The rise of “workslop,” Alibaba’s insane new deepfake model, Tether’s MASSIVE valuation, and more | E2183
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2025
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today’s show:
What is “workslop”? And is it already slowing you down at the office?
On a new This Week in Startups, we’ve got full co-host quorum with JCal, Alex, AND Lon tackling a meaty docket of news at the cross-section of tech, startups, and pop culture.
For starters: A new Harvard/Stanford study suggests that AI isn’t massively improving workplace efficiency because SOME workers aren’t using it properly. Are low-quality, lazily-assembled AI outputs costing US enterprises millions in lost productivity? It’s certainly possible based on these results.
PLUS, why YouTube invited back all those banned creators… a deep-dive into CA’s new social media law that’s dividing tech and civil rights advocacy groups… what we can learn from Stripe’s mega-share buyback… a look at what Polymarket’s sharps think will happen with the US TikTok deal… and much more.
Timestamps:
(0:00) Intro. What will South Park have to say about prediction markets?
(06:06) Alibaba’s new AI model will turn you into any celebrity… can you still believe what you see?
(09:49) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist
(11:03) Show Continues…
(19:42) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/credits
(21:02) Is CA’s new proposed law a boon for civil rights, or a weapon against free speech?
(29:47) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(32:21) Why YouTube invited banned creators back
(41:24) What is Workslop? And is it costing companies MILLIONS?
(48:42) PolyMarket asks… when will the US TikTok deal go down?
(52:27) Would Jason invest in Tether?
(01:01:29) Why Stripe is buying back so many shares… and what the future may hold.
(01:12:16) Another Reddit Rapid Response: should startups do pilot programs?
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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We're on our way to commodification is, I think, what's happening. |
| 0:04.6 | This could very much look like storage or compute in a couple of years, |
| 0:10.2 | looked, you know, 20 years into Web 2.0, which is people just start, |
| 0:16.3 | stop thinking about it and can't tell the difference. |
| 0:18.8 | It's completely possible that there'll be 20 |
| 0:21.4 | different models that all have, you know, 99% similar results, not for superintelligence |
| 0:28.6 | and trying to cure cancer or fold proteins or solve mysteries of the universe and, you know, |
| 0:33.4 | go through every single image in the world, but be able to tell you how to make sushi rice |
| 0:38.9 | really well or, you know, where to plan your trip for your family in Europe for two weeks, |
| 0:45.6 | you know, at this price point. So we're going to see that commodification happen. I think right now, |
| 0:50.3 | if you were to switch the models from the major companies for 50, 60, 70%, maybe 70% of queries, |
| 0:58.2 | I don't think consumers could tell the difference. |
| 1:03.0 | This Weekend Startups is brought to you by Northwest Registered Agent. |
| 1:07.9 | Starting your business should be simple. |
| 1:10.2 | With Northwest Registered Agent, you can form |
| 1:12.3 | your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. From LLCs to trademarks, domains to custom |
| 1:18.8 | websites, they've got you covered. Get more privacy, more options, and more done. Visit northwest |
| 1:24.4 | registeredagent.com slash twist today. |
| 1:29.0 | AWS Activate. |
| 1:30.7 | AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. |
| 1:34.7 | As you build and scale your business, |
| 1:36.6 | activate credits grow with you to support your changing needs. |
... |
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