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David Ulevitch

General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz · 12 appearances on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

investorfounderexecutivehost@davidu ↗LinkedIn ↗david.ulevitch.com ↗Wikipedia ↗

David Ulevitch founded EveryDNS and OpenDNS, which was acquired by Cisco in 2015, where he subsequently served as Senior Vice President of the Security Business. He is currently a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, leading the firm's American Dynamism practice.

51statements → 37claims → 15claims resolved → 60%fully supported → 4/5average certainty → 2.39/5average debate potential → 9said about them ↓

9 supported 3 partly supported 3 contradicted 21 not checkable as stated how the 37 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

10 predictions · 27 assertions · 4 opinions · 7 insights · 2 disclosures · 1 what if · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 37 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 16 are resolved, and 21 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how David argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Ulevitch: Almost all spent nuclear fuel can be recycled and reused
“We should stop calling the spent fuel nuclear waste, because it's really not waste. Almost all of it can be recycled and reused.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 29:18 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Ulevitch: Taiwan is seven days from a blackout under a Chinese blockade
“This is an island country. That is, you know, seven days away from a total energy block, blackout if they get an oil and gas blockade from China so that they can't bring in ships to deliver oil and fuel.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 28:13 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
50% certainty 3
68% certainty 4
75% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: speaking style how? →

267 words/min while actually speaking · 35.4 um and uh per 1k words · 17.8 false starts per 1k · 23.4% of pauses land inside a clause

Um and uh per 1,000 words, year by year. Hover a point for the year's tape.

20402024202520262024 · 29.4 per 1k · 3 episodes2025 · 39.2 per 1k · 3 episodes2026 · 37.7 per 1k · 3 episodes

No argument clarity score for David Ulevitch: only 2 usable question→answer exchanges on raw tape (a fair score needs 8+). We do not score a sample that small. Roundtable and news formats yield far fewer direct exchanges than interviews.

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 19,242 words across 10 episodes of raw-level tape, transcribed verbatim with every um and uh kept, each one attributed only where the alignment onto our timed stream is unambiguous. These are measurements of speaking style. We do not rank them: across this corpus, fluency and argument quality are nearly uncorrelated (ρ≈0.2), and smooth talking does not signal clear thinking. How it's measured →

Everything David Ulevitch said on the a16z Podcast that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Contradicted
Ulevitch: Taiwan is seven days from a blackout under a Chinese blockade
“This is an island country. That is, you know, seven days away from a total energy block, blackout if they get an oil and gas blockade from China so that they can't bring in ships to deliver oil and fuel.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 28:13 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: a16z made history's largest bet on US winning next tech century
“We have placed the largest bet in American history on the proposition that this country will win the next century of technology.”
David Ulevitch May 8, 2026 ▶ 26:30 Ben Horowitz on American Dynamism and the Future of AI | The a16z Show
Assertion Partly supported
Ulevitch: Project Maven Was Used During Afghanistan Evacuation
“Project Maven was used to make sure that we didn't leave anyone behind in Afghanistan.”
David Ulevitch Mar 13, 2026 ▶ 18:57 Emil Michael: The Department of War Is Moving Faster Than Silicon Valley on AI | The a16z Show
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Exquisite Military Platforms Will Not Win Future Wars
“I think the war in Ukraine really put a very, very bright light On how our exquisite large platforms are not gonna be the platforms for the fight of the future.”
David Ulevitch Nov 19, 2025 ▶ 37:23 Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen: Why Silicon Valley Turned Against Defense (And How We're Fixing It)
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Surge in European Defense Spend Will Largely Flow to US
“And that spend is ultimately gonna go, there aren't enough incumbents in Europe to have all that money go to companies in Europe. So it's a huge opportunity for their strongest ally, which is the United States, for the companies here to actually go and increas…”
David Ulevitch Nov 19, 2025 ▶ 39:09 Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen: Why Silicon Valley Turned Against Defense (And How We're Fixing It)
Disclosure
Ulevitch: Three a16z Portfolio Companies Are on China's Sanctions List
“We have three companies now that are on China's unreliable entities list, which is an amazingly named list but they're forbidden now from buying batteries from China.”
David Ulevitch Nov 19, 2025 ▶ 1:09:50 Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen: Why Silicon Valley Turned Against Defense (And How We're Fixing It)
Disclosure
Ulevitch: Chinese battery cutoffs have severely impacted a16z portfolio startups
“Being cut off from being able to buy batteries from China is incredibly punitive to a company, and we've certainly seen that happen with some of our startups, and then they have to go, you know, then you find out quickly that the ability to procure and source …”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 13:19 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Society is underestimating long-term electricity demand for AI compute
“And so, I do think that compute is gonna just, I think we actually probably are underestimating the amount of compute that we're gonna soak up over the, with electricity over the next, you know, 10, 2030, 4050 years.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 20:42 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Assertion Contradicted
Ulevitch: One third of global wind turbines are out of service
“I think I read that globally, one third of all wind turbines are out of service at any given time.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 23:27 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Assertion Supported
Ulevitch: Almost all spent nuclear fuel can be recycled and reused
“We should stop calling the spent fuel nuclear waste, because it's really not waste. Almost all of it can be recycled and reused.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 29:18 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: AI will collapse regulatory permitting times from months to minutes
“AI can just automate all these things that take armies of consultants, You know, months or years to do can be, you know, brought down into being minutes or hours.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 42:51 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: China is sole nuclear reactor bidder in market US cannot enter
“Right now for instance, there's a country that, that very much would like nuclear reactors for energy in the US is not allowed to sell into that country, and currently the only other country bidding on a reactor is China.”
David Ulevitch Mar 18, 2024 ▶ 46:32 A Nuclear Comeback: Are New Reactors the Answer?
Opinion
Ulevitch: Global stability depends on America maintaining its technology dominance
“If America loses its technology edge and its dominance, the entire world will lose as well.”
David Ulevitch May 8, 2026 ▶ 0:32 Ben Horowitz on American Dynamism and the Future of AI | The a16z Show
Assertion Partly supported
Ulevitch: Chinese sanctions blocked drone maker Skydio from critical supply chain components
“We work with a company called Skydio, and they were sanctioned by China, and, ah, you know, we usually hear stories about how companies are, you know, sanctioned by the United States from doing business here, but it actually, if you're a company that's an impo…”
David Ulevitch Mar 13, 2026 ▶ 4:44 Emil Michael: The Department of War Is Moving Faster Than Silicon Valley on AI | The a16z Show
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Project Maven controversy sparked the American Dynamism movement
“The Google Project Maven moment in 2018 in many ways as a galvanizing moment to actually wake up a lot of founders and builders and say, hey, wait a minute. I actually do want the government to have the best technology and best capabilities. I do want to build…”
David Ulevitch Mar 13, 2026 ▶ 18:28 Emil Michael: The Department of War Is Moving Faster Than Silicon Valley on AI | The a16z Show
Prediction Held up
Ulevitch: a16z Will Shift Defense Investments Into Mining and Supply Chains
“I think as you look to the future, I mean, everyone has their own view of what the future will look like for American dynamism, but I think we, you'll see us increasingly shift left. That's why we look at minerals and we look at critical, critical minerals and…”
David Ulevitch Nov 19, 2025 ▶ 40:58 Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen: Why Silicon Valley Turned Against Defense (And How We're Fixing It)
Opinion
Ulevitch: National security is impossible without a reliable electrical grid
“There is no safety, there is no national defense, there is no national security without a reliable electrical grid.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 48:31 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Future grids will co-locate power generation, transmission, and storage
“The energy grid and electrical grid of the future, it's not just going to be the dichotomy of generation, transmission, and storage, but as Aaron brought up, like, you might do all three of those things in the same place and not have to worry about how... How …”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 9:35 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Assertion Partly supported
Ulevitch: Meta contracted nearly all power from Constellation's reactivated nuclear reactor
“I mean, I think that Constellation just turned up a new nuclear reactor, or is reactivating a reactor, and I think Meta immediately sucked up all of the power that they're going to generate, or nine 10th of it, or something from the new Constellation reactor t…”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 20:24 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Assertion Supported
Ulevitch: U.S. military spends up to $400 per gallon delivering remote fuel
“We've read reports that they spend well over 200 dollars a gallon at times, sometimes after 400 dollars a gallon for diesel, effectively, to get diesel into the right place at the right time.”
David Ulevitch Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 32:41 America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid
Opinion
Ulevitch: Rival VCs who shunned defense for China are jumping in late
“Other firms, you know, were investing in China and had all this other activity and, you know, now they might be a little bit Johnny come lately and like excited about defense, but they used to say no way to defense, no way to those things”
David Ulevitch Apr 23, 2025 ▶ 12:35 Ben Horowitz on Leadership and Culture
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Rival VC firms invent terms to avoid saying 'American Dynamism'
“We have competitors at other venture firms that go to just incredible, incredible lengths to come up with alternative phrasing to not say American dynamism, you know, industrial revolution, resilience.”
David Ulevitch Mar 17, 2025 ▶ 7:16 Why American Dynamism Is Just Getting Started
Insight
Ulevitch: Commercializing nuclear energy involves minimal underlying scientific risk
“There's no scientific risk. Like, with nuclear energy, that's another important thing, is we invest in all kinds of things. There's no scientific risk with nuclear energy or minimal, like, we know how it works. The science has understood.”
David Ulevitch Mar 18, 2024 ▶ 21:32 A Nuclear Comeback: Are New Reactors the Answer?
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ulevitch: Marginalized community leaders are top advocates for Flock Safety
“Some of the biggest advocates for flock safety in communities with high crime rates are those community leaders from more marginalized communities.”
David Ulevitch Feb 8, 2024 ▶ 16:42 Drones, Data, and Deterrence: Technology's Role in Public Safety

Show 24statements(27 left)

The other half of the tape: David Ulevitch's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 8 times in 5 episodes on the a16z Podcast. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Chris Power 3Ben Horowitz 2Philip Buckendorf 1Palmer Luckey 1Adena Hefets 1

Statements about David Ulevitch, by other people (1)

Assertion Partly supported
Ulevitch: Early American Dynamism startups emerged after Google left Project Maven
“You know, even in some of the origins where some of the AD companies started, it was after Google bailed out of Project Maven, and people in Silicon Valley were really trying to figure out what was important, how do I want to spend my time, and that, that, tho…”
David Ulevitch (Dee) Mar 17, 2025 ▶ 3:36 Why American Dynamism Is Just Getting Started

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
003263202320242025episodesmentions
023202320242025episodes it came up in
0011.523202320242025episodesmentions per episode
2025 6 mentions in 3 episodes 2 per episode
2023 2 mentions in 2 episodes 1 per episode

Appearances (12)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
How Founders Can Build for Law Enforcement and First Responders | The a16z Show May 18, 2026 3m
Ben Horowitz on American Dynamism and the Future of AI | The a16z Show May 8, 2026 7m
Emil Michael: The Department of War Is Moving Faster Than Silicon Valley on AI | The a16z Mar 13, 2026 7m
Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen: Why Silicon Valley Turned Against Defense (And How We're F Nov 19, 2025 15m
America's Energy Problem: We Need A New Grid Jul 16, 2025 16m
Ben Horowitz on Leadership and Culture Apr 23, 2025 6m
Why American Dynamism Is Just Getting Started Mar 17, 2025 1m
A Nuclear Comeback: Are New Reactors the Answer? Mar 18, 2024 12m
Sharks Never Stop Swimming: A Conversation with Mark Cuban Mar 5, 2024 4m
Drones, Data, and Deterrence: Technology's Role in Public Safety Feb 8, 2024 5m
Disrupting the World's Largest Asset Class with Adam Neumann Feb 6, 2023 4m
Intro to American Dynamism Feb 6, 2023 1m

Played on the show (1)

Episodes where a recording of David Ulevitch was played rather than David taking part, or where the tape carries an address with nobody putting questions to them. Listed because the words are on the record, kept out of every score on this page because they were not said on this show. We read this off the tape: who was spoken to, who was asked something, who answered whom.

EpisodeDateOn tapeWhat it is
We Don't All Need to Learn to Code Jan 9, 2020 14m aired address
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