AI on the blockchain, Waymo's rise, and the truth about tech layoffs | E1996

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Lemon.io - Hire pre-vetted remote developers, get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist .Tech Domains - Don’t miss our “Jam with JCal” contest! To apply and get more details go to https://jamwithjcal.tech brought to you by .tech domains. CommandBar. Seamlessly integrate an AI-powered guide into your software, making navigation intuitive and interactive. Visit https://commandbar.com/twist⁠⁠ to get a custom live demo. * Todays show: Alex Wilhelm joins Jason to discuss AI on the blockchain (41:04), Waymo’s growth (29:27), tech layoffs (58:47), and more! * Timestamps: (0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (2:24) Bolt's fundraising controversy and business model (8:24) CEO loans and board conflicts at Bolt (11:25) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist (12:46) Public vs. private equity borrowing and media integrity (21:18) Technology media industry reflections (28:32) .Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today at https://jamwithjcal.tech (29:27) Waymo's growth and autonomous vehicle market (39:49) CommandBar - Visit https://commandbar.com/twist⁠ to get a custom live demo. (41:04) Story raises $80M for blockchain-based IP network (46:23) Stablecoins and SEC investigations (58:47) The truth behind tech layoffs (1:07:26) Audience questions * Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com * Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp * Mentioned on the show: https://x.com/pitdesi/status/1826262321045610846 https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/25/fintech-bolt-just-laid-off-over-100-employees-across-engineering-sales-and-marketing https://www.pymnts.com/personnel/2023/one-click-checkout-startup-bolt-laying-off-10-of-workforce https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/1co9loz/waymo_makes_now_50000_paid_trips_every_week_in_3 https://waymo.com/blog/2024/06/waymo-one-is-now-open-to-everyone-in-san-francisco https://x.com/TechTekedra/status/1825910695311114384 https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/23/alphabet-to-invest-another-5b-into-waymo https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/18/cars/china-baidu-apollo-go-robotaxi-anxiety-intl-hnk https://www.comma.ai https://autoware.org https://openai.com/index/gpt-4o-fine-tuning https://openai.com/index/conde-nast https://apnews.com/article/authors-sue-anthropic-claude-ai-chatbot-chatgpt-copyright-54ae787070bdfc8019ab29b70487c02 https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/858877/000119312524200636/d878533d8k.htm https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/20/cisco-employees-face-a-month-of-silence-ahead-of-second-layoff-in-2024 https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/1/24210656/intel-is-laying-off-over-10000-employees-and-will-cut-10-billion-in-costs https://layoffs.fyi * Follow Alex: X: https://x.com/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm * Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Thank you to our partners: (11:25) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist (28:32) .Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today at https://jamwithjcal.tech (39:49) CommandBar - Visit https://commandbar.com/twist⁠ to get a custom live demo. * Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland * Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916