This Week in Startups

China wants you to cheer for the robots taking your job | E2329

This Week in Startups

Show Notes

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Odoo: https://odoo.com/twist

Quo: https://quo.com/TWiST

Conservation Fund: https://conservationfund.org/

how old a movie has to be for me to be able to show a part of it on youtube

Generally 10 seconds or less of a film clip can fall under fair use for commentary or criticism — which is how most podcasts and talk shows use clips without issue. But there's no hard legal rule based on age.

What actually matters more than age is fair use, which considers:

Purpose — commentary, criticism, education = stronger fair use case

Amount used — shorter = safer; a 5-10 second clip for reaction/discussion is generally fine

Effect on market — your clip shouldn't replace the original

In practice for YouTube specifically:

Most major studios have Content ID systems that will flag clips regardless of movie age — even 100-year-old films if the rights holder has registered them

Public domain is the real safe zone — films from 1927 or earlier are generally in the public domain in the US. Some films from the 1928-1963 range are also public domain if copyright wasn't renewed

Disney, Warner Bros., Universal etc. actively enforce even very old films

For a show like TWiST showing a short reaction clip — 5-10 seconds with clear commentary context is the industry standard and rarely gets actioned. But age alone won't protect you.

Today's show:

*A humanoid robot ran the 100m in 9.39, breaking the human Usain Bolt's world record, while an entire stadium cheered. Jason thinks Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games aren't a science fair, or a fun exhibition, but the best AI PR campaign on Earth. While Americans debate the data centers that train the robot brains, China is already turning them into a spectacle and world-class entertainment.

Find out what Jason thinks America can do to catch up… and why he believes there will be 1 billion Optimus robots deployed by the year 2036.

PLUS on an all-news TWiST, hot takes on the potential $13B Hugging Face sale (to a mystery buyer), why founders should always "buy the threat," analyzing Sam Altman's "I'm listening and I hear you" face, and are kill drones already in operation around the world? We're digging in to how close the real world is to mirroring the "Terminator" films.

Relevant Links

CBS coverage of World Humanoid Robot Games: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-robot-usain-bolt-sprint-run-record-faster/

Bloomberg coverage of World Humanoid Robot Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lsrUAdcPPE

X-Humanoid: https://www.x-humanoid.com/

Tesla Optimus on X: https://x.com/Tesla_Optimus

Trailer for Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_19pRsZRiz4

Bloomberg: Hugging Face exploring sale: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-23/hugging-face-gauging-interest-for-potential-sale-business-insider-says

Fortune: Stripe acquires OpenRouter: https://fortune.com/2026/08/16/stripe-7-billion-deal-ai-firm-openrouter-acquisition/

InfoWorld: OpenAI acqui-hires OPenClaw founder: https://www.infoworld.com/article/4132731/openai-hires-openclaw-founder-as-ai-agent-race-intensifies-2.html

David Senra podcast w/ Sam Altman: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/sam-altman

Harvey Tenet Research Preview: https://www.harvey.ai/blog/post-training-update-harvey-tenet

David Sacks comments on Harvey's Tenet (from X): https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2090790063047168473

CNBC: Iran linked to UK cyberattack: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/23/small-uk-power-plant-shut-down-after-iran-linked-cyberattack-report.html

NYT: A drone killed 3 Ukrainians: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/world/europe/russia-drones-autonomous-ai-kill-ukraine-war.html

Forbes: Eric Schmidt secretly testing AI drones: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2024/06/06/eric-schmidt-is-secretly-testing-ai-military-drones-in-a-wealthy-silicon-valley-suburb/

Restream: https://restream.io/

Kimbal Musk's Nova Sky Stories: https://novaskystories.com/

IKEA: Plu

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