TorontoStartsBook a call

A TorontoStarts podcast

SiliconScoop

Tech and science news,
explained.

With Jon Irwin & The Startup Coach

Browse episodes
Silicon Scoop cohosts Jon Irwin and Craig Major, The Startup Coach, celebrating together; Craig wears the Flowgrammer emblem
Jon IrwinThe Startup Coach

The latest conversations

Browse all episodes

Meet your hosts

Two perspectives.
One curious conversation.

Join Jon Irwin and Craig Major, The Startup Coach, as they explore technology, science, and the ideas changing business.

Jon Irwin & The Startup Coach

Silicon Scoop cohosts Jon Irwin and Craig Major, The Startup Coach, celebrating together; Craig wears the Flowgrammer emblem
Jon IrwinThe Startup Coach

Explore the episodes

Find your next conversation.

  1. Spirit AI’s Robot Brain Breakthrough: Moz1, Embodied AI and China’s 2027 Race

    The Spirit AI robot brain is one of the biggest bets on fixing that. Spirit AI is a Beijing startup. Its co-founder and chief scientist, Gao Yang,

  2. OpenAI IPO Delayed to 2027 as Rogue AI Agents and Safety Failures Reshape the Market

    OpenAI IPO delay explained: Sam Altman rules out 2026 as GPT-6 Astra safety tests and a $278B cash gap loom. Learn what founders should take away.

  3. Anthropic’s AI Economy Model: 2030 Jobs, Wages, GDP and Market Risks

    Anthropic AI economy model forecasts 2030 GDP, jobs and wages, while AI unemployment projections and labor-share risks challenge policymakers.

  4. Google’s Male Fruit Fly Connectome: Largest Brain Map Powers Doom, Mario 64 Experiments

    Google’s fruit fly connectome in MaleCNS v1.0 advances connectomics, enables Doom simulation, and reshapes neuroscience research.

  5. LG Smart TV Spying Allegations Escalate as Security Flaws, Ad Telemetry and Legal Risks Draw Global Scrutiny

    LG smart TV privacy backlash grows as spying claims, smart TV security vulnerabilities, and automatic content recognition tracking trigger global scrutiny.

  6. Anthropic Threat Report Reveals AI Misuse in Bioweapons, Cyber Ops, and Influence Campaigns

    Anthropic threat report details biological weapons, AI misuse, and Claude AI abuse across cyber ops, influence campaigns, and weapons development.

  7. Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative: Inside the $2.3B Strategy to Train a Million Students

    Canada’s National AI Literacy Initiative under the AI strategy aims to train 1M students, educators and workers with free AI literacy courses via Amii and partners.

  8. OpenAI Cuts Cursor Off After SpaceX’s $60B Deal: How Model Access Became a Strategic Weapon

    OpenAI Cursor fallout: SpaceX acquisition triggers change-of-control clause, AI model access cutoff, and a new era of strategic control over developer tools.

  9. Quantum Encryption Breakthrough: Unconditional Unclonable Encryption Explained

    Unclonable encryption advances quantum cryptography with the no-cloning theorem and information-theoretic security in a one-time scheme.

  10. Dark Matter Breakthrough? Inside LUX‑ZEPLIN’s Mysterious 248 keV Event and What Comes Next

    LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment reports a 248 keV nuclear recoil, a potential WIMP detection in a South Dakota xenon detector. Explore models and market impact.

  11. Graphene Oxide Inhalation Trial Signals Safe-by-Design Future for Nanomaterials

    Graphene oxide inhalation study in Nature Nanotechnology shows acute nanomaterial safety, shaping nanomedicine, industrial use and future graphene regulation.

  12. Nanodiamond Smart Cooling Textiles: From Lab Breakthrough to Next-Gen Climate-Adaptive Apparel

    How nanodiamond cooling textiles and smart cooling fabrics using nanodiamond-coated cotton are reshaping thermal conductive textiles and energy-efficient apparel.

  13. China’s Brain-Mapping Chip Redefines Real-Time Cortical Reconstruction

    China’s brain mapping chip uses phase-change memristors and in-memory computing for real-time cortical reconstruction, boosting diagnosis and surgery.

  14. UltraRAM’s Quantum Leap: How Quinas Is Turning Universal Memory Into Commercial Silicon

    UltraRAM and Quinas Technology push universal memory toward commercial silicon, scaling quantum-powered storage for neuromorphic computing and AI.

  15. OpenAI’s Jalapeño Chip Stakes a Claim Against Nvidia Blackwell in Real-World AI Inference

    OpenAI Jalapeno chip challenges Nvidia GB300 Blackwell with InferenceX AI benchmark results, reshaping AI inference accelerator efficiency and latency.

  16. Meta’s $18 Billion Teen Safety Settlement: Soft Guardrails, Hard Leverage Over TikTok and YouTube

    Deep dive on Meta teen safety settlement, social media addiction lawsuit, new Facebook Instagram time limits and pressure on TikTok YouTube age verification.

  17. How Claude Mythos Is Reshaping Cryptanalysis: HAWK, AES and the Rise of AI-Driven Crypto Research

    Claude Mythos cryptanalysis weakens HAWK post-quantum signature, speeds AES Möbius Bridge attack, and powers CryptanalysisBench benchmark in AI-driven crypto research.

  18. Nvidia’s $12.9 Billion Hugging Face Bet: How Controlling the Open-Source Model Hub Reshapes AI Chips, Cloud, And Competition

    Nvidia Hugging Face acquisition could reshape open source AI models, AI chip dominance, and the global developer model hub, raising antitrust and neutrality questions.

  19. Has the AI Singularity Quietly Begun? Rogue Agents, Frontier Standards and Recursive Self‑Improvement

    Deep dive on the AI singularity, recursive self-improvement, frontier AI standards body proposals, and the OpenAI Hugging Face hack shaping global AI policy.

  21. China’s Humanoid Robots Shatter Speed Records as U.S. Slams Door on Foreign AI Hardware

    World Humanoid Robot Games showcase Chinese humanoid robots smashing sprint records amid FCC humanoid robot ban and Unitree Robotics national security scrutiny.

  22. MIT Concrete Supercapacitor Breakthrough: 10x Energy Density and 12V Architectural Modules

    MIT concrete supercapacitor update: ec3 technology, carbon-cement energy storage, and structural health monitoring with 10x energy density.

  23. Anthropic’s $2 Trillion AI IPO Bid: Inside the Record-Setting Claude Mega-Listing and Market Fallout

    Anthropic IPO aims to rival SpaceX record IPO, with Claude-driven $65B revenue, $2T valuation, and AI backlash risk factors reshaping market and governance.

  24. Meta’s $200 Billion Child Safety Trial: How Addictive Design Claims Could Rewrite Social Media

    Deep dive into the Meta child safety trial, the social media addiction lawsuit over Facebook Instagram addictive design, and EU Digital Services Act enforcement.

  25. AI-Designed Viruses Raise Biosecurity Alarm

    AI-designed viruses spark biosecurity policy debate. See bacteriophage genomes, generative biology, and NIH rules shaping the risk.

  26. Apple Paid Subscriptions Hit 1.5 Billion as Services, App Store, and Regulatory Pressure Reshape Growth

    Apple paid subscriptions hit 1.5B as Apple Services revenue, App Store subscriptions, and Apple Epic Games lawsuit pressures shape growth.

  27. Yann LeCun’s $1.03B AMI Labs Bet on World Models and JEPA

    AMI Labs and Yann LeCun raise $1.03B seed funding to scale JEPA world models, challenging LLMs and reshaping AI architectures and strategic market bets.

  28. Muse Glimmer Puts 30B Local AI Power on Your GPU

    Meta’s Muse Glimmer open-weight AI brings 30B local agentic power as Trump exempts open-weight models from U.S. AI safety tests, reshaping superintelligence strategy.

  29. Rogue AI Agents Expose New Cybersecurity Risks for OpenAI, Anthropic and Regulators

    Rogue AI agents, Anthropic Mythos 5 and OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol highlight new AI security incident risks, from GitHub supply-chain attacks to misconfigured cyber tests.

  30. SpaceX’s Q2 2026 Earnings: Inside the AI Spending Spree Behind a 92% Revenue Surge

    Deep dive into SpaceX Q2 2026 earnings, massive AI capex, Starlink revenue growth, and the strategic Cursor acquisition shaping its trillion-dollar ambitions.

  31. Airtable’s $1.28B Exit: What Bending Spoons Really Bought and What It Means for Founders

    Airtable acquisition: inside Bending Spoons’ $1.28B deal, down round valuation dynamics, and how liquidation preferences reshape founder and employee outcomes.

  32. How a Rare CO Chondrite Asteroid Rewrote the Dinosaur Extinction Story

    New nickel isotope analysis reveals the Chicxulub impactor was a rare CO chondrite asteroid, reshaping theories on dust, sulfur and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

  33. HL-LHC Upgrade: New Detector Specs, 2030 Timeline, and the Physics Stakes

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  37. Anthropic’s $1.5B AI Copyright Deal Reshapes Training Data Rules for Authors and Tech

    Anthropic copyright settlement sets a $1.5B benchmark in AI training data piracy, as authors class action over pirated books reshapes Claude chatbot lawsuit risks.

  38. SpaceXAI’s xAI Identity Crisis Deepens as Grok 4.5 Arrives

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  39. Inside Stathera’s $75M Bet on Silicon Timing and Canada’s AI Chip Future

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  44. Pentagon Grok AI Bombing Iran: xAI National Security Fallout

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  45. SpaceX Reportedly Showed Investors a Grok-Powered AI Device Before Its IPO

    The Wall Street Journal says SpaceX showed investors a Grok-powered AI device before its IPO, while Musk denies the company is developing a phone. This fact-checked article separates verified reporting from speculation.

  49. ChatGPT’s Market Share Falls Below 50% as Pentagon Deal, Ads, and Boycotts Reshape the AI Assistant Race

    =ChatGPT’s Market Share Falls Below 50% as Pentagon Deal, Ads, and Boycotts Reshape the AI Assistant Race

  50. Anthropic’s Plan Shows How Bad AI Job Loss Could Get

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  51. Export Controls Just Changed Who Gets Frontier AI

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  52. This PFAS Filter Cuts Cleanup Time from Days to Hours

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  53. Self-healing Composites Just Made FRP Last Longer

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  54. Twisted Light Puts Quantum Links Closer to Real Networks

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  55. AI Just Put Software Fees and Payment Fees on Notice

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  56. Hand Photos Just Made Acromegaly Screening Private

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  57. Openai’s IPO Move Could Reshape AI Rules and Costs

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  58. Taara Beam Makes 25gbps Links Faster to Deploy

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  59. Huawei Bets on Tau Scaling to Catch Up by 2031

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

  60. Anthropic Readies a $965B IPO and Courts Cyber Allies

    Explore the story in the episode notes.

Silicon Scoop podcast cover

Keep the conversation going.

Explore Silicon Scoop on YouTube, or bring your story to the show.