The rise of “workslop,” Alibaba’s insane new deepfake model, Tether’s MASSIVE valuation, and more | E2183

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? 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 Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons 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: Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist 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 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! 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