<p>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p><p>Deel<a href="https://deel.com/twist"> <u>https://deel.com/twist</u></a></p><p>Quo<a href="https://quo.com/TWiST"> <u>https://quo.com/TWiST</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn Jobs<a href="https://linkedin.com/twist"> <u>https://LinkedIn.com/twist</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Today’s show:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Cortical Labs is the world’s first company selling biological computers. Their CL1 fuses lab-grown human neurons (derived from stem cells, not actual folks) with silicon hardware to create Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI).</p><p>Founder Dr. Hon Weng Chong walks us through how the system works and why neurons are more efficient than GPUs at reinforcement learning. (Also… is this computer alive?)</p><p>PLUS Pyka co-founder and CEO Michael Norcia explains the various uses for his autonomous aircraft, from crop-spraying drones in Brazil to a a hybrid-electric defense UAV for the military.</p><p><strong>Guests:</strong></p><p>Cortical Labs: ****<a href="https://corticallabs.com/"><u>https://corticallabs.com/</u></a></p><p>Dr. Hon Weng Chong on X:<a href="https://x.com/dr1337"> <u>https://x.com/dr1337</u></a></p><p>Pyka:<a href="https://www.flypyka.com/"> <u>https://www.flypyka.com/</u></a></p><p>Pyka on Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/flypyka/?hl=en"> <u>https://www.instagram.com/flypyka/?hl=en</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>2022 Pong paper in <em>Neuron</em>:<a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)00806-6"> <u>https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)00806-6</u></a></p><p>2017 Paper: “Attention is All You Need”;<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762"> <u>https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762</u></a></p><p>The “Barista Test” for Artificial Intelligence: Chris Rourk:<a href="https://medium.com/predict/the-turing-test-is-so-last-century-the-barista-test-for-artificial-general-intelligence-faf91034fa8c"> <u>https://medium.com/predict/the-turing-test-is-so-last-century-the-barista-test-for-artificial-general-intelligence-faf91034fa8c</u></a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Notable Links:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Playing “DOOM” on CL1:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRV8fSw6HaE"> <u>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRV8fSw6HaE</u></a></p><p>DayOne Data Center:<a href="https://dayonedc.com/"> <u>https://dayonedc.com/</u></a></p><p>NeurIPS 2026 Conference:<a href="https://neurips.cc/"> <u>https://neurips.cc/</u></a></p><p>Neuralink:<a href="https://neuralink.com/"> <u>https://neuralink.com/</u></a></p><p>CliniCloud Digital Stethoscope and Thermometer:<a href="https://www.design-industry.com.au/clinicloud"> <u>https://www.design-industry.com.au/clinicloud</u></a></p><p>Air Force Research Laboratory (AFWERX):<a href="https://afwerx.com/"> <u>https://afwerx.com/</u></a></p><p>Joby Aviation:<a href="https://www.jobyaviation.com/"> <u>https://www.jobyaviation.com/</u></a></p><p>Prime Movers Lab:<a href="https://www.primemoverslab.com/"> <u>https://www.primemoverslab.com/</u></a></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p>0:00 What is &quot;biological computing&quot;?</p><p>2:49 Cortical&#39;s new $30 million raise</p><p>4:15 The world&#39;s first biological data center</p><p>9:48 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.</p><p>10:51 Biological computers have a learning advantage</p><p>19:43 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST</p><p>29:15 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist</p><p>38:46 From paper airplanes to Group 4 UAVs</p><p>52:20 Introducing the DropShip defense drone</p><p>58:28 How regulations block US drones</p><p>1:00:40 Why Pyka builds everything in-house</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>Check out all our partner offers:<a href="https://partners.launch.co/"> <u>https://partners.launch.co/</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></p><p><br></p>