We built OpenClaw Ultron to replace 20 people at our company | E2246

We built OpenClaw Ultron to replace 20 people at our company | E2246

Author: Jason Calacanis February 7, 2026 Duration: 1:10:51

This Week In Startups is made possible by:


Crusoe Cloud - https://crusoe.ai/savings


Lemon IO - https://Lemon.io/twist


Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist


Thanks to our guests:


Alex Cheema of ExoLabs http://exolabs.net


Ryan Yanneli of NextVisit https://nextvisit.ai/


Today’s show: 


It’s the Age of Ultron at TWiST and LAUNCH. We’ve given our OpenClaw digital Replicants the keys to all of our systems and we’re seeing how much of our jobs they can really do when left to their own devices.


Producer Oliver stops by the show to give us a peek behind the curtain, at the new control panel and dashboard OpenClaw built FOR ITSELF (with a bit of human assistance).


PLUS we’re joined by Alex Cheema of ExoLabs. His company helps everyday consumers run powerful frontier LLMs on their own devices, essential to protect your data and personalize your AI experience.


ALSO congratulations to Ryan Yanneli from NextVisit on winning our Gamma Pitch Deck Competition! He walks away with $25K from LAUNCH and our friends at Gamma.


Timestamps:


(00:00) Introducing Alex Cheema to the show


(3:17) Why it is so important to run AI on local hardware


(6:58) Using OpenClaw Producer to automate TWiST


(8:59) How to Train your AI


(11:58) What is a Chron Job? (Hint: chron means chronological)


(13:24) Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit https://crusoe.ai/savings to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.


(17:53) OpenClaw managing the LAUNCH/TWiST team


(19:54)  Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist


(20:58) Turning AI into Ultron, self optimization


(27:21) The Future: frontier models: running on your Iphone!


(28:37) Prompt injections: how people can hack your OpenClaw


(30:25) 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://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist


(31:31) OpenClaw invites guests that join the show


(40:29) Oliver shows off OpenClaw mission control dashboard


(46:30) Stacking Apple Silicon vs. Running Kimi-K


(50:18) How Exo Labs works — stringing together Mac Silicon


(54:29) Ryan from Nextvisit wins Gamma Pitch Competition


(59:10) Industry Season 4 reflects tech regulation


*


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/


*


Thank you to our partners:


(13:24) Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit https://crusoe.ai/savings to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.


(19:54)  Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist


(30:25) 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://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist


Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/


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
AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:45
AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211Register for Founder University Japan’s Kickoff! https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday’s show:*Will the arrival of two hotly-anticipated, intensely powerful AI models snap the Doo…
Why We Need Ferries and Tugboats in Space w/ Orbital Operations | E2208 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:56
👉 Register here to join the kickoff: https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday’s show:Just getting our stuff into orbit isn’t enough… Orbital Operations wants to help companies take things HIGHER.In today’s TWiST 500 interview, Ale…
It’s a boat, it’s a plane, it’s REGENT’s Seafarer | E2205 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:13
Register for Founder University Japan’s Kickoff: https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday’s show:*The key to avoiding long airport delays? Low-altitude sea planes! Why didn’t you think of that?We’ve got an awesome line-up of TWiST…
Sending datacenters into orbit | E2203 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:54
👉 Register here to join the Founder University Japan kickoff! https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday’s show:*Starcloud has started sending AI chips into orbit. So is this where the datacenters the power AI will one day live? And…