Pierre-Louis Biojout

Introduction

Biojout is the founder of NanoCorp, a San Francisco startup that describes itself as “Autonomous Companies Run by AI Working While You Sleep.” On October 13, 2026, he announced that the company’s AI agents had built “Tenderloin: Night Shift,” a free browser-based zombie shooter set on real street corners in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. In his announcement post he said he had “never made a game,” that it was “built in a weekend with Codex,” and that it had “already $300 in ad sales.” The post drew roughly 40,000 views and criticism that he had turned a neighborhood known for homelessness and open-air fentanyl use into a video game.

Background Information

Biojout grew up in Paris, studied applied maths and computer science at École Polytechnique (X 2019), and later studied business at HEC Paris. Before founding startups he worked in London at L-GAM, a mid-market private equity fund, buying what he describes as “boring companies.” He co-founded phospho, a YC W24 company building monitoring for LLM applications, which raised a $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Elaia, and later steered it away from a robotics effort. He now lives in San Francisco, where he is scaling NanoCorp, a YC W24 company whose platform, in its own words, produces “an autonomous company run by an agent” from a single prompt.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

A viral game, not misconduct. Nobody has sued Biojout, and no platform or institution has sanctioned him over the game. What is contested is the premise of the product and its pitch: a zombie shooter mapped on the actual street corners of a neighborhood known for homelessness and open-air fentanyl use, with in-game advertising. The criticism is that he “monetized” the Tenderloin.

On October 13, 2026, Biojout wrote that “San Francisco couldn’t fix the Tenderloin. So I monetized it,” introducing “Tenderloin: Night Shift.” The game’s site says its map is “the real intersection” of Eddy & Jones, “out to Ellis, Turk, Leavenworth and Taylor,” and that players fight waves of “shamblers” arriving “from the end of the block,” buying pistol ammo at an in-game kiosk. The game is free, runs in a browser tab, supports up to four players in private co-op, and is “run by AI agents on NanoCorp.” Biojout said he had “never made a game” and had “built it in a weekend with Codex,” and claimed it had “already $300 in ad sales.” The site lists a “Billboards” feature — in-game advertising slots on the rendered street corner.

The Tenderloin has long been a focal point of San Francisco’s homeless and drug crisis: a 2026 analysis described Willow Street in the neighborhood as having been “for years … a focal point of the city’s homeless and fentanyl problems.” The choice to name the game’s enemies “shamblers” — in a product whose pitch is monetizing that exact street corner — is what drew the criticism.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The announcement post drew 34 replies, 115 likes and 40,277 views by the evening of October 13. The criticism centered on the pitch: Adam (@theCTO), whose profile says “posts are mostly satire,” quoted the post and wrote, “this is fcked up. turning people’s misfortunes and illness into a game. fcked up.” His post collected 327 likes. Biojout did not delete the game or his posts; he quoted his own announcement and replied, “Apparently it’s ok for Activision to release a Zombie shooter on Alcatraz but not yet in the Tenderloin,” a reference to Call of Duty’s zombie mode. No news outlet had covered the game, no platform action had been taken, and NanoCorp had issued no statement as of the evening of October 13.

Current Status

As of the evening of October 13, 2026, the game remains live at tenderloin.nanocorp.app, both of Biojout’s posts remain up, and the criticism is unfolding on X. The exchange is a dispute over tone and product positioning rather than a matter of record: no lawsuit, no institutional response, no company statement. Whether the game keeps selling in-game ads, and whether NanoCorp repositions the project, will determine what the controversy becomes.

Impact on Their Career/Life

So far the impact is attention rather than consequence. The game functions as a live demonstration of NanoCorp’s AI-agent thesis, and the criticism delivered more distribution than a quiet weekend project would have. Biojout has continued posting as usual, and NanoCorp’s YC listing still shows the company as active. If the criticism sticks, the cost is reputational and lands on the company he is trying to scale.

Sources

Pierre-Louis Biojout (PLB) (@plbiojout), X post announcing “Tenderloin: Night Shift,” October 13, 2026. source
Pierre-Louis Biojout (PLB) (@plbiojout), X reply to the criticism, October 13, 2026. source
adam (@theCTO), X post quoting the announcement, October 13, 2026. source
adam (@theCTO), X profile. source
NanoCorp, “Tenderloin: Night Shift” game site. source
Pierre-Louis Biojout, personal website. source
Y Combinator, “NanoCorp” company page. source
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Terry White), “The Fentanyl Epidemic Is More Than an Affordable Housing Problem: A Tale of Four Cities Pt. 3,” September 5, 2026. source