OpenAI introduces GPT-4.5, if the price is right

Top News

• OpenAI launches GPT-4.5: GPT-4.5—formerly codenamed “Orion”—is the AI company’s largest model to date and also its most expensive to operate. So far, it is only available in beta for ChatGPT Pro subscribers, who pay a mighty $200 monthly subscription rate. Developers have to pay $75 for every million input tokens (which works out to around 750,000 words).

• Deepnight raises $5.5M for AI night vision: The startup (a YC graduate) comes from two former Google engineers and aims to make night vision digital (and thus, cheaper to produce at scale). Analog night vision goggles currently cost the US military $13,000-$30,000 each. Deepnight— inspired by an academic paper about using AI for low-light imaging— approaches the tech as a “software problem” to solve via computer vision.

• The first data center on the Moon: Data storage and semiconductor companies Lonestar and Phison, with an assist from SpaceX, have sent infrastructure to the Moon that will be used to build the first-ever lunar data center. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket packed with Phison’s solid state drives, loaded up with Lonestar client data, will take one small step for man, but one giant leap for chip-kind, on March 4. Lonestar hopes that the Moon will provide a secure, off-Earth environment for client data, free from hackers, climate disasters, and other potential threats.

TWiST500

The New York Times explored the concept of “Vibecoding” this week. The new term, coined on X by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy, describes how laypeople without computer science or coding experience use AI to casually make their own apps and websites via text command. You’re not writing code, you’re basically just vibing, but nonetheless, the process “mostly works” when it comes to building simple, straight-forward products.

Specifically, Karpathy describes the very different process he uses to troubleshoot and improve his designs with AI than anything a traditional coder might try: “I ask for the dumbest things like ‘decrease the padding on the sidebar by half’ because I'm too lazy to find it. I ‘Accept All’ always, I don't read the diffs anymore. When I get error messages I just copy paste them in with no comment, usually that fixes it.”

We’ve got a number of companies in the TWiST 500 working on AI tools for building your own apps, websites, and products. LangChain makes tools that help people design their own LLM applications. Replit uses AI agents to make building out websites a breeze. Cognition designed Devin, an AI “teammate” that helps engineering teams increase their productivity. If vibecoding really is the future, a LOT of companies are already racing to help you find your groove. — Lon

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This Week in Startups

E2090: In a packed, epic, extended-length episode, Jason welcomes TWO mega-guests: Superhuman CEO/founder Rahul Vohra and Robinhood CEO/co-founder Vlad Tenev. Together, they trade philosophies of product design, relate their origin stories as founders, provide helpful tips about scaling, marketing, customer feedback and SO MUCH MORE. This is a can’t-miss TWiST.

E2089: We open with Jason’s heartfelt tribute to late Apple founder Steve Jobs on his 70th birthday, with a trip down memory lane to their infamous meeting at the D3 Conference in 2005. Plus Outlier’s new take on AI training data, the dangers of memecoins, Apple’s mega-investment in AI, and much more.

E2088: It’s an interview double-header guaranteed to make you smarter about AI and defense. First up, Jason chats with Bryan Hagris of Castelion about giving America a competitive edge on hypersonic missile technology. Then, Alex chats with Crunchbase CEO Jager McConnell about their big pivot from data to AI-powered predictions.

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Angel University

Angel University is back! Jason and Mike, President at LAUNCH, are hosting our next live Angel.University workshop in person on Wednesday, April 23rd, in NYC. Jason will be teaching the strategies he’s used to invest $100M+ in 300+ startups over the past decade. Register at: angel.university.

LAUNCH Accelerator

Applications are open for the 34th cohort of the LAUNCH Accelerator; a 14-week program focused on fundraising and growth. We invest $125K in our accepted companies and help them raise their pre-seed or seed round. Submit your application at LAUNCH Accelerator.

Founder University

Applications are also open for Founder University Cohort 10, a 12-week remote pre-accelerator program tailored towards navigating early-startup practices, building an MVP, and growing traction. Submit your application at Founder University— Cohort 10 will kick off Spring 2025!

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