About This Episode
<p><strong>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</strong></p><p><strong>Vanta -</strong><a href="http://vanta.com/twist"><strong> Vanta.com/TWIST</strong></a></p><p><strong>Sentry -</strong><a href="http://sentry.io/twist"><strong> Sentry.io/TWIST</strong></a></p><p><strong>Deel -</strong><a href="http://deel.com/twist"><strong> Deel.com/TWIST</strong></a></p><p><strong>Today’s show:</strong></p><p><strong>AI is the villain of the 2026 commencement cycle, with business luminaries — including Eric Schmidt — booed for discussing or praising the technology. As students graduate into a job market forcibly reshaped by AI, increasingly negative public polling on the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on society is clearly not missing the mark.</strong></p><p><strong>Jason and Alex then discussed The Information’s reporting that Anthropic and OpenAI earn nearly 90% of all startup AI revenue, a Stanford student’s viral essay regarding their time at the university in a post-ChatGPT world, Flock Safety’s impressive (and worrying) web of cameras, and the upcoming Mark II AI bookmark. The episode closes with questions from our live audience!</strong></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>TWIST Links:</strong></p><p><strong>Bounty website</strong><a href="https://www.thisweekinstartups.com/bounty"><strong> https://www.thisweekinstartups.com/bounty</strong></a></p><p><strong>Sidebar bounty challenge</strong><a href="https://www.notion.so/launch1/5K-Bounty-Create-Sidebar-App-for-Podcasts-34150ff313d280adbd8ed6204676513c"><strong> https://www.notion.so/launch1/5K-Bounty-Create-Sidebar-App-for-Podcasts-34150ff313d280adbd8ed6204676513c</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://annotated.com"><strong>Annotated.com</strong></a><strong> bounty challenge</strong><a href="https://annotated.lovable.app/"><strong> https://annotated.lovable.app/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p><strong>0:00 TWiST All-Stars summer lineup announcement</strong></p><p><strong>2:43 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!</strong></p><p><strong>5:08 Eric Schmidt booed at University of Arizona commencement</strong></p><p><strong>8:57 Why Gen Z feels "double-crossed" by AI leaders</strong></p><p><strong>10:10 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.</strong></p><p><strong>15:22 Is this AI's Vietnam moment? The anti-war parallel</strong></p><p><strong>18:04 Theo Baker's NYT essay on Stanford's AI cheating culture</strong></p><p><strong>19:24 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST</strong></p><p><strong>22:30 Why Jason says everyone should start a company</strong></p><p><strong>28:59 Anthropic + OpenAI capture 89% of AI startup revenue</strong></p><p><strong>30:17 Vanta: Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist</strong></p><p><strong>31:57 Are token sales a duopoly? Negative gross margins debate</strong></p><p><strong>35:17 Risk of building app-layer startups on top of foundation models</strong></p><p><strong>38:22 Inside Tracker bounty update: AI sidebar + Annotated.com</strong></p><p><strong>41:18 Mark II: the $159 AI bookmark Alex wants</strong></p><p><strong>49:31 Flock Safety solves Austin shooting via Manor PD</strong></p><p><strong>53:39 DeFlock map and the geography of surveillance in Texas</strong></p><p><strong>1:03:42 Noti Gang: AI for filing patents</strong></p><p><strong>1:05:45 Noti Gang: Running AI models locally on Mac Studios</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:</strong><a href="https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com"><strong> https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Check out the TWIST500:</strong><a href="https://www.twist500.com"><strong> https://www.twist500.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:</strong><a href="https://rb.gy/v19fcp"><strong> https://rb.gy/v19fcp</strong></a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Follow Alex:</strong></p><p><strong>X:</strong><a href="https://x.com/alex"><strong> https://x.com/alex</strong></a></p><p><strong>LinkedIn:</strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/"><strong> https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</strong></a></p><p><strong>Follow Jason:</strong></p><p><strong>X:</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/Jason"><strong> https://twitter.com/Jason</strong></a></p><p><strong>LinkedIn:</strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis"><strong> https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</strong></a><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Check out all our partner offers:</strong><a href="https://partners.launch.co/"><strong> https://partners.launch.co/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Great TWIST interviews:</strong><a href="https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ"><strong> Will Guidara,</strong></a><a href="https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4"><strong> Eoghan McCabe</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"><strong> Steve Huffman</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"><strong> Brian Chesky</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q"><strong> Bob Moesta,</strong></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"><strong> Aaron Levie</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"><strong> Sophia Amoruso</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"><strong> Reid Hoffman</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"><strong> Frank Slootman</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"><strong> Billy McFarland</strong></a></p><p><strong>Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters:</strong><a href="https://substack.com/@calacanis"><strong> https://substack.com/@calacanis</strong></a></p><p><strong>Follow TWiST:</strong></p><p><strong>Twitter:</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/TWiStartups"><strong> https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</strong></a></p><p><strong>YouTube:</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin"><strong> https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</strong></a></p><p><strong>Instagram:</strong><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups"><strong> https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</strong></a></p><p><strong>TikTok:</strong><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups"><strong> https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</strong></a></p><p><strong>Substack:</strong><a href="https://twistartups.substack.com"><strong> https://twistartups.substack.com</strong></a></p><p><br /></p>