a16z announced that it has raised over $15 billion in new funds through various strategies, accounting for more than 18% of the total venture capital funding in the U.S. by 2025. It’s not just the sheer number that’s impressive—what’s even more interesting is that these massive funds were raised through multiple strategies, but there’s an overarching theme and strategy behind it. Simply put: prioritizing U.S. interests and ensuring victory in the competition against China. Here’s the original statement: 'Our mission is to ensure the U.S. wins the technological competition of the next century... The ultimate goal is to drive the U.S. government to adopt these technologies to defend and advance U.S. interests... The ecosystem we invest in will be vibrant, innovative, and fiercely competitive with China...' This message is deafening. The era of the classical internet, with its rose-tinted, romantic, and idealistic notion of science and technology transcending borders, should be completely over. In fact, it ended a long time ago.