I love it when an AI Action Plan comes together...

Top News

• White House outlines its AI Action Plan: At the White House, and also a summit co-hosted by our friends at the “All-In Podcast,” President Trump unveiled his long-awaited plan to boost AI development in the US. No surprise, many of the proposals center around limiting regulations while increasing our domestic energy supply. Trump calls not just winning the AI race, but unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance, a “national security imperative for the United States.” To that end, he’s strengthening export controls inhibiting Chinese AI development while threatening to withhold federal funds from states that enact burdensome AI regulations. The plan also instructs the Departments of Labor and Education to assist US workers in developing AI skills and training for the next generation of jobs. It’s among the first hints that the executive branch shares some of Jason’s concerns about AI’s looming impact on the US job market.

• Google’s Ancient Latin translator AI: Google’s DeepMind introduced a new open-source, free-to-use AI model this week named Aeneas. It’s aimed at restoring and properly contextualizing Ancient Roman inscriptions, carvings, and writings that time has destroyed or otherwise rendered impossible-to-read for human eyes. The model works by looking for parallel texts — similar but better-preserved inscriptions from other times or locations — that give the model enough clues to make accurate guesses about missing text or passages. It’s multi-modal as well, equally adept at analyzing text or visual inputs! By Pollux!

• Uber for Her: Uber’s “Women Preferences” feature — which allows lady passengers to specifically request rides from lady drivers — is currently available in around 40 countries, including Brazil, India, and Mexico. The rideshare app announced this week that it’s rolling the feature out (gradually) for US riders, and has planned pilot programs for Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Physical assaults do occasionally happen in Ubers, but on a very tiny fraction of overall rides; 36 were reported between 2021 and 2022, out of 1.8 billion overall trips. That number’s still greater than zero, so it’s understandable that some app users might not want to take the risk. (Fear not, ladies… If it’s taking too long to pair you with a ride, and you get impatient, you can opt out and roll the dice on a man.)

TWiST500

Congrats to TWiST 500 compliance startup and friend of the pod Vanta. They secured a new $150 million funding round, rocketing their valuation up to a beefy $4.15 billion. Newcomers Wellington Management led the round, which also includes prior investors like Goldman Sachs’ Growth Equity, Sequoia Capital, JP Morgan Chase & Co, and David Sacks’ Craft Ventures.

Vanta sells software that helps companies remain compliant with all the various rules and regulations surrounding how they use and store customer data. That’s a significant headache for enterprises in an array of different industries, including tech, financial services, health care, national and local government work, and beyond.

The company plans to use the new funds to expand their range of AI-powered tools and features, including their new Agent that not only leads developers and teams through compliance workflows, but can actually start making needed adjustments and tweaks on their behalf.

Companies are looking to use AI for just any and every task on the agenda, and consumer data-related compliance seems like the lowest of low-hanging fruit. That’s already “homework” that human teams hate doing, and it doesn’t bring in any new revenue or customers like building new products and features might… So why not farm that part out the robots? Makes total sense. – Lon

A message from NetSuite

The business landscape is very chaotic right now. That’s why you need NetSuite, by Oracle. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, download the free e-book “Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders” at netsuite.com/twist.

This Week in Startups

E2155: Alex returns with another three awesome TWiST 500 founder interviews. FIRST, Trey Holterman from Tennr on streamlining the process of seeing a health care specialist. THEN, Gill Verdon tells us about the future of thermodynamic computing and how it could fuel the AI revolution. FINALLY, Tyler Denk from Beehiiv on hitting $20M ARR, maintaining product velocity, and how his newsletter service differs from Substack.

E2154: Jason’s on the road this week, so Alex is doing quick-hit interviews with three of our favorite TWiST 500 founders. First up, John Jeremy Harris of Harbinger Motors shows us how they’re making EV batteries right here in the USA. Then, James Hawkins of PostHog advises us on the benefits of maintaining a low burn rate. Finally, Yoshi Yokokawa of Alpaca HQ swings by to talk about building in a niche category that’s no longer the Valley’s primary obsession.

E2153: On an all-new TWIST, Jason and Alex consider the future of indie publishing, and the growing rivalry between newsletter platforms Substack and Beehiiv. PLUS we’re talking Lovable’s latest raise and what it says about the economics of vibecoding, Uber’s new deal with Lucid and Nuro, AND what is “meme processing”? We’re unpacking Jason’s unified theory of internet humor.

TWiST Partner Offers

• Squarespace: Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to http://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.

• Northwest Registered Agent: Starting your business should be simple. With Northwest Registered Agent, you can form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. From LLCs to trademarks, domains to custom websites, they’ve got you covered. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

• AWS Activate: AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. As you build and scale your business, Activate Credits* grow with you to support your changing needs. Apply to AWS Activate today and receive up to $100,000 in credits. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/credits

  *All AWS Activate Credits are in USD and subject to the AWS Promotional Credit Terms & Conditions.

Founder U is coming to the MENA region!

Our 12-week pre-accelerator—designed to help early-stage founders build and grow—kicks off this fall in Saudi Arabia. The first cohort launches in Riyadh on November 3rd, followed by in-person and virtual sessions throughout the program. Founders in MENA: this is your chance to turn your idea into a business and get world-class insights on building a successful startup. Apply today: https://mena.founder.university/

LAUNCH Accelerator

Our current Accelerator batch is graduating! Watch 11 strong startups pitch to Jason and our investor-judges. We are livestreaming the event on Monday, July 28th at 12:30 PM PT. Register here.

Want to Work for This Week in Startups?

We’re looking to fill two in-person sales positions at our Austin, Texas HQ! First, a high-performing Sales Executive to help us seek out and promote clients, sponsorships, branded content, and more. Plus an experienced Sales Manager to lead, coach, and scale our sales executive team, while setting performance goals. Love the podcast and have B2B sales experience? We want to hear from you!

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details.

The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker.