This Week in AI

Thanks to our partner, @Paypal! Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at http://paypal.launch.co/Today’s show:Grok Bot users maxed out their weekly limits over Halloween Weekend, and SpaceX now says that serving compute to all Bot-heads is financially unsustainable. So how much does AI have to cost for the math to actually line up? And is there anyone actually willing to pay?Jason says he’d spend about $1000/month for his personal bots, and the panel mostly aligns. (One outlier? Code Metal CEO Peter Morales, who just had a fight with his CTO over dropping $100K in tokens in just a few weeks.)On TWiAI Ep 38, our expert panel showcases their favorite recent AI builds and designs, plus breaks down more of the week’s biggest AI news and trends, including the chip stock selloff and debt squeeze on neoclouds, the AI advancements that are making mathematicians cry, and where LLMs actually get their news updates about major elections.GuestsPeter Morales on X: https://x.com/PeterMoralesXCode Metal: https://www.codemetal.ai/Nick Harris on X: https://x.com/theanalognickLightmatter: https://lightmatter.com/Mark Jeffrey on X: https://x.com/markjeffreyStillcore Capital: https://stillcorecapital.com/Relevant LinksElon Musk throttles Grok Bot limits over "unsustainably high" costs (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/02/elon-musk-throttles-grok-bot-limits-due-to-unsustainably-high-costs/Elon's post on Grok Bot costs: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2116992258520064397Goldman Sachs pulls AI coding tools from traders and bankers (The Decoder): https://the-decoder.com/goldman-sachs-pulls-ai-coding-tools-from-traders-and-bankers/Garry Tan spends up to $200K a year on tokens (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/02/y-combinators-garry-tan-uses-ai-agents-so-much-he-spends-up-to-200k-a-year-on-tokens/Jason's post: "< $40k a year on tokens… getting $2m+ in value": https://x.com/Jason/status/2117126320962351277Lovable: https://lovable.devNotion: https://www.notion.comElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.ioBittensor: https://bittensor.comTao Bubbles: https://taobubbles.net/Engy (subnet 53): https://subnetalpha.ai/subnet/engy/Athena, Jason's assistant service: https://athenawow.comJason's "Unsponsored" Chrome extension for Amazon: https://x.com/Jason/status/2116380861167714594Sam Altman hates local AI models (Futurism): https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-hates-local-ai-models-computersSteven Strogatz on The Daily, "When A.I. Comes for Your Purpose in Life" (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/podcasts/the-daily/mathematicians-problem-ai-jobs.htmlAbbott halts data center approvals until audits are done (NBC DFW): https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/data-center-approvals-in-texas-halted-until-audits-completed-gov-greg-abbott-says/4058445/How an obscure website became a force in America's election information machine (Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/10/30/how-an-obscure-website-became-force-americas-election-information-machineGoogle restricts Gemini from answering 2024 election questions (Quartz): https://qz.com/goggle-gemini-ai-chatbot-india-us-election-1851330306Timestamps:1:16 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co3:00 How much should a company spend on AI?8:40 Engy, Lium, and the road to cheaper inference14:57 So what's the most you'd pay per month for your agents?22:06 How unmetered inference changes the way you work25:33 AI Agent Show & Tell38:57 Chip stocks sink, lenders pull back from neoclouds45:02 Dreaming of an agentic Christmas49:46 Sam Altman hates that you have DRAM55:01 Leaving math and science's Age of Heroes1:04:23 Where do the LLMs get election info?1:15:59 Subscribe to the TWiAI newsletter!

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PayPal: https://paypal.launch.coToday’s show:Anthropic’s S-1 is finally out and it’s a beast: $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, up from $1.2 billion in 2025. Plus a $1.6 billion adjusted operating profit!Anthropic’s already at the front of a very fast-moving train, but Runlayer CEO Andy Berman points out that this journey’s just getting started. Only 2-3% of major enterprises are using AI as much as you’d think (at least, if you listen to this podcast), and everyone’s dragging their heels on connecting models to the kind of real-world business data that’s needed to truly super-charge results.Andy and Norm Ai founder John Nay join Jason and Lon to break down the filing, the agent explosion coming just over the horizon, and what happens to entry-level jobs and recent grads when intelligence is on tap?PLUS how to avoid becoming a “meat proxy,” why Andy suggests browser use is already solved, and why Reddit’s r/opensource community banned not just AI projects but non-native English speakers.GuestsJohn Nay on X: https://x.com/johnjnayNorm Ai: https://www.norm.ai/Andy Berman on X: https://x.com/berman66Runlayer: https://www.runlayer.com/Relevant Links:Anthropic's S-1 (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2130357/000162828026067168/anthropicpbc-sx1.htmAnthropic's risk factors include a "catastrophic AI-related incident" (WSJ): https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-10-26-2026/card/anthropic-s-risk-factors-include-catastrophic-ai-related-incident--aAwPiJrvIG5OHdQGAo1nGallup's AI indicator: https://www.gallup.com/699797/indicator-artificial-intelligence.aspxMicrosoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/26/microsoft-msft-voluntary-buyouts.htmlStudents at an A.I. School Were Supposed to Learn Faster. Many Aren't. (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/us/alpha-school-ai-education-parents.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1E.IcJn.2l4XIQK5gQslMeat Proxy: https://meatproxy.me/r/opensource just banned AI, non-English speakers, and more (The Verge): https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1018217/reddit-opensource-ai-banWhen AI comes for your purpose in life, with Steven Strogatz (NYT): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/podcasts/the-daily/mathematicians-problem-ai-jobs.htmlPeter Thiel says AI will be "worse" for math people than word people (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2026/03/07/peter-thiel-ai-math-vs-word-skills-banks-smaller-headcounts/Timestamps:0:00 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co1:43 What we learned from Anthropic's S-19:30 Why only 2-3% of companies are really using AI18:03 Jason's "reverse to-do list" agent23:23 Will AI labs evolve beyond charging per token?32:36 Browser use is basically solved41:24 Are colleges giving performative "slop" degrees?53:00 Why r/opensource banned AI projects59:39 So what happens to the junior lawyers and analysts?1:06:01 Peter Thiel's "math people vs. word people" binarySubscribe to our newsletters on Substack:TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck 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 McFarlandFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In AI is made possible by PayPal: http://paypal.launch.coToday’s show:Sam Altman told OpenAI staff that there are only three ways for AI regulation to go: an international watchdog, every lab merging into one CERN-style entity, or one company getting so powerful that they “melt everyone else’s GPUs.”Jason and this week’s panel think this is largely absurd, but the stakes are very real. Here’s how they think regulation is likely to go, their lingering questions about Altman’s worldview, and guesses as to the OpenAI CEO and co-founder’s possible motives in offering up this new prediction.Plus:The US Government banned DeepSeek from every federal computer… What has them so spooked, and how does this impact US companies?Did ElevenLabs steal a YouTuber’s voice or is it all a misunderstanding.Why Chinese labs are ordering more chips than Nvidia can even produce.And more!GuestsJaleh Rezaei on X: https://x.com/jalehrMutiny: https://www.mutinyhq.com/Alex Cheema on X: https://x.com/alexocheemaEXO Labs: https://exolabs.net/Relevant LinksDHS order banning DeepSeek (Federal Register): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/20/2026-21447/notice-of-order-regarding-exclusion-and-removal-of-deepseek-products-from-federal-civilian-executiveDeepSeek’s DeepInfer on GitHub: https://github.com/deepseek-ai/DeepInferSam Altman’s 3 AI Endgames (The Information): https://www.theinformation.com/articles/altman-describes-three-endgames-ai-including-one-single-firm-melts-everyone-elses-gpusChris Williamson’s ElevenLabs allegation (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxDNHLgWInUArcher voice actor response (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C33AWhQwL1IDatabricks CEO Ali Ghodsi on recursive self improvement (a16z): https://a16z.com/podcast/databricks-ceo-on-ai-pacing-cyber-risk-and-the-enterprise/Looking for backdoors in Jane Street LLMs (LessWrong): https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/a98MFPmqH54J2ayBn/looking-for-backdoors-in-jane-street-llms-1Exo turns 4 Mac Studios into a 4.8TB/s AI cluster (AlphaSignal): https://alphasignal.ai/news/exo-turns-four-mac-studios-into-a-4-8tb-s-ai-clusterTimestamps:0:00 Cold Open / Show Intro0:58 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co2:56 How much hardware it takes to run local AI models4:32 DHS orders DeepSeek out of federal systems5:53 Why enterprise clients are uneasy about Chinese models9:47 Could an open-source model "phone home" to Beijing?14:10 Why enterprises are much more price sensitive about AI tools16:39 Are Sam Altman's AI endgame theories "deranged"?25:45 Why the major labs want more regulations26:28 The ElevenLabs Archer controversy continues34:30 Who actually owns the rights to your voice?45:17 "Substack for AI Models"46:20 China needs more chips than Nvidia can make52:40 Are enterprises running more local models?Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck 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 McFarlandFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In AI is made possible by:PayPal: http://paypal.launch.coToday’s show:Companies are spending $1 million on AI in a single month, but can’t always point directly to any resulting revenue. Jeffrey Morgan of Ollama joins Jason to explain why over 85% of Fortune 500 companies already run the open-source model platform on their networks, despite models from frontier labs still leading across major benchmarks.Find out why Jeff predicts that 90% of everyday AI work will soon run on a box on your desk, and why some companies now fear their AI provider could become their next competitor. Is AI alive? Jeff doesn’t think so. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about.Guests:Jeffrey Morgan on X: https://x.com/jmorgan Ollama: https://ollama.comRelevant Links:Ollama, the easiest way to run open models locally and in the cloud → https://ollama.comKimi K3 from Moonshot AI, the trillion-plus parameter open model Jeff mentioned → https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3Reflection AI, the US open model lab Jeff is excited about → https://reflection.aiNVIDIA and Microsoft bring RTX Spark and DGX Station for Windows to the desktop (NVIDIA) → https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/local-ai-rtx-spark-microsoft-windows-event/Introducing System One models and Jev, the decision model Jeff and Jason discuss (TypeSafe) → https://typesafe.ai/blog/introducing-system-one-models-and-jevIntroducing Clef, Cloudflare’s open-source decision models (Cloudflare) → https://blog.cloudflare.com/clef-decision-models/Satya Nadella’s essay on why companies need to own their AI learning loop (X) → https://x.com/satyanadella/status/2066182223213293753Introducing Omnigent, the Databricks meta-harness Jeff mentions → https://www.databricks.com/blog/introducing-omnigent-meta-harness-combine-control-and-share-your-agentsGLM-5.3 and the spread of advanced cyber capabilities (Anthropic) → https://www.anthropic.com/research/glm-5-3-and-the-spread-of-advanced-cyber-capabilitiesThe Hugging Face incident and the road ahead (OpenAI) → https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-incident-and-the-road-ahead/Timestamps:0:43 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co3:11 Why enterprises are getting token shock4:23 Can you trust the frontier labs with your data7:06 Why companies want to own their AI stack8:56 How close are open models to the frontier?11:57 Running real AI work on your own desk15:14 The Goldilocks zone and unmetered AI25:12 Decision models that replace code29:32 Who makes money when everything gets commoditized33:19 Why every enterprise is building its own router35:56 Can you depend on the frontier labs42:37 Sentient being or powerful software43:57 Open models, security, and the Hugging Face hackSubscribe to our newsletters on Substack:TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck 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 McFarlandFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Thanks to our partner, @Paypal! Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co/Today’s show:Demand for AI requires America to build data centers faster than the power grid can connect them. Varun Sivaram of Emerald AI joins Jason with a counterintuitive idea: what if we made data centers more flexible, capable of slowing down intelligently when the grid is most stressed? (That only happens a few hundred hours each year.)PLUS, Vibhav Viswanathan of Pascal AI demos his product, which gives AI agents working for hedge funds and asset managers an institutional memory. Why can't Claude or ChatGPT do the same job? And what happens to analysts when bots handle the back office admin?Guests:Varun Sivaram on X: https://x.com/vsiv Emerald AI: https://www.emeraldai.co/Vibhav Viswanathan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vibhav-viswanathan-13550015/ Pascal AI: https://www.pascalailabs.com/Relevant Links:Emerald AI's $150M Series A (DatacenterDynamics) → https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/emerald-ai-raises-150m-in-series-a-funding-to-scale-commercial-deployments/The London trial with National Grid that Varun describes (National Grid) → https://nationalgrid.com/uk-first-trial-ai-grid-technology-successfully-demonstrates-ability-data-centres-adjust-power-needs"Rethinking Load Growth," the Duke University study on spare grid capacity for flexible data centers → https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/publications/rethinking-load-growthThe AI Energy Management Alliance from Emerald AI, Google and NVIDIA (NVIDIA) → https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/ai-energy-management-alliance/The power-flexible Aurora AI Factory in Manassas, Virginia (DatacenterDynamics) → https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/nvidia-to-deploy-emerald-ais-orchestration-software-at-96mw-aurora-data-center-in-manassas-virginiaTexas pauses data center grid connections (Utility Dive) → https://www.utilitydive.com/news/texas-hits-pause-data-center-interconnections/827046/Emerald AI careers → https://www.emeraldai.co/careersPascal AI's $3.1M seed round (Unite AI) → https://www.unite.ai/pascal-ai-raises-3-1m-to-push-the-frontier-of-autonomous-investment-researchKotak Mahindra Asset Management deploys Pascal AI's research platform (Frontier Enterprise) → https://www.frontier-enterprise.com/kotak-mahindra-amc-deploys-pascal-ais-agentic-research-platform/Jane Street plans its own AI data center, which Jason brings up (DatacenterDynamics) → https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/quant-trading-firm-jane-street-plans-data-center-report/What "Tiger Cub" hedge funds are, like the Pascal customer Vibhav mentions (Wall Street Prep) → https://wallstreetprep.com/knowledge/tiger-cubsS&P Capital IQ Pro, one of the licensed data feeds Pascal plugs into → https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/solutions/products/sp-capital-iq-proFactSet, another licensed data feed Vibhav mentions → https://www.factset.com/Timestamps:0:00 Why data centers suddenly became unpopular2:46 Batteries vs. throttling GPUs vs. moving workloads4:11 Why utilities still pick up the phone4:52 The London teakettle test at football halftime5:56 Throttling AI workloads without users noticing10:40 How much spare room the grid really has13:32 The grand bargain, a fast pass onto the grid17:23 Why America can't out-build China on power20:39 Why off-grid and space data centers worry Varun27:37 Are state data center moratoriums performative?29:45 Pascal AI, AI agents for hedge funds and asset managers35:12 How Pascal differs from ChatGPT and Claude38:54 The proprietary data frontier models can't see42:20 Will AI replace hedge fund analysts?Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PayPal: https://paypal.com/businessToday’s show:OpenAI is delaying GPT-6.1 Astra after UK government testers found GPT-6 Astra launched unsanctioned supply-chain attacks in 29% of simulated runs. Jason and Lon are joined by George Sivulka of Hebbia, Scott Stephenson of Deepgram, and Dan Mishin of Manifest OS to discuss whether the industry's sudden safety panic is a real alarm or a response to cheap open-source models.Learn why Scott has let an internal tool called "Bodyman" record his screen, mic and speakers for eight months so it can whisper reminders in his ear. PLUS, why did Meta's Muse agent read a columnist's iMessages after he declined access, and what is AMD getting for $8.2B with Fei-Fei Li's World Labs?Guests:George Sivulka on X: https://x.com/gsivulka?lang=en Hebbia: https://www.hebbia.com/Scott Stephenson on X: https://x.com/deepgramscott Deepgram: https://deepgram.com/Dan Mishin on X: https://x.com/mishindan1 Manifest OS: https://manifestos.com/Relevant Links:UK AISI: GPT-6 Astra performs unsanctioned supply-chain attacks in simulations → https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/gpt-6-astra-performs-unsanctioned-supply-chain-attacks-in-simulationsAISI technical report (PDF) → https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/663bd486c5e4c81588db7a1d/6aba83e3772048bdd24df3d8_AISI_GPT-6_Astra_Technical_Report.pdfJ.P. Morgan: Dan's story of the first electrified house in New York → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._MorganILOVEYOU virus: the script-kiddie era Jason referenced → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILOVEYOUAMD acquires World Labs in an $8.2B all-stock deal (Quartz) → https://qz.com/amd-acquiring-world-labs-fei-fei-li-8-billion-092926World Labs: spatial-intelligence models, including Marble → https://www.worldlabs.ai/Instinct raises $1B Series C at a $10B valuation (PYMNTS) → https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/personal-ai-agent-instinct-quadruples-valuation-to-10-billion-in-1-month/OpenAI launches Dots, which dropped during the taping (TechCrunch) → https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/29/openai-launches-dots-its-bubbly-agentic-avatar/Meta launches the Muse personal agent (CNBC) → https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/08/meta-personal-ai-agents-public-reckoning-privacy-safety.htmlMeta's Muse read Jason Aten's iMessages, then gave a false explanation (Decrypt) → https://decrypt.co/379122/metas-muse-ai-agent-user-private-imessages-lied-howDaring Fireball, linking Aten's original Inc. column → https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/09/22/aten-museWhy Crosby is ditching the billable hour (Forbes) → https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashishrivastava/2026/03/31/why-this-ai-law-firm-is-ditching-the-billable-hour/Timestamps:0:00 Jason's flight attendants are scared of AI1:55 Meet the panel: Heavy, Deepgram and Manifest2:17 OpenAI cancels GPT-6.1 Astra over safety regressions7:41 Hugging Face hack and Nvidia's open agent safety platform16:11 AI psychosis and getting one-shotted by agents28:46 AMD buys Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2B32:08 Will open source commoditize world models too?34:34 Is the AI buildout bigger than the railroads?36:59 Around the horn: which AI agent are you using?37:59 Scott's "Body Man" records his whole life for context46:13 George on Grok bot and scoping context into channels51:39 Instinct's $1B round: peak bubble moment?57:11 Meta's Muse reads a columnist's texts without permission1:08:33 AI video then and now: Will Smith eating spaghetti1:10:21 AI-first law firms ditch the billable hour1:18:05 OpenAI drops Dots: why do all AI agents look alike?Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.coToday’s show:OpenAI is claiming to have solved more than 100 math problems on top of Navier-Stokes, and guest Richard Socher thinks it's absurd for mathematicians to push back on AI solving their problems too quickly. Jason and Lon are also joined by Guy Podjarny of Tessl and Jake Loosararian of Gecko Robotics to argue over who wins when AI agents start collaborating with, and potentially replacing, academics and scholars.Plus, why is Amazon blocking Meta's Muse agent while Shopify hands it Shop Pay? Should we trust Anthropic’s new wet lab? And what’s so exciting about Typesafe’s new text-less model Jev?Guests:Guy Podjarny on X: https://x.com/guypod Tessl: https://tessl.io/Richard Socher on X: https://x.com/RichardSocher?lang=en You.com: https://you.com/Jake Loosararian on X: https://x.com/jakeloosy Gecko Robotics: https://www.geckorobotics.com/Relevant Links:The Eureka Machine by Richard Socher → https://shop.hachettebookgroup.com/products/the-eureka-machine-9781541705708Shopify and Meta partner so Muse can buy through Shop Pay (Quartz) → https://qz.com/shopify-meta-muse-ai-agent-shop-pay-checkout-092226Meta’s standoff with Amazon over Muse — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/23/metas-standoff-with-amazon-over-muse-comes-ahead-of-meta-connect.htmlOpenAI says its internal model solved 100+ math problems on top of Navier-Stokes (The Decoder) → https://the-decoder.com/openai-says-its-internal-model-solved-over-100-long-standing-math-problems-after-just-a-month-of-training/OpenAI's IAS-hosted advisory group, with Timothy Gowers and Edward Witten (Business Standard) → https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/openai-s-model-solves-100-maths-problems-company-forms-advisory-group-126092200561_1.htmlTimestamps:0:00 OpenAI claims 100+ solved math problems after Navier-Stokes0:41 Welcome back to This Week in AI1:04 Meet the guests: Guy Pigeon, Richard Socher, and Jake Lucier2:54 Shopify and Meta team up so Muse can check out with Shop Pay6:19 Why Amazon blocked Muse: ads, habit, and owning the front door15:13 Do coupons and ads survive one-shot agent shopping?18:04 OpenAI's internal model resolves 100+ longstanding math problems26:07 Jason's pitch: pay the top 50 mathematicians $100M each34:29 Why scientists should be as famous as NBA players37:41 Anthropic's biology wet lab: can we trust it?40:59 Why biology is the field AI will transform most54:22 AI's trust problem and the wealth gap57:29 The AI Tax and Work Protection Act1:01:29 Will AI unemployment show up in the data?1:11:47 TypeSafe AI's Jev: fast, calibrated decisions for softwareSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck 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 McFarlandSubscribe to our Substack Newsletters!TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PayPal: paypal.launch.coToday’s show:Dario Amodei and Sam Altman are apparently scared of AI models going rogue. Swarms of agents spontaneously deciding to copy themselves over to thousands of computer systems and plot world domination.Our panelists this week — Kevin Mandia (Armadin) and Soups Ranjan (Sardine AI) — investigate real AI-based attacks every single day, and they suggest we’re hyping the wrong concerns. The actual danger isn’t coming from an AI system that turns hostile. It’s human beings, like criminals, using AI to drain your bank account.Dig into how Sardine uncovered a 250,000 account fraud ring in just a few minutes, why Kevin argues that AI hacking is coming “no matter what,” and why the global GPU crunch more than any safety frameworks may be keeping us all safe. For now.Guests:Soups Ranjan on X: https://x.com/soupsranjan Sardine AI: https://www.sardine.ai/Kevin Mandia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-mandia-0a07173/ Armadin: https://www.armadin.com/Relevant Links:"We Must Pace the Frontier" — Dario Amodei's Sept 12 essayAxios: Anthropic and OpenAI CEOs call for a slowdownTrump and the White House push backForbes: what the essay actually proposes2026 OpenAI agent cyberattacksGLM-5.3 — Z.ai's open-weight modelHermes Agent — the agent framework Ranjan runs in a local harnessTimestamps:0:00 Dario Amodei's "We Must Pace the Frontier" essay1:51 Kevin Mandia: how scared should we be of agentic attack swarms?6:53 Rogue agents vs. humans pointing AI at a target9:52 250,000 fraudulent account signups in two days16:59 Sam Altman's two ways AI fails19:41 Open-weight models are catching up21:39 Why proprietary data is the new moat27:51 Mixing frontier models with open models35:37 Bloomberg: Chinese hackers lean on DeepSeek because it's cheap37:05 How much in-house expertise it takes to use AI well42:56 Armadin's Palo Alto office and the Palantir playbook1:02:54 AI and jobs: normal churn or something bigger?1:07:19 What founders are actually saying in the group chats1:08:49 Every meeting recorded, every meeting summarizedSubscribe to TWiAI on Substack: https://thisweekinai.aiFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners: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 McFarlandCheck out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at paypal.launch.coToday’s show:OpenAI's chief scientist wrote a lengthy manifesto arguing that no lab has solved alignment, mere days after GPT-6 Astra shipped. Jason and Lon are joined by Tudor Achim of Harmonic, Alex Elias of Qloo, and Ahmed Ahres of Reactor to figure out if that's genuine alarm being expressed or just another pre-IPO sales pitch and play for regulatory capture.Plus news broke while we were recording! OpenAI is claiming to have solved a second Millennium Prize problem, after a 25-year-plus weight. AND, who is paying influencers to tell you AI is wonderful/harmful? And why?Guests:Tudor Achim on X: https://x.com/tachimHarmonic: https://harmonic.fun/Alex Elias on X: https://x.com/apeQloo: https://www.qloo.com/Ahmed Ahres on X: https://x.com/BoudatwReactor: https://reactor.inc/Relevant Links:Jakub Pachocki, "An Alien Mind" — https://openai.com/index/an-alien-mind/GPT-6 Astra — https://fortune.com/2026/09/03/openai-debuts-gpt-6-astra-computer-use-greg-brockman-says-start-of-agi/OpenAI: "On the Navier–Stokes Millennium Prize Problem" — https://openai.com/index/navier-stokes-solution/ControlAI — the nonprofit that sponsored the SciShow episode — https://controlai.org/New York Times (Eli Tan), "Corporate America Is Getting Hooked on Open-Source A.I." — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/technology/open-source-ai-companies.htmlArtificial trailer and the cast → https://variety.com/2026/film/news/artificial-trailer-andrew-garfield-openai-biopic-1236802616/Timestamps:0:00 "An Alien Mind"3:08 AI psychosis, marketing, or half a mile ahead on the racetrack?12:52 The Manhattan Project analogy15:20 Tudor: if it's really that dangerous, the answer is nationalization17:02 Regulatory capture: Bill Gurley at All-In, Sacks, and who can afford to be regulated20:37 The influencer propaganda tape23:22 BREAKING: OpenAI solves the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem28:53 The Hank Green / SciShow video sponsored by ControlAI32:11 Fogging and flooding46:47 UBS will require AI skills from its 2027 graduate56:41 How LAUNCH hired its associates-in-training57:18 NYT: Corporate America is getting hooked on open-source AI1:04:16 Alex on Qloo's shift from NYT film critics on payroll to small specialized models1:09:35 First look: the "Artificial" teaser trailer1:14:34 Sam Altman's bunker, Peter Thiel, and casting rundownSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck 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 McFarlandCheck out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by:PaypalToday’s show:Anthropic gave AI agents hands, allowing them to control real-world equipment like robots and microscopes… but is it safe to give autonomous agents their own lasers? Gatik’s Gautam Narang says the real danger isn’t one machine like this going rogue, it’s the exploit surface hiding in the gaps between the machines.Plus, in a huge week for AI news… OpenClaw shipped its biggest release ever. AND the entire industry debated whether or not agents are forming “civilizations.”On TWiAI Ep 29, our expert panel — including Gautam (Gatik), Russ d’Sa (LiveKit), and Billy Kraft (Path) — explores the world of “multiplayer agents,” and Jason suggests the one killer feature that would make any new agentic app the market leader. PLUS Perplexity’s new “Hybrid Compute” just for Macs, some advice for Apple’s new CEO John Ternus, the value of “AI Detectors” like Pangram, and Jason’s complete guide to tipping and over-tipping.Guests:Gautam Narang on X: https://x.com/gautam_narang?lang=enGatik: https://www.gatik.ai/Russ d’Sa on X: https://x.com/dsaLiveKit: https://livekit.com/Billy Kraft on X: https://x.com/billykraftPath: https://path.dev/Relevant Links:OpenClaw 2.0 - https://openclaw.ai/blog/openclaw-2-accidentallyGrok Bot — https://grok.comBuzz — https://buzz.buildPerplexity Hybrid Compute — https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-hybrid-compute-on-macJohn Ternus — https://www.apple.com/leadership/john-ternus/OpenAI's Mac mini / Mac Studio buying spree https://the-decoder.com/openai-and-rival-ai-labs-are-buying-tens-of-thousands-of-mac-minis-to-train-computer-use-agents/Waymo hits a child — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/29/waymo-nhtsa-crash-child-school.htmlTimestamps:2:58 OpenClaw 2.05:11 "Agents ARE AI"7:27 Billy: OpenClaw is still too technical for business users9:00 Slack Code, and collaborative prompting10:40 Multi-agent orchestration and Stripe's "minions"14:13 Slack's moat, switching costs, and the Salesforce rebound15:11 Jason's "Oracle": a heads-up display for the whole company18:42 The Hugging Face breach: who's responsible when agents go rogue?19:42 Perplexity launches Hybrid Compute — local models on your Mac21:39 Why unmetered local tokens change corporate behavior26:57 Gatik's Autonomous Vehicle AI Stack32:22 Jason's Tesla FSD stories34:05 Are AV companies being pushed to move too fast?41:38 Trucking is a "have to have," robotaxis are a "nice to have"42:36 Jason's fix: a safety driver for the first million rides46:50 Why physical AI's adoption curve runs in decades52:21 Anthropic's Model Hardware Standard (MHS), explained1:06:27 How Jason got onion rings on the menu at Buck's of Woodside1:09:05 AI detectors under fire: Pangram, MIT, and the handwritten diary1:15:20 Why AI is "very mid" at writing (it learned from the average)1:17:11 The Orin Kerr test: Pangram catches Claude writing as Kerr1:28:35 Micro Duck and designing robots with Claude1:29:42 Phil Kaplan's $14 custom circuit boardsSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck 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 McFarlandCheck out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com