If American founders are not expanding globally with intent, the infrastructure gap gets filled by someone else. The full conversation is worth your time for the policy and defense technology framing alone.
[WATCH ON YOUTUBE →]