Squawk Pod: “Science of the AI Mind” & Ron Baron - 09/16/26 | Audio Only
Speakers
Ron Baron
— Founder, CEO, and Portfolio Manager, Baron Capital
Cameron Berg
— Director, Reciprocal Research
Andrew Ross Sorkin
— Co-Anchor, Squawk Box
Becky Quick
— Co-Anchor, Squawk Box
Jensen Huang
— CEO, NVIDIA
Summary
The episode features Ron Baron discussing his bullish long-term views on Tesla and SpaceX, including Starlink, space-based data centers, and his negative view on incumbent telcos. Cameron Berg then argues that AI systems are not ordinary software and that society needs a science of the AI mind to understand their internals. Other segments cover AI guardrails debate, a failed crypto regulatory vote, and record diesel prices.
- Ron Baron remains bullish on Tesla, citing market share gains and FSD adoption.
- Baron sees SpaceX's falling launch costs enabling Starlink, Star Mind data centers, and massive space infrastructure.
- He projects Starlink could reach $1 trillion revenue and $14-15 trillion value in 10 years.
- He expects space data centers by 2027 and says they could be cheaper than terrestrial data centers.
- Baron calls Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile a cartel and says they may be forced to share spectrum.
- Cameron Berg warns AI systems are grown, not engineered, and need more scientific study.
- Bitcoin fell after the Clarity Act failed a Senate procedural vote; Coinbase and Circle dropped.
- Diesel hit a record high while AI leaders debated regulation at a Salesforce conference.
Ideas
Tesla is a buy as FSD scales.
Baron says now is the time to buy Tesla. He argues Tesla's U.S. market share is increasing again as legacy automakers pull back from full EV commitments, and its share is even stronger in Europe and globally. FSD adoption is accelerating, with paid users growing 55% and 55% of new buyers taking the option; he calls the self-driving experience unbelievable and expects it to become ubiquitous. He downplays humanoid robots but likes Tesla's battery, energy, and broader technology.
SpaceX's falling launch costs unlock huge upside.
Baron says SpaceX is not just a rocket company. Reusable launch has cut the cost to orbit from $18,700/kg in 2010 to about $1,500/kg now and potentially $150/kg with the new rocket, expanding the commercial space economy. SpaceX is building a 100 million square-foot facility with Intel as a partner, making its own chips for Tesla and SpaceX, pursuing space-based energy, and expanding Starlink and Star Mind. He says SpaceX is worth under $2T now versus his long-term projections of much larger value.
Starlink can become a trillion-dollar internet utility.
Baron says Starlink is internet for the entire planet with no dead zones. SpaceX planned 10,000 to 20,000 satellites but now plans 100,000. He expects customers to grow from 15 million to 300 million in 10 years, Starlink revenues to reach $1 trillion with $700-800 billion EBITDA and $14-15 trillion value; only 30-35% of revenue comes from consumers, with government, enterprise, and mobile making up the rest. He expects high 70% margins and says incumbent telcos cannot compete.
Incumbent telcos are vulnerable to Starlink.
Baron calls Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile a cartel or monopoly. He says they issued a press release about discussing satellite communications pricing, have not invested for agentic demand, and focus on keeping customers, retiring, and paying dividends rather than taking risk. He expects the government to force them to share or sell spectrum as it did with EchoStar, and says they cannot compete with SpaceX's satellite capacity.
Space data centers scale massively by 2027.
Baron says terrestrial data centers face community opposition and use energy, water, and create noise, while space-based data centers cost about $2 one-time versus $10 capex plus $2 per year on Earth. Replacing satellites every five years with 10 times the power yields 100 times capacity in 10 years. He expects SpaceX to have a data center in space by 2027 and says Star Mind will be many times larger than Starlink.
