OpenAI’s latest “bizarre” mega-deal, datacenters in space, previewing Tesla’s big announcement and more | E2189
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2025
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today’s show:
*How many weirdly circular mega-deals is OpenAI going to sign this year?
On a new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider OpenAI’s latest agreement with AMD, how the biggest American companies keep trading cash and chips back and forth, and whether or not the entire AI economy might be a house of cards.
PLUS what kind of fan/leafblower tech is Tesla working on… what can Jevons Paradox tell us about the AI landscape… how easy is it to master games in the YC Arena… and WHY has NASA never built a base on the moon? We’re asking the TOUGH QUESTIONS so you don’t have to, only on the #1 tech podcast, “This Week in Startups.”
Timestamps:
(0:00) Jason and Alex open the show discussing hunting and traditional Texas meat exchanges
(2:16) ANOTHER weirdly circular OpenAI mega-deal? How many mega-deals can one company MAKE?
(3:50) Are all these “bizarre” OpenAI deals creating a house of cards?
(10:00) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.
(20:00) Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://oracle.com/twist
(21:14) Is the Tesla Roadster 2 coming soon? Or maybe a leaf blower?!
(22:00) Datacenters in space! Is it getting crowded up there?
(26:22) Why no moon base yet? Jason demands a moon base.
(27:00) We’re playing games in the YC Arena… Can Jason guess which pitches got accepted?
(30:00) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda’s Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist
(32:00) How Jason picks companies to invest in, based on a few signals and metrics
(04500) We found out what Figure’s bots are actually doing for BMW
(53:00) Sharpies figured out how to make their pens here in the US… who’s next?!
(57:00) Could ChatGPT really replace Deloitte consultants? Considering the latest controversy…
(01:03:29) It’s another Gamma Pitch: Welcome Ryan Yannelli of NextVisit AI, which helps therapists take notes
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I love living in the present, man. It's great. Like, we're talking about real data citizens |
| 0:04.5 | in space. So cool. I mean, how do we not have a base on the moon 55 years later? It seems like we should. And if you asked anybody who watched the moon landing, hey, when do you think we'll have a base on the moon? They'd be like, I don't know, 10 years, five years? I mean, we're going to go up every year now, right? And it's like, no, we're just never going to go back. |
| 0:23.0 | It has no importance. I don't know, 10 years, five years. I mean, we're going to go up every year now, right? |
| 0:21.0 | And it's like, no, we're just never going to go back. |
| 0:23.2 | It has no importance. |
| 0:24.3 | I want to know what the hell's going on. |
| 0:25.9 | I hope I live long enough to understand something about the nature of the universe. |
| 0:41.9 | This weekend startups is brought to you by Coda. Cota empowers your startup by bringing words, tables, and teams together. |
| 0:47.1 | Strategize, plan, and track goals effectively with all your valuable data in one place. |
| 0:52.6 | Go to coda.io slash twist to get started for free and get six free months of the team plan. |
| 0:59.4 | Oracle. |
| 1:00.3 | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. |
| 1:08.6 | Save up to 50% on your cloud bill at oracle.com slash twist and |
| 1:14.5 | Stripe Startups. Stripe Startups offers early stage venture back startups access to |
| 1:19.9 | Stripe fee credits, expert insights, and a focused community of builders. Apply today on |
| 1:25.4 | stripe.com slash startups. All right everybody, welcome |
| 1:28.7 | back to this week in startups. It is Monday, October 6th. Oh my God, the summer is over. |
| 1:34.4 | And there is snow in the mountains. So I should be able to get on my skis next month. Very |
| 1:40.2 | excited about that with me again, Alex Wilhelm. How are we doing, Alex? |
| 1:44.7 | Fantastic. |
| 2:17.6 | We were just discussing the importance of deer hunting before the show, and I just want to say it on record. Summer sausage is the reason why everyone should go hunt deer because it's the best thing in the world and was a key food ingredient to my youth. Oh, really? Summer sausage. Okay, good to know. You know, I'm living here in the great state of Texas, frequently people, I'll see them and they'll hand me a bag. Oh, great to see you. I brought you some sausage. I went boar hunting. I went deer hunting. You know, whatever. And people just hand you meat. It's the nature of the place. Like people are wearing guns on their hips. They're handing each other meat. |
| 2:18.8 | I'm chewing on a cigar. |
... |
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