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/