Anthropic Gives Away 5% of Its Shares, Clone’s Muscle Robot, ElevenLabs Steals Podcaster's Voice
This Week in Startups
Hydraulic Myofibers Replace Robotic Motors
Dhanush Radhakrishna contrasts Clone’s fluid-pressurized artificial muscles with the motor-and-tendon systems used by Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics.
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Today’s show:
Jason can’t stop praising Nathan Fielder’s new A24 hybrid documentary about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, “You Can See Everything,” and he’s insisting that Lon check it out before the next podcast. Hear his spoiler-free review, how the film upended his expectations based on Fielder’s previous work, and why Lon also recommends Lance Oppenheim’s HBO Max series “Ren Faire.”
Plus, we’re talking to Clone Robotics co-founder and CEO Dhanush Radhakrishnan about why he thinks robots should not just be humanoid but should look and move precisely like humans. We’re digging deep into how his hydraulic myofiber artificial muscle technology alters and even improves on the pulley-based systems being deployed by competitors, why he thinks the models that power domestic helper-bots will be commoditized, and how quickly he thinks he can put a robo-butler in every American home.
Plus we’re comparing the potential impact of Anthropic’s new Public Benefit Fund vs. Elon Musk’s plan to give every baby a share of SpaceX, and re-considering simulation theory after Odyssey dropped an artificial fruit fly brain into an artificial landscape.
Guest
Dhanush Radhakrishnan on X: https://x.com/dhanushisrad
Clone Robotics: https://clonerobotics.com/
Related Links
“You Can See Everything” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvW_N5p1q44
“You Can See Everything” on Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_can_see_everything
John Carreyrou’s Theranos investigation (Wall Street Journal): https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901
“Ren Faire” HBO Max trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZUVTrrexE
“Nathan for You”: Smokers Allowed clip (Comedy Central): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttB2fYAm-8
Anthropic: Investing in the Public Benefit: https://www.anthropic.com/news/public-benefit-fund
Elon Musk SpaceX pledge: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2112089556615123114
Dell’s $6.25B Invest America commitment: https://www.onedell.com/investamerica/
Odyssey Fly Simulation X post: https://x.com/odysseyml/status/2111589148146749616
Chris Williamson: “The ElevenLabs Situation is Crazy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxDNHLgWInU
ElevenLabs’ Legendary Voices marketplace: https://elevenlabs.io/iconic-marketplace
TWiST newsletter on Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com/
LAUNCH Careers page: https://careers.launch.co/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:10 Plaud - If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
03:18 Jason's "You Can See Everything" reaction
14:37 Northwest Registered Agent - Got a new business idea? Northwest Registered Agent helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more - with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
15:27 What films max out RT's critic and audience scores
20:08 Anthropic commits 5% equity to Public Benefit Fund
24:28 Would equity change how Americans feel about AI?
27:08 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist
38:38 Rippling - Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.
39:48 Dhanush from Clone Robotics joins the show
42:43 How hydraulic muscle technology actually works
54:55 When can we have our robot butlers please?
56:55 Where will Clone get its robot brains?
1:12:17 Odyssey trapped a fake fly brain in a simulated environment
1:23:09 Did ElevenLabs steal a podcaster's voice?
1:30:13 Check us out on Substack!
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