Say hello to Genesis Mission

Top News

• Klarna launches stablecoin: Stripe’s Tempo blockchain is accumulating adherents. Klarna, the Swedish BNPL giant, intends to create its own stablecoin called KlarnaUSD that will launch next year. Built atop Tempo, KlarnaUSD will be used for both regular payments and cross-border transactions, Reuters reports. If Klarna’s stablecoin works out as intended, what’s stopping every major company that deals with cross-border payments from spinning up their own synthetic dollar? Little, which is why Stripe wants to own the underlying blockchain that all those corporate stables run on. Stripe: Very smart.

• Polymarket gets fully-regulated: Prediction market Polymarket has received “an Amended Order of Designation from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” CoinDesk reports, meaning that its path towards operating “as a fully regulated U.S. platform” has been cleared. Polymarket and its arch-rival, Kalshi, have raised massive sums in recent months as investor interest in the consumer-focused betting platforms has taken flight.

• Say hello to Genesis Mission: A new government project aims to make Federal data available to help train science-focused AI, along with “high-performance computing resources.” If you were hoping for greater investment in applying modern AI tools to address scientific questions, this is a significant development. And it helps contextualize the Department of Energy’s recent push into building supercomputers; presumably, those machines will provide some of the computing grit that Genesis Mission entails.

• It’s Demo Day time! Our 35th LAUNCH Accelerator cohort is graduating in two weeks, and we'd love for you to attend their Public Demo Day! It’s taking place on December 8th at 12:30 p.m. PT, and you can register to participate in the online presentation here.

TWiST 500

After last week’s New Model Deluge, you might think that the days before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States would be slow in release terms. Not so. TWiST500 giant Anthropic dropped Claude Opus 4.5 this week, giving AI fanatics something to chew on apart from turkey.

The new Opus model — Anthropic’s family of large models — takes the SWE-bench crown from GPT-5.1-Codex-Max. We’re still waiting for Opus 4.5 to get ranked by LMArena, but its score on various Artificial Analysis charts is impressive. The model is also expensive, far more so than competing offerings from Google and OpenAI.

With this little time since launch, it’s hard to say whether or not Opus 4.5 will pull Google back from its position at the tip of the global AI spear. Still, the American AI market is cooking at incredible speed. Now OpenAI needs to respond, and xAI probably wants to make some more noise, too, each now stuck in the shadow of their rivals.

As an aside, the TWIST500 is now complete at version 1.0, having reached the full count of 500 companies. There’s cleanup work to do, but we’re finally there! Pop the champagne — Alex

A message from Uber AI Solutions

Uber AI Solutions: Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at Uber.com/twist

This Week in Startups

E2214: The team from Familify had released a well-reviewed storytelling app for kids and parents… but it just wasn’t growing! Then they noticed that Bible stories and faith-based content were particularly popular. So, they decided to release a brand-new app, Theo, specifically designed for these types of lessons and stories. And the new product overtook Storybook in just a few weeks! PLUS, we’re chatting with Collin from En Vérité about how AI can make due diligence much less painful for investors AND checking out our latest Gamma Pitch Deck competitor. Find out why Jason says Jake Triton from Pitch Prfct might just be closing in on Product Market Fit.

E2213: Google and Meta had their cases dismissed (or received a slap on the wrist)… Despite all the backlash and cynicism, AI companies continue making bank and releasing hot new products… What does it all mean? For Jason Calacanis, the signs are pointing to a “major M&A moment,” with huge opportunities for increased efficiency and consolidation among America’s favorite brands and largest companies?

E2212: Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch stops by the show to tell us how enterprises can start getting more out of their AI pilots, why the West seems to lack leadership around open-source AI, and teach Jason and Alex the science of “benchmaxxing” (that is, focusing on your AI model scoring better on tasks rather than actually getting smarter). PLUS why everyone made the wrong call on OpenAI vs. Google, Kraken’s $20 billion valuation, Jason’s urgent M&A message, and more.

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.

• Sentry: Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users get 3 months free of the Business plan which covers 150k errors. Go to sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

• Enterpret: Enterpret turns feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.

Founder University is headed to Tokyo!

Applications are now open for the 2026 cohort. Selected startups will take part in a global, three-part experience designed to accelerate growth and expand international reach:

• Tokyo Bootcamp: January 12–16

• Online Acceleration Program: January 19–March 6

• U.S. Travel Program: March 9–20

If you’re building something big and ready to go global, this is your moment. Apply now at launch.co/tokyo.

Investor Networking Lunch in SF

Jason and LAUNCH are hosting an investor networking lunch, followed by pitches from our latest Accelerator batch. We'd love for you to join us for Dim Sum in San Francisco on Friday, December 5th. (Or forward this to your investor friends.)

• Date/Time: Friday, December 5th, 2025 at 12-3PM PT

• Format: Dim sum lunch, followed by founder pitches & investor networking

• Location: TBA (Chinatown area)

Spots are limited, please RSVP here. The LAUNCH team will email you confirmation once your registration is accepted. You must be an accredited investor or work for a VC Fund to join.

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.

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