The Pentagon Wants Equity in AI Startups | E2336 | This Week in Startups

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Today's show:

The Pentagon is reportedly in talks to lend AI cloud startup Fluidstack $5. billion, and Jason thinks the real story isn't the loan itself. It's the US government owning equity in private AI companies, and competing directly with venture capital.

Plus returning friend of the pod Tibo Louis-Lucas shows us how he runs seven companies with fewer than 10 people by stacking AI agents. Can a few $200/month AI subscriptions really do the work of an entire marketing team? Tibo seems to think so.

Plus it's Off-Duty Friday, so Jason and Lon are reviewing some current streaming favorites, and commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with some personal stories.

Check out the full summary and transcript of today's episode from Plaud: https://web.plaud.ai/s/pub_213fdb2e-a65e-4901-b5fc-57a4f1e357a1::ZvclWNOK-PPr-9atxIDVG2tpGYUJxiklGAzVbHd9aJRBMSd6ef8l4hG7j_mUAyNTYTXS_Ha1XlEm8fYC

Guests:

Tibo Louis-Lucas on X: https://x.com/tibo_maker

Squad: https://squad.so/

Relevant Links:

Fluidstack: https://www.fluidstack.io

Google-Fluidstack warrants deal details: https://cointelegraph.com/news/google-acquires-5-4-stake-in-bitcoin-mining-company-cipher-mining-in-ai-deal

Center for Public Integrity: Solyndra timeline: https://publicintegrity.org/politics/missed-warning-signs-a-solyndra-timeline/

The Hill: Energy Dept. loses $139M in Fisker auto loan default: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/191258-energy-dept-loses-139-million-in-auto-loan-gone-bad/

Apple iPhone Duo: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/09/apple-unveils-iphone-duo/

Apple Mac Studio: https://www.apple.com/mac-studio/

Sonos: https://www.sonos.com/

Amazon Fire TV: https://www.amazon.com/b?node=8521791011

UniFi: https://www.ui.com/

Lanterns trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UIBOsuUwc4

Dark Matter Season 2 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhB6_1UbR7s

"Robin" biography by Dave Itzkoff: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1627794247

What Dreams May Come trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZ-FuBThuQ

Huffington Post on the Robin Williams-Disney feud: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/robin-williams-disney-feud-aladdin-picasso_uk_6a7cc304e4b079a0b2ec2233

Keith Roma: the 344th firefighter lost, remembered: https://www.firerescue1.com/9-11/articles/the-firefighter-everyone-forgot-about-on-911-142cs6WyLmn2FDib/

Timestamps:

0:00 Remembering 9/11, 25 Years Later

9:10 Are we about to nationalize the AI industry?

9:53 DigitalOcean - Want to see what building on a true AI-native platform looks like? Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%.

20:30 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist

21:45 Apple's foldable iPhone Duo

29:43 Upwork - Upwork helps businesses find highly skilled freelance professionals for specialized work. Post your job for free at https://upwork.com

38:04 Tibo Louis-Lucas returns to TWiST

41:47 The affiliate update email that runs on autopilot

46:40 Why you should "stack" multiple AI subscriptions

52:57 Squad's ideal customer is a solo founder

54:11 Jason digs Hal Jordan on "Lanterns"

1:00:19 Lon reviews Apple's "Dark Matter"

1:03:39 Remembering Robin Williams

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