{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Can an AI Agent Legally Own a Company? Christian van der Henst's Wild Experiment| E2283","description":"This Week In Startups is made possible by: Pilot - https:\/\/pilot.com\/twist Shopify - https:\/\/shopify.com\/twist Grasshopper Bank - https:\/\/grasshopper.bank\/twist  Today\u2019s show: An AI agent named Valerie is running a real vending machine in San Francisco \u2014 setting prices, ordering inventory, managing a bank account, and posting to Instagram. And it's not just a stunt. We\u2019re getting an early look at the future of one-agent companies. There\u2019s still work to do to help agents ease into the economy, potentially opening up new startup opportunities. Jason Calacanis and Alex Wilhelm cover a stacked docket: Christian van der Henst demos the Valerie AI vending machine powered by OpenClaw; Robert Myers, CEO of Manifold Labs, breaks down Targon, a confidential GPU compute marketplace running on Bittensor Subnet 4; Jason calls Bitcoin &quot;played out;&quot; Alex is impressed by Anthropic's stunning $900 billion upcoming valuation; and the guys discuss Big Tech's accelerating CapEx spend, Chinese AI models in Congress crosshairs, and the NBA Playoffs. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro &amp;amp; sponsor reads (Pilot, Shopify, Grasshopper Bank) 1:06 Christian van der Henst: Valerie the AI vending machine demo  4:28 Legal structure: Giving an AI agent business ownership via trust 7:23 Where agents can and can't operate today 10:10 Grasshopper Bank: Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https:\/\/grasshopper.bank\/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account. 11:48 AI caf\u00e9 in Stockholm running on agents 18:21 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations \u2014 interviews, meetings, calls \u2014 you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https:\/\/Plaud.ai\/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off! 19:05 Robert Myers, Manifold Labs: Targon &amp;amp; Bittensor Subnet 4 interview 20:21 What is Bittensor? An &quot;incubator with 128 subnets&quot; 21:08 Shopify: Turn those What If's into sales with the ecommerce platform powering millions of businesses. Sign up for your $1-per-month trial today at https:\/\/shopify.com\/twist 25:21 Pricing, utilization caps, and why GPUs are sold out 26:38 Who's using Targon? Customers, use cases, and the mom-and-pop data center argument 30:06 Pilot: Focus on your product, let Pilot handle your bookkeeping. Pilot provides the most reliable accounting, CFO, and tax services for startups and small businesses. Head to https:\/\/pilot.com\/twist and get $1,200 off your first year. 35:07 Jason explains the annotated.com vision \u2014 15 years in the making 39:11 Polymarket: Will Anthropic flip Bitcoin by Dec 31? 40:29 Jason's Bitcoin bear case: &quot;It's played out. No incremental buyers.&quot; 46:05 MicroStrategy \/ Strategy updates 52:37 AI compute demand vs. the fiber overbuild analogy 55:55 Congress pressuring startups over Chinese AI models (DeepSeek, Moonshot) 57:11 A16z on the geopolitical risk of Chinese AI models 1:00:08 Reflection AI \u2014 America's open source AI champion (or lack thereof) 1:01:26 Off Duty: Knicks blow out Atlanta Hawks 140\u201389, Jason goes road-tripping 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: \u2060https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jason LinkedIn: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https:\/\/partners.launch.co\/ 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\u2019s 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 ","author_name":"This Week in Startups","author_url":"https:\/\/thisweekinstartups.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/41997980\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/203884405"}