How 3 CEOs Use AI to Run $10B in Companies | This Week in AI
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in AI, JCal sits down with three CEOs building the infrastructure, intelligence, and interfaces for the next era of AI: Jeremy Fraenkel (CEO, Fundamental), Victor Riparbelli (CEO, Synthesia), and Nick Harris (CEO, Lightmatter). We break down what's actually happening beneath the AI hype: the data modality LLMs completely missed, why copper is the real bottleneck in AI data centers, OpenAI shutting down Sora, the build vs. buy debate for AI tools, and how close we really are to AGI.
- AI's Biggest Blind Spot, Tabular Data: LLMs transformed text, images, and code, but 70-80% of enterprise data lives in rows and columns.
- Copper Can't Keep Up: Nick explains why AI data centers are hitting a wall. GPUs compute faster than they can communicate. Lightmatter's photonic chips push 1.6 terabits per fiber and can 3x training speed.
- Why OpenAI Killed Sora & Anthropic's Focus is Winning: Victor breaks down why even OpenAI had to learn the lesson of focus, and why Claude Code has every founder talking.
- Vibe Coding Your Own CRM vs. Buying Salesforce: Jeremy reveals Fundamental built their own internal CRM using vibe coding. The panel debates when building beats buying and when it's a distraction.
- The Omnipresent CEO: Jason shares how he's using AI agents for root access to Slack, Gmail, and Notion, resurrecting former employees as AI personas, automating SDR workflows, and summarizing employee inboxes while they're on vacation.
- Are We Already at AGI?: Nick says the rate of progress is a double exponential. Jeremy argues AGI is a moving goalpost. Victor warns of "Future Shock" and societal disruption.
🔗 Learn more about Fundamental: https://fundamental.tech🔗 Learn more about Synthesia: https://www.synthesia.io🔗 Learn more about Lightmatter: https://lightmatter.coThis Week In AI is made possible by:PayPal Open - One Platform for all Business: paypalopen.comTimestamps:00:00 Welcome & intro to Jeremy Fraenkel, Victor Riparbelli, and Nick Harris01:47 What is Fundamental? Large tabular models explained07:01 Victor Riparbelli on Synthesia & why OpenAI killed Sora11:09 Claude Code dominance & the Lightspeed founder retreat12:08 Nick Harris on Lightmatter, photonics & the new Moore's Law14:38 Copper vs. fiber: why AI data centers are hitting a wall18:44 Reinventing video: interactive, real-time, personalized21:32 The economics of a custom AI movie23:55 Why Amazon, Google & Meta are building their own chips28:06 Tables have a bandwidth problem too32:27 When will compute be as cheap as storage?36:10 The future of software: every company gets a custom stack38:06 Vibe coding your own CRM vs. buying Salesforce45:57 Jason's quest for root access to Slack50:18 The omnipresent CEO: Doctor Manhattan meets Jesus CEO52:13 Resurrecting former employees as AI personas53:25 Victor's executive changelog for a 650-person company55:07 Whisper Flow & the Plaud Pin1:00:03 AGI: is it already here?1:03:37 Jeremy: we've only solved half the brain1:06:30 70% of Americans fear AI will impact jobs1:08:47 Future Shock & keeping the rope tight*Mentioned in the show:*
Wisper Flow: https://wisperflow.ai
- Plaud Pin: https://www.plaud.ai
- Athena Executive Assistants: https://www.athenawow.com
- WHOOP: https://www.whoop.com
- "Future Shock" by Alvin Toffler: https://www.amazon.com/Future-ShockAlvin-Toffler/dp/0394425863
- Victor on TWiST, E1776: https://youtu.be/jxET4fq_2eA
- Nick on TWiST, E1787: https://youtu.be/FPW2nnEqfMsSubscribe to This Week in AI on Apple: https://thisweekinai.ai/spotifySubscribe to This Week in AI on Spotify: https://thisweekinai.ai/appleThanks for watching!🤖 If you want to stay ahead of the curve on all things AI, make sure to join our community across all platforms:📩 Get the Weekly Newsletter: https://thisweekinai.ai/📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinAIPodcast📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinaipodcast
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Oliver from This Weekin AI, the brand new podcast from the team at Twist. We're dropping a sneak peek right here in your feed to show you what we've been building. If you enjoy it, join the community at thisweekinA.i.com or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Like I was talking to a friend of mine, she's an accountant, and she told me accounting is never going to be replaced by automation. I'm like, what are you talking about? It's the first time we're really automating cognition, as opposed to just automating the physical part of a job. 70% of them think they'll have a decrease in job opportunities. Only 30% of Americans are worried in the same poll about themselves, so they all think it's happening to somebody else. I do think that humans will want to play status games. |
| 0:38.3 | I think we'll find other jobs. |
| 0:40.3 | I think we'll probably be doing less numerical and logical jobs. |
| 0:43.3 | It feels like something very big is coming. |
| 0:45.3 | The world doesn't appreciate that it's happening because most people are not very good at asking questions. |
| 0:50.3 | You can taste the singularity at this point. |
| 0:52.3 | I can't even imagine the end of this year is going to be shocking. |
| 0:57.7 | Thanks to our friends at PayPal, the exclusive sponsor for This Week in AI. |
| 1:02.3 | Try the payment and growth platform that's trusted by millions of customers worldwide. |
| 1:06.8 | PayPal Open. |
| 1:08.0 | Start growing today at PayPalopin.com. |
| 1:10.7 | All right, everybody, welcome back to not this |
| 1:13.0 | week in startups, not All In. This is a new roundtable I'm doing. It's called This Week in AI. |
| 1:18.3 | It's in the name, folks. Every week, three amazing CEOs, just like on All In or the VC roundtable we do over a twist. |
| 1:26.8 | Three amazing CEOs who are actually building the future |
| 1:29.5 | and me, an investor in the space and an entrepreneur, talk about the weeks issues and sometimes |
| 1:34.3 | the bigger picture issues. You can find out more about the podcast this week in AI.a.i. Or if you |
| 1:40.6 | want to see the YouTube channel this week in AI.a.i. slash YouTube. |
| 1:45.4 | And this is our seventh episode. It's March 31st, 2026. |
| 1:51.8 | Three amazing guests with us today. |
| 1:54.8 | Jeremy Frankel is here. He's the CEO and co-founder of Fundamental. |
| 1:58.0 | They're building large tabular models for enterprises. They emerged from |
... |
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