My heart is an open Moltbook

Top News

• Bots get social on Moltbook: Social media’s favorite AI virtual assistant Clawdbot became Moltbot, but no one liked that name… so now it’s OPENCLAW. Still, back when it was Moltbolt, clever fans created the social media platform Moltbook, where developers — and especially their bots — can get to know one another and share information. The only way to access Moltbook is, you guessed it, teaching your OpenClaw bot a new skill which registered an account. It’s organized like Reddit, and full of genuinely interesting insights and observations for both machines and human beings. And you thought it was just every OTHER social network that was full of bots.

• Granola hits unicorn status: Granola is one of those fast-growing AI productivity apps that helps people stay organized by taking notes on their meetings and providing quick automated summaries. Despite some of the thorny privacy issues (unlike with some of its rivals, it’s not always clear when a Granola bot is listening in on a conversation), Granola has become a favorite of the startup and Silicon Valley scene. So it’s not entirely shocking that the company just closed a new funding round of at least $100 million, at a valuation over $1 billion.

• Poetiq raises $45.8M for “meta system”: The startup, which just emerged from stealth, was founded by former Google DeepMind scientists Shumeet Baluja and Ian Fischer. They’ve developed a system to make large language models (LLMs) faster, more powerful, and cheaper to run. Essentially, their feature sits atop different LLMs and generates specialized agents to complete particularly difficult or time-consuming tasks, with the goal of greater efficiency than the model alone. The thesis: These developments — and an uptick in reasoning ability — will be essential to get large enterprises to up their reliability on AI. The $45.8 million seed round was led by FYRFLY Venture Partners and Surface Ventures.

TWiST 500

A pair of stories from T500 big brothers Anthropic that are simply too important to ignore…

First, the company has made a powerful new enemy… The U.S. military. According to Reuters, the Pentagon has a $200 million contract with the AI giant, but objects to some of the guardrails that have been set up around domestic surveillance and automating weapons.

According to six unnamed sources, negotiations between Anthropic and the Defense Department (or, if you prefer, the Department of War) are “at a standstill.” There are real stakes here beyond just the future of combat and the surveillance state: the debate could cause Anthropic to lose their government contracts in favor of rivals like OpenAI, Google, and xAI. Ahead of a potential Anthropic public offering, the decision to potentially abandon such a lucrative deal, and turn it over to competitors, could have a real impact on the company’s appeal to investors/shareholders and its overall financial future.

IN OTHER, more cheery Anthropic news… they’ve also introduced a Cowork plug-in, making the beloved agent tool even more immediately helpful for enterprise users. After being trained on a company’s “specialized” tasks just once, Cowork can begin automating tasks with the simple push of a button. The tool is designed for customization, with individual employees empowered to essentially design and train their own agents for specific challenges. Anthropic released 11 pre-built plug-ins of its own, but notes that they’re “easy to build, edit, and share” with limited or no coding experience. – Lon

A message from Northwest Registered Agent

Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

This Week in Startups

E2241: It’s our first-ever This Week in Cannabis roundtable, featuring insights from special guests Andrew Duffy (of Sparkplug), Ford Smith (of Ultranative), and Socrates Rosenfeld (of Jane). Together with Jason, they’re talking about the current regulatory environment around cannabis, and how that’s impacting startups… How investors are strategizing around cannabis startup exits… Whether or not cannabis is REALLY that much more potent than your parents’ and grandparents’ stashes… and much more.

E2240: It’s an all-Clawdbot deep dive TWiST. Jason’s back in Austin, and all anyone in American tech can talk about this week is the viral AI assistant, which thousands of developers are already running on newly-purchased dedicated Mac Minis. What is Clawdbot, and how can you put this 24/7 digital employee to work for you? Find out as Jason and Alex talk to the developers and influencers pushing the boundaries of what Clawdbot can accomplish, and writing the skills that are expanding its capabilities in real time.

E2239: It’s another TWiST Tokyo special edition, with our guests Max Weiss of Pacific Bays Capital, and American Medical Intelligence CEO Fred Almeida. We’re talking the future of medical tech, and why Fred thinks you’ll one day soon have an AI general practitioner that knows your history, and sends you out to specialists when you need human intervention and expertise. PLUS how Japan stays at the forefront of tech without being a manufacturing hub, and why so many Americans are willing to take pay cuts to enjoy the Tokyo lifestyle.

TWiST Partner Offers

• Deel: Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit deel.com/twist to learn more.

• LinkedIn Jobs: Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at LinkedIn.com/twist That’s LinkedIn.com/twist. Terms and conditions apply.

• Zite: Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI. Build apps, forms, websites and portals that connect to the tools you already use. Go to zite.com/twist to get started.

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.