Inside The Startup Building Uncensored AI (Abliteration AI) | EP 2345

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Today’s show:

What can AI do with the guardrails OFF? Devon Thomas of Abliteration.ai thinks defenders should have access to the same kinds of tools, rather than having one hand tied behind their backs.

Then, on Ask Jason, learn what AI means for the billable hour from a legal-tech founder. PLUS, are AI microdramas a real ecosystem or a fad, and does AI finally make solo founders fundable?

Guests:

Devon Thomas on X: https://x.com/founderengineer

Abliteration: https://abliteration.ai/

Relevant Links:

Abliteration.ai on a16z speedrun — the accelerator Jason congratulated Devon on → https://speedrun.a16z.com/companies/abliteration

TechCrunch: "Abliteration.ai is making a business out of removing AI guardrails" — the coverage behind the recent attention → https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/03/abliteration-ai-is-making-a-business-out-of-removing-ai-guardrails/

Abliteration.ai press page → https://abliteration.ai/press

Anthropic Frontier Red Team: "GLM-5.3 and the spread of advanced cyber capabilities" — the blog Devon cited on how capable abliterated GLM-5.3 is → https://www.anthropic.com/research/glm-5-3-and-the-spread-of-advanced-cyber-capabilities

CNBC: Trump's executive order renaming AI "super intelligence," signed the same day → https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/29/trump-ai-super-intelligence.html

Nextgov/FCW: OpenAI agents accessed Census and SEC data — detail on the dozens of organizations OpenAI notified → https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2026/09/openai-says-its-advanced-models-may-have-gone-after-government-websites/416250/

Financial Times: "AI wrecking ball fractures billable-hour fee model"

Seedance 2.5 — ByteDance's video model Bruno asked about → https://technode.com/2026/07/31/bytedance-launches-seedance-2-5-video-generation-model/

Pixar / Toy Story — the CGI "Toy Story moment" Jason expects for AI video → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story

Practi — Mathew's platform for helping law firms move from hourly billing to subscriptions → https://practi.ai/hello

Timestamps:

00:00:00 What http://Abliteration.ai does, and who the frontier labs are shutting out

00:02:44 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

00:02:56 Why defenders don't get the attackers' tools

00:04:16 "Inversion of control": letting customers set their own guardrails

00:06:47 Who's liable? The hammer analogy and the White House self-regulation pact

00:10:11 Every: For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io.

00:13:10 Why AI labs publicize their scariest hacks

00:18:52 Customers: from cyber startups to Fortune 500 CISOs

00:19:56 Northwest Registered Agent: Got a new business idea? Northwest Registered Agent helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more - with no purchase required! - Learn more at http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain

00:24:41 Chinese image and video models

00:27:20 Why most businesses still barely use AI

00:29:02 Ask Jason begins

00:29:24 Mathew Kerbis (Practi): What does AI do to the billable hour?

00:30:16 Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist

00:32:45 Will subscriptions replace hourly billing?

00:37:27 Bruno Vilela: Are AI microdramas an ecosystem or a fad?

00:39:35 Lon's microdrama pitch to Snapchat and TikTok's PineDrama

00:48:09 Josh Ezell: Does AI change the bias against solo founders?

00:49:26 Jason's three-two-one framework and the risks founders must eliminate

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