Anthropic just crossed a $1 trillion valuation… and may have officially passed OpenAI.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk is making moves—SpaceX is partnering with (and possibly acquiring) Cursor in a $60B deal, while OpenAI races to stay competitive with new releases like GPT-5.5 and Images 2.0.
This week on Trading Places, Dave McClure and Aman Verjee break down one of the wildest weeks in AI, venture capital, and secondary markets:
— The Fed shakeup and what it means for interest rates
— Iran war tensions and global market implications
— Anthropic’s meteoric rise past OpenAI
— SpaceX’s massive AI bet with Cursor
— OpenAI’s latest product push
— AngelList opening venture capital to retail investors
— The rise of prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi
Plus: a deep dive into Cursor—the fastest-growing SaaS company ever—and why SpaceX wants it.
00:00 – cold open
[ tech and vc news ]
01:22 – Warsh fed chair moves Up 🪑
03:52 – Iran war ends when 🤔
06:15 – Anthropic $1T valuation 💰
08:10 – Cursor & SpaceX engage 👰♀️
14:21 – OpenAI launches GPT 5.5 + images 2.0 🚂
17:54 – AngelList launches USVC 💸
25:11 – Polymarket & Kalshi double down 🎲
29:25 – [ valuation corner: Cursor @ $50B ]
what is Cursor 🤖
31:24 – CEO & MIT team 👥
33:12 – Why SpaceX wants Cursor & vice versa 💍💒
38:23 – early investors a16z + Thrive 🤑
39:56 – Sam Bankman-Fried almost won big 🙅♂️
[ spv: Equitybee ]
44:27 – why we invested in Equitybee 🐝
46:15 – how you can join the SPV 👍
46:53 – spinal cap debut 🎶
[ links: ]
[ equitybee SPV invest = https://practicalvc.com/eb ]
[ trading places socials = www.linktr.ee/tradingplacespod ]
[ aman verjee = https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-verjee/ | https://x.com/amanverjee ]
[ dave mcclure = https://www.linkedin.com/in/davemcclure | https://x.com/davemcclure ]
#cursorspacex #spacexcursor #venturecapital #secondarymarkets #secondaries
