About This Episode
<p>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://every.io"><u>Every.io</u></a> - visit <a href="http://every.io/"><u>every.io</u></a></p><p><a href="http://sentry.io"><u>Sentry.io</u></a> -<a href="http://sentry.io/twist"> <u>sentry.io/twist</u></a></p><p>Vanta -<a href="https://www.vanta.com/twist"> <u>vanta.com/twist</u></a></p><p><br /></p><p>Today’s show:</p><p>The next SpaceX won't be building rockets; it'll build the first hotel on the Moon. Today on TWiST, GRU Space founder Skyler Chan brings a brick made from lunar soil into the studio and lays out a plan to manufacture on the Moon as early as next year. We get into the science, the business model, and the regulatory land-grab ahead!</p><p>Then, the US government forces Anthropic to pull Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Jason and Lon unpack what it means when a single AI model can vanish overnight, and the US government's emergency order.</p><p>Stick around for the winner (or winners?!) of the $5,000 AI podcast-companion bounty!</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p>0:00 Knicks playoff run, San Antonio & Texas BBQ (Black's vs. Terry Black's)</p><p>8:23 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!</p><p>9:52 Guest intro: Skyler Chan, GRU Space — and the lunar-soil brick</p><p>10:29 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io</p><p>12:14 Why the next SpaceX builds habitats, not rockets</p><p>15:18 NASA's $20B moon-base signal & the TRL contracting path</p><p>16:13 Business model: from construction contractor to owning lunar land</p><p>18:06 Building the hotel robotically + $1M refundable deposits</p><p>20:00 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST</p><p>31:09 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist</p><p>39:28 News: US government blocks Anthropic's Fable 5 & Mythos 5</p><p>41:34 The politics: Hegseth, Sacks, Jassy & the "conspiracy" angle</p><p>1:09:39 Why no single model dependency is safe (multi-model harnesses)</p><p>1:18:47 Bounty results: MySidecast wins $3,000</p><p>1:19:07 Honorable mentions: Couchverse (Lemon Slice) & Convalenz</p><p>1:29:44 Next bounty: the Annotated app</p><p><strong>🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned:</strong></p><p>Guest & company</p><p>Skyler Chan: Founder, GRU Space →<a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galactic-resource-utilization-space-inc-gru-space"> <u>https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galactic-resource-utilization-space-inc-gru-space</u></a></p><p>GRU Space (Galactic Resource Utilization): YC startup building lunar-regolith bricks and a robotic Moon hotel →<a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galactic-resource-utilization-space-inc-gru-space"> <u>https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galactic-resource-utilization-space-inc-gru-space</u></a></p><p>GRU Space lunar hotel bookings →<a href="https://payloadspace.com/gru-space-opens-bookings-for-planned-lunar-hotel/"> <u>https://payloadspace.com/gru-space-opens-bookings-for-planned-lunar-hotel/</u></a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>🎙️ About the Guest:</strong></p><p>Skyler Chan is the founder of GRU Space (Galactic Resource Utilization), a Y Combinator–backed startup developing a payload factory that manufactures bricks from lunar regolith to build the first robotic hotel on the Moon.</p><p>Follow GRU Space →<a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galactic-resource-utilization-space-inc-gru-space"> <u>https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galactic-resource-utilization-space-inc-gru-space</u></a></p><p>Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:<a href="https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com"> <u>https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</u></a></p><p>Check out the TWIST500:<a href="https://www.twist500.com"> <u>https://www.twist500.com</u></a></p><p>Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:<a href="https://rb.gy/v19fcp"> <u>https://rb.gy/v19fcp</u></a></p><p>Follow Lon:</p><p>X:<a href="https://x.com/lons"> <u>https://x.com/lons</u></a></p><p>Follow Alex:</p><p>X:<a href="https://x.com/alex"> <u>https://x.com/alex</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/"> <u>https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</u></a></p><p>Follow Jason:</p><p>X:<a href="https://twitter.com/Jason"> <u>https://twitter.com/Jason</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis"> <u>https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</u></a></p><p>Great TWIST interviews:<a href="https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ"> <u>Will Guidara,</u></a><a href="https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4"> <u>Eoghan McCabe</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"> <u>Steve Huffman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"> <u>Brian Chesky</u></a>,<a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q"> <u>Bob Moesta,</u></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"> <u>Aaron Levie</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"> <u>Sophia Amoruso</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"> <u>Reid Hoffman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"> <u>Frank Slootman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"> <u>Billy McFarland</u></a></p><p>Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters:<a href="https://substack.com/@calacanis"> <u>https://substack.com/@calacanis</u></a></p><p>Follow TWiST:</p><p>Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/TWiStartups"> <u>https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</u></a></p><p>YouTube:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin"> <u>https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</u></a></p><p>Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups"> <u>https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</u></a></p><p>TikTok:<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups"> <u>https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</u></a></p><p>Substack:<a href="https://twistartups.substack.com"> <u>https://twistartups.substack.com</u></a><br /></p>