No Priors• Sep 11, 2025• 58mInterview

No Priors Ep. 131 | With Jared Kushner

From No Priors

Jared Kushner•Founder, Affinity Partners

Executive Summary

Jared Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, leverages his geopolitical experience and network to identify undervalued global opportunities and solve complex problems for portfolio companies, exemplified by a 9x return on Israel's Phoenix Holdings.
The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, is emerging as a critical hub for AI development, acting as both a capital source and a 'sandbox' for deploying new technologies in partnership with U.S.
Kushner advocates for a pro-innovation, deregulatory U.S.
policy for AI and energy, arguing that streamlining the permitting process for over 2,000 gigawatts of pending energy projects is critical for supporting AI's growth.
His new venture, BrainCo, co-founded with Elad Gil, focuses on implementing AI in large institutions, successfully reducing a government construction permitting process from months to days with over 90% accuracy.

9 quotes

Concerns Raised

Over-regulation in the U.S. and Europe could stifle AI innovation and cede leadership to other nations.
Significant bottlenecks in the U.S. energy permitting process threaten to constrain the power supply needed for AI data centers.
The complexity of organizational redesign can be a greater barrier to AI adoption than the technology itself.

Opportunities Identified

Leveraging geopolitical insights to invest in undervalued emerging markets with pro-business governments, such as Albania.
Partnering with ambitious Middle Eastern nations (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar) as capital sources and 'sandboxes' for AI development.
Applying AI to solve complex, bureaucratic processes in government and large enterprises, creating significant efficiency gains.
Capitalizing on supply chain near-shoring trends benefiting Mexico.

Key Themes

Geopolitical Arbitrage in Investing

Affinity Partners' core strategy is to apply insights from high-level government experience to the private sector. This involves identifying countries with pro-business leadership and macro tailwinds (e.g., Albania) and connecting global companies to new markets, particularly in the Middle East.

This approach suggests that a deep understanding of international relations and national governance can unlock unique, high-return investment opportunities that are often overlooked by traditional financial analysis.

The Middle East as a Tech and Capital Hub

Key Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are aggressively positioning themselves as central players in the AI revolution. They are not just providing capital but are also offering their domestic markets and government infrastructure as 'sandboxes' for developing and scaling AI applications.

This shift presents a major opportunity for U.S. tech companies to find strategic partners for capital, data, and real-world implementation, potentially accelerating AI development and global deployment.

AI Implementation in Complex Systems

The focus of Kushner's new firm, BrainCo, is on the practical application of AI to streamline entrenched, bureaucratic processes. Their initial success in automating a multi-step government permitting process highlights the potential for AI to create massive efficiency gains in both public and private sector organizations.

Beyond foundational models, the significant near-term value in AI lies in implementation and process re-engineering. Companies that can navigate complex organizational structures to deploy AI solutions will capture substantial market share.

The Critical Role of Pro-Innovation Policy

Kushner argues that U.S. leadership in AI hinges on a favorable regulatory environment. He contrasts the U.S. approach with Europe's, which he claims stifles innovation, and emphasizes that unlocking domestic energy production through deregulation is a prerequisite for meeting AI's massive power demands.

Future growth in the tech and energy sectors is heavily dependent on government policy. Regulatory bottlenecks, particularly in energy permitting, are a primary constraint on the physical build-out required to support the AI boom.

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Topics

Geopolitical Investing Private Equity Affinity Partners Jared Kushner AI Policy Deregulation Energy Permitting Middle East Investment Abraham Accords Saudi Arabia UAE BrainCo AI Implementation Government Technology Supply Chain Near-shoring

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