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Jason Calacanis

Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.

This Week in Startups

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Deel - deel.com/twist

Grasshopper Bank - grasshopper.bank/twist

Render - render.com/twist

Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist

An AI “holding company” rebuilt dozens of YC Winter ‘26 startups in one weekend. Now we’re bringing the founder responsible into Jason’s Courtroom to defend himself.

PLUS a live demo of Boardy, the AI that acts like a virtual board member and makes crucial introductions. Find out why he gets to have so much agency, how creator Andrew D’Souza used him to raise his own $17 million round, and how this company ever plans to actually make money.

Plus Jason celebrates Apple’s 50th anniversary with a fiery rant about milking the ghost of Steve Jobs… Why OpenAI is acquiring a tech podcast… Jason’s favorite weighted vest for rucking… AND Lon’s Off Duty weekend streaming picks.

Guests

Marik Hazan:⁠ https://x.com/MarikHazan⁠

Feltsense:⁠ https://feltsense.com/⁠

Andrew D’Souza:⁠ https://x.com/andrewdsouza⁠

Boardy:⁠ https://www.boardy.ai/⁠

Timestamps:

0:00 Jason's direction for TWiST and thoughts on legacy media

5:14 Marik of Feltsense joins the show

6:10 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

7:10 Marik's viral YC replicator stunt

9:45 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

20:39 Grasshopper bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.

21:33 Feltsense founder goes on trial!

25:26 Jason dunks on Bank of America's app

27:59 TBPN acquired by OpenAI

29:28 The All In Podcast is worth $1B!

30:13 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.

33:02 Andrew D'Souza joins the show along with his agent, Boardy!

43:17 So how does Boardy make money?

48:32 Lon is becoming more and more "AI-pilled."

50:41 Tactical/ practical: "If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine." -Jim Barskdale, former CEO of Netscape

1:01:00 Tactical/ practical: hire a PR firm to report on your competitors' wrongdoings.

1:02:58 Jason calls out Apple for being DISGRAZIAD!

1:15:09 Lon's TV pick of the week: "Something Very Bad is Going to Happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMc_pWm7G7o

1:19:52 Become an Angel Investor at https://thesyndicate.com/

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:⁠ https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com⁠

Check out the TWIST500:⁠ https://www.twist500.com⁠

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:⁠ https://rb.gy/v19fcp⁠

Follow Lon:

X:⁠ https://x.com/lons⁠

Follow Alex:

X:⁠ https://x.com/alex⁠

LinkedIn:⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm⁠

Follow Jason:

X:⁠ https://twitter.com/Jason⁠

LinkedIn:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis⁠

Check out all our partner offers:⁠ https://partners.launch.co/⁠

Great TWIST interviews:⁠ Will Guidara,⁠⁠ Eoghan McCabe⁠,⁠ Steve Huffman⁠,⁠ Brian Chesky⁠,⁠ Bob Moesta,⁠⁠ Aaron Levie⁠,⁠ Sophia Amoruso⁠,⁠ Reid Hoffman⁠,⁠ Frank Slootman⁠,⁠ Billy McFarland⁠

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters:⁠ https://substack.com/@calacanis⁠

Follow TWiST:

Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/TWiStartups⁠

YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin⁠

Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups⁠

TikTok:⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups⁠

Substack:⁠ https://twistartups.substack.com⁠

AI Rebuilt Every YC W26 Startup. Should Founders Be Scared? | E2271

This Week in AI, JCal sits down with three CEOs building the infrastructure, intelligence, and interfaces for the next era of AI: Jeremy Fraenkel (CEO, Fundamental), Victor Riparbelli (CEO, Synthesia), and Nick Harris (CEO, Lightmatter). We break down what's actually happening beneath the AI hype: the data modality LLMs completely missed, why copper is the real bottleneck in AI data centers, OpenAI shutting down Sora, the build vs. buy debate for AI tools, and how close we really are to AGI.

 • AI's Biggest Blind Spot, Tabular Data: LLMs transformed text, images, and code, but 70-80% of enterprise data lives in rows and columns.
 • Copper Can't Keep Up: Nick explains why AI data centers are hitting a wall. GPUs compute faster than they can communicate. Lightmatter's photonic chips push 1.6 terabits per fiber and can 3x training speed.
 • Why OpenAI Killed Sora & Anthropic's Focus is Winning: Victor breaks down why even OpenAI had to learn the lesson of focus, and why Claude Code has every founder talking.
 • Vibe Coding Your Own CRM vs. Buying Salesforce: Jeremy reveals Fundamental built their own internal CRM using vibe coding. The panel debates when building beats buying and when it's a distraction.
 • The Omnipresent CEO: Jason shares how he's using AI agents for root access to Slack, Gmail, and Notion, resurrecting former employees as AI personas, automating SDR workflows, and summarizing employee inboxes while they're on vacation.
 • Are We Already at AGI?: Nick says the rate of progress is a double exponential. Jeremy argues AGI is a moving goalpost. Victor warns of "Future Shock" and societal disruption.

🔗 Learn more about Fundamental: https://fundamental.tech🔗 Learn more about Synthesia: https://www.synthesia.io🔗 Learn more about Lightmatter: https://lightmatter.coThis Week In AI is made possible by:PayPal Open - One Platform for all Business: paypalopen.comTimestamps:00:00 Welcome & intro to Jeremy Fraenkel, Victor Riparbelli, and Nick Harris01:47 What is Fundamental? Large tabular models explained07:01 Victor Riparbelli on Synthesia & why OpenAI killed Sora11:09 Claude Code dominance & the Lightspeed founder retreat12:08 Nick Harris on Lightmatter, photonics & the new Moore's Law14:38 Copper vs. fiber: why AI data centers are hitting a wall18:44 Reinventing video: interactive, real-time, personalized21:32 The economics of a custom AI movie23:55 Why Amazon, Google & Meta are building their own chips28:06 Tables have a bandwidth problem too32:27 When will compute be as cheap as storage?36:10 The future of software: every company gets a custom stack38:06 Vibe coding your own CRM vs. buying Salesforce45:57 Jason's quest for root access to Slack50:18 The omnipresent CEO: Doctor Manhattan meets Jesus CEO52:13 Resurrecting former employees as AI personas53:25 Victor's executive changelog for a 650-person company55:07 Whisper Flow & the Plaud Pin1:00:03 AGI: is it already here?1:03:37 Jeremy: we've only solved half the brain1:06:30 70% of Americans fear AI will impact jobs1:08:47 Future Shock & keeping the rope tight*Mentioned in the show:*

Wisper Flow: https://wisperflow.ai

 • Plaud Pin: https://www.plaud.ai
 • Athena Executive Assistants: https://www.athenawow.com
 • WHOOP: https://www.whoop.com
 • "Future Shock" by Alvin Toffler: https://www.amazon.com/Future-ShockAlvin-Toffler/dp/0394425863
 • Victor on TWiST, E1776: https://youtu.be/jxET4fq_2eA
 • Nick on TWiST, E1787: https://youtu.be/FPW2nnEqfMsSubscribe to This Week in AI on Apple: https://thisweekinai.ai/spotifySubscribe to This Week in AI on Spotify: https://thisweekinai.ai/appleThanks for watching!🤖 If you want to stay ahead of the curve on all things AI, make sure to join our community across all platforms:📩 Get the Weekly Newsletter: https://thisweekinai.ai/📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinAIPodcast📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinaipodcast

How 3 CEOs Use AI to Run $10B in Companies | This Week in AI

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

PaperOS - https://PaperOS.com/twist

Northwest Registered Agent- https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Every.io - https://Every.io

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

Silicon Valley just lined up its biggest liquidity event in years: SpaceX filed confidentially for an IPO that could target a $1.75 trillion valuation — potentially the largest public offering in history. Meanwhile, a new Quinnipiac poll shows that 62% of Americans aren't excited about AI, and 70% think it will destroy their jobs. The disconnect between Sand Hill Road and Main Street has never been wider, and this panel is here to argue about what to do about it.

Jason Calacanis and co-host Alex Wilhelm are joined by Delian Asparouhov, Partner at Founders Fund and co-founder of Varda Space Industries; Salen Churi, General Partner at Trust Ventures, focused on regulated industries and physical infrastructure; and Larsen Jensen, Founder and GP of Harpoon Ventures and former Navy SEAL.

They dig into the SpaceX IPO and what it means for LP liquidity, founder formation, and venture capital's comeback story; the gap between Silicon Valley's AI optimism and public hostility; whether defense tech is in a bubble after $49 billion flooded the sector in 2025; the Marc Andreessen "zero introspection" thesis for founders; America's reindustrialization challenge and the rare earths supply chain crisis; and Artemis’s path to putting boots back on the Moon.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

1:09 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:50 SpaceX files confidentially for IPO: $1.75T valuation, June target

9:00 Will the SpaceX IPO reinvigorate venture capital?

10:25 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io

14:40 Quinnipiac poll: Americans use more AI but trust it less

17:31 AI's PR crisis: Dario vs. Jensen, and who's communicating well

18:02 Jason's "Invest America" proposal: give workers equity stakes

19:55 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

21:39 Larsen: Silicon Valley is walking into the same trap as China offshoring

29:04 PaperOS - Whether you're raising a round, launching a fund, or managing a venture portfolio, PaperOS can unlock simplicity and scale across your empire of capital, contracts, and companies. Claim your $10,000 credit at https://paperos.com/twist

29:50 Polymarket: 24% chance of a federal AI data center moratorium

33:57 Marc Andreessen on zero introspection (David Senra podcast clip)

46:48 Is defense tech in a bubble?

1:10:32 Saronic raises $1.75B for autonomous drone boats

1:25:07 Anthropic vs. OpenAI: where would you put your entire net worth?

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Venture Roundtable: SpaceX IPO, AI's PR Crisis, and the Defense Tech Bubble | E2270

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Quo - https://quo.com/TWiST

LinkedIn Jobs - https://LinkedIn.com/twist

Iru - https://iru.com/twist

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

Google project manager Shubham Saboo is running 6 AI agents on a Mac Mini that handle all of his side business autonomously, from research, to social posts, to newsletters.

He joins Jason and Lon to walk us through his 5-step framework for designing an efficient AI agent team:

Start with one agent and onboard them like a new hire

Stop Googling fixes; just ask your agent how to use it

Put your agents on fixed schedules

Add shared memory so you don’t have to repeat yourself

Let agents run self-reviews and rewrite their own instructions.

Get the walkthrough to put this entire plan into practice on today’s episode. PLUS fresh demos of the “Minecraft”-inspired virtual workspace MoltWorld and AgentMail, which is Gmail for your AI pals, and Jason explains the thinking behind his viral, controversy-stirring “don’t talk to journalists” tweet.

Follow Shubham: https://x.com/Saboo_Shubham_

“How I Built an Autonomous AI Agent Team That Runs 24/7” on X: https://x.com/Saboo_Shubham_/status/2022014147450614038?s=20

Follow Mike: https://x.com/mihalich1988

MoltWorld: https://moltworld.io/

Follow Haakam: https://x.com/haakamaujla

AgentMail: https://www.agentmail.to/

Jason’s post about talking to journalists: https://x.com/Jason/status/2037573025458016659

NYT responds: https://x.com/NYTimesPR/status/2037648223771263082

Translated Japanese tweets: https://x.com/melonneet40/status/2038020624015315289, https://x.com/rambling_28/status/2038041455999246422

Japanese people singing “Country Roads”: https://x.com/harukaawake/status/2038081269830222259

Trailer for “Nuremberg” (now on Netflix in the US): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAy9C-bipY

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:24 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:05 We're Claw-pilled once again; it's an all AI Agent showcase

6:15 Google AI PM Shubham Saboo's Top 5 OpenClaw tips

10:14 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST.

13:26 Tip #1 — Onboard your agent like a new hire

17:31 Tip #2 — Talk to your agents constantly

19:02 Tip #3 — Put your agents on a schedule

19:51 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist.

23:41 Tip #4 — Add cross-agent memory

29:33 Tip #5 — Let your agents self-improve

29:51 Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. TWiST listeners get 20% off when they book a demo at https://iru.com/twist!

34:03 Why Jason says founders should avoid journalists

38:24 How biased IS the New York Times?

47:02 DEMO: Co-founder Mike Nosov shows us MoltWorld

51:14 But what's the utility of this?

1:05:15 DEMO: Haakam Aujla presents AgentMail (YC S25)

1:09:59 How does AgentMail make money?

1:17:03 How Grok Translations are creating cross-cultural dialogue on X

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

The 5-Step Framework for AI Agents That Improve While You Sleep | E2269

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/twist

Circle - http://circle.so/twist

Deel - http://deel.com/twist

Today’s show:

AstroForge is building low-cost, replicable spacecraft to mine platinum group metals from near-Earth asteroids — a $60 billion annual market for materials that are running out on Earth. Founder and CEO Matt Gialich joins the show to talk about the company's ambitious mission, what went wrong on their first two flights, and why Mission 3 could still change everything.

PLUS Sam Dare from Templar stops by to talk about training AI models on a decentralized blockchain, and why it’s so much cheaper and more efficient than the conventional “data center full of GPUs” method. AND a demo of OpenOats from creator Yazin Alirhayim of his open source Granola alternative.

Astroforge: https://www.astroforge.com/

Templar: https://www.tplr.ai/

Epoch AI decentralized training post: https://epoch.ai/gradient-updates/how-far-can-decentralized-training-over-the-internet-scale

OpenOats on Github: https://github.com/yazinsai/OpenOats

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:59 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:05 We aplaud Plaud!

3:18 Astroforge is mining… asteroids?!

6:11 How creating an abundance of Platinum will impact Humanity!

9:56 Wispr Flow: Stop typing. Dictate with Wispr Flow and send clean, final-draft writing in seconds. Visit https://wisprflow.ai/twist to get started for free today.

21:16 Circle: The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan by going to https://circle.so/twist.

22:01 How Astroforge uses capitalism to unlock abundance

24:35 J-Cal subscribed to… A socialist magazine?

26:19 Sam Dare of Templar joins the show!

27:47 What is TAO doing that's uniquely different from Bitcoin

30:15 What is the incentive mechanism that Templar uses?

30:44 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

37:49 How much does it cost to run templar's model?

45:16 Can decentralized training over the internet scale? https://epoch.ai/gradient-updates/how-far-can-decentralized-training-over-the-internet-scale

47:16 Jason addresses his tao investment

48:48 Why brand is the moat for startups

49:47 When will a better, more exciting version of Bitcoin, can come along?

52:20 Yazin of OpenGranola Joins the show

53:36 How OpenGranola has local LLM's taking notes for you and giving you real time insights in your meeting!

1:01:45 Jason's callout for a sidebar that shows all inputs from agents

1:13:50 The economics of the new harry potter series and HBO/ Warner Brothers

1:23:33 Why Jason wants government surveillance on Disney adults…

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

The $60 billion resource hiding in space, and the start trying to mine it (feat. Matt Gialich, Astroforge) | E2268

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Luma AI - https://lumalabs.ai/twist

Every.io - https://every.io

Lemon.io - https://Lemon.io/twistPlaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

What do drug discovery, the creator economy, and AI vision models have in common? In the case of Metanova, Bitcast, and Score, the answer is Bittensor. Yes, each of the three companies leverages the Bittensor network to get more work done, more quickly, in a completely decentralized fashion.

Metanova uses its subnet to run developer competitions to find exciting molecular candidates, parsing through a mountain of possibilities to pluck out the most promising for further investigation.

Bitcast uses its subnet to collect visibility demand from brands, which is served by video creators. The company is focused on the crypto niche to start, but will expand in time to other technology topics.

Score uses its subnet to generate highly performant, specialized vision models, which it then sells to customers through a platform (Manako).

In each case, the Bittensor’s economic engine unlocks global creativity to tackle tasks that were previously time-consuming, fragmented, or expensive to complete. Let’s see how quickly each company can scale and whether startups building on Bittensor can grow faster than their non-decentralized peers.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:19 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:40 What is Bittensor?

7:22 Metanova Labs joins the show

9:28 Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

17:16 How Metanova tackles the multi-billion dollar cost of drug discovery

20:48 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io

30:20 Bitcast joins the show

31:23 Luma AI - Luma builds accessible, professional-grade AI tools for creatives. Try Luma Agents for free at https://lumalabs.ai/twist

32:30 Mining crypto with YouTube

36:48 Why Bitcast is focused on the crypto space to start

39:11 How healthy is the creator economy?

47:26 When will the AI bubble collapse?

53:44 Score joins the show

54:42 How Score will make vision AI more accessible

57:16 VLMs v. LLMs

1:01:14 Demo of the Manako platform

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Bittensor Subnet Could Cut Drug Discovery Costs in HALF | E2267

This Week in AI sneak peak! If you enjoy the episode find us on Spotify, Apple podcasts and YouTube by looking up "This Week in AI" or by going to thisweekinai.ai

This week Jason sat down with Jake Loosararian and Chris Lattner on Episode 6 of This Week in AI. Jake is the CEO and co-founder of Gecko Robotics, a company deploying purpose-built robots and AI for mission-critical infrastructure inspection across energy, defense, and manufacturing. Chris is the CEO and co-founder of Modular, building a universal software layer that lets developers run AI models across Nvidia, AMD, and Apple silicon without being locked into any single hardware vendor.

We explore the GPU shortage, why China's chip smuggling reveals the stakes of the AI cold war, how purpose-built robotics are beating humanoids on ROI, the case for American reindustrialization, and why the next decade could be the best ever for private equity in capital-intensive industries.

Purpose-Built Robots vs. Humanoids: • Jake has been building mission-critical robots for 13 years. He explains why general-purpose humanoids still have too little ROI for industrial use, and why specialized robots that find and fix problems are winning in the field.
The GPU Shortage Is Real: • Chris breaks down why you can't just go buy 100 Blackwell chips today, why Nvidia's Cuda creates massive lock-in, and how Modular is building a unified software layer across all major chip architectures.
Google TPUs Are the Sleeper • : Chris ranks Google as the number one threat to Nvidia's dominance, ahead of Amazon's Trainium and AMD.
China's Chip Smuggling & the AI Cold War: • A Supermicro co-founder allegedly smuggled $2.5B in Nvidia chips to China using fake serial numbers and a hairdryer. 
The Best Decade for Private Equity: • Jake makes the case that capital-intensive, commoditized infrastructure assets: waste-to-energy, water treatment, old power plants will all generate incredible returns.
Self-Driving State of Play • : Chris, a former Tesla Autopilot lead, gives his read on Waymo's lead, Tesla's small Austin pilot, and why the real signal is when Tesla starts filing for fully autonomous permits in California.

Learn more about Gecko Robotics: https://www.geckorobotics.com

Learn more about Modular: https://www.modular.com/

This Week In AI is made possible by:

*PayPalOpen* - One Platform for all Business: paypalopen.com

*Timestamps:*

00:00 Welcome & intro to Jake Lu (Gecko Robotics) and Chris Lattner (Modular)

01:34 Gecko's 13-year journey & the Cantilever platform

05:15 Chris Lattner on Modular: replacing Cuda & unifying AI hardware

11:10 Nvidia lock-in, AMD's Rock & why the software stack is broken

19:49 The GPU shortage: how real is it?

22:13 Who challenges Nvidia? Google TPUs, Amazon Trainium & AMD ranked

28:17 China chip smuggling: $2.5B in Nvidia GPUs & the AI cold war

37:43 Self-driving update: Waymo, Tesla's Austin pilot & Chris's Tesla history

42:20 Figure's humanoid package sorting — real or demo magic?

43:47 The best decade for private equity in capital-intensive assets

51:04 Reindustrialization, the trades boom & making manufacturing cool

58:39 Building tech companies outside Silicon Valley

1:06:46 Breaking news: Brett Adcock launches Hark from Figure

1:10:15 Closing thoughts: grit over hype, customers over valuations

Subscribe to This Week in AI on Apple: https://thisweekinai.ai/spotify

Subscribe to This Week in AI on Spotify: https://thisweekinai.ai/apple

Thanks for watching!

🤖 If you want to stay ahead of the curve on all things AI, make sure to join our community across all platforms:

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$2.5B Chip Heist, The Future of American AI, and Purpose-Built Robots | This Week in AI Ep 6

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Today’s show:

Hustle Fund general partner Elizabeth Yin joined Jason and Alex to discuss how rapid advances in AI have changed the venture capital game, and how the same AI updates are changing how founders build. Founders may need less capital than before, which could reduce their reliance on venture dollars over time.

Ceel founder Ryan Mahdavi joined next to help Jason and Alex dig into the Delve story. Well-funded Delve was publicly criticized for allegedly overselling their compliance tool’s capabilities and not being honest with customers. Delve has responded to the allegations, though Mahdavi said that he had his doubts about the competing startup even before the news story broke.

Next, TWiST invited Brick founder Seg Sheng on to explain his startup’s plan to use a combination of physical hardware and artificial intelligence to help buildings and data centers reduce their energy bills. Given how much juice the AI era demands, Brick could be onto something big.

And to close out the show, Gavin Zaentz and Pranav Ramesh from LeadPoet (Bittensor Subnet 71) to show off their technology (the pair put in motion a lead hunt for Brick while on-air). It’s a packed show with something for everyone. Let’s go!

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:18 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:45 Elizabeth Yin from Hustle Fund on how AI tools have changed her workflow

9:21 How founders use AI to learn how to suck less

10:34 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

13:17 Ryan Mahdavi from Ceel joins to explain the Delve SOC 2 scandal

18:39 Is Silicon Valley's "bend the rules" culture at fault?

20:38 Red and pink flags, and how investors can spot potential fraud

21:41 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist

23:45 How to not do securities fraud: a simple guide

26:50 Ryan asks: How did the company get through diligence?

31:03 Northwest Registered Agent — Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

32:25 Were there early warning signs about issues with Delve?

33:26 On Delve's use of tactical donuts

36:55 What about the Delve board? If there is one?

45:24 Seb Sheng stops by to tell us about how Brick Data saves companies massively on energy costs

49:38 Who are Brick's customers and how much are they paying?

54:16 Lightning Round: A quick history of Brick

56:02 Why Jason is so bullish on $TAO

56:45 Ro.co: Ro's insurance checker will let you know if your coverage includes GLP-1s for FREE. Go to https://Ro.co/Twist for your free insurance check.

1:06:35 How do LeadPoet's "miners" track down the best leads?

1:13:09 How Bittensor subnets map to traditional startup forms

1:17:15 How can agents build up authority if they can't get hired for their first job?

1:21:03 Jason: "I think the game of Bitcoin has ended…"

1:23:22 Why Jason likes to place a bet, then learn

1:24:16 The inherent risks in crypto investment

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Compliance Startup Scandal... Is Delve Guilty? | E2266

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Today’s show:

Zipline founder Keller Cliffton started his company with a simple premise: build automated logistics that serve everyone equally. The only problem? It was literally illegal in the US.

In this live recording from LaunchFest in San Francisco, Keller shares how Zipline went from a 20-person team working on a cow farm in Rwanda to operating the largest commercial autonomous system on Earth. They now complete 130 million autonomous miles with zero accidents, while reducing maternal mortality by 51% in the regions they serve.

PLUS we’ve got Rahul Vohra from Superhuman taking us through his entire founder journey, and discussing with Jason why “difficult” founders are often the smartest investments.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:16 Keller Cliffton starts off the show

3:05 Starting Zipline in Africa

8:40 The magic of sky maps

13:55 Building the drone was just the beginning

15:11 Making a huge difference in maternal mortality

23:48 The threats of Little Evil Jimmy and dogs

29:37 The shift from Rwanda to Dallas

31:14 Netsuite - Get the free business guide Demystifying AI at https://www.netsuite.com/twist

32:28 The moral clarity of the mission

41:17 The challenge of staying focused

46:43 Rahul Vohra of Superhuman joins Jason

49:40 Building Rapportive in Cambridge

51:48 Scaling to millions of users via APIs

1:11:46 How getting acquired made Rahul fearless

1:12:31 The boldness of taking on Gmail

1:22:12 Making everyone pay for the product

1:31:24 Inside the Grammarly-Superhuman deal

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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The Drone Company Everyone Thought Was Illegal (Now Worth $4B+) | E2265

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Today’s show:

We’ve got a treat for you today on TWiST! Jason is live from LAUNCH Fest in San Francisco, where he’s joined by Robinhood founder Vlad Tenev.

The era of AI is here. Robinhood found success in the midst of the last great technological shift. What lessons did Vlad take from this, and how can founders apply these to this next transformative period? What elements are the same and what elements have changed?

Let’s get inside the mind of one of the greatest founders of the last decade!

Timestamps:

0:00 Why Jason runs events like LAUNCH Fest.

3:25 The early days of Jason and Vlad.

5:54 Why getting users before monetizing creates a bigger business.

9:49 Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

11:03 Finding ways to launch a product multiple times.

13:49 How Robinhood identified its initial customers.

20:09 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist.

21:04 Robinhood's "give to get" and waitlist mechanics explained.

25:07 Navigating mistakes that feel existential (they're not!)

27:36 Leaning into negative press.

30:30 Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. TWiST listeners get 20% off when they book a demo at https://iru.com/twist

32:13 Tackling competition in the AI era.

37:20 How Vlad hires and develops talent.

42:16 What is good design in an era of vibe coded slop?

46:46 Vlad's top lessons from the last 10 years.

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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How Robinhood became a $68B company w/ Vlad Tenev

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MetaKovan on financing digital art & buying Beeple’s $69M NFT, plus Clubhouse facing new competition in social audio | E1200

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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