Tariffs, MCP, and Base Power
The pod is back from their travels and are talking tariffs in the best episode yet. They also breakdown Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), which is a new standard that helps LLMs and applications communicate. Finally, the hosts deep dive into Base Power, which is a hot new energy startup everyone is talking about.First up: Trump’s surprise rollout of “reciprocal” tariffs aren’t actually reciprocal. The hosts debrief the details of the tariffs, the partial reversal, and the math behind the tariff equation, which is allegedly from ChatGPT. The pod gets into how tariffs are impacting international trade, U.S. China relations, and the market (rip the 2024 gains). The hosts also zoom out to contextualize today’s tariffs in comparison to Trump’s first term tariffs and America’s history with tariffs.Next, they get into Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP a standard that was announced in November, but is creating buzz now after OpenAI, GitHub, AWS, and more announced their adoption. They discuss how it works, what it means for agents and tool integration, and how it builds a universal language between LLMs, apps, and data sources. The hosts also talk about the implications of Google’s new Agent to Agent protocol and how it could lead to a company team that’s all AI agents.For the first time ever, there’s a company that would “Get the Check”: Base Power. This Texas based battery startup just raised $200 million from a16z to tackle rising power outages and growing electricity distribution costs. Their strategy is to install home batteries, charge them during low-demand hours, and sell energy back to the grid when demand spikes, capturing a huge spread. Consumers benefit too by staying powered during outages and getting electricity at or below market prices the rest of the time.00:00 Intro 01:33 Trump's tariffs and partial reversal 35:37 Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP)43:52 A16z's $200M check into Base Power
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