DOJ probes a16z over rival AI board seats — why now, and who's next?
The DOJ is quietly probing Andreessen Horowitz for holding board seats at competing AI companies — a conflict most VCs assume is routine and rarely enforced. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, insiders puzzle over why this, of everything, draws a year-long federal investigation. Ben Horowitz sits on Databricks' board; partner Martin Casado on Fivetran's. The real fear: smaller firms get made examples after.