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Sam Nadler (00:27):
Hey everyone and welcome to Built This Week, the podcast where we share what we're building, how we're building it, and what it means for the world of AI and startups. I'm Sam Nadler, co-founder of Ryz Labs, and I'm joined each and every week by my business partner and friend, Jordan Metzner. How's it going today, Jordan?
Jordan Metzner (00:46):
Hey, Sam. Happy to be back. Another new episode. Lots going on in the AI world. So, super excited to get started today.
Sam Nadler (00:53):
Before we jump in, remember to like and subscribe. New episodes drop every Friday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. Today we’re going to talk about a product you built around parking tickets in Los Angeles, inspired by something in San Francisco. Then we’ll dive into Sora 2, which just came out yesterday, and of course cover the latest AI news.
Jordan Metzner (01:38):
About a week ago, I saw someone post a live map of parking tickets in San Francisco. They accessed the city API showing where tickets were being issued, basically tracking the meter maids. The city quickly tried to shut it down, citing officer safety, but residents loved it because they could see where not to park.
Jordan Metzner (03:06):
I realized Los Angeles also has great open data through a company called Travis. So I queried their API and built a map showing where tickets are issued in LA. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica don’t appear because they’re separate cities. You can follow each officer’s route and even see leaderboards of who writes the most tickets.
Jordan Metzner (05:14):
I broke down tickets by violation type, car color, and agency. Not surprisingly, black, white, and gray cars are ticketed most, but that’s also because they’re the most common. Rare colors like brown or purple barely show up. The app is called Tix LAX, built with LA parking data, Mapbox, and Codex.
Sam Nadler (06:21):
You mentioned San Francisco’s was live data. What about this one? Could it be real time?
Jordan Metzner (06:43):
Good question. LA data has about a two-day delay. I even found some tickets accidentally dated in the future. So, no real-time access—probably safer for officers that way.
Sam Nadler (08:17):
Looking at the Valley, you could justify avoiding Ventura Boulevard if you wanted to dodge tickets. Really fun use case of APIs to visualize city data.
Jordan Metzner (08:34):
Exactly. Don’t let your meter expire on Ventura. Beyond that, it raises bigger questions: LA generates only modest revenue from tickets, and the parking division may even be cashflow negative. So why keep it? Would eliminating it save money and improve quality of life?
Sam Nadler (10:18):
Super cool. Let’s transition. Yesterday Sora 2 came out. You and I played with it all day. For me, the fidelity of faces is impressive, though physics still trail behind Video 3.
Jordan Metzner (11:23):
I’ve made tons of Sora 2 clips—everything from Pikachu to JFK to dogs driving cars. The social feed is full of wild stuff. Sometimes the physics are weird, but sometimes continuity is spot on. Let’s generate one live with my black labrador cooking sushi at a high-end restaurant.
Jordan Metzner (13:24):
Sora 2 is expensive to run. Generation takes 3–5 minutes and costs are likely huge. Access is limited to Plus members, and sometimes servers deny requests. But the big breakthrough is continuity—recording your face and inserting it into multiple videos.
Jordan Metzner (13:48):
Here’s me tanning leather. Here’s me on an oil rig. Here’s me riding a bull, climbing Everest, farming, even racing Formula One. I’ve never done these things, but the videos look convincing.
Sam Nadler (14:39):
Some imperfections are obvious, but the fidelity is really good. The elephant, monk, hockey, Tesla factory ones looked just like you.
Jordan Metzner (15:07):
That’s the difference versus Video 3: you can put yourself inside the content. It’s fun when you’re the star. Less fun otherwise. It feels like the beginning of continuous storytelling, eventually with longer clips.
Sam Nadler (19:29):
Super cool. What’s hot in the news, Jordan?
Jordan Metzner (19:32):
OpenAI just did a secondary at a $500 billion valuation, letting employees sell $6.6 billion worth of shares. That makes it the most valuable private company on the market.
Sam Nadler (20:02):
That’s massive. Few public companies even reach that level. Congrats to employees who got liquidity.
Jordan Metzner (20:39):
Broadly, AI has three big verticals: chatbots, coding bots, and content creation. OpenAI now leads all three with GPT-5, Codex 5, and Sora 2. Anthropic and Google were ahead in some areas, but OpenAI has pulled back into first.
Sam Nadler (21:47):
They really are firing on all cylinders. What else?
Jordan Metzner (21:54):
Apple reportedly deprioritized Vision Pro in favor of AI glasses, similar to Meta’s. Hardware plus AI is converging. The question is—what device will be “on you” all the time?
Sam Nadler (23:07):
Vision Pro was clunky, but Apple nails hardware. AI glasses could be their big play. Launch expected 2027.
Jordan Metzner (23:33):
Despite criticism, Apple’s iPhone 17s are selling out everywhere. Demand for their devices is still massive.
Jordan Metzner (24:07):
One last story: entrepreneur Steve Simone, who sold his last company to DoorDash, is now building AI-powered turrets to shoot down drones. With modern warfare so drone-heavy, this is an emerging AI defense application.
Sam Nadler (25:41):
Thanks, Jordan. Entertaining as always. Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Friday.
Jordan Metzner (25:53):
Awesome episode. We’re rolling into fall, Nvidia keeps hitting highs, the market’s strong despite economic worries, and AI momentum is unstoppable. For Sam, I’m Jordan. Thanks so much and see you next week.
Sam Nadler (26:51):
Thanks everyone
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