The Learning Corner by Precursor

Welcome to the Learning Corner, a weekly Precursor Ventures podcast, where members of the Precursor team walk through their favorite articles and news snippets across the venture ecosystem.

Episode #47: We Are The Enemy, The AI Productivity Paradox, Anthropic's Author Class Action

E47 • Sep 11, 2025 • 18 mins

First, we dive into “We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us” by Euclid Ventures, which explores how venture capital is drifting from its roots as a market for independent thinkers. Next up is “The AI Productivity Paradox” from Sequoia’s Inference, which explores why widespread AI adoption hasn’t translated into real productivity gains. Lastly, we break down the recent Reuters story about Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement in a landmark author copyright case. Soon after we recorded, the Judge stepped in and rejected the settlement.

Articles Discussed

We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us
Euclid Ventures explores the rise of consensus-driven investing in venture capital and its impact on innovation.
The AI Productivity Paradox: High Adoption, Low Transformation
Sequoia’s Inference dives into why AI tools are widely adopted but haven’t yet translated into meaningful productivity gains.
Anthropic Agrees to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Author Class Action
Reuters reports on a landmark copyright settlement in the AI space, raising big questions around fair use and model training.

Speakers

Charles Hudson

Host • 59%

Mia Farnham

Host • 41%

Chapters

0:00	Introduction and episode overview
0:43	Big funds' impact on seed stage and venture capital concentration
3:38	Advice for emerging fund managers
5:20	Sequoia's AI productivity paradox and enterprise AI transformation challenges
10:58	Anthropic's author class action and fair use debate in AI
16:13	Prioritizing for founders in creative spaces
17:34	Closing remarks and thank yous

Transcript

Loading transcript...

- / -