Uber: Take Me To the Rivian

Top News

• Uber putting $1.25B into Rivian: The rideshare giant plans to deploy a fleet of 50,000 autonomous robotaxis over the coming years/decades. They’re rolling out a string of partnerships to make it happen, including a newly-announced agreement with Irvine, CA’s electric SUV maker Rivian. Uber will invest $1.25 billion into Rivian through 2031 (contingent on various milestones, and subject to regulatory approval); for now, Rivian walks away with a cool $300 million. Phase 1 of the partnership will find 10,000 of Rivian’s R2 vehicles hitting the streets in multiple US cities — including San Francisco and Miami — by 2028. Rides in these vehicles will be exclusively available via the Uber app.

• OpenAI announces Astral acquisition: Astral produces high-end tools for developers working in the Python ecosystem. Now, OpenAI plans to add the startup’s staff to its internal team building their Codex coding assistant product. According to Bloomberg, the addition of Astral’s suite of tools will enhance Codex’s ability to write software, fix bugs, and run tests. Of course, the entire AI sector is in a race against Anthropic to build a coding assistant that can dethrone the mighty Claude Code… We also have word today that Cursor is working on a new, hyper-efficient AI model of their own, geared specifically toward software development.

• DoorDashers paying couriers to train AI: The delivery company released a new standalone app called “Tasks,” allowing couriers to film themselves completing various kind of everyday activities and chores. (For example, washing dishes, or speaking in a foreign language.) The plan is to use these video clips to train AI and robotic systems, allowing them to better understand the physical world. (The videos will primarily help train internal DoorDash AI models, but they may also get licensed to third-parties in the retail, insurance, hospitality, and technology sectors.) DoorDash isn’t the only company to employ “robot tutors.” AI lab Micro1 has been paying people to record themselves completing household tasks for the sake of robot training since last fall and has an entire recruitment website set up to find fresh talent.

TWiST 500

The SaaSpocalypse concerns trending throughout last month largely surrounded conventional software platforms like Workday and Salesforce. But even AI tools and vibecoding apps might not be safe from the constantly-expanding feature sets on offer from established players like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Early adopters like software developers are already using these companies’ AI workspaces and platforms daily. Every time their tools get a serious upgrade, more startups and third party providers feel the pinch.

The latest example: Figma. The vibecoding giant went public last summer to great fanfare. But the stock took a tumble this week after Google announced a major update for Stitch, its AI-native design tool. Stitch now offers what Google pointedly calls “vibe design,” the ability to describe your desired UI and design changes in natural language rather than code. Stitch can even create a fresh web destination from scratch based on a relatively straight-ahead voice interview with a user.

Figma graduated last year, but the TWiST 500 is filled to the brim with companies that could potentially have their moats drained by new feature sets or tools from the biggest AI players. (T500 companies in a similar category to Figma include Lovable, Replit, Cursor, Poolside, and beyond!) Conventional wisdom from leaders like Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, and JCal is that the SaaSpocalypse fears are overblown. Software systems will need to adjust, certainly, but will become reliable sources of data for AI agents, and platforms where they’ll interact with users.

For now, retail investors remain unconvinced. – Lon

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E2265: This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at LaunchFest in San Francisco! Jason sits down with Robinhood co-founder, Chairman, and CEO Vlad Tenev. Together they reminisce about their first meeting — when Vlad pitched Jason on Robinhood in a dive bar — plus thoughts on the importance of doing multiple launches for a new product, how Robinhood identified its ideal customers, tips for navigating negative press and mistakes that feel existential, plus Vlad’s thoughts on working with AI and nurturing talent internally.

E2264: Today’s show was recorded LIVE at LaunchFest in San Francisco, California, and features JCal in conversation with Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev. On the docket: Jason and Vlad’s origin story, the importance of launching your product multiple times, what to do when your mistakes feel “existential,” leaning into negative press, facing down competition in the AI era, how Robinhood nurtures and develops talent, and much much more.

E2263: On a Monday TWIST 500 special, Alex speaks to three amazing founders. First up, Matt Angle of Paradromics, whose company produces a revolutionary brain computer interface that could one day allow you to type at the speed of thought. Then, JetZero CEO Tom O’Leary shows us his startup’s proprietary fuel efficient wing-jets. Finally, Nutrisense CEO Dan Zavorotny demonstrates how continuous monitoring leads to better health outcomes.

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