How much would you pay for a robot brain?

Top News

• Nuclear stumbles: If you tuned in live to the podcast today, you got a dose of this news already, but it’s tough times out there for nuclear startups. TechCrunch Tim De Chant reports that Meta’s plan to build a data center that could take advantage of nuclear power ran into a rare bee species — a stinging setback, you might say — while Amazon’s plans to scale up a datacenter near a different nuclear reactor is getting jumbled in what De Chant described as a government decision to “deny the expansion of an existing data center power agreement that would have allowed Amazon to connect directly to the power plant.”

• Physical Intelligence raises $400M: The number of startups building humanoid and other forms of robotics tech to automate work and life are myriad. Many are TWiST500 companies. But the hardware is only half the battle. Robotic digital brains are the other half of the puzzle. And there’s a new name in town thanks to Physical Intelligence’s massive fundraise and goal to build a general robotic brain.

• Price hikes at Anthropic: Mostly prices go down. AWS was famous for cutting its prices early in its life. AI models have also seen costs come down, as new generations quickly make their predecessors discount offerings. However, Anthropic is raising the price of its Claude 3.5 Haiku model, as it bests its prior flagship model — Claude 3 Opus — in several respects.

TWiST500

Anthropic’s news would make a good TWiST500 section today, allowing us to go deeper into which AI models are suffering the most, and least price declines both today, and historically.

Instead, however, I want to add Andriul to the TWiST500. Frankly, I thought that we already had. I went to double check after reading news that the company is narrowing down locations for its future manufacturing hub. To my shock, it wasn’t there.

Welcome to the list, Andruil. Why does the company make the cut? Its massive fundraising haul of billions of dollars to date is not what makes it interesting. Instead, it’s the reason behind all that capital. Andruil is making a credible, albeit early challenge, to the hidebound defensetech sector. It’s not only challenging deep-pocketed incumbents, but is doing so at speed.

I don’t need to tell you that the face of warfare is changing, that AI and drones will become key planks of future conflicts, and that old appropriations methods won’t pass muster. Andruil is therefore not merely chasing a wave, it’s doing so as the venture and startup markets themselves become more defensetech-friendly. The potent combination is, I estimate, huge returns in time for its early backers. Onto the list it goes! — Alex

A message from Cloud Devs

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This Week in Startups

E2038: Jason and Alex kick off the show by discussing election security and what the national debt will look like at the end of this next term. They then explore Decart's AI-generated video game and its potential, followed by a deep dive into viral growth strategies for startups and NVIDIA's market dynamics. The episode wraps with insights into Amazon’s nuclear power deal and the regulatory landscape.

E2037: Jason and Alex dive into the latest in automation with Extend Robotics' Dr. Chang Liu, covering robotic grape picking and the future of human-in-the-loop AI. The conversation shifts to building a tech company in the UK, AI's second-order effects, and the impact of remote work on global salary standards. They close with key industry updates, from OpenAI’s new voice features to Google’s impressive earnings, along with Amazon’s growth in AI and AWS.

E2036: Alex sits down with Tosin Eniolorunda to dive into Moniepoint's journey from its origin story to becoming a leading fintech in Africa. They discuss Moniepoint's approach to balancing profitability with venture funding, digitalization's influence on growth, and its ambitious expansion and IPO plans. Tosin, Moniepoint’s founder, also shares insights on fostering early-stage startups and his journey as an angel investor, spotlighting African innovation on the global stage.

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• Squarespace: Turn your idea into a new website! Go to https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

• OpenPhone: Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist⁠

• Lemon.io: Hire pre-vetted remote developers, get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

Angel University

Angel University is just around the corner. It’s a four-hour online workshop with Jason and Mike, President at LAUNCH, where they cover key factors to consider when angel investing. They also provide insights into our investment process at LAUNCH, including the criteria we use when evaluating startups. If you’re interested, you can find more information here. The next workshop is on November 6th.

LAUNCH Cloud Kitchens Incubator

Applications are open for Cohort 2 of the LAUNCH CloudKitchens Incubator (LiCK). We're looking for food entrepreneurs who wish to expand into the ghost kitchen space or tech founders with a team and a great idea. The application and more information can be found at https://ck.launch.co/.

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