Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics

2026-08-20 · 21 min · 33 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ references twistartups.substack.com website

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://twistartups.substack.com/
→ references @Calacanis website

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://substack.com/@calacanis
→ appeared on This Week in Startups podcast

0.68

evidence rules-v5
Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics
→ references Plants Vs Zombies book

0.60

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://ea.com/ea-studios/popcap/plants-vs-zombies
→ hosted by Jason Calacanis person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Jason Calacanis
→ works at Astrocade company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
CEO of Astrocade
→ works at Astrocade company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
CEO of Astrocade
→ discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
→ references Careers website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://astrocade.com/careers
→ references ThisWeekIn website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://youtube.com/thisweekin
→ references @Thisweekinstartups website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
→ references @MrBeast website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://youtube.com/@MrBeast
→ references Technical Guide person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://goo.gle/technical_guide
→ references astrocade.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://astrocade.com/
→ references flappybird.io website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://flappybird.io/
→ references nanabananapro.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://nanabananapro.com/

Entities found in this episode

websites 18

mentioned twistartups.substack.com website

0.90

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://twistartups.substack.com/
mentioned @Calacanis website

0.90

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://substack.com/@calacanis
references twistartups.substack.com website

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://twistartups.substack.com/
references @Calacanis website

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://substack.com/@calacanis
mentioned Careers website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://astrocade.com/careers
mentioned ThisWeekIn website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://youtube.com/thisweekin
mentioned @Thisweekinstartups website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
mentioned @MrBeast website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://youtube.com/@MrBeast
mentioned astrocade.com website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://astrocade.com/
mentioned flappybird.io website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://flappybird.io/
mentioned nanabananapro.com website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://nanabananapro.com/
references Careers website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://astrocade.com/careers
references ThisWeekIn website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://youtube.com/thisweekin
references @Thisweekinstartups website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
references @MrBeast website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://youtube.com/@MrBeast
references astrocade.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://astrocade.com/
references flappybird.io website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://flappybird.io/
references nanabananapro.com website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://nanabananapro.com/

persons 5

mentioned Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian person

0.72

evidence rules-v5
Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics
mentioned Jason Calacanis person

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Jason Calacanis
hosted by Jason Calacanis person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Jason Calacanis
mentioned Technical Guide person

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://goo.gle/technical_guide
references Technical Guide person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://goo.gle/technical_guide

companys 5

mentioned Astrocade company

0.62

evidence rules-v5
CEO of Astrocade
mentioned Technology company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
works at Astrocade company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
CEO of Astrocade
works at Astrocade company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
CEO of Astrocade
discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology

books 2

mentioned Plants Vs Zombies book

0.71

evidence rules-v5
: https://www.astrocade.com/ Relevant Links Flappy Bird: https://flappybird.io/ Plants vs. Zombies: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/popcap/plants-vs-zombies MrBeast on YouTube: htt
references Plants Vs Zombies book

0.60

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics": https://ea.com/ea-studios/popcap/plants-vs-zombies

concepts 2

mentioned AI Basics concept

0.42

evidence rules-v5
Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics
mentioned CEO concept

0.35

evidence rules-v5
CEO

podcasts 1

appeared on This Week in Startups podcast

0.68

evidence rules-v5
Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics

Episode description as stored

The TWiST AI Basics series is made possible by Google Cloud! Build context-aware AI workflows using DeepMind models and orchestration tools with Google for Startups' new Startup technical guide on generative media. Get the guide here: https://goo.gle/technical_guide Astrocade is building super-intelligence for the interactive world. Build the future of fun: https://www.astrocade.com/careers Today's show: *Making a video game once required a studio, an engine, and a team of five or more people working for six months. But with Astrocade, users just describe the game they'd like to play and share, and an AI assembles it from minutes, ready to publish to a TikTok-style feed. Still, founder and CEO Amir Sadeghian tell us AI can't actually build a great game all on its own. The magic isn't just in the automation, but the user's creativity and good taste. Amir demos how the app turns simple sentences and descriptions into full video games, explains why frontier models still regress to the mean rather than pushing boundaries, and unpacks how the game's human-in-the-loop workflow can turn even generic ideas into something original and fun. Guest: Amir Sadeghian on X: https://x.com/_amirabs Astrocade: https://www.astrocade.com/ Relevant Links Flappy Bird: https://flappybird.io/ Plants vs. Zombies: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/popcap/plants-vs-zombies MrBeast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast Google's Nano Banana Pro: https://nanabananapro.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome to AI Basics, presented by Google Cloud 0:44 Amir Sadeghian, CEO of Astrocade joins 1:08 What is Astrocade and how does it work? 2:58 From describing to publishing: the TikTok for games 3:37 Amir's origin story: four continents, one vision 5:11 Why making games used to require years of training 6:46 The watermelon juice theory of product friction 7:35 Taste as the new programming language 14:18 Personalizing games with your own images 15:23 From consumer to prosumer: can you make a living? 16:22 Astrocade's creator fund and new creator economy 17:07 Open roles at Astrocade 18:10 Why play is the most universal human language 19:43 Google Cloud, Gemini, and wrapping up Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Thank you to our partners! Build context-aware AI workflows using DeepMind models and orchestration tools with Google for Startups' new Startup technical guide on generative media. Get the guide here: https://goo.gle/technical_guide Astrocade is building super-intelligence for the interactive world. Build the future of fun: https://www.astrocade.com/careers Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com