Lon Harris

Editorial director for @LAUNCH and @TWiStartups. STILL calling it Twitter!

[This Week in AI @ThisWeeknAI]

Sam Altman’s AI predictions rely on a vision for “recursive self improvement” that does not yet exist, at least not publicly.

On TWiAI 36, the panel considers whether or not one frontier lab really could run away with the entire AI game, or if Altman’s “3 pathways forward for AI” prediction rests on a faulty premise?

Are the major labs talking about regulation so much because they’ve seen what kinds of models are coming next? Or just because regulation is good for whoever gets out to an early lead?

Expert panelists Jaleh Rezaei (Mutiny) and Alex Cheema (EXO Labs) join Jason and Lon for a brand-new This Week in AI.

@jason, @jalehr, @alexocheema, @lons, @mutinycorp, @exolabs

0:00 Cold Open / Show Intro
0:58 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://t.co/rxqKyhAWuO
2:56 How much hardware it takes to run local AI models
4:32 DHS orders DeepSeek out of federal systems
5:53 Why enterprise clients are uneasy about Chinese models
9:47 Could an open-source model "phone home" to Beijing?
14:10 Why enterprises are much more price sensitive about AI tools
16:39 Are Sam Altman's AI endgame theories "deranged"?
25:45 Why the major labs want more regulations
26:28 The ElevenLabs Archer controversy continues
34:30 Who actually owns the rights to your voice?
45:17 "Substack for AI Models"
46:20 China needs more chips than Nvidia can make
52:40 Are enterprises running more local models?

🎥 Watch the full episode here 👇

[call of booty @killguapo]

dude this is actually nauseating to look at oh my god

[Lon Harris @Lons]

I'm good actually

[Zack Sharf @ZSharf]

Chris Pratt is having "ongoing conversations" with Marvel about Star Lord's return.

"So yeah, you’ll see Star-Lord again, which is very exciting, but I’m not at liberty to say when that’s going to be..."
https://t.co/nqVt0mPa32

[This Week in Startups @twistartups]

According to Sam Lessin, about 1% of Slow Ventures’ bets turn out to be fraud. His take: if your seed portfolio has no fraud whatsoever, you’re probably not being creative enough.

Jason, Sam, and fellow VC roundtable experts Paige Doherty and Jenny Fielding argue that diligence has to scale with the check. If you’re giving out $25K or $100K, you don’t have the time or funds for deep diligence. But if you’re writing a $100M check, you can’t afford to skip it.

Hear the panel discuss when a little diligence is good enough and what went wrong with Theranos, FTX, and other infamous disasters on TWiST 2353.

@jason, @lessin, @paigefinnn, @jefielding, @slow, @behind_genius, @EverywhereVC, @Lons

0:00 Our new “This Week in VC” newsletter
2:57 Panel intro: Sam Lessin, Paige Doherty, Jenny Fielding
8:51 Why gambling loses appeal for VCs
11:44 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://t.co/xTqpRWFFUn and use code TWIST for 10% off!
17:00 DigitalOcean - Head to https://t.co/YCLFZ4OMDZ to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today - and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%
18:17 Best moments from “You Can See Everything”
22:24 Unreliable narrators and unknowable situations
25:23 Living in a post-truth moment
30:44 Due diligence horror stories
33:27 Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://t.co/7bSoDEzEi8
35:32 The VCs remember their fraud investments
39:21 How LAUNCH trains founders to prep for diligence
45:13 How Elizabeth Holmes kept raising money
55:36 Would you invest in an Elizabeth Holmes company?
58:09 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://t.co/8O0SReac1j and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.
1:03:10 Why seed funds need pro rata rights
1:09:44 When “founder friendly” means rolling over
1:17:07 The three investor relationships: team, founders, LPs
1:21:44 ElevenLabs “Archer” voice controversy
1:27:58 How NIL deals reshaped college sports
1:34:36 Cameo for Business and long-tail celeb endorsements
1:36:33 Portfolio company shoutouts

🎥 Watch the full episode here 👇

[@jason @Jason]

Hiring two business writers in Austin; you’ll learn a lot about VC as well

DM @Lons

[Lon Harris @Lons]

Loved the movie but Billy Evans is a classic Guy I Wish I Didn't Have to Know About Who Is Famous Forever Now.

[Lon Harris @Lons]

Jason and I are gonna dig into it on today's @twistartups at 12 pm CT but I'm gonna be thinking about it for a long time. Especially Liz Holmes not understanding "Who's On First?" That's gonna really plague me.

[Lon Harris @Lons]

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING is so captivating, I think, because it's about a shared experience we don't discuss much: the frustration of living in a post-truth world. Narratives and takes replaced any sense of shared reality, yet we still have to muddle through and make decisions!

[Lon Harris @Lons]

It joins "On Cinema" and "The Righteous Gemstones" as, I feel, the best American pop culture so far to confront this specific feeling. Are we all entitled to our own reality? What if you have an argument with someone who can't or won't ever concede an error? Do you give up?

[Lon Harris @Lons]

I would sum up Ken Paxton's message to me, a Texan, as "Pick me or drag queens will tackle you and put you in a frilly dress against your will" and that's just really not one of my main kitchen table issues.

[Lon Harris @Lons]

Is there a Republican running in this election on anything OTHER THAN transphobia and/or Islamophobia? Maybe I'm just in Texas now but... I'm not really seeing it? Is it happening?

[Lon Harris @Lons]

I guess Israeli voters have long had this kind of control over the US government and its foreign policy, but it's crazy to hear the President just come out and say it plainly.

[Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 @PollTracker2024]

President Trump endorses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election.

[Lon Harris @Lons]

@idamnjanov @ChristinaG325 @twistartups Thanks for sharing, Ivan! We appreciate it.

[FactPost @factpostnews]

Vance: The president has a lot of authority because, the reality is, who's gonna stop him?

[Lon Harris @Lons]

I would honestly watch an entire presidential debate on the topic: "Do America's soldiers need to be more handsome?"

[Lon Harris @Lons]

Make fun all you like, but America definitely has at least one single-issue voter for this specific issue and Trump now has their vote for LIFE.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Trump: "We're allowed to have big strong handsome soldiers now"

[Lon Harris @Lons]

@dj_bruja @BrennenMystical Very sad to hear about this.

[Lon Harris @Lons]

@mattyk35 I mean, you DO have to get it up to 88 mph first...

[Lon Harris @Lons]

I saw a robotaxi do this trying to park at Ego's the other night but just assumed it was a mistake

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Turns out the future does have flying cars