<p><strong>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</strong></p><p><strong>Pilot -</strong><a href="https://pilot.com/twist"><strong> https://pilot.com/twist</strong></a></p><p><strong>Shopify -</strong><a href="http://shopify.com/twist"><strong> https://shopify.com/twist</strong></a></p><p><strong>Grasshopper Bank -</strong><a href="http://grasshopper.bank/twist"><strong> https://grasshopper.bank/twist</strong></a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Today’s show:</strong></p><p><strong>An AI agent named Valerie is running a real vending machine in San Francisco — setting prices, ordering inventory, managing a bank account, and posting to Instagram. And it&#39;s not just a stunt. We’re getting an early look at the future of one-agent companies. There’s still work to do to help agents ease into the economy, potentially opening up new startup opportunities.</strong></p><p><strong>Jason Calacanis and Alex Wilhelm cover a stacked docket: Christian van der Henst demos the Valerie AI vending machine powered by OpenClaw; Robert Myers, CEO of Manifold Labs, breaks down Targon, a confidential GPU compute marketplace running on Bittensor Subnet 4; Jason calls Bitcoin &quot;played out;&quot; Alex is impressed by Anthropic&#39;s stunning $900 billion upcoming valuation; and the guys discuss Big Tech&#39;s accelerating CapEx spend, Chinese AI models in Congress crosshairs, and the NBA Playoffs.</strong></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p><strong>0:00 Intro &amp; sponsor reads (Pilot, Shopify, Grasshopper Bank)</strong></p><p><strong>1:06 Christian van der Henst: Valerie the AI vending machine demo</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>4:28 Legal structure: Giving an AI agent business ownership via trust</strong></p><p><strong>7:23 Where agents can and can&#39;t operate today</strong></p><p><strong>10:10 Grasshopper Bank: Time is money. Don&#39;t waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.</strong></p><p><strong>11:48 AI café in Stockholm running on agents</strong></p><p><strong>18:21 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>19:05 Robert Myers, Manifold Labs: Targon &amp; Bittensor Subnet 4 interview</strong></p><p><strong>20:21 What is Bittensor? An &quot;incubator with 128 subnets&quot;</strong></p><p><strong>21:08 Shopify: Turn those What If&#39;s into sales with the ecommerce platform powering millions of businesses. Sign up for your $1-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/twist</strong></p><p><strong>25:21 Pricing, utilization caps, and why GPUs are sold out</strong></p><p><strong>26:38 Who&#39;s using Targon? Customers, use cases, and the mom-and-pop data center argument</strong></p><p><strong>30:06 Pilot: Focus on your product, let Pilot handle your bookkeeping. Pilot provides the most reliable accounting, CFO, and tax services for startups and small businesses. Head to https://pilot.com/twist and get $1,200 off your first year.</strong></p><p><strong>35:07 Jason explains the annotated.com vision — 15 years in the making</strong></p><p><strong>39:11 Polymarket: Will Anthropic flip Bitcoin by Dec 31?</strong></p><p><strong>40:29 Jason&#39;s Bitcoin bear case: &quot;It&#39;s played out. No incremental buyers.&quot;</strong></p><p><strong>46:05 MicroStrategy / Strategy updates</strong></p><p><strong>52:37 AI compute demand vs. the fiber overbuild analogy</strong></p><p><strong>55:55 Congress pressuring startups over Chinese AI models (DeepSeek, Moonshot)</strong></p><p><strong>57:11 A16z on the geopolitical risk of Chinese AI models</strong></p><p><strong>1:00:08 Reflection AI — America&#39;s open source AI champion (or lack thereof)</strong></p><p><strong>1:01:26 Off Duty: Knicks blow out Atlanta Hawks 140–89, Jason goes road-tripping</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><strong>Follow Lon:</strong></p><p><strong>X:</strong><a href="https://x.com/lons"><strong> https://x.com/lons</strong></a></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></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></p>