The AIs are fighting again...

Top News

• xAI sues Apple, OpenAI: Elon Musk’s xAI social media and AI company has sued Apple over alleged favoritism towards OpenAI on its mobile application marketplace. Notably, xAI claims that Apple has a smartphone monopoly, and OpenAI an AI monopoly. The suit leans on some notes from the government’s recent case against Google, including comments on the importance of defaults in driving usage, leading to more data, and therefore better service and a potentially unbreakable, self-reinforcing loop. OpenAI has yet to respond, but the case could further crack mobile application stores’ central control.

• Intel warns investors: In a public filing, Intel laid out the terms of its conversion of future government grants into equity. In the same document, the company noted a number of risk-factors relating to the transaction. Beyond the usual boilerplate, Intel told its shareholders that, as the government has agreed to vote with its board, their voting power will be reduced. Intel added that its “non-US business may be adversely impacted by the US Government being a significant stockholder.”

• Say hello to the next tech PAC : Boffins from a16z and OpenAI are helping fund and run a new super PAC that will disburse funds and support to candidates in the upcoming midterm elections that align with AI industry perspectives. Expect donations and boosterism for candidates — across both parties — who are skeptical of AI regulation broadly, and particularly at the state level. Nonetheless, the PAC, called Leading the Future, doesn’t intend to combat all regulation, the WSJ reports.

TWiST500

While AI companies are not famous for their support of the online publishing economy, one former enfant terrible is flipping the script.

TWiST 500 company Perplexity — which has complained at, and sued by several publishers for how it used their work — has debuted a new $5 per month subscription option for its Comet browser . How does the paid browser access impact media economics? Perplexity intends to pay publishers 80% of the income from its browser subscription option.

Now, let’s not get too hasty. Perplexity is not breaking out a percentage of its total revenue. Its new Comet Plus offering may wind up a pipsqueak compared to its other subscription offerings. If the number of folks who sing up for Comet Plus is tiny, then Perplexity’s payments to participating publishers might not exactly tip the scales.

You could get even more cynical. It’s not entirely out of the question that Perplexity’s product choice in this case is more shield than anything else. The company might look far less troublesome to adjudicators of disputes if it is actively working to support the publishers that make its business model possible.

Still, it’s a move from a leading AI startup to bring some money back from AI-land and into the pockets of the folks who make the grist for their agentic mills. And in today’s economy, I’ll accept a scrap with the promise of more to come. Or maybe I’ve been writing online too long to expect much more. — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2168 : On today’s TWiST, some of the fallout from Terra and Luna’s $60 billion implosion, more hints about a potential September rate cut, Canva’s making a major comeback (and feuding with Figma), PLUS OpenAI officially crossed $1 billion in monthly revenue. Finally, Jason and Alex consider Uber’s latest robotaxi push, and why it has already sparked protests from Wuhan to Boston.

E2167 : Jason’s away, so Alex is taking over, with two fresh TWiST 500 founder interviews. First up, Chalk CEO Marc Freed-Finnegan on one of AI’s secret bottlenecks: data FRESHNESS. Hear how his company is delivering real-time pipelines and why some are calling them the “next Databricks.” THEN, Tollbit CEO Toshit Panigrahi lays out how he signed 1,400 publishers up for his “bot paywall,” and how he plans to reshape the agentic AI landscape.

E2166: Dean Leitersdorf of Decart joins to talk about squeezing maximum productivity out of your GPUs. But it’s not all talk: he also shows us the incredible open world model that can magically transform live footage. Then, Jason and Alex chat with Syncere AI founder Aaron Tan about Lume, his robotic lamp device that went viral for folding laundry. Hear why Aaron thinks the future of robotics is not necessarily humanoid, and all about his future plans for the Lume arms

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Angel University is Back!

Jason and Mike Savino are hosting our next virtual Angel University workshop on Tuesday, October 7. Jason will share proven strategies he’s used to invest $200M+ in over 500 startups. Whether you’re new to angel investing or looking to sharpen your skills, this is your chance to learn directly from one of the most active angel investors in the world. Register now at angel.university !

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/

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