TWIST News: xAI's massive $6B raise, the startups building our drone future & TWIST500 | E1957

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… LinkedIn Ads. To redeem a $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Vanta. Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at http://www.vanta.com/twist DevSquad. Most dev agencies only offer developers. Why? Because product management is hard. Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist . * Todays show: Jason and Alex discuss xAI raising $6B (2:07), the TWiST500 (30:11), the startups building our drone future (39:55), North Korean tech talent taking American remote tech jobs (55:50), and more! * Timestamps: (0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (2:07) xAI raised $6B series B (10:03) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (11:30) The evolution of smartphone adoption over time (19:08) Global Internet users from 2005-2023 (26:06) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist (26:57) The control over silicon and Apple’s move switch from Intel (30:11) TWiST500 announcement (38:24) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist (39:55) Armed robot dogs, drone warfare, and the startups building our drone future (55:50) North Korean nationals taking American remote tech jobs * Links and articles from show: https://x.ai/blog/series-b https://www.twz.com/sea/rifle-armed-robot-dogs-now-being-tested-by-marine-special-operators https://news.crunchbase.com/ai/defense-military-ai-tech-startups-vc-funding-anduril-shield-ai/?utm_source=cb_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20230703 https://www.axios.com/2024/05/21/north-korea-it-workers-us-hiring https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/24/north-korea-crypto-hacking-activity-soars-to-record-high-in-2023-new-report-shows.html https://www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide https://www.axios.com/2024/05/26/china-robot-gun-dog-military-cambodia https://www.allencontrolsystems.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMnkqY98Cyo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8igjcW39T4k * Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp * 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: (10:03) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (26:06) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at http://www.vanta.com/twist (38:24) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist * Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman , Brian Chesky , Aaron Levie , Sophia Amoruso , Reid Hoffman , Frank Slootman , Billy McFarland * Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast