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If you don’t have a GW-scale datacenter, are you really in business?

Author

Alex Wilhelm
January 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Top News

  • Meta amps up its AI push: In a series of posts on Threads, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged some $60 to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year to support his company’s AI work. After touting a future 2GW datacenter, Zuck showed using a map how large the new facility would be compared to Manhattan — and he has a point.

  • Satellite internet accelerates: While Starlink continues to improve and mature, Amazon is not giving up the fight. The company’s competing Project Kuiper is getting ready to launch hardware into orbit, a milestone that comes after Blue Origin — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s SpaceX competitor — launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.

  • A Twilio comeback? Shares of the well-known technology company shot higher today after it told investors yesterday that it was expecting greater future profitability than the market expected. Nestled inside its pitch was a note that it has cut staff by around 40% in recent years — underscoring the ‘static team size’ trend that Jason and Alex have covered extensively.

TWiST500

Now, at around 200 companies, the TWiST500 is coming into its own, but we still need to go a bit faster. On our list of possible additions is ElevenLabs, which was going to get put into the group next week. I’m moving that deadline up and adding it today. (We do have its competitor, Synthesia, as part of the TWiST500.)

Why? TechCrunch reports that the company has closed a “Series C of $250 million at a valuation between $3 billion and $3.3 billion.” How did it manage to raise capital so quickly at a higher price after raising 80 million last year? Here’s the key excerpt from the report:

In October, sources told us that ElevenLabs’ annualized recurring revenue (ARR) had grown from $25 million in 2023 to $80 million. Two people in November estimated that its ARR was likely closer to $90 million.

November is now a while ago, so the real number is likely higher. That’s very impressive, in case you needed a bit of analysis. The gist here is that ElevenLabs, which offers voice AI services, is one of a pack of AI-first startups seeing incredibly quick revenue growth. There had been concerns a while back that AI would be all spend, no profit. That doesn’t seem to be the case. —Alex


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This Week in Startups

E2076: Jason and Alex break down Twilio’s team size cuts and what it says about AI’s impact on jobs. They spotlight DeepSeek, a $6M AI startup punching above its weight, and then dive into the wild GameOn fraud saga that has to be heard to be believed. Plus, a look at Meta’s big data center bets, OpenAI’s new Operator feature, and the tough conversations around automation and empathy for workers.

E2075: Alex covers The Stargate Project, other hot news items, and two great interviews. Created By Humans’ Co-founder Trip Adler talks about the future of copyrights and AI. Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder and CEO of Sila, discusses the future of batteries and our clean energy future.

E2074: Jason and Alex kick off the show by discussing tech's growing role in politics, including Gen X's rising influence and the prominence of tech CEOs at major events. They cover key election factors like inflation and abortion rights, dive into COVID origins investigations, and debate immigration policy. The conversation shifts to AI regulation, crypto risks, and how the new administration might shape M&A, antitrust laws, and startups. They wrap up with insights on upcoming tech IPOs and the broader impact of tax policy changes.

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