AI Summary
5 min readWhy F1 Teams are Replacing Wind Tunnels with Smart Tape | E2305
This episode covers a broad mix of developments: a deep-dive interview with an aerodynamics hardware startup, government intervention in OpenAI's model releases, Apple talent leaving for OpenAI, Apple price hikes, the growing backlash against data centers, and Meta's plans for a prediction market—plus a remembrance of journalist Om Malik.
Skin Systems: Replacing Wind Tunnels with Sensor Tape
Lyle Davenport, founder of Skin Systems (skn.systems), joined the show to demo his company's product: smart tape with embedded sensors that measures pressure, temperature, and vibration at 500 hertz, with up to 100 sensors per vehicle. Growing up in a motorsport family—his grandfather was the CEO of JDS Uniphase—Davenport spent summers taping up race cars before they went on track, a last-half-percent improvement for reducing drag. That experience led him to ask: what if the tape itself could collect data?
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What you'll learn
- 1 Timestamped Outline
- 2 (00:00) **Show Open & Host Banter** - Jason and Lon open the episode from Hawaii with personal updates and e-foiling injury story
- 3 (06:14) **Guest Interview: Lyle Davenport of Skin Systems** - Hardware startup replacing wind tunnels with sensor tape for real-world aerodynamics testing
- 4 (24:36) **Accelerator Program Discussion** - Lyle shares his experience with Launch's accelerator and Foundry University
- 5 (32:37) **News: OpenAI Models Held Back by Government** - GPT-5/6 series (Saul, Terra, Luna) ready but only going to trusted partners initially
- 6 (43:43) **News: Apple VP Paul Meade Leaves for OpenAI** - Top Vision Pro and smart glasses executive moves to OpenAI's hardware unit
- 7 (51:06) **News: Apple Raises Prices 15-25%** - Tim Cook blames DRAM and NAND cost increases for price hikes
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistSentry - https://sentry.io/twistNorthwest Registered Agent-https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistDigitalOcean - https://do.co/twist
Today’s show:
F1 teams spend up to a third of their budgets on aerodynamics, often utilizing wind tunnels to simulate what happens on the track.
But Lyall Davenport of SKN Systems created a sensor-embedded tape that sticks directly to race cars as they drive around the real world, generating 420M data points per hour. And it comes in at roughly 95% less cost than running a full simulator.
Hear about how Lyall’s background in racing helped him develop the concept, plans to expand from motorsports to drones and defense, and his experiences going through Jason’s various programs.
PLUS OpenAI’s new models are so good, you can’t use them. Why Apple’s Vision Pro chief defected to OpenAI (and why their laptops and devices are getting more expensive). A look at the world’s most annoying data center in Sterling, Virginia. And Jason remembers iconic and influential tech journalist Om Malik.
Guest:
Lyall Davenport: https://x.com/Lyalldavenport
SKN Systems: https://www.skn.systems/
Timestamps:
0:00 How SKN uses tape to generate aerodynamic data
4:04 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!
6:17 How SKN uses tape to generate aerodynamic data
9:55 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST
17:20 F1 teams are worth HOW MUCH?
19:42 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
20:35 Future markets beyond motorsports
30:03 DigitalOcean - Want to see what building on a true AI-native platform looks like? Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%.
32:45 GPT-5.6 is banned for now
43:46 Vision Pro chief makes for the exit
51:24 Apple raises their prices
56:05
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