This Week in Startups · September 11, 2026 · 1h 12m

The Pentagon Wants Equity in AI Startups

Jason Calacanis, Lon Harris, Tibo Louis-Lucas

Jason and Lon commemorate 9/11 and discuss the Pentagon's potential $5B loan to Fluidstack, with Jason arguing that the real story is the government becoming a direct equity investor in AI startups. Tibo Louis-Lucas returns to show how he uses stacked AI agents to run seven companies with under 10 people. The hosts also break down Apple's new foldable iPhone Duo, and close with an Off-Duty Friday review of Lanterns and Dark Matter Season 2, and a remembrance of Robin Williams.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Preview

•

The Pentagon Wants Equity in AI Startups00:09:10

The Pentagon is reportedly in talks to lend AI cloud startup Fluidstack $5 billion, and Jason argues the real story is the US government owning equity in private AI companies, competing with venture capital.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

•

Running Seven Companies With Fewer Than 10 People Using AI Agents00:38:04

Tibo Louis-Lucas demonstrates how he runs seven companies with a team of under 10 people by stacking multiple AI agent subscriptions, which he says can replace an entire marketing team.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

4 more ideas, 1 references & all timestamps

This episode is in its early-access window. The full breakdown unlocks free in about 45 hours — Pro members read everything the moment it lands.

Read it now with Pro$10/mo · founding $96/yr

Was this useful?