Bittensor Drama! TAO down 15%! | E2274

Bittensor Drama! TAO down 15%! | E2274

Author: Jason Calacanis April 11, 2026 Duration: 1:21:54

This Week In Startups is made possible by:


Pilot - https://pilot.com/TWIST

Squarespace -https://squarespace.com/TWIST

Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/TWIST

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistCrowdHealth - ⁠https://JoinCrowdHealth.com/twist⁠

Today’s show:

TAO, the token associated with the Bittensor network, fell sharply last night after a major project declared it was taking its business elsewhere. Covenant AI had used Bittensor subnets 3, 39, and 89 before its abrupt and controversial decision to depart for other digital shores.

Gareth Howells, a co-founder of Vidaio (Bittensor Subnet 85), joined Jason and Alex to share the community perspective regarding Covenant’s decision to leave Bittensor, a choice that was especially bitter given that its recently-released Covenant-72B model trained using the network’s decentralized capabilities was hailed at the time as a demonstration of the crypto-AI hybrid’s potential. (Covenant’s Sam Dare was a recent guest on TWiST.)

Howells walked us through Vidaio’s product (AI models for high-quality video work, like upscaling)

Then it was time to bring new fan-favorite Ole Lehmann on. Ole took an Andrej Karpathy concept, and turned it into a skill that you can use in either OpenClaw or Claude Cowork.


Guests

Ole Lehmann: https://x.com/itsolelehmann

The AI Solopreneur newsletter: https://aisolo.beehiiv.com/

Vidaio: https://vidaio.io/

Vidaio on X: https://x.com/vidaio_


Timestamps:

0:00 Drama in the Bittensor space! Was there a rugpull?

1:01 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

1:47 Gareth Howells of subnet85 joins the show: https://x.com/GarethHowells

9:56 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/TWIST

11:37 Gareth reacts to the Covenant situation… Did Sam sell tokens?

14:33 How VidAIo (subnet85) optimizes video as cheaply as possible. https://vidaio.io/

20:06 Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://squarespace.com/TWIST

21:12 Demo: Gareth shows upscaled footage of our very own Lon Harris

27:09 Who is actually doing the computing on Bittensor?

28:15 How Bittensor recruits tech talent from emerging markets

29:42 Pilot - Visit https://pilot.com/TWIST and get $1,200 off your first year.

30:58 Jason's explains the Bittensor network. https://docs.bittensor.com/

37:28 Jason addresses "pump and dump" allegations

40:46 Ole Lehmann joins the show https://x.com/itsolelehmann

45:31 Jason's $1,000 "bounty" for enhanced show notes

49:35 Check out Ole's newsletter at aisolo.beehiiv.com !

59:50 CrowdHealth - CrowdHealth lets you ditch the bureaucracy with a peer-to-peer funding platform for your healthcare. Get started for $99 per month for your first three months by using the code TWIST at https://JoinCrowdHealth.com/twist.

1:00:46 Off Duty with Alex and J-Cal!

1:04:46 Reacting to the Maul trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkVepshZhGc


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: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis


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



Every week, Jason Calacanis dives headfirst into the swirling vortex of Silicon Valley and global tech with This Week in Startups. It’s a direct line to the conversations shaping our digital future, moving far beyond surface-level news. You’ll hear Jason’s unfiltered analysis on everything from market shifts and media trends to the underlying mechanics of building a business, all delivered with a blend of enthusiasm and seasoned skepticism. The core of this podcast, however, lies in the guests. Jason sits down with the very people driving change-founders who have scaled impossible heights, operators managing daily chaos, and investors who spot trends before they become obvious. These conversations are less like formal interviews and more like insider debriefs, pulling back the curtain on real strategies, painful failures, and unexpected successes. For anyone curious about how technology is built, funded, and ultimately changes the world, this series offers a front-row seat. It’s the context behind the headlines, providing a deeper understanding of the forces at play in startups and technology. Tune in for a consistently engaging and insightful look at the ecosystem, straight from someone who lives and breathes it.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

This Week in Startups
Podcast Episodes
What will be OpenAI’s IPO price? Place ya bets! | E2202 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:34
What will be OpenAI’s IPO price? Place ya bets! | EXXX*Polymarket’s sharps are already placing bets on when ChatGPT maker OpenAI will go public… and Jason and Alex want in on this action. They’re placing side wagers on h…
Jason Unpacks Sequoia’s New Funds | E2199 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:45
Today’s show:Australia has accused Microsoft of employing a dark pattern… Hear why Jason says these kinds of sneaky tactics aren’t usually worth it.It’s a brand-new Monday TWiST and it’s PACKED with news. In addition to…
If you’re not working 9-9-6, are you working hard enough? | E2198 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:16
Today’s show:*Working from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week, might seem like TOO INTENSE a commitment for some, but Jason argues that elite performance — and the mega-compensation that goes along with it — sometimes requires…
Magic School uses AI to help kids learn, not cheat | E2196 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:51
Are AI tools in the classroom just time-savers, or can they have genuine educational value?In a must-watch TWiST 500 interview, Alex chats with Magic School founder (and former principal) Adeel Khan about how AI tools ca…
Just how frothy is the AI Bubble anyway? | E2195 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:04
Today’s show: *Is the AI bubble going to POP? And if so, how much of our economy is it going to take down with it?On a new TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon debate the size and scale of the AI bubble, whether poppage is immine…