Banning Chinese robots isn't regulatory capture | E2318

Wednesday · 1 hr 25 min · 8.6 GB

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Today's show:

The FCC's decision to ban Chinese humanoid robots over security concerns is a boon to American startups, which now face a narrower competitive market. But where should we draw the line on security over competition? Menlo Ventures' Deedy Das, Weisburd Pierce's David Weisburd, Plexo Capital's Lo Toney, and LAUNCH's Jason Calcanis broke down how they differentiate between legitimate security concerns and purported regulatory capture. Today's venture capital roundtable also dug into OpenRouter's possible sale to Stripe, changing tokenomics, the Indian market for startups, and even DoorDash's drone-delivery business taking flight.

Guest Links:

Deedy Das https://x.com/deedydas

Menloe Ventures https://menlovc.com/

Lo Toney https://x.com/lo_toney

Plexo Capital https://www.plexocap.com/

David Weisburd https://x.com/DWeisburd

Weisburd Pierce https://www.weisburdpierce.com/

Jason Calcanis https://x.com/Jason

LAUNCH https://launch.co/

Show Links:

The FCC's decision regarding Chinese robots https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-adds-foreign-produced-power-inverters-and-robots-covered-list-0

Pacing the Frontier letter https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/

Cursor Start https://cursor.com/blog/cursor-start-india

Stripe may buy OpenRouter https://www.axios.com/2026/07/24/stripe-openrouter-merger-ai-currency

OpenRouter financials https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openrouter-financials-suggest-steep-price-possible-acquirer-stripe?rc=g3wfdp

Kimi K3 license https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3/blob/main/LICENSE

Pangram https://www.pangram.com/

Tau Robotics https://www.tau-robotics.com/

Zipline https://www.zipline.com/

Manna https://www.manna.aero/

Kindred Ventures https://kindredventures.com/

Autolane https://goautolane.com/

Salmon Labs https://salmonrun.ai/

Timestamps:

0:00 The FCC bans Chinese humanoid robots

2:18 Waymo, Uber, Robotaxi, and the global BYD threat

10:30 MongoDB - AI-assisted and agentic coding is helping you build faster than ever. Start building at https://MongoDB.com/ai

15:45 The "Pacing The Frontier" letter (1,100+ AI staffers warn on RSI)

19:51 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist

21:07 Regulatory capture vs. genuine concern

30:09 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

37:57 Have we reached AGI?

38:35 Stripe eyes OpenRouter at $10B

39:19 Does OpenRouter have a moat?

47:13 Kimi K3's license and neocloud margins

49:34 Claude Tag and the future of AI-mediated workplaces

53:26 Cursor Start, ChatGPT Go, and the India market

1:02:03 Have we solved AI detection?

1:11:20 Tau Robotics $30/hour robotic housecleaning

1:12:49 Job loss, and the social safety net

1:18:25 DoorDash Air takes on Zipline, Manna

1:21:00 Portfolio shout-outs

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