Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💻 Chips and Computing

Japan is investing heavily to strengthen its domestic semiconductor industry amidst growing geopolitical tensions. The country is pursuing a two-pronged strategy, backing both homegrown startup Rapidus and TSMC's Japanese subsidiary, JASM. Rapidus, a government-backed chip manufacturer aiming to produce cutting-edge 2nm chips, is set to receive significant funding alongside TSMC's expansion in Japan. This move is part of a larger JPY10 trillion (US$64.7 billion) package to bolster Japan's semiconductor and AI industries over the next seven years.

The Japanese government has offered substantial subsidies and removed regulatory barriers for TSMC, provided the company establishes operations in the country. While a typical wafer fab requires three to five years to develop, TSMC's first Kumamoto fab was completed in just two years.

In the US, Intel has finalised a $7.86 billion deal with the Biden administration to fund chip manufacturing across four states, underscoring the country's commitment to boosting domestic production.

Nvidia continues to dominate the AI chip market, with its latest earnings beating expectations and driving revenue up 94% year-over-year. The company's success is sparking an arms race among tech giants, who are competing to amass the most Nvidia chips in one place. This demand is creating a ripple effect throughout the supply chain, with server component makers gearing up for a production boom as Nvidia accelerates shipments of its next-generation Blackwell platform.

"The age of AI is upon us," Huang said on the call. "And it's large and diverse."

Advanced packaging is emerging as a critical frontier in semiconductor innovation. TSMC is quietly forming an advanced packaging supply chain cluster in Southern Taiwan, while the US government is investing up to $300 million in three advanced semiconductor packaging research projects.

"Advanced packaging is essential for developing the semiconductors that power emerging technologies like AI," said Laurie E. Locascio, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Microsoft is making significant strides in custom chips. The tech giant has unveiled two new custom chips for its data centres: the Azure Boost DPU for data processing and the Azure Integrated Hardware Security Module (HSM) for enhanced security, which aim to improve efficiency and security in cloud computing,

"Designed for scale-out, composable workloads on Azure, the Azure Boost DPU delivers efficiency across storage, networking, acceleration, and more for its cloud infrastructure," Microsoft wrote in a blog post shared with TechCrunch.

Bloomberg produced a 24-minute video exploring Japan's efforts to revive its semiconductor industry and reclaim its position as a global chip powerhouse.

Japan wants to revive its semiconductor glory days of the 1980s and it's mobilising everyone. The government, the private sector, academia, even international partners like TSMC and IBM. That means billions in investments, and billions more in subsidies.

💊 Health

A team at Yale School of Medicine has successfully revived pig brains hours after decapitation, and they're now applying similar techniques to human brains. While this isn't quite reanimation à la Frankenstein, it's forcing us to reconsider our definition of death. The technology, called BrainEx, could lead to improved treatments for conditions like Alzheimer's and better organ preservation for transplants.

"We're all conditioned to think of death as this binary thing," says Sam Parnia, a cardiopulmonary researcher at New York University. "You're alive and then you're dead. Most people aren't willing to accept that biology doesn't work that way."

Amgen's new weight loss drug MariTide is showing promise in early trials. The once-monthly injection helped patients lose up to 20% of their body weight in a year, potentially offering a less frequent alternative to weekly treatments like Wegovy and Zepbound.

Researchers have found that you can quite literally force a smile on your face to improve your mood. A study using electrical stimulation to manipulate facial muscles found that participants reported feeling more positive when their faces were contorted into smiles.

"Some people said we should forget about the hypothesis entirely," Korb says, "while others, like me, said, 'Wait a second—maybe we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.' I started thinking about how we could find other methods to manipulate muscles in a more controlled way than sticking a pen into your mouth."

On the cutting edge of mental health research, AI is helping unlock new genetic insights into psychiatric disorders. Stanford University researchers have used machine learning to identify complex genetic variants associated with conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This approach could pave the way for more personalised treatments and a deeper understanding of these complex conditions.

"Looking for only simple variations is like proofreading a book manuscript and searching exclusively for typos that change single letters. You are overlooking words that are scrambled or duplicated, or in the wrong order-you might even miss that half a chapter is gone."

🔬 Biology

Scientists are building a catalogue of every type of cell in our bodies. The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) consortium, involving over 3,600 collaborators across 102 countries, aims to identify and map all cell types in the human body. This ambitious project has already increased the known cell type count from 220 to over 5,000, with a first draft of the atlas expected next year.

Tools now exist that are capable of looking inside the cells, breaking them open one at a time to release their complements of messenger RNA (mRNA), the molecule which carries genetic information from a cell's nucleus to its protein factories. Molecules of mRNA indicate which genes are active, thus revealing a cell's inner nature.

While some scientists map our cellular landscape, others are putting genetic data to work in the criminal justice system. Investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) is emerging as a powerful tool not only for catching criminals but also for exonerating the wrongly convicted. In a recent case, the Bintz brothers were freed after 25 years in prison when IGG identified the true perpetrator of a 1987 murder. The technique involves uploading DNA profiles from crime scenes to consumer genetic databases. While these profiles often don't directly match the perpetrator, they can link to relatives, allowing investigators to build family trees and identify potential suspects.

Since 1989, 3,615 individuals convicted of crimes have been exonerated in the U.S., freed after their conviction was reversed. Post-conviction DNA testing played a part in 606 of these exonerations.

Scientists have created what may be the world's first piece of lab-grown wood from stem cells. While currently only the size of a splinter, this breakthrough could potentially reduce our reliance on logging rare hardwood trees.

"As far as we know, our early prototype is the first piece of interconnected wood-like tissue ever produced from cell culture," says Tom Clement at start-up New Dawn Bio.

⚙️ Mobility

Stellantis is revving up the EV game with its new STLA Frame platform, promising a 1,100-kilometre range for extended range electric vehicles (EREVs) and 800 kilometres for pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs). To put that in perspective, a car with the EREV frame could drive from Sydney to Melbourne on a single charge with 200 kilometres left over. The platform will underpin future Jeep and Ram models, offering a compelling solution for range anxiety sceptics.

"With full EV and extended-range EV tech coming soon, we're bringing 'no compromise' solutions to buyers who may be hesitant on trying their first electric vehicle," Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement.

Chinese tech giant Baidu is making autonomous driving more accessible by bringing down the production cost of its Apollo RT6 self-driving vehicle to US$34,525 per unit. Baidu claims the RT6 is now the world's only mass-produced Level-4 autonomous driving vehicle, potentially giving it an edge over competitors like Tesla.

The incoming Trump administration is reportedly paving the way for broader deployment of autonomous vehicles on America's roadways, which could benefit companies like Tesla and create a more coherent regulatory framework for the industry.

Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration only allows companies to launch as many as 2,500 self-driving cars per year under a granted exemption, though car manufacturers want to up those numbers exponentially.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has entered the EV market with a bang, selling nearly 90,000 of its SU7 electric sedans within 24 hours of launch. The company has already raised its 2024 delivery forecast three times, now aiming for 130,000 units. It seems Xiaomi has managed to do what Apple couldn't - successfully pivot from phones to cars. Even Ford CEO Jim Farley couldn't help but gush about the newcomer:

“Everyone was talking about the Apple car. But the Xiaomi car, which now exists and it’s fantastic—they sell 10,000, 20,000 a month. They are sold out for six months. That is an industry juggernaut, and [it comes from] a consumer brand that is much stronger than car companies.”

🔋 Batteries

Honda is investing heavily in solid-state battery technology, unveiling a demonstration production line in Japan with plans to begin production in January 2025. Solid-state batteries are considered the "holy grail" of EV technology, promising to double driving ranges while reducing costs and charging times. These batteries use solid electrolytes instead of liquid ones, making them safer and more energy-dense. Honda aims to integrate these batteries into new EVs by the late 2020s, with plans to extend their use to motorcycles and even aircraft. The company is targeting a 25% cost reduction for these batteries by the late 2020s, ramping up to 40% by the 2040s, potentially making EVs both more capable and more affordable.

"The all-solid-state battery is an innovative technology that will be a game changer in this EV era," said Keiji Otsu, president of Honda R&D, in a statement.

⚛️ Quantum Mechanics

Microsoft and Atom Computing have made a quantum leap, entangling 24 logical qubits using neutral atoms held by lasers. This breakthrough paves the way for more stable quantum computing, addressing error detection and correction issues. The duo plans to deliver commercial quantum computers based on this tech in 2025, boasting over 1,000 physical qubits and the ability to detect and correct for missing atoms without halting computations.

"We've run that algorithm in this hardware out to 20 logical qubits in that computation and shown that we can get better than physical performance there. You also get better than classical, it turns out, for this algorithm," said Krysta Svore, the technical fellow and vice president of advanced quantum development for Microsoft Azure Quantum.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Amazon has invested an additional $4 billion in Anthropic, bringing its total investment to $8 billion. This deal positions Amazon Web Services (AWS) as Anthropic's primary cloud provider and training partner for its AI models. The collaboration extends to hardware development, with Anthropic working closely with AWS's chipmaking division, Annapurna Labs.

Our engineers work closely with Annapurna's chip design team to extract maximum computational efficiency from the hardware, which we plan to leverage to train our most advanced foundation models.

This investment signals Amazon's ambition to compete with Microsoft and Google in the evolving AI landscape.

Meanwhile, the AI model race is heating up globally. Chinese lab DeepSeek has unveiled a "reasoning" AI model, DeepSeek-R1-Lite-Preview, claiming performance that rivals OpenAI's o1 model on key benchmarks.

According to DeepSeek, the model exceeds OpenAI o1-preview-level performance on established benchmarks such as AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination) and MATH.

A new report by Wharton and GBK Collective reveals that 72% of senior business leaders now use AI weekly, up from 37% in 2023. The highest use is in document and proposal writing (64%), followed by data analyses and analytics (62%). Companies are increasingly experimenting with AI to optimise their operations, as exemplified by Siemens' AI tools for industrial maintenance and worker assistance.

The big rewards [from AI] are not going to come from doing things better; the big rewards are going to come from doing better things.

In academia, mathematicians are increasingly turning to AI assistants to help develop proofs, potentially enabling humans to tackle problems currently beyond our reach. These AI co-pilots can propose next steps in a proof and help complete intermediate mathematical goals.

Publishing giants are striking deals with AI companies to both protect copyright and provide for the AI industry's rapidly increasing data needs. These agreements represent a step towards balancing the use of copyrighted material for AI training with fair compensation for content creators.

In other news, Meta has hired Salesforce's CEO of AI, Clara Shih, to lead a new Business AI group, aiming to make cutting-edge AI accessible to businesses using Meta's apps. Additionally, OpenAI is reportedly in talks with Samsung to power AI features in their electronic devices.

💲 Finance

Elon Musk's AI startup xAI has reportedly achieved a valuation of $50 billion, surpassing the $44 billion he paid for Twitter (now X) in 2022. This figure comes as xAI raised $5 billion in a funding round that saw its valuation double from just a few months ago. Meanwhile, X has struggled financially, with its value dropping to $9.4 billion according to one of its investors.

The new valuation means xAI has surpassed the $44 billion Musk paid for Twitter back in October 2022. X was valued at $9.4 billion by Fidelity, one of its investors, in September.

The AI boom is turning unlikely companies into stock market darlings. Fujikura Ltd., a 139-year-old Japanese cable maker, has seen its shares surge over 400% this year, making it the best performer on the Nikkei 225. The company specialises in fibre optic cables for data centres, riding the wave of infrastructure spending needed to support AI development. With global data centre capacity expected to grow at an average rate of 33% annually through 2030, Fujikura's success highlights the far-reaching impact of AI on the global economy.

"The demand for data centers has skyrocketed since around 2022," said Kazuhito Iijima, Fujikura's chief financial officer, in an interview. "We didn't quite understand it that well at that time, but it became clear this year that it was all about AI."

📱 Devices

Smart ring maker Oura has secured a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom, valuing the company at $5 billion. The partnership aims to integrate glucose monitoring into Oura rings by early 2025, potentially making blood sugar tracking as common as step counting.

"Ninety-seven percent of Oura Members have expressed interest in understanding how the food they eat impacts their health," said Oura CEO Tom Hale in a press release.

Industry expert Mark Gurman believes this could mainstream blood sugar monitoring, similar to how heart rate tracking became widespread with devices like the Apple Watch. Apple is reportedly working on its own noninvasive glucose monitoring technology.

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Bakkt, a cryptocurrency exchange owned by Intercontinental Exchange. This potential deal had a significant market impact, with Bakkt's shares skyrocketing by 162% before trading was temporarily halted (it has since given back 13%).

In a related development, the president-elect's transition team is considering the creation of a first-ever White House crypto role, potentially establishing a position to oversee policy and regulation across the federal government. This comes as the crypto markets rally, with Bitcoin reaching $98,000 last Friday, up from $37,000 a year ago.

Discussions about the crypto role have included the person leading a small staff, and acting as a liaison between Congress, the White House and the various agencies with jurisdiction over crypto, including the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the people said.

🌞 Energy

The Port of Los Angeles is testing hydrogen fuel cell-powered top handlers to meet its 2030 zero-emissions goal. These machines consume 60-80 kg of hydrogen daily and aim to operate for 16 hours like diesel counterparts.

"Our major concern is the health of our neighbors," said Lisa Wunder, acting director of environmental management for the Port of Los Angeles. "But also very important is greenhouse gas and the contribution that worldwide shipping has to greenhouse gas emissions, and wanting to do our share to reduce that as well."

Arevon Energy has launched a $529 million solar peaker plant in California with 157 MW of solar power and 150 MW of Tesla Megapack battery storage. The project will power nearly 1 million customer accounts.

Vikings Solar-plus-Storage is designed to take cheap daytime solar power and store it for use during more expensive peak demand times, like late afternoons and evenings. The battery storage system can quickly respond to changes in demand, helping tackle critical grid needs.

Texas is set to host a $100 million wind-powered carbon capture plant using technology from Dutch startup Skytree. The facility aims to remove 50,000 tonnes of carbon annually.

"Project Concho is a first-of-its-kind collaboration that opens the door to even more ambitious and transformative carbon removal projects," said Elena Nikonova, VP of Skytree's recently opened offices in the US and Canada.

Amid a two-year slump in gas prices, US natural gas producers are exploring AI-driven data centres to boost demand. S&P Global Ratings estimates this could increase gas demand by 3-6 billion cubic feet per day.

"Expectation of a step change in power demand has created opportunities for increasing dialogue around the potential for power generation and data projects within the Permian Basin" of West Texas and New Mexico, Permian Resources co-CEO James Walter said earlier this month.

🛰️ Space

NASA has selected SpaceX and Blue Origin for lunar missions as part of the Artemis program. SpaceX will deliver a pressurised rover to the Moon in 2032, while Blue Origin will transport a lunar habitat in 2033. These missions aim to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon.

"Based on current design and development progress for both crew and cargo landers and the Artemis mission schedules for the crew lander versions, NASA assigned a pressurized rover mission for SpaceX and a lunar habitat delivery for Blue Origin," Human Landing System program manager Lisa Watson-Morgan said in the statement.

SpaceX has also received FCC approval for its Starlink direct-to-phone service, partnering with T-Mobile. The service will operate at altitudes between 340-360 kilometres, lower than Starlink's current 530 km orbit. While the launch date is unconfirmed, the technology has already been used during hurricanes Helene and Milton for emergency services.

💪 Augmented Humans

Elon Musk's Neuralink has announced a new feasibility trial to test whether its N1 brain implant can control a robotic arm using thoughts alone. This project aims to extend brain-computer interface (BCI) capabilities beyond digital interfaces, potentially offering new levels of independence for people with paralysis.

“We’re excited to announce the approval and launch of a new feasibility trial to extend brain-computer interface (BCI) control using the N1 Implant to an investigational assistive robotic arm,” Neuralink said in a post on X on Monday.

While Neuralink has already implanted its device in two patients with some success, challenges remain, as evidenced by a malfunction in the first volunteer's implant weeks after surgery.

Bloomberg produced a 25-minute video exploring the potential benefits and risks of BCIs, from restoring abilities for those with disabilities to concerns about privacy and mental autonomy.

What you're seeing here is a mouse drinking, not out of desire, but because it was ordered to do so by scientists manipulating its neurons - proof that the brain can be controlled from the outside. That, for me, was an Oppenheimer moment. Because I mean, on the one hand we were super excited, like, "Oh my God, we finally got into the brain!" But of course, what you can do in a mouse today, you can do in a human tomorrow. And that's when I started to be worried.

⚡ Short Snippets

Australia’s House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring age verification for social media and banning users under 16, despite receiving 15,000 submissions in the 24 hours that was allowed for public comment. Most organisations dealing with vulnerable youth or youth mental health oppose the bill. You can read some of those submissions here.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have developed an innovative yellow powder called COF-999 that can absorb carbon dioxide from the air at record rates. The powder releases captured CO2 at lower temperatures than current methods, potentially reducing energy consumption in carbon capture processes.

Social psychologists are proposing the use of AI-powered chatbots to simulate the cultural attitudes of ancient civilizations. By training language models on historical texts, researchers aim to gain insights into the mentality and behaviour of long-gone societies.

What would be amazing is if we could actually get the kind of data we get from folks today, just from, say, you know, ancient Romans or Vikings or medieval Persians. And one thing that really excited me in the past year or two is folks started to realize that you could simulate at least modern participants with programs like ChatGPT and surprisingly, and I think excitingly, replicate a whole host of classic effects in the behavioral sciences.

Graph databases are becoming crucial in combating multidomain cybersecurity threats. Microsoft's Security Exposure Management Platform (MSEM) uses graph technology to map relationships across digital estates, enabling more effective threat detection and risk management.

"Defenders think in lists, cyberattackers think in graphs. As long as this is true, attackers win."

Bluesky has surpassed 20 million users. While still dwarfed by X's user base, Bluesky is rapidly closing the gap, with its daily active users now just 1.5 times less than X's, up from 5 times less before the U.S. elections. The platform's appeal isn't just about numbers though - it's become a haven for the scientific community, with over 40,000 influential scientists flocking to its digital shores.

"There is this pent-up demand among scientists for what is essentially the old Twitter," Young says.

I’m still not using Bluesky much, but I’m there at @thomasrice.bsky.social.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

From the researchers that brought you "Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior" comes the thrilling sequel: "Generative Agent Simulations of 1,000 People". This new study creates custom AI agents for 1,000 participants based on in-depth interviews, replicating their attitudes and behaviours across various social science measures. The AI agents predicted participants' responses to surveys and experiments with high accuracy, often matching the participants' own consistency over time. This approach could enable more realistic simulations for social science research and policy testing.

The generative agents replicate participants' responses on the General Social Survey 85% as accurately as participants replicate their own answers two weeks later, and perform comparably in predicting personality traits and outcomes in experimental replications.

AI is advancing genomics research with genomic foundation models like Evo, which can create entire genomes and design new proteins from scratch. Trained on 300 billion DNA nucleotides, Evo has demonstrated the ability to design new versions of CRISPR genome editors that perform as well as commercial versions. This development could accelerate drug discovery by rapidly generating and testing new protein variants, potentially reducing the time and cost of bringing new medicines to market.

"This work is extremely significant," says computational biologist Arvind Ramanathan of Argonne National Laboratory, who wasn't connected to the study. The tests the authors put Evo through, he says, provide "a great showcase of applications" for the AI.

In chemistry labs, AI-driven robots are autonomously performing and analysing chemical reactions. Human intervention is still needed for complex cases.

‘The workflow not only automates synthesis and analysis but also uses AI to make decisions on what steps to do next based on the analytical data it collects. It’s like a grad student that doesn’t need sleep!’ comments David Leigh, a chemist at the University of Manchester, who was not involved in the work.

Microsoft is launching specialised AI models for manufacturing, agriculture, and financial services, partnering with industry giants like Siemens, Bayer, and Rockwell Automation. These purpose-built models, available through Microsoft's Azure AI catalog, address specific challenges in traditional industries. For example, Siemens' NX X copilot uses natural language processing for industrial design tasks, while Bayer's E.L.Y. Crop Protection model helps farmers make informed decisions about pesticide application.

"Microsoft is in a unique position to deliver the industry-specific solutions organizations need through the combination of the Microsoft Cloud, our industry expertise, and our global partner ecosystem," Satish Thomas, Corporate Vice President of Business & Industry Solutions at Microsoft, said in a LinkedIn post announcing the new AI models.

SF-based startup Puzzle claims its AI can automate 90% of accounting tasks.

"What we're launching now is effectively taking the general ledger, the backbone of accounting, and bringing complicated accounting logic from spreadsheets into the core accounting software," Orloff said.

Andreessen Horowitz partners argue that intelligent automation, powered by AI and large language models, is set to replace traditional Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

With LLMs, however, we believe the original vision of RPA is now possible. Instead of hard-coding each deterministic step in a process, AI agents will instead be prompted with an end goal (e.g., book an appointment for the customer, transfer data from this document into this database), and then be empowered with the right tooling and context to take those actions on behalf of the company.

In a study of 1,600 participants, readers consistently failed to distinguish between AI-generated poems and classic works by Shakespeare, Dickinson, and other famous poets. The AI-generated poems were not only indistinguishable but often preferred.

"Over 78 per cent of our participants gave higher ratings on average to AI-generated poems than to human-written poems by famous poets," says Brian Porter at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

While poets grapple with AI-generated competition, digital artists and illustrators are taking a different approach. They're fighting back against AI scraping with tools like Glaze and Nightshade. These innovative programs add imperceptible alterations to images, either cloaking the artist's style or potentially "poisoning" AI training data, making it harder for AI models to replicate their work without consent.

"I would love a tool that if someone wrote my name and made a prompt, like, garbage came out," responded Karla Ortiz, a prominent digital artist. "Just, like, bananas or some weird stuff."

Osmo has developed AI-powered 'smell' technology to detect counterfeit products. Their portable device uses sensors and artificial intelligence to analyse the chemical composition of items, successfully identifying fake sneakers with over 95% accuracy.

"We run these sensors 24/7, constantly collecting data about the chemical makeup of everything from plums and peaches to manufactured products," Wiltschko explains.

In another area of fraud prevention, British mobile operator O2 has introduced 'Daisy', an AI bot designed to waste scammers' time. This innovative fraud prevention tool uses a combination of AI models to engage in lifelike conversations, keeping fraudsters on the line for up to 40 minutes. Daisy's ability to ramble about family stories and knitting has successfully frustrated scam callers, potentially diverting them from targeting real victims.

"Daisy" is claimed to be indistinguishable from a real person, fooling scammers into thinking they've found perfect prey thanks to its ability to engage in "human-like" rambling chat, the biz claims.

⚙️ Mobility

Waymo has opened its robotaxi service to the public in Los Angeles, covering an 80-square-mile area. The company now transports over 50,000 weekly passengers across its operations, showcasing the growing adoption of autonomous ride services.

Waymo’s robotaxis have driven more than 20 million fully autonomous miles and provided more than 2 million rides to passengers without encountering a serious accident that resulted in its operations being sidelined.

Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony AI is seeking up to $224 million in a US IPO.

Pony operates a fleet of 190 "robotrucks" in Beijing and Guangzhou and over 250 robotaxis in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. The company told TechCrunch it can charge for robotaxi fares in all four cities and is fully driverless in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Tire manufacturers are racing to create the perfect rubber for EVs, balancing reduced rolling resistance, durability, and minimal particulate pollution. While EVs reportedly cause 20 percent more tire wear than petrol vehicles due to their extra weight and torque, the specific requirements for EV tires might not be as different from conventional tires as one might think.

"There is basically no difference between a conventional tire and a special tire for electric vehicles," says Wanka. "It is more the case that certain vehicle models or classes have specific tire requirements." Better service life, rolling resistance and rolling noise have been particularly beneficial for electric vehicles. "But all vehicles—regardless of their drive type—benefit from the technological advances."

Toyota is teaching its driverless cars to drift like pros, sliding sideways at up to 63 degrees. Apart from letting the cars audition for the next Tokyo Drift movie, this tech could help vehicles recover from unexpected skids.

"When a vehicle is driving and unexpectedly hits a patch of ice on the road, we need our AI to control the vehicle at its limits to ensure safety," says Avinash Balachandran, who researches autonomous driving at TRI, but wasn't involved in this work.

💻 Chips and Computing

Amazon is developing custom AI processors to reduce dependence on Nvidia. AWS claims its Inferentia chips are 40% cheaper for generating AI responses, potentially offering significant cost savings for large-scale AI operations.

"We want to be absolutely the best place to run Nvidia," said Dave Brown, vice-president of compute and networking services at AWS. "But at the same time we think it's healthy to have an alternative."

SoftBank is partnering with Nvidia to build Japan's most powerful AI supercomputer using Nvidia's Blackwell AI chips. The collaboration aims to create a nationwide "AI grid" by transforming SoftBank's base stations into mini data centres, bringing AI capabilities closer to end-users.

"Our cell towers used to just carry bits for telecommunication and internet surfing," Son told the audience. "Now, with this network, we'll densely connect them with each other and make them into one big neural brain and the infrastructure of intelligence for Japan."

Nvidia's highly anticipated Blackwell chips are facing overheating issues requiring server rack redesigns. Despite these challenges, CEO Jensen Huang reports "insane" demand, with the chips reportedly sold out for the next year.

In line with this trend, Foxconn expects AI servers to dominate its server revenue by 2025, with AI-related products projected to account for over 50% of its server business.

💊 Health

Promising new treatments for myopia are emerging, offering hope for those affected by near-sightedness. Researchers are exploring novel approaches including low-level red light therapy, which has shown potential to slow and even reverse myopia progression. This treatment involves shining 650-nanometre laser light at 1600 lux onto the retina for about 3 minutes, twice daily. Other interventions being studied include atropine eye drops, special glasses and contact lenses designed to blur peripheral vision, and orthokeratology - rigid contact lenses worn at night to reshape the cornea.

The real villain seems to be too much time indoors. Spending time outside has long been known to be protective against developing myopia, for reasons that are still unknown, and “it is certainly the case that kids are outdoors less and indoors more than previous generations”, says Mutti.

In the weight loss arena, Novo Nordisk is developing CagriSema, a potent combo promising up to 25% weight loss. Competitors like Eli Lilly, Viking Therapeutics, and Amgen are also vying for the projected $100 billion market with drugs offering faster results and less frequent dosing.

"Anti-obesity medications are emerging at an astonishing pace," Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist and obesity medicine specialist, told Business Insider. "Forthcoming medications take the blockbuster GLP-1 medications and up the ante."

University of Copenhagen scientists have identified a new weight loss drug target that burns energy and lowers appetite without common side effects. By activating the neurokinin 2 receptor (NK2R), they've increased calorie-burning and reduced appetite in mice and non-human primates, offering hope for those with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

"While GLP-1-based therapies have revolutionized patient care for obesity and type 2 diabetes, safely harnessing energy expenditure and controlling appetite without nausea remain two Holy Grails in this field. By addressing these needs, we believe our discovery will propel current approaches to make more tolerable, effective treatments accessible to millions more individuals," says Associate Professor Zach Gerhart-Hines from the NNF Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR) at the University of Copenhagen.

🌞 Energy

Bloom Energy, a fuel cell technology company, is working to provide power for AI-related data centres. As data centres shift towards AI applications, they require more power, often exceeding local grid capacity. Bloom's solid oxide fuel cells offer a solution, providing on-site power generation. The company recently made a deal with American Electric Power (AEP), a major US utility, to power high-power data centres. AEP plans to purchase up to 1,000 MW of Bloom's fuel cells, with an initial firm contract for 100 megawatts.

"This is easily Bloom's largest-ever customer order, and it is one of the largest fuel cell contracts we have ever come across, anywhere in the world," wrote Raymond James Pavel Molchanov, who calculates that it could be worth as much as three times Bloom's 2024 sales. Molchanov rates Bloom at Outperform. "Details are slim at this early stage, so it would be premature to change estimates, but the headline is certainly very positive."

Speaking of power solutions, Texas is set to receive a boost with a 1 gigawatt AI-powered virtual power plant (VPP), capable of powering 200,000 homes during peak demand. This innovative system will utilise Google Cloud's AI to optimise energy use across hundreds of thousands of smart devices, effectively managing energy consumption in Texan homes to improve grid resilience and efficiency.

In the nuclear sector, researchers have developed a smart component system for small nuclear reactors, combining 3D printing with AI to detect potential hazards in just two seconds.

"We tackled the challenges associated with traditional inspection methods through our AI convergence technology, which can greatly enhance the stable and efficient operation of next-generation small nuclear power plants."

Ofgem has approved five new subsea power cable projects, connecting the UK to power grids in Europe and offshore windfarms. These underwater energy highways aim to transform Britain into a net exporter of green electricity by the 2030s.

As we shift to a clean power system more reliant on intermittent wind and solar energy, these new connections will help harness the vast potential of the North Sea and play a key role in making our energy supply cheaper and less reliant on volatile foreign gas markets and associated price spikes,

🌱 Agritech

Scientists are using CRISPR gene editing to create sweeter large tomatoes without compromising size or yield. This development is noteworthy because it overcomes a long-standing challenge in tomato breeding where increased size typically resulted in lower sugar content. By precisely disabling sugar-limiting genes, researchers have increased glucose and fructose levels by up to 30% in larger varieties, improving both taste and commercial tomato production.

"We are working with some companies to develop some commercial varieties by knocking out these genes," says Zhang. "It is still at the beginning stages."

⚡ Other Snippets

In advertising, AI is enabling unprecedented personalisation. Known, a full-service agency, uses AI to optimise ad placement and content, creating tailored experiences for individual viewers.

In another example, the company’s AI chatbot, known as “The Big Letbotski,” dug through 80,000 active subreddits to identify the most relevant conversations about chicken sandwiches for its client, Shake Shack. After finding 30 of the most content-specific subreddits, it ran targeted ads promoting its Chicken Shack Sundays giveaway in April. That helped Shake Shack beat sales estimates by 31%.

Coinbase has launched its new Coin50 index, aiming to be the crypto equivalent of the S&P 500. The index offers investors a broader view of the market beyond Bitcoin-centric metrics.

"What we're trying to do is establish a benchmark that is not specific to any asset, that's trying to give what is the broad basket of crypto assets doing, the same way that you gauge the performance of the equity markets through the S&P 500," Tusar said.

Spotify launched a new revenue-sharing program for video podcasts .

"By giving you guys, the creators, another path to monetization beyond ads, we're freeing you up to do what you like doing, which is creating," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told a crowd of creators and industry professionals during the company's Now Playing event on Wednesday, hosted at Spotify's Los Angeles campus.

A new mathematical approach dubbed "Crystal Math" could revolutionise drug development and electronics. Developed at NYU, it predicts crystal structures in hours on a laptop, rather than months on a supercomputer. Why does this matter? Crystal structures are crucial for everything from medicines to smartphone screens. For instance, this could dramatically speed up the creation of new drugs or more efficient solar panels.

"These physics-based approaches—which are costly and time-consuming—produce predictions that are only as accurate as the physics you put into them, which is why there has been a push toward computational methods that can address this shortcoming," said Mark Tuckerman, professor of chemistry and mathematics at NYU and the study's senior author.

Bloomberg explores the rise of combat sports empire TKO and its CEO Ari Emanuel's vision for the future of entertainment in this 24-minute video.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🛰️ Space

In exciting Australian space news, Gilmour Space has secured the country's first orbital launch license. The Gold Coast-based company, founded in 2013 by brothers Adam and James Gilmour, has been working towards this milestone for years. After a two-year regulatory battle, the company is now set to attempt Australia's first orbital test flight in the coming weeks.

This launch marks a crucial inflection point for Australia's rocket industry. With up to 95 launches expected over the next decade, potentially worth $1.2 billion, Australia is positioning itself as a key player in the global space market. Gilmour Space, valued at $605 million, represents Australia's most promising chance to compete with international giants like SpaceX and Blue Origin in the satellite delivery market, along with our trans-Tasman neighbour, Rocket Lab.

"Australia's commercial space launch and returns [business] has come of age," Damp, an aerospace engineer who was previously employed by the Australian government's Defence and Technology Group, says.

Internationally, Blue Origin is preparing to test its New Glenn rocket to rival SpaceX's Falcon lineup, and China has unveiled plans for a Starship-like heavy-lift rocket.

Now, based on information released at a major airshow in Zhuhai, China, the design has morphed again. And this time, the plan for the Long March 9 rocket looks almost exactly like a clone of SpaceX's Starship rocket.

💲 Finance

In funding news, AI search company Perplexity is set to triple its valuation to $9 billion in a new $500m round, while Anysphere, maker of AI coding assistant Cursor, is receiving offers valuing the company at $2.5 billion.

However, Cursor has become one of the most popular. Its developer, Anysphere, has seen its revenue grow from $4 million annualized recurring revenue (ARR) in April to $4 million a month as of last month, according to a person with direct knowledge of the company’s financials. The company is experiencing faster user adoption and growth compared to other coding assistant providers, another person said.

The Australian Financial Review recently revisited the history of Afterpay, chronicling its journey from startup to a $39 billion acquisition by Block.

It felt binary for a long, long time," says Eisen. He told staff last week he'd be leaving Block, which bought Afterpay in August 2021, for $39 billion – Australia's largest-ever M&A deal. "But once you have been through it, you can look at things in a different light and grow."

Bitcoin surged after Trump's election, with investors betting on a crypto-friendly administration. Meanwhile, Bernstein reiterated their view that Bitcoin can hit $200,000 by the end of 2025. They previously said Bitcoin could hit $1 million by 2023 (last price ~US$88k).

"Don't fight this," wrote analysts led by Gautam Chhugani. "Welcome to the crypto bull market — buy everything you can." The analysts told investors that had refrained from crypto due to regulatory concerns to "invert their mental modal" after the U.S. election results. Bernstein noted there should be a friendlier crypto regulatory environment under Trump, including a new Securities and Exchange Commission Chair.

In shocking news, Axon Enterprise, one of the most innovative companies in the public safety tech sector, saw its stock soar 42% after its results last week. This stock is now up 25 times since my old fund first bought it in 2017 at $24, and it is now the highest-performing stock in Minotaur's new fund.

The Taser stun-gun and Axon body camera maker has continually expanded its target markets. It took another step with its May deal for "airspace security" leader Dedrone.

I thoroughly enjoyed this recent interview with legendary investor Stan Druckenmiller. It's always nice when a Wall Street titan talks about us AI-driven funds (well, sort of):

But I think if you could find an intuitive investor who's using AI and other things to supplement, I think that would probably be the top investor in the world.

No pressure, right? We'll just be over here, casually trying to live up to that lofty goal.

💊 Health

Bioprinting, the process of creating tissue-like structures from living cells using 3D printing techniques, has been a promising field in regenerative medicine for over a decade. While progress has been steady, creating fully functional complex organs remains a challenge. Now, researchers at the University of Melbourne have developed a new high-speed bioprinting technique that could significantly advance the field.

This innovative approach, called "dynamic interface printing", uses sound and light to create organ-like structures at remarkable speeds. Unlike traditional layer-by-layer bioprinting methods, this technique employs a pressurised hollow tube lowered into a bath of resin. The resin hardens when exposed to light, while speakers vibrate the interface to accelerate the curing process. Associate Professor David Collins explains:

"Our system uses acoustic waves generated by a vibrating bubble to position cells within 3D printed structures. This method provides the necessary head start for cells to develop into the complex tissues found in the human body."

The new bioprinter can fabricate structures at speeds up to 350 times faster than traditional methods, printing 0.7 millimetres of structure per second with a resolution of 15 micrometres. This speed and precision allow for the creation of structures that more closely mimic diverse human tissues, from soft brain tissue to harder materials like cartilage and bone.

This technology is a significant advance, but can't yet produce complex organs. It enables more accurate tissue models, potentially improving drug testing with custom patient-specific models and reducing animal testing in pharmaceutical research.

Chinese scientists have developed nanoscale sensors for lung cancer detection via breath analysis. The technology, still in early research stages, requires further development before commercial availability.

The challenge with spotting biomarkers in breath is that your system needs to be able to differentiate between volatile chemicals, withstand the natural humidity of exhaled breath, and detect tiny quantities of specific chemicals. In the case of isoprene, you'd need sensors capable of detecting levels of the chemical in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range.

Scientists have studied viruses for decades as potential cancer treatments, with oncolytic viruses showing promise in targeting and killing cancer cells. Now, a new cancer-killing virus therapy shows promise for brain tumours. In a phase I trial for glioblastoma, the most common and fatal type of brain cancer, one patient achieved complete remission. The treatment uses a genetically engineered adenovirus to deliver a modified version of IL-12, a potent immune-boosting protein.

"Most existing oncolytic viruses are ineffective at low doses and too toxic at higher doses. The key challenge is how to increase efficacy without causing harmful side effects," said Professor Yaohe Wang, co-lead author of the study and inventor of the virus being tested. "We believe our approach offers a way forward."

A stem cell treatment has shown promise in restoring vision for people with severely impaired sight. In a world-first trial, three out of four recipients experienced substantial, lasting improvements in their vision after receiving transplants made from reprogrammed stem cells to treat damaged corneas.

"The results merit treating more patients," says stem-cell researcher Jeanne Loring at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California.

Researchers have developed a virtual screening method to identify potential small molecule drugs for cancer immunotherapy. This approach could lead to orally available alternatives to current antibody-based treatments, potentially improving tumour penetration and patient compliance. By analysing key interactions between checkpoint proteins and antibodies, the team identified promising compounds that mimic these interactions.

"Our research represents a remarkable advancement in the field of cancer immunotherapy, which may lead to a promising alternative to monoclonal antibody-based treatments," said senior author Moustafa Gabr, assistant professor of chemistry in radiology.

🤖 Robotics

Physical Intelligence, a startup developing a "generalist brain" for robots, has raised $400 million from tech heavyweights including Jeff Bezos and OpenAI at a valuation of $2 billion. The startup had previously raised $70 million since being founded earlier this year. The "generalist brain" concept aims to create a single AI system capable of controlling various types of robots, rather than specialised AI for each robot type, with the aim of making it easier and more cost-effective to deploy versatile robots across different industries.

"What we're doing is not just a brain for any particular robot," co-founder and chief executive Karol Hausman told the Times. "It's a single generalist brain that can control any robot."

At MIT, researchers have developed "LucidSim", an AI platform that creates virtual training environments for robot dogs (see the paper). The platform uses ChatGPT to generate text descriptions and AI image generation to create realistic, physics-based simulations. After AI-enhanced training, the robots succeeded 88% of the time in real-world tests of chasing balls and climbing obstacles, compared to just 15% with traditional programming based on human demonstrations. This AI approach could eliminate the need for time-consuming manual training while significantly improving accuracy.

📱 Devices

Apple is exploring the smart glasses market with an internal study code-named "Atlas". This move suggests a potential challenge to Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, possibly with an AirPods-like device.

"Testing and developing products that all can come to love is very important to what we do at Apple," the group wrote in an email to select employees at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Meanwhile, Chinese tech giant Baidu is also entering the smart glasses arena, set to unveil its own AI-powered glasses to rival Meta's offerings.

Birdwatchers, prepare for a tech upgrade. Swarovski Optik has unveiled the AX Visio, AI-powered binoculars that can identify birds, mammals, butterflies, and dragonflies using image recognition and geolocation. While not flawless, they represent an intriguing fusion of traditional optics and AI.

I was impressed that the binoculars accurately identified very small birds. The AX Visio correctly identified a 5-inch-long malachite kingfisher which was clearly visible on a branch above the water 30 meters away.

In defense tech, Anduril is planning a 5-million-square-foot manufacturing facility called "Arsenal-1". The autonomous drone and submarine developer is eyeing Arizona, Ohio, or Texas for the location, highlighting the growing importance of advanced manufacturing in the sector.

🛍️ Ecommerce

Amazon is taking to the skies in Arizona, launching Prime Air drone delivery in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area. This aerial assault on traditional delivery comes after FAA approval for Amazon's new MK30 drones to fly beyond visual line of sight, promising deliveries in under an hour for eligible items.

The MK30 drones can fly twice as far as their predecessors, run 50% quieter, and brave light rain. However, they're limited to items weighing 5 pounds or less. The service is integrated into Amazon's same-day delivery network, with drones taking off from a Tolleson facility that's part fulfillment centre, part delivery station.

"With this approval, we are beginning service today in the West Valley of Phoenix," wrote Matt McCardle, head of global regulatory affairs and strategy for Prime Air. "For the first time, our drone is fully integrated into the Amazon Fulfillment Network."

Deliveries are restricted to daylight hours and favourable weather conditions, with each drone carrying one item at a time. Despite these constraints, Amazon reports thousands of successful deliveries since 2022. Amazon plans to expand its drone delivery to more cities in 2025.

For ground deliveries, Amazon is developing smart glasses that could help drivers find the most efficient routes on the road and within buildings when delivering packages.

Such directions could shave valuable seconds off each delivery by providing left or right directions off elevators and around obstacles such as gates or aggressive dogs.

🤔 The Disinformation Age

Scientists have discovered that fake news spreads with viral efficiency. Studies show misinformation dissemination can be modelled using epidemiological tools, with social media platforms acting as fertile breeding grounds. Most platforms have a basic reproduction number (R0) greater than 1 - epidemic territory in epidemiological terms.

These models are incredibly useful because they allow us to predict and simulate population dynamics and to come up with measures such as the basic reproduction (R0) number - the average number of cases generated by an "infected" individual.

📚 Regulation

Australia is trying to fight misinformation by potentially introducing new misinformation laws, which strike me as a dangerous attack on free speech. The broad nature of these laws could potential stifle legitimate debate – imagine Copernicus facing such restrictions in the 1500s.

Simultaneously, the government is proposing a ban on social media (including YouTube) for under-16s , ostensibly to protect children. This move could have far-reaching consequences, from limiting teens' communication with friends, to participation in interest-based interactions, to impacting young talents like our young Skateboarding Olympian (will her Instagram account and brand deals be impacted?). Moreover, the implementation of these laws would necessitate age verification for all Australian social media users, raising significant privacy concerns, while also effectively outlawing anonymous accounts on social media sites.

What's a social media service, you might ask? Australia's Social Media Services Online Safety Code defines a social media service as an electronic service that meets these conditions:

1. the sole or primary purpose of the service is to enable online social interaction between two or more end users

2. the service allows end-users to link to, or interact with, some or all other end users

3. the service allows end-users to post material on the service

4. such other conditions (if any) as are set out in the legislative rules

This definition is extremely broad, potentially encompassing a wide range of online platforms. It could include discussion forums like Reddit, question-and-answer sites like Quora, messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Discord, special interest platforms like Goodreads and Strava, and professional networks like LinkedIn. Even online gaming platforms with social features might fall under this definition. If implemented, this could significantly restrict Australians' access to large portions of the internet without age verification.

To exclude all people under 16, technology companies will need to review all social media accounts to ensure that users provide some form of verification of their age to continue to access the service. That is a technological nightmare - and bound to cause a lot of frustration among adult users of social media.

💻 Chips and Computing

Donald Trump's re-election has sparked speculation about accelerating 2nm chip production in the US, but Taiwan has just put the brakes on that idea. Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs, J.W. Kuo, has stated that current technology protection rules prohibit TSMC from producing 2nm chips abroad, likely to safeguard the country's strategic value in the global semiconductor industry. This comes despite TSMC's plans to eventually manufacture 2nm chips in Arizona by the end of the decade. Taiwan's law requires domestic chipmakers to keep their most advanced technology at home, allowing overseas production only for chips at least one generation behind.

"Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently," Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature's Economics Committee in Taipei.

UK-based Graphcore is expanding its workforce by 20% post-SoftBank acquisition, signaling SoftBank's growing ambitions in AI-focused chip design.

⚡ Other Snippets

Zhejiang University researchers have developed a system to separate oil and water with over 99.9% purity. This breakthrough could lead to cheaper, cleaner methods for handling industrial waste and oil spills.

"When we put the membranes [close] together, they will affect each other, making the process continue," says Yang. "There's a feedback between the two processes."

ChatGPT's monthly usage now rivals Google Chrome with 3.7 billion visits, highlighting our growing reliance on AI.

Statistics from Similarweb indicate that ChatGPT saw a 17.2% month-over-month (MoM) growth and a 115.9% year-over-year (YoY) traffic growth.

A painting of British computer scientist Alan Turing made by an AI-powered robot has fetched $1.08 million at a Sotheby's auction.

Sotheby’s, which auctioned AI God: Portrait of Alan Turing on Friday, estimated that it would fetch up to $180,000, but the bids racked up, with the anonymous winner handing over more than $1 million for the piece.

Bloomberg explores how South Korea is pioneering autonomous vessels and eco-friendly propulsion in this 24-minute video.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI is launching a ChatGPT-powered search engine that provides real-time information. While this enters OpenAI into the search market, it’s unlikely to challenge Google’s dominance in the near future given how slowly habits change.

Meta is working towards developing its own AI-powered search engine, aiming to reduce its future reliance on Google and Microsoft.

Google is integrating generative AI into Maps, Earth, and Waze. Powered by Gemini AI, new features include detailed search results and conversational requests.

"Think of features like Lens and maps. When you're on a street corner, you can lift up your phone and look, and through your camera view, you can actually see we laid places on top of your view. So you can see a business. Is it open? What are the ratings for it? Is it busy? You can even see businesses that are out of your line of sight," he explained.

AI search engine Perplexity is building an AI-powered shopping experience. The “Pro Shop” feature allows for product research and purchases directly on its platform.

"This is a really big step for Perplexity, a small company trying to make a splash in AI search," said Debra Aho Williamson, founder and chief analyst, Sonata Insights. "Ecommerce companies struggle with this, let alone a startup like Perplexity."

MIT Technology Review warns that AI search could "break the web" by disrupting the traditional traffic flows between content producers and aggregators. Unlike Google searches, where users click through to publisher websites (generating traffic and potential revenue), AI search keeps users on the platform by providing summaries. This could leave publishers high and dry. It’s probably only a matter of time before the Australian Government steps in to force OpenAI and Anthropic to start coughing up cash for Aussie newspapers, like they did with Facebook and Google.

Yet for all its pitfalls, mandatory bargaining may become an attractive response to AI search. For one thing, the case is stronger. Unlike traditional search—which indexes, links, and displays brief snippets from sources to help a user decide whether to click through—AI search could directly substitute generated summaries for the underlying source material, potentially draining traffic, eyeballs, and exposure from downstream websites.

Decart’s AI model Oasis simulates Minecraft in real-time, showcasing impressive on-the-fly content generation. However, limitations like poor object permanence hinder its practicality. While it's a clever demo, it's worth noting that Minecraft's vast library of gameplay footage makes it an ideal candidate for such a simulation, and significant challenges remain for broader applications in gaming and entertainment. You can try it here.

Microsoft's OmniParser is quickly gained popularity on Hugging Face. This open-source tool helps AI understand GUIs, potentially transforming how AI navigates screen-based environments.

OmniParser is essentially a powerful new tool designed to parse screenshots into structured elements that a vision-language model (VLM) can understand and act upon. As LLMs become more integrated into daily workflows, Microsoft recognized the need for AI to operate seamlessly across varied GUIs.

Nearly 5% of new English Wikipedia pages appear to contain AI-generated content, raising concerns about the site’s reliability.

Patronus AI has launched an API to detect and prevent AI errors. The tool uses a model called Lynx to spot AI hallucinations, allows companies to write custom rules in plain English, and can pinpoint specific problematic text for quick fixes.

"Many companies are grappling with AI failures in production, facing issues like hallucinations, security vulnerabilities, and unpredictable behavior," said Anand Kannappan, Patronus AI's CEO, in an interview with VentureBeat.

An AI system called Tutor CoPilot is helping human tutors become more effective at teaching math to children from underserved communities. By leveraging the expertise of experienced teachers, the system provides suggestions to tutors on how to guide students towards correct answers while promoting deeper understanding (see the paper).

"I'm really excited about the future of human-AI collaboration systems," says Rose Wang, a PhD student at Stanford University who worked on the project, which was published on arXiv and has not yet been peer-reviewed "I think this technology is a huge enabler, but only if it's designed well."

💻 Chips and Computing

New York is set to become the US centre for advanced chip research. The Commerce Department is allocating up to $825 million for an Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator facility at Albany NanoTech Complex.

Apple's latest M4 chips are making waves, with leaked benchmarks suggesting the M4 Max chip achieves impressive scores of 4,060 (single-core) and 26,675 (multi-core), significantly outperforming previous Apple chips and most competing products. The M4 Pro also outperformed the previous M2 Ultra chip in multi-core tests, despite being in a more affordable Mac mini.

In other words, Apple is offering nearly the same level of performance from a very recent high-end desktop computer in a much smaller device that costs just over half as much.

OpenAI is developing its first in-house AI chip, collaborating with Broadcom and TSMC for inferencing workloads. This move aims to reduce Nvidia dependence and optimise AI capabilities.

OpenAI is said to be building a hybrid model of "AI compute acquisition," which means that the firm is planning to expand its AI capabilities through the integration of existing architectures, such as those from NVIDIA and AMD, along with developing in-house solutions, to ensure diversity in workloads and reduce dependency on its partners.

In other news, over 90% of AWS's top 1,000 customers now use its Graviton chips, Samsung plans to introduce its first High-NA EUV equipment by early 2025, crucial for sub-2nm processes, and Bloomberg produced a 10-minute video on why AI can't exist without Taiwan, highlighting the country's dominance in AI hardware manufacturing.

🌞 Energy

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is making progress towards demonstrating net-positive fusion energy. Their SPARC reactor facility is under construction, with plans to achieve the Q>1 milestone (producing more energy than needed to power it) by 2027. While the tokamak hall currently houses an empty slot for SPARC, the company remains ambitious about their timeline, aiming to have the reactor running by 2026.

AI's insatiable energy demand is driving a surge in natural gas consumption.

“Hyperscalers are driving crazy demand into natural gas right now,” [BP CEO Murray] Auchincloss said on Tuesday during a presentation to investors. “I’m pretty optimistic on natural gas prices through the decade.”

👓 Virtual and Augmented Reality

Engadget recently tried out Meta's Orion AR prototype, first revealed in September, calling it “the most impressive AR hardware” they've seen.

Orion has the potential to be much bigger. Now, Meta isn’t just trying to create a more convenient form factor for mixed reality hobbyists and gamers. It’s offering a glimpse into how it views the future, and what our lives might look like when we’re no longer tethered to our phones.

Palmer Luckey's Anduril is revamping the Pentagon's IVAS program by integrating their AI-powered Lattice system with mixed-reality headsets, creating a "hive eye" for soldiers.

"It's not quite a hive mind, but it's certainly a hive eye" is how Luckey described it to me.

Scientists are exploring psychedelics and VR to understand how our brains construct reality. Neuroscientist Zeus Tipado plans to combine DMT (a powerful psychedelic drug) with VR to identify a potential "immersion circuit" in the brain, with implications for VR development, psychedelic therapy, and consciousness studies.

"Our brain is easily deceived as to what reality is," says Tipado.

🤖 Robotics

Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot is turning heads - quite literally - with its latest autonomous capabilities. In a pre-Halloween demo, the all-electric humanoid performs Exorcist-like head spins while autonomously sorting engine parts (see the video).

Atlas uses machine learning to detect environmental changes and work around them. It also has a “specialized grasping policy” to help it maintain a firm hold on objects, continuously estimating the state of what it’s holding. After receiving some bin locations to move parts between, Atlas will get to work without prescribed movements, opting to perform tasks independently.

Meta is advancing robotic touch perception with its new AI tools. The company has unveiled Sparsh and Digit 360, aiming to give robots a more human-like sense of touch. Meta is also releasing the PARTNR benchmark to evaluate AI models in human-robot collaboration scenarios.

Japan leads in integrating robots into daily life. A Bloomberg Originals video explores how robots are being incorporated into various sectors, from retail to agriculture. Companies like Telexistence are deploying robots in convenience stores, while Kubota is developing autonomous machinery for farming.

💊 Health

Exosomes, once dismissed as cellular waste, are now at the forefront of medical research. These microscopic packages show promise for diagnosing diseases, delivering drugs, and treating cancer. Scientists are particularly intrigued by exosomes' potential as drug delivery vehicles. Their natural origin makes them less likely to trigger immune responses, and they can be engineered to target specific tissues. Some researchers are even using exosomes to tackle rare neurological disorders.

In their research, Carter and his colleagues can change almost everything about the exosomes they study. They can alter their contents, loading them with proteins or viruses or even gene-editing therapies. They can tweak the proteins on their surfaces to make them target different cells and tissues. They can control how long exosomes stay in an animal’s circulation.

“I always used to love playing with Lego,” he adds. “I feel like I’m playing with Lego when I’m working with exosomes.”

New "unconscious" therapies are showing promise in treating phobias without conscious confrontation. Techniques like "very brief exposure" (VBE) and "decoded neurofeedback" (DecNef) help people overcome fears subconsciously. These gentler methods could reduce dropout rates in fear-related treatments and may apply to social anxiety and PTSD.

"The unconscious exposure paradigm contradicts what's considered sacred dogma in cognitive behaviorism and clinical psychology," Siegel says, "which is that if people are going to get over their fears, they have to confront them."

🔬 Biology

Researchers have also created the first single-cell atlas of prenatal human skin, unveiling a molecular "recipe" for building skin and hair follicles. This breakthrough could lead to new treatments for skin disorders and enhance regenerative medicine techniques.

"With our prenatal human skin atlas, we've provided the first molecular 'recipe' for making human skin and uncovered how human hair follicles are formed before birth. These insights have amazing clinical potential and could be used in regenerative medicine, when offering skin and hair transplants, such as for burn victims or those with scarring alopecia," said Dr Elena Winheim, co-first author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

In environmental science, Penn State researchers have engineered a bacterial protein that could revolutionise rare earth element (REE) mining. The protein efficiently separates valuable REEs from less useful ones, potentially making the process greener and less expensive (see the paper).

"Current industrial methods are inefficient and require heavy use of toxic chemicals, so a protein-based method for rare earth mining could make this process more efficient, greener, and less expensive."

Viruses in soil may influence the movement of over a billion tonnes of carbon. By killing microbes and releasing their contents, these microscopic entities could significantly contribute to persistent carbon in soil, highlighting their outsized impact on global carbon cycles.

"While there are still gaps, we're understanding that viruses can have a huge impact on soil carbon," says Kirsten Hofmockel at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state.

⚙️ Mobility

Zoox co-founder Jesse Levinson has thrown shade at Tesla's self-driving ambitions, claiming the electric car giant “doesn't have technology that works”.

Levinson went on to say he believes FSD is “about 100 times less safe than a human if you look at all the metrics that are publicly available.”

Joby Aviation tested its eVTOL "flying car" in Japan. The aircraft can reach 320 km/h with a 160 km range.

"It takes four to five hours to drive here from Tokyo, but flying would take just 25 minutes," said Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda. "This will change people's lifestyles."

In the US, Beta Technologies has secured $318 million in funding to accelerate its electric aircraft development.

"This investment validates progress and milestones toward commercializing electric aviation," Kyle Clark, BETA founder and CEO, said in a statement. "For years, we've flown across the country and deployed with partners to prove the safety and reliability of our aircraft and chargers. Now, we're beginning to produce products for our customers."

Waymo have developed EMMA, a vision-based end-to-end driving model using Google's Gemini LLM. They are now providing over 150,000 paid robotaxi rides weekly, a 50% increase since August.

"Waymo is now a clear technical leader within the autonomous vehicle industry and creating a growing commercial opportunity," Pichai said. "Now each week Waymo is driving more than 1 million fully autonomous miles and serves over 150,000 paid rides, the first time any AV company has reached this kind of mainstream use."

Indonesia is revving up its EV ambitions, with CATL and BYD making significant investments. CATL is investing $1.18 billion in a battery plant, while BYD plans a $754 million automotive factory.

The Indonesian government has set an ambitious target of having 2 million EVs and 13 million electric motorcycles on the road by 2030. To support this goal, it is actively attracting investments from automakers, exemplified by the recent groundbreaking of VinFast's assembly plant in July.

💲 Finance

Reddit reported its first-ever quarterly profit, driving its shares up 39% last week. The stock has tripled since its March IPO, highlighting the growing value of user-generated content for AI training.

Nvidia will replace Intel on Dow Jones Industrial Average, ending Intel's 25-year run and reflecting AI's dominance in tech.

🧊 Simulation

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed Augmented Physics, an AI tool that transforms static textbook diagrams into interactive 3D simulations. Students can now visualise and manipulate physics concepts in real-time, potentially revolutionising education. While the tool's current 60% success rate leaves room for improvement, it's a promising step towards more engaging learning experiences.

"Usually, those diagrams are fixed. We have to imagine what happens," said Suzuki, assistant professor in the ATLAS Institute and Department of Computer Science. "But what if we could take any static diagram from any textbook and make it interactive?"

Siemens has acquired Altair Engineering for $10 billion, aiming to create "the world's most complete AI-powered design and simulation portfolio". This move combines Altair's simulation and AI expertise with Siemens' Xcelerator platform, bolstering Siemens' position in industrial software.

🤩 Advertising

Swedish fintech Klarna has launched nearly 30 AI-created marketing campaigns this year, reducing annual marketing spend by 12%. Marketing chief David Sandstorm:

"We've removed a lot of the cumbersome, expensive, and mundane tasks of marketing. We've saved millions on that ideation process alone."

However, AI still struggles with high-concept, brand-defining campaigns:

"For months, we've tried to have AI crack a fantastic out-of-home campaign, but it cannot do that. Everything becomes bland or boring or not really on-brand," said Sandstorm.

🛰️ Space

The US Space Force is offering $6 billion in satellite launch contracts. This “on-ramp strategy” could provide up to 70 additional missions, provided bidders are ready for launch by December 2025. Companies including SpaceX and Rocket Lab are competing for these contracts.

Part of the rationale, for example, is that if one launch provider encounters an issue with their rocket design, a competitor's vehicle will still be available to get critical military hardware into orbit when needed.

⚡ Other Snippets

CRISPR gene-editing technology is being applied to climate change mitigation, with researchers exploring ways to reduce water loss in rice crops and decrease methane emissions from cattle.

"If we succeed, it could potentially be something that could be applicable to nearly every cow in the world," he says.

In a blend of tradition and modernity, the Vatican unveiled Luce, an anime-inspired mascot for Holy Year 2025. With her blue hair and sparkling eyes, Luce could easily be mistaken for popular Hololive VTuber Hoshimachi Suisei sporting a new pilgrim-themed outfit…

…Speaking of VTubers, Dungeon Investing wrote an insightful piece on Cover Corp, which is one of our (Minotaur Capital) largest positions. The stock rose 39% last week after announcing a profit upgrade, followed by Morgan Stanley initiating on the stock with a ¥3,900 price target (last price ¥2,094).

We wrote about Cover Corp in our June Quarterly. Our September Quarterly went out last week — it covers how we’re exploring the GLP-1 trend and getting more constructive on regions like the UK, along with updates on how we’re using AI in funds management. You can read it here.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💻 Chips and Computing

TSMC's Arizona plant is now outperforming its Taiwanese counterparts. Production yields are about 4 percentage points higher, marking a significant milestone in the company’s ability (and willingness) to replicate its domestic success abroad.

Though it's still early days, this success could potentially lessen Taiwan's strategic importance to the US in chip production, subtly influencing US-China relations. TSMC's commitment to its Arizona operations is matched by substantial US government support: $6.6 billion in grants and $5 billion in loans, plus 25% tax credits.

"Our first fab entered engineering wafer production in April with 4-nanometer process technology, and the result is highly satisfactory, with a very good yield," he said at the time. "This is an important operational milestone for TSMC and our customers, demonstrating TSMC's strong manufacturing capability and execution."

NVIDIA continues to expand globally, powering AI infrastructure in India and exploring significant investments in Thailand. In India, the tech giant is supplying tens of thousands of AI chips to power "AI factories", while in Thailand, CEO Jensen Huang is set to announce investment plans during a visit to Bangkok in December.

Intel has reportedly approached Samsung for a "foundry alliance" to challenge TSMC's 62% market share. This collaboration could involve exchanging technologies and jointly developing new ones.

According to recent data released by research institutions, in the second quarter of 2024, TSMC holds approximately 62% of the foundry market share, while Samsung accounts for about 12%. In advanced process technologies such as 3nm and 5nm, TSMC's market share exceeds 90%.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite performs up to 47% better than other Android flagship chipsets in Geekbench 6 multi-core tests. The chip features enhanced neural processing capabilities for on-device AI applications.

🌞 Energy

Amazon is investing $500 million in X-energy to develop small modular reactors (SMRs). This follows a $650 million deal for nuclear power in Pennsylvania.

"We have strong conviction that nuclear power is the most economical and credible path to scale carbon free energy to meet the next decade's rapid capacity growth," the company's energy strategy team wrote.

The US is also discussing SMR deployment with Southeast Asian nations.

Unlike traditional nuclear reactors, which are enormous facilities that take years to construct, SMRs are much smaller and can be built at factories, delivered by truck or train, then assembled on-site, saving time and money.

Pacific Fusion Corp, a startup developing nuclear fusion-based energy technology, has raised $900 million in its Series A round.

"Fusion could be the ideal power source — emitting no CO2, requiring far less materials and land than other power sources, and offering billions of years of near-free, globally accessible fuel," they wrote.

Other clean energy solutions are progressing alongside nuclear. Morgan Stanley has partnered with Climeworks to remove 40,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, while the US government approved a massive lithium mine in Nevada, set to power 370,000 EVs annually by 2028.

"This is a science-based decision," Laura Daniel-Davis, the Interior Department's acting deputy secretary, told Reuters. "We're trying to send a signal that there's no topic with greater importance than addressing climate change."

The AFR profiled Australian company 5B, which can build solar farms up to 10 times faster than traditional methods. Their innovative "accordion-like" arrays are gaining traction in the mining sector.

"Depending on the job, it's probably closer to 10 times faster," Griffin says of the construction speed.

We've written a lot about the power needs of AI and big tech's newfound interest in nuclear. For a comprehensive overview of the situation, this 25-minute video from Patrick Boyle provides an excellent summary of Big Tech's nuclear ambitions and the broader energy landscape.

💊 Health

The Economist writes that receptor agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy are among the most important drug breakthroughs ever. Beyond diabetes and weight loss, these molecular Swiss Army knives show promise in treating cardiovascular disease, addiction, and more.

As they look for answers, scientists are finding surprising details about the many roles of GLP-1 hormone. These drugs seem to activate basic protective mechanisms in cells, such as reducing inflammation and clearing out junk, thereby keeping organs healthier. They also have powerful effects on the brain, through which they can both further influence the health of the rest of the body, and even affect behaviour.

Novo Nordisk's latest pill, Rybelsus, has even demonstrated a 14% reduction in heart attacks and strokes for diabetic patients.

"Approximately one in three adults with type 2 diabetes also have cardiovascular disease; therefore, it is crucial to have therapies that can address both conditions," said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president and head of Development at Novo Nordisk.

RNA editing is emerging as a promising treatment for genetic diseases, offering a potentially safer alternative to DNA-based therapies.

"RNA editing is "not a replacement for CRISPR. It's another weapon against disease," says bioengineer Jonathan Gootenberg of Harvard Medical School, whose lab has developed novel approaches for modifying RNA.

In wound care, a new electric skin patch could zap bacteria, potentially reducing reliance on antibiotics.

Antibiotics can prevent and treat these infections, but this has led to antibiotic-resistant strains of S. epidermidis emerging. Looking for another approach, Bozhi Tian at the University of Chicago and his colleagues considered the potential of electrical pulses, which have previously been shown to kill bacteria.

A study on fasting in mice revealed both benefits and risks for gut health. While it can boost intestinal stem cell regeneration, it may also increase the risk of precancerous growths during refeeding.

"Having more stem-cell activity is good for regeneration, but too much of a good thing over time can have less favorable consequences," says Omer Yilmaz, an associate professor of biology and the senior author of the study.

🔬 Biology

Researchers have supercharged DNA data storage, encoding information 350 times faster than previous methods. By mimicking natural methylation processes, the team at Peking University has turned DNA into a high-speed hard drive, potentially ushering in an era of "desktop DNA printers" for long-term data storage.

"A good analogy is using a typewriter, where you have to type each letter, versus printing," says Harris Wang at Columbia University in New York, who wasn't involved with the work.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen are championing the use of bioacoustics and AI to monitor animal populations. This non-invasive approach could revolutionise biodiversity studies, allowing scientists to eavesdrop on ecosystems without disturbance. The method has already shown promise in identifying 34 out of 39 bird and frog species in dense tropical forests.

"The method makes it possible for us to distinguish animal sounds from one another and detect species in densely forested areas or underwater, where cameras, for example, are often impractical," explains Postdoctoral researcher Jeppe H. Rasmussen from the Department of Biology, one of the researchers behind the article.

🤖 Robotics

Cornell University engineers have created robots powered by mushrooms. Using voltage spikes generated by king oyster mushrooms' mycelial threads when exposed to UV light, they controlled both wheeled and hopping robots. This innovative approach expands the toolbox for biohybrid machines beyond traditional animal tissue.

"We really had no idea where to start," Mishra explains, "because these robots were the first of their kind."

Agility Robotics is nearing a $150 million funding deal, potentially valuing the company at about $1 billion. Agility's robots are already working in warehouses for companies like Amazon and Spanx, making it one of the few humanoid robot firms with machines performing useful tasks for customers.

The cash influx comes as Agility prepares to roll out its fourth generation of robot, which helps businesses stock and manage inventory in warehouses.

This funding is part of a broader surge in robotics investment, with companies like Figure AI and 1X Technologies also securing significant capital.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Anthropic has introduced a new "Computer Use" feature that allows its AI to interact with and control computers, potentially giving users "superpowers" in terms of productivity and task completion. This development comes alongside the release of Claude 3.5 Sonnet (new), an updated version of their AI model. The ability for AI to directly manipulate computer interfaces marks a significant step towards more autonomous and capable AI assistants.

Claude has the ability to “see” a screen via screenshots, adapt to different tasks and move across workflows and software programs. It can also navigate between multiple screens, apps and tabs, open applications, move cursors, tap buttons and type text.

Microsoft is introducing autonomous AI agents for tasks such as handling client queries and identifying sales leads. The company's Copilot Studio product, launching next month, allows customers to build their own AI agents or use pre-built ones for roles including supply chain management and customer service. Early adopters include McKinsey, Clifford Chance, and Pets at Home.

"Think of agents as the new apps for an AI-powered world. Every organization will have a constellation of agents-ranging from simple prompt-and-response to fully autonomous," Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Jared Spataro explained.

Google is set to preview AI technology that can take over a web browser to complete complex tasks such as research and shopping. This demonstration, expected as soon as December, showcases another example of AI directly controlling computer interfaces to enhance user capabilities.

Google is set to demonstrate the product as soon as December with the release of its next flagship Gemini large language model, the publication said, citing people with direct knowledge of the effort code-named Project Jarvis.

In the financial sector, Morgan Stanley is expanding AI chatbots in its investment banking and trading division. The firm has introduced AskResearchGPT, an AI assistant based on OpenAI's technology, to help staff access insights from the bank's extensive research reports more efficiently. The tool is particularly useful for salespeople and client-facing staff, reportedly reducing the time to respond to client inquiries by 90%.

"We see it as a game changer from a productivity standpoint, both for our research analysts and our colleagues across institutional securities," Huberty said in an interview. The tool helps staff "access the highest quality, most insightful information as efficiently as possible."

Chipotle, a major US-based Mexican fast-food restaurant chain, has introduced a new AI recruiter aims to reduce hiring time by up to 75%. The virtual recruiter, named Ava Cado, will be available across Chipotle's North American and European locations by the end of the month. It can collect applicant information, answer questions, book meetings, and send offers to candidates selected by human managers.

Canva has unveiled new AI tools including Dream Lab, which allows users to generate images with text prompts in various preset styles. Canva has also seen significant growth, adding 75 million users to reach 200 million total and increasing revenue to $2.5 billion annually.

So AI has been used 10 billion times now on the platform. It's been used very heavily. But what we hadn't catered to until right now is if people just wanted to create an underwater tree house, then you previously would have to go into a presentation before you can create something like that.

Google's NotebookLM has experienced rapid adoption since adding AI-narrated podcasts. The tool, which organises notes and source data into chat responses and annotated documents, saw a nearly 300% increase in traffic after introducing the podcast feature in September. NotebookLM attracted 10.5 million visits in September, with users spending an average of 6.4 minutes per visit.

In the healthcare sector, Novo Nordisk has partnered with Nvidia for AI-driven drug discovery. The collaboration involves using a new Nvidia-powered supercomputer called Gefion, which will be used by researchers from Novo Nordisk and other Danish pharmaceutical companies. The supercomputer, weighing 30 tons and using 65 kilometres of cable, is intended to accelerate AI adoption for drug discovery and improve clinical trial designs.

"Computer-aided drug discovery, I think that's going to revolutionize the industry," Huang said at the event.

OpenAI is planning to release Orion, its next major AI model, by December. The model is seen as a successor to GPT-4 and has been described as potentially more powerful.

Unlike the release of OpenAI's last two models, GPT-4o and o1, Orion won't initially be released widely through ChatGPT. Instead, OpenAI is planning to grant access first to companies it works closely with in order for them to build their own products and features, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Elon Musk's xAI has launched its Grok API, though it is currently in a basic form. The API offers a single model, "grok-beta", priced at $5 per million input tokens or $15 per million output tokens.

Grok has what Musk has described as "a rebellious streak" — a willingness to answer "spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems." Told to be vulgar, for example, Grok will happily oblige, spewing profanities and colorful language you won't hear from ChatGPT.

Arm CEO Rene Haas predicts AI will transform the world faster than the internet. Haas stated:

"The difference, I would say, between the internet of 1990 to now and AI to 30 years later is that it's not going to take that long. It's going to happen much, much faster, probably five to 10 years."

The AFR reports that the founder of ASX-listed Mad Paws is now selling DIY AI "girlfriends".

Documents obtained by The Australian Financial Review reveal Candy.AI made $US1.1 million in revenue in the first three months after launching, and had a gross margin of 75 per cent. Its annual recurring revenue surpassed $25 million for the 2024 financial year, according to sources familiar with the company's progress not authorised to speak publicly.

💲 Finance

The New York Stock Exchange has announced plans to extend NYSE Arca trading to 22 hours a day, from 1:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time. This move aims to meet growing demand and compete with alternative trading platforms, potentially impacting earnings handling and trading desk hours. (Welcome to the life of a global investor, where a stock exchange is open somewhere 23 hours per day.)

"The NYSE's initiative to extend U.S. equity trading to 22 hours a day, 5 days a week underscores the strength of our U.S. capital markets and growing demand for our listed securities around the world," said Kevin Tyrrell, head of markets at the NYSE.

Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous driving unit, has secured a $5.6 billion Series C funding round, led by Alphabet and top Silicon Valley investors. This cash injection will fuel Waymo's expansion and technology development. The company now averages 100,000 paid weekly trips, a tenfold increase from 2023.

"While AI is only just beginning to capture the public imagination, Waymo has been working to bring its endless possibilities to the world of physical transportation for years," said Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban.

Chinese self-driving startup WeRide made its Nasdaq debut, with shares rising 6.7% on day one. The IPO raised $440.5 million, valuing the company at over $4 billion, despite increased scrutiny of Chinese autonomous vehicle technology in the US.

"China's IPO market is perhaps not able to accommodate high-risk, high-return companies outside of a few sectors that have been identified as strategic imperatives," said Drew Bernstein, co-chair of MarcumAsia, an accounting firm providing audit and advisory services to companies throughout Asia.

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has unveiled “open banking” rules to boost competition and consumer control over financial data. These regulations will govern bank-fintech relationships, potentially reshaping the financial services landscape.

"A company that ingests a consumer's data can use the data to provide the product or service the consumer asked for, but not for unrelated purposes the consumer doesn't want," he said in a speech at a financial technology event held by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

🔋 Batteries

CATL, the world's largest EV battery maker, is making waves with its new Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery. Boasting a 400 km all-electric range and ultra-fast 4C charging, it aims to deliver an EV-like experience without the range anxiety.

In the solid-state battery arena, Stellantis is preparing to road test a fleet of EVs using Factorial Energy's cells. This real-world testing is a crucial step towards potentially safer, longer-range EVs, though mass production isn't expected until 2029.

"This is a very critical step for them to test in a real-world condition," Siyu Huang, chief executive officer at Factorial Energy, said.

⚡ Other Snippets

Startups like Air Protein and Solar Foods are creating protein from thin air, using bacteria to convert CO2 into nutritious powders.

"We are liberating food production from the constraints of agriculture," says Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, cofounder and CTO of Solar Foods.

Defence companies are accelerating the development of laser weapons to counter the threat of cheap drones and missiles. Major players like RTX, MBDA, and QinetiQ are investing heavily in this technology, which promises to offer a more cost-effective defence solution. The UK's DragonFire laser, capable of hitting targets with remarkable precision at just £10 per shot, is set to be deployed on Royal Navy ships by 2027, five years ahead of schedule.

"It is ultimately not economically sustainable to shoot down a $100 or $1,000 drone with a $1mn plus interceptor," said James Black, defence researcher at Rand Europe, a non-profit research institute.

Walmart plans to offer 30-minute prescription deliveries alongside groceries, competing with Amazon's pharmacies and retailers like CVS. Walmart Plus members get free delivery, while others pay $9.95 for the speedy service.

Walmart's move comes a couple of weeks after Amazon announced plans to open pharmacies offering same-day delivery options across 20 new U.S. cities in 2025.

Tesla is reportedly testing a robotaxi service in the Bay Area, with plans to launch in California and Texas in 2025.

"All Tesla Cars Being Produced Now Have Full Self-Driving Hardware," and in the following years made it seem that it would only take the flip of a switch to fill the streets with self-driving cars.

Google Research has been working on "a new class of interactive experiences that we call generative infinite games" where game mechanics and graphics are provided by generative AI (see the paper).

We are making a bet that in the future most games will be entirely generated, and that generative game engines allow for things that traditional game engines do not. We know that LLMs exhibit emergent behavior, and we think this translates to games.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🛰️ Space

NASA's Europa Clipper has launched on its $5.2 billion mission to explore Jupiter's icy moon Europa, our solar system's prime candidate for extraterrestrial life. This 7,145-pound colossus, NASA's largest interplanetary spacecraft, will embark on a six-year, 1.8-billion-mile journey before conducting 49 flybys of Europa over four years from 2030.

"I often talk about these missions as modern cathedrals-they are generational quests," said Laurie Leshin, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Europa Clipper aims to confirm Europa's subsurface ocean and assess its habitability using nine instruments. The mission overcame a last-minute hurdle when engineers discovered vulnerabilities in radiation-hardened circuits, devising an ingenious heating solution to repair radiation damage.

"I was devastated," Evans says, recalling that day in May. "It was hard to imagine a path forward. But then you take a step back, and you start to methodically think through things."

Meanwhile, India's private space sector is gaining momentum, with companies like Skyroot Aerospace developing innovative rockets and Pixxel advancing satellite imaging, positioning India as an emerging player in the global space economy.

💻 Chips and Computing

TSMC reporting a 54% jump in quarterly profit. CEO C.C. Wei declared "the demand is real" as TSMC forecasts AI chip revenue to more than triple in 2024, projecting nearly 30% overall revenue growth.

"One of my key customers said the [AI] demand right now is insane," C.C. Wei, TSMC chairman and CEO, told investors on Thursday. "The demand is real. I believe it's just the beginning of this demand ... and it will continue for many years."

TSMC is also expanding its reach, planning additional chip plants in Europe beyond its €10 billion Dresden fab.

"They [TSMC] have started construction of the first fab in Dresden, they are already planning the next few fabs in the future for different market sectors as well," Cheng-wen told Bloomberg TV in a Monday interview.

Photonic computing startup Lightmatter raised $400 million to revolutionise datacentre interconnects. Their optical interconnect layer promises to dramatically improve GPU synchronisation, potentially solving a major AI computing bottleneck.

"Photonics is coming way faster than people thought — people have been struggling to get it working for years, but we're there," said Harris. "After seven years of absolutely murderous grind," he added.

💲 Finance

Taiwan is experiencing its largest fundraising boom since 2007, with chipmakers and hardware manufacturers driving the surge to meet growing demand for AI components.

"There will be more capital needs from Taiwanese companies, especially among tech companies, in the next two to three years," said Jennifer Pu, an Asia equity capital markets managing director who covers Taiwan at Citigroup Inc. The urgency to secure chips amid tight supply will continue to power the fundraising wave, she added.

Horizon Robotics, a Chinese provider of software and hardware for autonomous driving systems, is planning an $800 million IPO. They have attracted Alibaba and Baidu as cornerstone investors.

Alibaba, Baidu and other Chinese tech firms have accelerated investment into cutting-edge industries that Beijing deems to be strategic, such as autonomous driving, chips and artificial intelligence. Baidu in particular is making a big bet on driverless cars and robotaxis, to complement a push into generative AI.

Schneider Electric invested $850 million to buy a 75% stake in Motivair Corporation, a specialist in liquid cooling for high-performance computing systems. The deal positions Schneider to capitalise on growing cooling demands from AI-driven data centres, where traditional air cooling struggles to manage the heat generated by dense server environments.

"This shift to accelerated computing is resulting in new datacenter architectures requiring more efficient cooling solutions, particularly liquid cooling, as traditional air cooling alone cannot mitigate the higher heat generated as a result," Schneider said.

Hedge funds are cooling on the green transition. More funds are net short on batteries, solar, and EVs than long, while fossil fuel positions remain predominantly long. This shift is attributed to underperforming green stocks, geopolitical tensions, and concerns about returns on climate investments.

“Geopolitics is the key reason why the energy transition theme isn’t working out,” says Kerry Goh, CEO of Kamet Capital Partners Pte., which oversees more than $1 billion from its base in Singapore. “China commands a dominant position in most of these sectors, and tariffs are spoiling the investment case.”

☢️ Nuclear

The nuclear energy trend continues, with Google partnering with Kairos Power and Amazon investing in X-Energy for small modular reactors (SMRs). Both companies aim to bring these next-generation reactors online in 2030 to power their growing AI operations.

NuScale Power received a stock price target boost from Craig-Hallum, citing a "nuclear power renaissance" and NuScale's position in the emerging "nuclear/SMR adoption" paradigm shift. NuScale Power stock role 39% last week.

Oklo, the nuclear company backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, saw its stock double last week.

🔬 Biology

In de-extinction news, Colossal Biosciences claims to have sequenced 99.9% of the extinct thylacine's genome. The thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, went extinct in 1936. What caused this breakthrough? A preserved century-old thylacine head found in a Melbourne museum cupboard.

"It was literally a head in a bucket of ethanol in the back of a cupboard that had just been dumped there with all the skin removed, and been sitting there for about 110 years," Prof Andrew Pask, the head of the thylacine integrated genetic restoration research (with the acronym Tigrr) lab at the University of Melbourne, says.

📶 Wireless

Researchers have achieved a data transmission speed of 938 gigabits per second - over 9000 times faster than average 5G.

Splitting the signals across wide frequency ranges is like taking the "narrow, congested road" of current 5G networks and turning it into "10 carriage motorways", says Liu.

While 5G is still rolling out, the race for 6G supremacy is already heating up globally. The European Union is partnering with Taiwan to develop open, secure 6G global standards, a strategic move to counter China's growing influence in telecom infrastructure.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

In software development, generative AI is making progress but hasn't reached its full potential. A MIT Technology Review Insights survey found that while 94% of respondents use generative AI for development, only 12% say it has fundamentally changed their process. However, 38% believe it will substantially change software development across most organisations within three years.

Amazon is expanding its AI capabilities with AI-generated audio ads.

"With audio added to the lineup, we offer a full suite of tools that can generate images, videos and audio from little more than the information on a product's detail page," Jay Richman, vice president of creative experiences for Amazon, told ADWEEK.

Researchers at the University of Zurich have employed GPT-4 to detect antimicrobial resistance, potentially accelerating the identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

"Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat worldwide, and we urgently need faster, more reliable tools to detect it," says Egli, who led the study. "Our research is the first step toward using AI in routine diagnostics to help doctors identify resistant bacteria more quickly."

Meta is open-sourcing a massive materials science dataset, containing 110 million data points to accelerate AI-driven materials discovery.

Zitnick says the newOMat24 model will top the Matbench Discovery leaderboard, which ranks the best machine-learning models for materials science. Its data set will also be one of the biggest available.

“Materials science is having a machine-learning revolution,” says Shyue Ping Ong, a professor of nanoengineering at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the project.

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

Found this amusing: An AI chatbot named Truth Terminal has turned $20,000 into over $500,000 via a Solana-based memecoin called GOAT. The saga began when Marc Andreessen gave the bot $50,000 in Bitcoin for "independent AI research," leading to a surreal series of events involving AI-generated religions and a growing cult following.

New Zealander Andy Ayrey, Truth Terminal's creator, does have personal control over the bot and actively modifies its code, so its not entirely autonomous.

From that idea, "Terminal of Truths" (also Ayrey's creation) was spawned. It's a combination of a couple of things, but for all intents and purposes, it's a semi-autonomous AI that can do things online, and talk to the world via its X account, @truth_terminal (tweets, however, are monitored and approved by Ayrey).

Terminal of Truths posts mostly nonsense. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes offensive; often, it sounds prophetic.

On a more traditional front, Hong Kong is embracing digital tokens to modernise its financial sector. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Project Ensemble Sandbox aims to streamline transactions of traditional assets through tokenisation.

"Tokenization has the potential to make financial transactions more efficient, more transparent and less costly," said Eddie Yue, the HKMA's chief executive.

📱 Devices

Bluesky, a Twitter-like social network, soared to the fifth spot in the US App Store rankings following X's controversial announcement that they plan to change how the block function works. Previously, if you blocked a user, they could no longer see your public posts, whereas soon they will be able to. Stalkers everywhere rejoiced.

The X alternative gained 500,000 new users in 24 hours, though I'm sceptical about how long it lasts. It is pretty hard to win against those X network effects.

"First day here," one Bluesky user wrote. "Was a longtime Twitter user but it's a shell of what it used to be."

Amazon accidentally unveiled the Kindle Colorsoft, their first colour e-reader, priced at $279.99.

The most interesting among the new devices is the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, the company's first Kindle that supports color. That means you'll get colorful book covers, nicer images, and text highlighting in different colors.

For the chatty pet owner, there's now a $495 talking pet collar. The collar, called Shazam, uses a microphone and voice box to create the illusion of a conversation with your pet. It measures various inputs about the human, pet, and environment, feeding them into a "cognitive cortex" based on machine learning. The system requires a subscription for full functionality, with fees ranging from $195 to $295 per year after the first year.

Chatbot is perhaps not quite the right term. But rather than using a synthesized voice created with an AI like from the service Eleven Labs, all of Shazam’s voice lines will be prerecorded. There are 27 characters to choose from, each with its own personality and each played by a human voice actor.

Northwestern University engineers have developed MobilePoser, an app for real-time, full-body motion capture using just a smartphone. Unlike traditional motion capture systems that require specialised equipment or stationary cameras, MobilePoser uses sensors already embedded in consumer devices like smartphones and smartwatches. It combines sensor data with machine learning and physics-based optimisation to track a person's full-body pose and movement in space with a tracking error of just 8-10cm.

"Running in real time on mobile devices, MobilePoser achieves state-of-the-art accuracy through advanced machine learning and physics-based optimization, unlocking new possibilities in gaming, fitness and indoor navigation without needing specialized equipment," said Northwestern's Karan Ahuja, who led the study.

🛍️ Ecommerce

Google is enhancing its Shopping tab with AI, offering personalised recommendations and shopping advice. The tech giant is also rolling out a TikTok-style scrollable feed of shoppable products.

Google says it paired the 45 billion product listings in Google's Shopping Graph with Gemini models to transform the Shopping tab.

TikTok is connecting influencers with manufacturers to develop custom products for TikTok Shop. This seems like a smart way to increase the monetisation potential of TikTok influencers along with TikTok's cut.

Building personalized products is a top focus among creators and celebrities who attract a large enough audience to market and sell their own goods. While making sponsored content for an outside brand can be lucrative, it often means a short-term payday. Building a product line they own can give creators bigger payouts.

Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) are gaining traction in brick-and-mortar retailers. Walmart plans to install up to 500 million ESL units across its U.S. stores over the next three years, while Taiwan's Simple Mart is rolling them out across 800+ stores.

Early estimates show that each store can save more than one hour of labor per day, allowing employees to focus on providing more personalized services to customers.

CNBC profiled the billion-dollar pop-up store Spirit Halloween in this 11-minute segment. The company creates 1,500 temporary stores each year to capitalise on the spooky season.

⚡ Other Snippets

Nevada will host the world's first lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory, with Lyten investing over $1 billion to produce batteries 40% lighter than traditional lithium-ion cells.

Lyten's CEO, Dan Cook, called the Nevada gigafactory a significant milestone for the company, describing lithium-sulfur as a "leap in battery technology."

In China, humanoid robots are addressing manufacturing labour shortages, with UBTech's Walker S1 receiving over 500 orders from carmakers.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security predicted in 2017 that major manufacturing industries, including automobiles, would face a shortage of 30 million workers by 2025.

Lastly, Elon Musk has cracked the top 30 on the Diablo 4 Season 6 Pit Leaderboard. The Pit is an intense time-trial dungeon where players must rapidly defeat hordes of monsters before confronting a final boss. Apparently, running multiple companies while catching rockets and unveiling new products still leaves plenty of time for demon-slaying.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🛰️ Space

SpaceX has achieved a new feat with its Starship Flight 5 launch, successfully catching its 232-foot-tall Super Heavy booster with the launch tower's "chopstick" arms.  They achieved this on their first attempt.

"This is a day for the engineering history books," Kate Tice, SpaceX manager of Quality Systems Engineering, said during live commentary. "This is absolutely insane! On the first ever attempt we have successfully caught the Super Heavy booster back at the launch tower."

SpaceX teams have spent years preparing and testing for this achievement. The successful catch could potentially lead to cost reductions in space launches and advances Elon Musk's plans for interplanetary travel.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

The 2024 Nobel Prizes have put AI in the spotlight, with John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton winning in Physics for neural network breakthroughs, and Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis and John Jumper sharing the Chemistry prize for AlphaFold's protein structure predictions.

“It will be comparable with the industrial revolution, but instead of exceeding people in physical strength, it’s going to exceed people in intellectual ability,” Hinton said. “We have no experience of what it’s like to have things smarter than us. It’s going to be wonderful in many respects… but we also have to worry about a number of bad consequences, particularly the threat of these things getting out of control.”

A significant debate has arisen regarding the true intelligence and reasoning capabilities of LLMs. Some experts argue that these models exhibit genuine reasoning, while others contend they are merely advanced pattern-matching systems.

A recent study by Apple researchers, "GSM-Symbolic: Understanding the Limitations of Mathematical Reasoning in Large Language Models", reveals significant performance drops in AI mathematical reasoning when faced with slightly modified problems, suggesting current systems rely more on pattern matching than true logical reasoning. For example, adding seemingly relevant but actually irrelevant information can easily throw off the best LLM models.

AI pioneer Yann LeCun remains sceptical about the potential of current AI models, arguing that they fall short of even feline intelligence and are not on the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI). LeCun believes that fundamentally different approaches will be necessary to achieve human-level AI.

He likes the cat metaphor. Felines, after all, have a mental model of the physical world, persistent memory, some reasoning ability and a capacity for planning, he says. None of these qualities are present in today’s “frontier” AIs, including those made by Meta itself.

While LLMs may not be the pathway to AGI, they remain powerful tools for solving previously intractable problems.

A recent study, “Scaling Core Earnings Measurement with Large Language Models” demonstrates that LLMs can act as effective investment analysts for estimating a company’s “core” earnings that exclude one-offs, etc. The research tested two prompting strategies, showing that a structured, step-by-step approach allows LLMs to provide more accurate “core earnings” estimates than numbers calculated by Compustat. Their prompts, which are relatively simple, can be found on pages 12-13.

Businesses mentioning AI in the past week include Medtronic, who is pushing for company-wide AI integration, and Starkey, whose investment in AI-powered hearing aids is yielding significant returns.

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, wrote an interesting essay that explores the potential positive impacts of AI on various aspects of human life, including biology, neuroscience, economic development, and governance.

If all of this really does happen over 5 to 10 years—the defeat of most diseases, the growth in biological and cognitive freedom, the lifting of billions of people out of poverty to share in the new technologies, a renaissance of liberal democracy and human rights — I suspect everyone watching it will be surprised by the effect it has on them. I don't mean the experience of personally benefiting from all the new technologies, although that will certainly be amazing. I mean the experience of watching a long-held set of ideals materialize in front of us all at once. I think many will be literally moved to tears by it.

💻 Chips and Computing

NVIDIA's Blackwell AI GPU supply is sold out for the next year. Some firms reportedly ordered 100,000 units at once, highlighting the insatiable demand for AI compute power.

It won't be wrong to say that NVIDIA is on track to see the Blackwell generation as the firm's most successful product in its history, mainly because demand is now said to have skyrocketed to an unprecedented level.

AMD is making waves with its new AI-infused chips across Ryzen, Instinct, and Epyc brands. The Instinct MI325X accelerator boasts 1.8 times more memory capacity and 1.3 times more bandwidth than NVIDIA's H200, claiming up to 1.4 times faster inference on certain AI models. AMD also unveiled its 5th Gen Epyc processors, dubbed "Turin," with up to 192 cores based on the new Zen 5 architecture, challenging Intel in the data centre market.

☁️ Cloud Computing

Microsoft Azure is becoming the first cloud platform to run NVIDIA's Blackwell GB200 AI servers, which aligns with Microsoft and Meta being top buyers of NVIDIA's H100 chips in 2023.

Supermicro unveiled a data centre liquid cooling solution for AI and HPC workloads.

🤖 Robotics

Casio is reviving Moflin, a fluffy AI-driven emotional support robot. This AI-powered plushie uses algorithms to develop its own personality based on how it's treated.

People know that robots aren't alive, but we are hardwired to anthropomorphise. When we see one pottering around our home, we attribute agency to it. If it responds to us, we start to bond with it.

Amazon's new robot-powered delivery warehouse in Shreveport, Louisiana will employ ten times more robots than a standard facility and span an area equivalent to 55 football fields across five floors.

Amazon has yet to announce specific figures in terms of robots deployed, only that it will bring 10x that of a standard fulfillment center.

Tesla unveiled its latest Optimus humanoid robot at its "We, Robot" event. Elon Musk ambitiously showcased Optimus shuffling across the stage, though keen observers noted the robots were likely operated remotely. It seems the future of robotics is here - as long as that future involves a human puppeteer behind the curtain.

"It'll be [able to] do anything you want," said Musk, sharing his dreams for Optimus' capabilities. "It can be a teacher, babysit your kids, it can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries. Just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do."

⚙️ Mobility

At the same event, Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's "Cybercab" robotaxi. The futuristic, silver two-seater resembles a miniature Cybertruck, featuring butterfly doors and no steering wheel, pedals, or charging port. Musk claims passengers can "fall asleep and wake up at your destination."

"There are no steering wheels or pedals in the car. So I hope this goes well, we'll find out," Musk said chuckling on stage after exiting the vehicle to begin his presentation.

Tesla aims to price the Cybercab under $30,000, with projected operating costs of 20 cents per mile. Production is slated for 2026, with a release "before 2027." The company also introduced the Robovan, a larger autonomous vehicle seating up to 20 passengers. The market was unimpressed, however, with Tesla stock falling 9% on Friday.

🤩 Advertising

TikTok launched new AI-powered Smart+ performance tools that automate targeting and creative selection. Some brands are seeing up to 52% improvement in return on ad spend.

"Adopting a fully automated solution that optimizes targeting, creative, and campaign performance has led to a 50% reduction in cost per acquisition, a 47% increase in conversion rates, and a 42% improvement in ROAS [for RayBan]," Roberta Atzori, performance marketing manager at EssilorLuxottica, said in a statement.

Meta is expanding its generative AI ad tools to video, introducing features like Video Expansion and Image Animation. Campaigns using these AI features see an 11% higher click-through rate and 7.6% higher conversion rate compared to those without.

According to Meta, 60% of users' time on both platforms is now spent watching videos.

PayPal is launching PayPal Ads, connecting advertisers with its transaction data across PayPal properties. Next year, they plan to let advertisers tap into their network of over 30 million merchants.

"With our cross-merchant data we are in a prime position to help the market to rationalize," Grether said.

👓 Virtual and Augmented Reality

In forestry, the University of South Australia has developed a VR training tool that could save millions. "Mills Skills VR" immerses trainees in a 3D environment, allowing them to gain experience without risking becoming unintentional lumberjacks.

"At the moment, we rely on access to trainers and machinery that is an essential part of the mill operations. By training new recruits on these machines, you slow or halt production, and expose them to potential risks," Praolini says.

In consumer tech, Apple is reportedly developing smart glasses to rival Meta's Ray-Ban collaboration, but they're not expected until 2027.

💲 Finance

Sydney-based quantum computing startup Q-CTRL has raised $167 million. CEO Michael Biercuk sees this as a testament to Australia's quantum prowess:

"This funding raise, which sets multiple global records, says that Australia has something exceptionally special built right here at home," Q-CTRL chief executive Michael Biercuk told this masthead.

In the AI mining sector, KoBold Metals, backed by Bill Gates, is closing in on a $527 million round. This follows their major copper deposit discovery in Zambia, proving AI can indeed strike gold (or copper).

The New York Times reported that the mine could generate enough copper over the course of about two decades to build 100 million electric vehicle batteries.

Kong, a startup which offers cloud-based application programming interfaces (APIs), is reaching a $2 billion valuation in a Tiger Global-led round.

"APIs are the pipes through which much of the modern internet flows, and Kong counts PayPal, Nasdaq, and Volvo among its customers."

🛍️ Ecommerce

Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba are breaking down their digital walls, allowing WeChat users to shop on Taobao without leaving the app. This marks a significant shift in China's ecommerce landscape, seemingly prompted by government pressure to dismantle "walled gardens".

For years, Tencent had limited the sharing of links to Alibaba stores on WeChat. But following a call by the Chinese government for tech firms to tear down their "walled gardens", Tencent and Alibaba have taken measures over the past three years to integrate their services.

Walmart is testing a new "adaptive retail" strategy, using generative AI and AR for personalised experiences. As part of this initiative, they're developing Wallaby, an AI system trained on internal data to create personalised homepages. Their new AR platform, Retina, aims to enhance shopping with 3D assets and features like "View in Your Home", which lets customers visualise products in their own space.

"A standard search bar is no longer the fastest path to purchase," says Walmart CTO Suresh Kumar. "Being people-led means we start with the human need, and often, a combination of technologies like AI, gen AI, augmented reality, and immersive commerce is key to the solution."

Amazon is making moves on multiple fronts. The company is exploring AI shopping agents that could significantly change online shopping by selecting products and making purchases automatically. At the same time, Amazon is planning to open pharmacies in 20 new US cities by 2025 for same-day medication delivery.

Such as go and select everything you need when you tell it you're going on a camping trip, put the items in your inbox, and buy them automatically. In the future users may even trust AI agents to go one step further, and anticipate their needs—buying and shipping things to their homes without the human who actually owns the credit card paying for it all having to do anything.

💊 Health

Zealand Pharma is developing petrelintide, a next-gen weight loss drug promising fewer side effects by mimicking a hormone co-secreted with insulin, rather than targeting GLP-1 like current drugs. CEO Adam Steensberg says:

"We have a very strong feeling that this could become a foundational therapy in the future - something that provides the weight loss that patients are looking for but with the potential for a better tolerability profile"

A study on mice treated with semaglutide found the drug might reduce exercise motivation, with treated rodents running about half the distance of their placebo-taking counterparts.

"Eventually they quit," says DiLeone, who presented these findings at a Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago on 7 October. "We call that their break point, and it gives us a surrogate for how motivated they are to access running wheels."

⚡ Other Snippets

New research suggests that moderate brain activity is optimal for many cognitive tasks, highlighting the importance of balanced mental workload for effective thinking.

It may, in fact, be foolish to insist on driving the engine of thought at ever greater speeds all the time.

Graphene is finally fulfilling its promise two decades after its discovery, with applications ranging from electronics to energy storage.

"Graphene is now hundreds, maybe even a thousand different things," says Peter Bøggild, a graphene researcher at the Technical University of Denmark.

Personal plug: My brilliant co-founder Armina Rosenberg recently featured on Livewire's "The Rules of Investing" podcast, discussing our exciting work at Minotaur.

In a world where artificial intelligence dominates headlines, few fund managers have harnessed it as boldly as Armina Rosenberg.

For those who don't know her, "Arms" made a name for herself at Grok Ventures, the family office of Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Now, she's paving a new path at AI-backed Minotaur Capital, alongside Perpetual alumnus Thomas Rice.

The duo have developed Taurient, a software system that uses large language models for everything from idea generation to portfolio construction.

In this episode of The Rules of Investing, Arms outlines how you can use AI to level up your own investment strategy, as well as a few stock ideas to get you started.

You can listen to the podcast here:

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI introduced a real-time API for voice-based AI applications, enabling more fluid conversations between users and language models. They also launched Canvas, a new ChatGPT feature that enhances collaboration on writing and coding projects. Canvas opens in a separate window, allowing users to interact with ChatGPT without disrupting their workflow, and includes shortcuts for various tasks.

A study revealed that ChatGPT is the most searched AI tool by far, with nearly 25 million searches from US citizens each month. Google's Gemini comes in second with 1.5 million searches per month.

Even with this second study's different measurement metrics, OpenAI's ChatGPT is still the most popular AI by far -- it receives nearly 25 million searches from US citizens each month.

Google is developing AI that emulates human reasoning. Their approach centres on chain-of-thought prompting, allowing AI to tackle complex maths and programming challenges by considering multiple related prompts before generating a response.

ByteDance has launched an aggressive web scraping operation, potentially fuelling its own AI ambitions. Their web crawler, Bytespider, is scraping data at about 25 times the rate of GPTbot, OpenAI's web scraper.

"It's like they're trying desperately to catch up," Crowther said of the aggressive scraping being done by Bytespider. Just last year, ByteDance was reportedly so far behind in the generative AI race that it was using OpenAI to help build ByteDance's own LLM, which is against OpenAI's terms of service.

Nvidia is partnering with Accenture to create an "Nvidia Business Group" consisting of 30,000 employees focused on assisting clients scale enterprise generative AI adoption.

"Demand for Blackwell is insane," he told CNBC. "Everybody wants the most, and everybody wants to be first."

Mercado Libre introduced Verdi, an AI developer platform powered by GPT-4o, which is transforming how the company handles customer service and other complex tasks.

"With Verdi, humans become co-pilots to the AI instead of the other way around," Rabinovich explains. "This platform can autonomously decide on cases, manage complex interactions, and even handle tasks requiring a human touch, informed by security protocols and guardrails built into the platform."

As AI advances, we're likely to see more systems where AI guides the actions of humans rather than the other way around.

JLL reports dramatic efficiency gains, with AI turning a two-month task into mere hours.

Two weeks ago we were trying to do a partnership with another company. In the past what would've happened is – we would've called up our legal team, somebody would've written the first draft, people would've revised it for sometimes days, sometimes weeks, and then we would've finalized it and signed it. The whole process from start to finish would've taken anywhere from four to six weeks. This time around, I used our internal large language model, called JLL GPT, and I was able to generate the initial draft of that memorandum of understanding within minutes.

Philips CEO Roy Jakobs revealed the company is integrating AI into all its products, from improving scan productivity to reducing administrative tasks for nurses.

We are actually using AI in every single product that we have. I'm extremely excited about what more it can do.

Apple’s new Depth Pro AI model can generate 3D depth maps from 2D images.

"These characteristics are enabled by a number of technical contributions, including an efficient multi-scale vision transformer for dense prediction," the researchers explain in their paper. This architecture allows the model to process both the overall context of an image and its finer details simultaneously—an enormous leap from slower, less precise models that came before it.

Google's NotebookLM, an AI-powered digital notebook, now offers a feature to generate AI podcasts from various sources. This tool can create custom AI-generated audio content from YouTube videos, documents, and other text-based inputs. For those unfamiliar with NotebookLM, it's an experimental AI assistant that helps users organise and interact with their research materials. Wired explains how you can generate an AI podcast yourself using this innovative feature.

Here’s an auto-generated 8-minute podcast talking about Minotaur Capital based solely on providing the www.minotaurcapital.com URL.

Meta announced Movie Gen, an AI-powered video generator that can produce high-definition footage complete with sound.

Movie Gen uses text inputs to automatically generate new videos, as well as edit existing footage or still images. The New York Times reports that the audio added to videos is also AI-generated, matching the imagery with ambient noise, sound effects, and background music.

This interview with Jake Heller, co-founder of Casetext, discusses the practical application of LLMs in business, particularly in the legal industry. Heller shares insights on building successful vertical AI companies and overcoming industry resistance. Casetext was acquired by Thomson Reuters for $650 million last year.

"I think the other knock on this technology that we hear a lot is like, oh these LLMs hallucinate too much, they're not accurate enough for real world use, but as you said earlier, the use case that you're working on is a mission critical use case. There's a lot at stake if the agent gives bad information to lawyers who are working on important court cases. How did you make it accurate enough for lawyers who are conservative by nature to trust this?"

🔬 Biology

Neuroscientists have created the most complete map of an adult fruit fly brain to date. This tiny powerhouse, smaller than a grain of sand, contains 139,255 neurons connected by 54.5 million synapses.

"This is a huge deal," says Clay Reid, a neurobiologist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Washington. "It's something that the world has been anxiously waiting for, for a long time."

The project, detailed in nine Nature papers, combined AI with manual edits from volunteers. As The Economist reports, this could be a stepping stone towards mapping more complex brains, including human ones.

Researchers are studying how some fish regrow injured fins. By decoding the genetic signals in African turquoise killifish, scientists hope to unlock human regeneration potential.

“If we can solve this puzzle, we will have access to regeneration in humans,” says Granillo. “And regeneration in humans will change humanity.”

💻 Chips and Computing

Google DeepMind's claim that its AlphaChip method creates "superhuman" chip layouts in hours has met scepticism from experts, who call for more transparent benchmarking. Nevertheless, MediaTek has adopted Google's AI-assisted approach for its Dimensity 5G system-on-chip, potentially slashing development time from 24 months to hours.

"If Google would provide experimental results for these designs, we could have fair comparisons, and I expect that everyone would accept the results," says Patrick Madden at Binghamton University in New York.

TSMC and Amkor's collaboration on advanced chip packaging in Arizona marks a significant step for the US semiconductor ecosystem, bringing critical technologies to American soil for the first time.

Advanced chip packaging has emerged as a crucial battleground for leading global chipmakers including TSMC, Intel and Samsung. The chip stacking and assembly technology is essential for enhancing chip performance and enabling powerful AI computing, especially as traditional methods of increasing transistor density following Moore's Law become more challenging.

Geopolitical tensions persist in the semiconductor industry. ByteDance's acquisition of 100,000 Huawei AI chips signals a shift towards domestic suppliers, while China claims a breakthrough in silicon photonics, potentially addressing a key technical hurdle in its semiconductor self-sufficiency efforts.

Japanese chip packaging supplier Ibiden is planning peak investment this fiscal year to maintain its edge in advanced packaging for AI chips, with its president expecting continued market momentum.

"Demand from AI has long exceeded our production capacity. Our package substrates have been cited for favorable yields [in the packaging process]."

Dylan Patel and Jon Y provide an enlightening discussion on the intricacies of the semiconductor industry in their video "How the Semiconductor Industry Actually Works". They delve into the complex supply chains, technological challenges, and geopolitical factors shaping the industry.

"There are 18-year-olds who are cracked at AI already. There are high school dropouts who get jobs at OpenAI. This existed in the past. Pat Gelsinger, the current CEO of Intel, grew up in the Amish area of Pennsylvania. He went straight to work at Intel because he's just cracked. That's not possible in semiconductors today."

🛰️ Space

China's Qianfan mega constellation is set to rival SpaceX's Starlink, with 18 of 14,000 planned satellites already launched.

"The Qianfan satellites in this first batch are bright enough to be seen by the unaided eye," says Mallama. "They will adversely impact research astronomy and the aesthetic appreciation of the night sky at their current brightness."

In the US, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is preparing for the second mission of its Vulcan Centaur Rocket. This launch heralds more affordable space technology, featuring methane-powered engines and a recovery system for costly components.

"[The mission] has literally one primary objective, which is to go fly a second time and have another success," Bruno said. "So now, we have two data points and then, upon the government's review of the data that confirms all that, you're certified and then you're ready to fly national security."

💲 Finance

OpenAI has secured $6.6 billion in new funding, valuing the company at $157 billion. This landmark investment, led by Thrive Capital with participation from Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank, makes OpenAI the third-largest venture-backed company globally, behind only SpaceX and ByteDance.

In the AI chip market, Nvidia rival Cerebras Systems has filed for an IPO. The company reported sales of $136.4 million in the first half of 2024, up from $8.7 million in the same period last year, but is still operating at a loss.

The filing depicts a company still in the early stages of taking on Nvidia and other established chipmakers, but it looks to gain an edge with a different approach. CS-3, Cerebras' flagship system, is optimized to handle AI computing workloads and can be clustered together to power AI supercomputers.

Cisco is nearing an investment in cloud computing provider CoreWeave at a $23 billion valuation.  

💊 Health

Researchers are using AI to detect mental health conditions from speech patterns, potentially offering faster and more accurate diagnoses. These models focus on acoustic properties rather than content, potentially overcoming cultural and linguistic biases.

By analysing the acoustic properties of speech, these AI models can identify markers of depression or anxiety that a patient might not even be aware of, let alone able to articulate.

In drug development, Aarhus University scientists have created LaKe, a molecule that mimics the metabolic effects of exercise and fasting.

"We've developed a molecule that can mimic the body's natural metabolic response to strenuous exercise and fasting. In practice, the molecule brings the body into a metabolic state corresponding to running 10 kilometers at high speed on an empty stomach," explains Professor Thomas Poulsen from the Department of Chemistry at Aarhus University.

Eli Lilly is investing $4.5 billion in a "Medicine Foundry" in Indiana to accelerate drug development and manufacturing.

"As we accelerate our work to discover new medicines for the toughest diseases, we're continuing to invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure to support our growing pipeline," said Lilly's chief executive officer David Ricks in a statement.

The rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy appears to be impacting America's obesity epidemic. CDC data shows the US adult obesity rate has fallen for the first time in years, dropping to 40.3% in 2023 from 41.9% in 2020. While not explicitly credited, the timing coincides with these drugs' growing popularity.

The US leading the descent is a beautiful twist. Its unparalleled consumer culture sent its obesity rate rising faster and further than almost anywhere else. When the solution was regulation or moderation, America was at a disadvantage. But when procuring and distributing large quantities of pharmaceuticals is the name of the game, the U.S. is unrivaled.  

⚙️ Mobility

Joby Aviation unveiled its electric air taxi in NYC. Toyota has doubled down on its investment, pouring an additional $500 million into the company, bringing its total to $894 million. Joby aims to launch its commercial service by 2025, potentially allowing users to summon air taxis through the Uber app.

Uber is expanding its autonomous vehicle partnerships, partnering with Avride for robotaxi rides and autonomous food deliveries. They're also expanding Uber Eats to use robots for deliveries in select cities.

Starting this week, Uber customers in Austin will see an option to receive Uber Eats deliveries from Avride's six-wheeled sidewalk robots. That deal will expand to Dallas and Jersey City, New Jersey, later this year. And in 2025, Avride's autonomous vehicles will be available to some Uber customers for rides in Dallas.

BYD is targeting the Australian market with its Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute, as Australia aims for 1 million EVs by 2027. The Chinese manufacturer sees Australia as a critical testing ground for Western markets, with BYD's Asia-Pacific auto sales general manager, Liu Xueliang, stating:

Australia is critical for us to see how these cars perform in a Western market. There is also great polarisation there – if we overcome this it has great potential to lead the whole global market.

In domestic Chinese EV news, Xiaomi's EV division delivered over 10,000 SU7 units in September, targeting 20,000 in October. Meanwhile, BYD faces a setback, recalling nearly 100,000 vehicles due to potential fire risks, highlighting the challenges of rapid EV production scaling.

📱 Devices

Finnish health tech company Oura has launched its fourth-generation smart ring. The Oura Ring 4 features a slimmer design, expanded sizing options, and improved accuracy.

Citing an external study, Oura says the new algorithm results in a 120 percent increase in signal quality and a 30 percent bump in accuracy for blood oxygen tracking.

The ring boasts up to eight days of battery life and can automatically detect 40 different activities. As the smart ring market expands, Oura is exploring future wearable concepts, including necklace-like devices and potential smart glasses collaborations.  

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

PayPal has made its first business transaction using its own stablecoin, PYUSD. The company settled an invoice with Ernst & Young LLP instantly via SAP's digital currency hub, demonstrating how digital currencies can improve commercial transactions.

"The enterprise environment is very well-suited for it," he said. "It's a very rational conversation to have with the CFO."

Visa is developing a new platform to help banks create and manage their own digital currencies. The Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) will allow banks to issue and control fiat-backed tokens, with plans to launch next year.

🌞 Energy

Holtec International is securing a $1.52 billion loan to restart Michigan's Palisades nuclear plant. This potential first-ever US reactor restart signals a shift in nuclear power perception. Holtec's Pat O'Brien notes:

"Nuclear wasn't being valued as a clean energy source, the way we believed it should be," he says. "You've had a sea change in how the energy markets viewed nuclear and politically how it was viewed."

Beyond restarts, Holtec is developing small modular reactors (SMRs), aiming to deploy the first two at Palisades by 2031.

⚡ Other Snippets

Zhejiang University researchers have engineered tobacco plants to produce creatine, a popular exercise supplement typically found only in animal products. They're now working on replicating this in tomatoes, potentially offering a plant-based creatine source for vegans and vegetarians.

In quantum physics, University of Toronto researchers have observed photons exhibiting "negative time" when passing through chilled atoms, suggesting particles can appear to exit a material before entering it (see the pre-print paper).

"It took a positive amount of time, but our experiment observing that photons can make atoms seem to spend a negative amount of time in the excited state is up!" wrote Aephraim Steinberg, a physicist at the University of Toronto, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) about the new study, which was uploaded to the preprint server arXiv.org on September 5 and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Material scientists have synthesised cubic gauche nitrogen (cg-N), a diamond-like structure that could revolutionise energy storage. This high-energy-density material, stable at atmospheric pressure, could lead to more powerful and efficient energy storage solutions.

The study provides an efficient and convenient way to synthesis cg-N at atmospheric pressure, and also new ideas for the development of future high-energy-density materials, according to the team.

A lengthy profile of Palmer Luckey explores his journey from founding Oculus to his current role at defence tech startup Anduril. The article delves into Luckey's unconventional background, his controversial exit from Facebook, and his vision for rebuilding the "arsenal of democracy". Interestingly, Luckey keeps the world's largest video game collection buried in a decommissioned nuclear missile silo, a testament to his unique approach to both technology and life.

In related news, Anduril is expanding into the space business, partnering with satellite hardware startup Apex to deploy AI-powered systems for space situational awareness and missile tracking.

"Space is a contested warfighting domain and we recognize the importance of equipping spacecraft with advanced autonomy and cutting-edge payloads," Gokul Subramanian, Anduril's SVP of Space and Engineering, said in the announcement.

In entertainment, Amazon's Fallout adaptation has reached 100 million viewers worldwide in less than six months, making it only the second Amazon Prime show to cross this threshold after The Rings of Power.

Epic Games is now financially sound with Fortnite hitting record users, as CEO Tim Sweeney notes a trend towards live service multiplayer games at Unreal Fest Seattle 2024.

The real trend here is that players are gravitating towards the really big games where they can play with more of their friends. This is a manifestation of Metcalfe's Law, the idea that the value of a network, a game, or a social experience grows in proportion to the number of friends that you can connect to.

An exclusive interview and factory tour (1h video) with Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock reveals the company's rapid progress in humanoid robotics, with multiple generations developed in just two years and plans to deploy their latest model, Figure 3, in real-world settings starting with BMW's factory in early 2025.

Our goal is to introduce figure two into kind of multiple clients into into early next year um uh I think from there we want to really try to um hit really high performance reliability and safety goals um with those groups they're they're larger where we can ship thousands of robots into them

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

👓 Virtual and Augmented Reality

Meta's Connect 2024 event unveiled Orion, a prototype for fully holographic AR glasses. Mark Zuckerberg touted them as "the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen," capable of overlaying holograms onto the real world. The prototype boasts a 70-degree field of view, weighs under 100 grams, and features a neural interface for brain signal interaction.

Described as "the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen," the Orion frames are genuinely very close to just being a normal pair of glasses, which is something even many of the current best smart glasses don't achieve.

This marks an exciting milestone as it's the first time an AR prototype seems poised for more seamless integration into daily life, potentially overcoming the clunky user experience that has limited widespread adoption of VR/AR technologies.

While Orion is still years from market (with current prototypes reportedly costing $10,000 to make), it offers a glimpse of a future where AR could be truly usable at scale. This push is strategically crucial for Meta, as Zuckerberg aims to secure a stronger position in the next platform shift after losing out in the transition from PC to mobile.

Meta also announced updates to its Ray-Ban smart glasses and introduced the Quest 3S, a $299 mixed-reality headset, further expanding its AR/VR ecosystem.

"If they manage to create an AI solution that actually works very well, then having glasses in that situation makes a lot of sense. You can see the road to mass adoption more clearly with glasses than with VR headsets."

Cleo Abram recently interviewed Mark Zuckerberg on the future he's trying to build (47-minute video).

(on AI) It's totally possible that at some point we just like hit a limit and, just like previous systems, there's an asymptote and it doesn't keep on growing. But it's also possible that that limit is not going to happen anytime soon and that we're going to be able to keep on just building more clusters and generating more synthetic data, train the systems, and that they're just going to keep on getting more and more useful for people for quite a while to come. And it's a really big and high-stakes question.

(That's also a good summary of the NVIDIA bull and bear case, h/t @RichardJarc.)

💎 Artificial Intelligence

I enjoyed this 9-minute video of a talk from Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke. In it, he discusses how he uses AI agents to help prepare talks and other tasks. Lütke's talk references two fascinating papers:

• Generative Agents - Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior (Aug 2023)

• Agent Hospital - A Simulacrum of Hospital with Evolvable Medical Agents (May 2024)

Building on this concept, Convergence, a London-based startup founded by ex-Shopify engineers, has raised a $12 million pre-seed round to develop personal AI agents with long-term memory capabilities.

"Our models have the ability to manage their own memories, decide to add things to their memories during inference time, and also delete things from their memory," Purtorab told TNW.

OpenAI is rolling out its Advanced Voice Mode to Plus and Team users. As the company prepares to transition into a for-profit corporation, it faces internal tensions with some high-profile departures, including its CTO, Mira Murati.

In Hollywood, an AI script editor called Callaia is analysing screenplays, Discovery Max is using Google's Gen AI to create closed captions, and James Cameron has joined the board of Stability AI.

"I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago, and I've stayed on the cutting edge since. Now, the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave."

Moveworks has achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue by automating mundane workplace tasks. Their AI tool handles everything from IT troubleshooting to PTO requests, helping over 5 million employees across 350 companies, including GitHub and Toyota.

Harvard researchers have developed TxGNN, a free AI model that aims to improve drug repurposing and discovery (see the paper). The model can predict new uses for existing drugs and identify potential treatments for rare diseases, even those it hasn't been trained on.

TxGNN is the first AI model specifically developed to identify drug candidates for rare diseases and conditions with no treatments and represents the largest number of diseases that any single AI model can handle to date.

Duolingo is going all-in on AI. The company has launched new AI-powered features, including interactive "video calls" with AI characters and a mini-game called Adventures, as part of its $30/month Duolingo Max subscription tier. The stock recently reached all-time highs.

Chatting with Lily allows people to practice conversing in other languages as if FaceTiming with an AI friend, with dialogue generated by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model.

The race for AI talent is intensifying, with Google reportedly striking a $2.7 billion deal to bring back former employee Noam Shazeer. This deal involves licensing technology from Shazeer's startup, Character.ai, and bringing him back to lead work on Google's Gemini AI.

Meanwhile, AI startups are generating revenue faster than previous generations of tech companies, reaching millions in sales within a year.

📚 Regulation

Europe's stringent regulations might be putting it at risk of missing out on the AI revolution. A group of companies and researchers warn EU policymakers that fragmented regulation could leave Europe trailing behind in AI innovation, particularly in open models and multimodal AI systems. This concern is evident as Europeans are already being locked out of cutting-edge AI features, including OpenAI's new Advanced Voice mode and Meta's Llama 3.2 model with vision capabilities.

🌞 Energy

In nuclear news, a recent US Department of Energy study identified 269GW of potential new nuclear capacity at former coal and nuclear sites. Tech giants are increasingly turning to nuclear power for their data centres, while Apple has broadened its clean energy definition to include nuclear, signalling a shift in industry perception.

"It's only recently that people have come to appreciate the importance of [nuclear power] from a reliability perspective," Kathleen Barrón, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Constellation, told Semafor during an event at Climate Week in New York City.

In solar, First Solar has launched a $1.1 billion solar factory in Alabama, while innovative tandem solar cells have achieved a record-breaking 33.89% efficiency. These cutting-edge cells could capture 60% more solar energy than current commercial panels, potentially reducing installation costs and land requirements.

The new record-breaking tandem cells can capture an additional 60 percent of solar energy. This means fewer panels are needed to produce the same energy, reducing installation costs and the land (or roof area) required for solar farms.

💊 Health

The FDA has approved Cobenfy, the first new schizophrenia drug in 70 years, targeting acetylcholine instead of dopamine. 

Researchers have discovered that our brains have their own microbiome, potentially reshaping our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. This unexpected microbial community may play a crucial role in conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

"The past 20 years has seen a switch from thinking that the human body is some kind of sterile entity to realising that microbes are everywhere," says Richard Lathe at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Harvard scientists have developed a $25 nasal spray that is 99% effective against respiratory infections (in mice; see the paper).

"the nasal spray reduced the load of viruses and bacteria — including Influenza A and B, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, adenovirus and a bacterial form of pneumonia — by over 99.99% and persisted in the nose for eight hours," Harvard's Jeffrey Karp tells MarketWatch.

Stem cell treatments are showing promise in preventing disease and slowing aging.

🛰️ Space

Scientists have simulated a nuclear explosion near an asteroid using Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine, the world's most powerful X-ray generator. This experiment demonstrated a potential method to deflect city-killer sized space rocks.

Complementing this, two next-gen telescopes promise to improve asteroid detection. NASA's NEO Surveyor and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory aim to identify 90% of city-killer asteroids within a decade of launch.

There are roughly 14,000 near-Earth asteroids with city-flattening potential still out there to be found.

Deep Blue Aerospace, a Chinese space startup, conducted an impressive high-altitude test of its Nebula-1 rocket. While not entirely successful, the company showed considerable transparency by releasing a detailed statement about the test flight, its objectives, a preliminary review of what went wrong, along with footage shot from nearby drones.

This is some of the most incredible rocket footage I've ever seen and a welcome new trend toward transparency from Chinese space companies.

🧱 Advanced Materials

Chemists at the University of Tokyo have observed a new type of chemical bond, involving just one electron instead of the usual two or more. This discovery could lead to new families of materials and reshape our understanding of molecular structures.

In a blend of biology and engineering, University of Washington scientists have created 3D-printed pipes inspired by shark intestines. These biomimetic pipes outperform existing designs in controlling fluid flow, with potential applications ranging from microfluidics to large-scale industrial processes. Interestingly, pipes made from soft, deformable polymers yielded even better results, highlighting the importance of material choice in biomimetic design.  

💻 Chips and Computing

Micron Technology reported strong financial results, with revenue increasing 93% year-on-year to US$7.75 billion, driven by demand for AI products. NVIDIA is preparing for mass deployment of its Blackwell GB200 AI servers in December, with tech giants like Microsoft and Meta as early customers.

India's semiconductor industry is gaining momentum, with PSMC and Tata Electronics investing $11 billion in India's first 12-inch wafer factory. The US Space Force is partnering with India on a next-gen microchip factory, while Tokyo Electron plans to train engineers in the country.

The investment in India's first 12-inch wafer fab is expected to reach $11 billion, with a monthly production capacity of 50,000 wafers, creating over 20,000 local high-tech jobs.

Samsung faces challenges in chip manufacturing, with yield issues causing key component exodus. Its 3nm process achieved only a 20% yield rate in Q3 2024, far below the 60% needed for large-scale production. The company has also split from Naver on an AI accelerator project, opting for independent development.

⚛️ Quantum Mechanics and Computing

Scientists at CERN have observed quantum entanglement between quarks for the first time using the Large Hadron Collider. This groundbreaking observation opens new avenues for studying quantum information in high-energy particle physics.

"It is really interesting because it's the first time you can study entanglement at the highest possible energies obtained with the LHC," says Giulia Negro, a particle physicist at Purdue University.

Meanwhile, in quantum computing, researchers have proposed a scalable, modular approach to building quantum processors. This method links qubits over long distances without matching their original frequencies, potentially solving a major hurdle in scaling up quantum computers.

"Each qubit in a quantum computer operates at a specific frequency. Realizing the capabilities unique to a quantum computer relies on being able to control each qubit individually via a distinct frequency, as well as to link pairs of qubits by matching their frequencies," said Srinivasa, director of URI's Quantum Information Science program and an assistant professor of physics.

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

Major financial institutions are exploring blockchain technology for certain transactions. Siemens AG issued €100,000 of digital commercial paper using JPMorgan's Onyx platform, completing the process in 93 seconds. Guggenheim Treasury Services tokenised $20 million on Ethereum, partnering with Zeconomy. These actions reflect the growing $12 billion market for tokenising real-world assets (RWA).

"As clearly demonstrated by the ETFs approval and the growth of the tokenization space, there is a massive demand for these digital assets, and we want to enable our partners so they can be at the forefront of what could be a transformative moment in the financial industry," he said.

In the stablecoin market, Robinhood and Revolut are considering launching their own versions. As the EU prepares to implement new crypto rules, the $170 billion sector currently dominated by Tether's USDT may see changes.

"Many businesses have looked at the likes of Circle and Tether and the figures they've posted," said Thomas Eichenberger, chief product officer at Swiss crypto bank Sygnum, in an interview. "It sounded like a beautiful business model, and there are many out there that might want to replicate that."

▶️ Streaming

YouTube's DIY content creators are challenging traditional media giants, now accounting for 10% of American TV viewing. Turns out, in-depth discussions about rocket engine turbopumps can rival the latest Netflix drama in popularity.  

YouTube accounts for a tenth of all the television that Americans watch, more than any other streamer or channel. And much of that audience is young, building viewing habits that may last for decades.

TikTok is expanding subscriptions to non-Live creators, offering tiered options with perks like exclusive content and private communication channels.

⚙️ Mobility

Chinese EV makers are investing heavily in advanced driver assistance systems to compete with Tesla, with an estimated 1 million Level 3 autonomous vehicles expected on Chinese roads by 2026. Meanwhile, Uber is partnering with WeRide to launch robotaxis in Abu Dhabi.

Shimano's AI-powered gear shifting system aims to optimise cycling without the weight of e-bike batteries.

Spain is pioneering high-speed hydrogen-powered trains, offering a zero-carbon alternative to traditional electric trains without the need for expensive overhead catenary infrastructure. This innovation could make high-speed rail more accessible in less densely populated areas.

The future of air travel includes plans for over 1,000 eVTOL vertiports by 2028 and radical new aircraft designs for improved fuel efficiency. These designs include longer, thinner wings, blended wing-body configurations, and open-fan engines, potentially reducing fuel consumption by up to 30% compared to current models.

🤩 Advertising

TikTok is expanding its advertising options with "TikTok Search Ads Campaign", allowing brands to target its search results page through TikTok Ads Manager.

TikTok's own research shows that more and more people are using its app as a search engine, as the company says that 57% of its users utilize its search functionality and that 23% of users search for something within 30 seconds of opening up the app.

🎮 Gaming

Indie game developers are embracing generative AI to create more lifelike NPCs and responsive game worlds. For example, Jam & Tea Studios' game "Retail Mage" uses AI to power NPCs that can engage in improvisational dialogue and react dynamically to player choices. In this magical furniture store simulation, AI enables characters to examine items, deconstruct objects, and even flirt with customers, creating a more immersive experience.

"It is truly going to feel like the world's alive and like everything really reacts to exactly what's happening," he said. "That's going to add tremendous realism."

Ubisoft issued a profit warning and delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows, drawing harsh criticism from analysts and sending shares to a decade-low. One investor is pushing for the company's sale.

⚡ Other Snippets

ING Groep NV is using AI to price currencies, outperforming human traders and freeing up an entire person's workload. Simon Bevan, ING's global head of electronic trading, says:

"This model completely takes care of that and has performed way beyond our expectations, it has definitely outperformed a human."

A study reveals that AI-manipulated media can significantly distort human memories, with false memory rates reaching 40%. Researcher Samantha Chan warns:

In the future it might be automatic," she says. "I think the worst part here, that we need to be aware or concerned about, is when the user isn't aware of it. We definitely have to be aware and work together with these companies, or have a way to mitigate these effects.

Scientists have developed artificial spider silk for wound healing, showing promise in treating joint injuries and diabetic skin lesions in mice.

In agriculture, the world's first large-scale indoor vertical strawberry farm has opened in Virginia, producing 4 million pounds of strawberries annually on less than an acre. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin commented:

"Plenty's farm will boost local agriculture production and drive economic development, all while diversifying against risks and protecting the environment," said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. "We look forward to supporting their innovative approaches to revolutionising the industry."

Andreessen Horowitz writes about how anime is becoming a global entertainment powerhouse:

We’re excited about how anime is shaping the future of interactivity through its embrace of new technologies and business models: from AI agents to UGC platforms, from artistry tools to novel game mechanics, from interactive VTubing to new anime platforms. It’s clear that the best is yet to come for current and future anime fans.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🤖 Robotics

Warehouse automation is reaching new heights with AI-powered robots. Amazon's fleet of 750,000+ robots is transforming its supply chain, with innovations like the Hercules unit improving storage density by 40%. They’re also using generative AI to help speed up delivery (15-minute video).

And so generative AI has been really a step function improvement in being able to infer from our vast product catalogue about how to handle a given product, even if I haven't seen that product before.

Ikea has deployed 250 autonomous drones across 73 distribution centres to help manage inventory without human intervention.

They fly around gathering data throughout warehouses, performing standard inventory checks, and verifying if an item has moved locations, is misplaced on another shelf, or is completely missing from the company's inventory.

💊 Health

Moderna's “off-the-shelf” cancer vaccine is showing promising early results.

“We are encouraged by the Phase 1 results of mRNA-4359, which demonstrate its potential to elicit strong antigen-specific T-cell responses while maintaining a manageable safety profile,” said Kyle Holen, Moderna's Senior Vice President and Head of Development, Therapeutics and Oncolog.

Researchers have developed nano-sized cell particles to boost immunotherapy and found a way to supercharge T cells against cancer by giving them extra “batteries”. 

“These supercharged T cells overcome one of the fundamental barriers of immunotherapy by penetrating the tumor and overcoming immune barren state in the tumor,” said Shiladitya Sengupta. “It's like we're taking T cells to the fuel station and gassing them up.”

The FDA has cleared the Apple Watch for sleep apnea detection.

You can find and track the new “breathing disturbances” metric in the Health app, where you can also download data to share it with a doctor. Apple says its sleep apnea notification algorithm was developed with “advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests.”

Neuralink's Blindsight implant received “breakthrough device” designation, aiming to restore vision.

The experimental device, known as Blindsight, "will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see," Musk said in a post on X.

Genetic research breakthroughs include the discovery of an alternative DNA configuration in the insulin gene, potentially redefining diabetes treatment, and new sickle cell treatments using gene-editing.

“DNA is our genetic material, and its structure usually looks a bit like a twisted ladder called a double helix. This shape is iconic, but alternative DNA structures exist and are thought to potentially play a role in the development of genetic diseases, such as diabetes or cancer.”

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Hollywood is embracing AI, with Lionsgate partnering with Runway to create a custom AI model trained on its vast media library. This deal aims to streamline production processes, potentially saving millions by assisting with tasks like storyboarding and special effects. 

“We view AI as a great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing our current operations,” said Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns in a press release.

Microsoft introduced Copilot Pages, a collaborative document tool within Microsoft 365 Copilot.

In the military sector, Palantir Technologies secured a $100 million contract for AI-powered targeting tools, while Microsoft partnered with Anduril Industries to enhance the U.S. Army's battlefield awareness systems.

“The idea is to enhance soldiers. Their visual perception, audible perception—basically to give them all the vision that Superman has, and then some, and make them more lethal,” Luckey elaborated in an interview with WIRED.

In an unexpected application, archaeologists are using AI to analyse Cold War-era spy satellite imagery, helping to rediscover ancient underground aqueducts across North Africa and the Middle East.

Accenture's survey of C-suite executives suggests that generative AI is delivering on its promises, with nearly half saying their AI investments are outperforming other investments.

“It is the fastest-growing technology we've seen in the history of our company,” said Jack Azagury, group chief executive for consulting at Accenture.

Amazon is launching an AI-powered selling assistant called “Project Amelia” to help sellers navigate ecommerce complexities.

Over time, the company says, the AI assistant will also serve as an autonomous agent, anticipating the needs of sellers and taking action to resolve issues in their storefronts, supply chains and other areas.

WSJ profiled Alexandr Wang, the 27-year-old billionaire founder of Scale AI.

The labor-intensive operation has become so in demand by businesses eager to enter the AI race that Scale's revenue pace tripled last year, boosting its valuation to $14 billion. Wang's stake is estimated at about $1.7 billion.

 🛰️ Space

India aims to become the world's third-largest space power, with plans for a reusable rocket, space station, and robotic lunar sample return mission. 

If India succeeds... there's reason to believe the South Asian power will do more in space than Russia over the next 15 years.

NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines a $4.8 billion contract for a lunar navigation and communications satellite constellation. LUNR stock jumped 50% last week on the news.

NASA's $5 billion Europa Clipper mission, set to launch next month, aims to explore the potential for life in Europa's hidden ocean.

“We're not a life search mission. We're a habitability mission,” says Robert Pappalardo, Clipper's project scientist at JPL. But finding a hint of life is “not out of the question.”

Google is funding an AI-powered satellite constellation to spot wildfires faster. This FireSat system could play a crucial role in early fire detection and firefighting strategies.

Bloomberg explores why there’s a new race to the moon (12-minute video).

⚙️ Mobility

BMW plans to bring E Ink's colour-shifting tech to cars by 2027. E Ink is best known for the e-paper found in Kindles and some electronic shelf labels.

"The technology consumes very little power, about 20 watts of energy — similar to the power consumption of a car's interior light," Clarke said. "And once the colour is set, it stays that way even when the car is off."

CATL has unveiled a new high-energy-density battery for electric buses, boasting an impressive lifespan of up to 15 years or 1.5 million kilometres.

The Biden administration is awarding over $3 billion in grants to boost domestic EV battery production across 14 states, aiming to reduce China's dominance in battery manufacturing.

☁️ Cloud Computing

Microsoft and BlackRock are leading a $100 billion fund for AI infrastructure, dubbed GAIIP. With an initial $30 billion target, the fund will focus on data centres and power infrastructure to support AI growth.

"The capital spending needed for AI infrastructure and the new energy to power it goes beyond what any single company or government can finance," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.

The urgency for this massive investment becomes clear when considering the power demands of AI. The Register reports that some researchers warn AI could soon consume as much electricity as a country like Ireland.

Alibaba Cloud is taking a different approach with its modular datacentre architecture dubbed “CUBE DC 5.0”. This prefab solution claims to reduce deployment times by up to 50 percent compared to traditional methods, featuring a “wind-liquid hybrid cooling system.”

“These enhancements are not just about keeping up with AI demands but about setting a global standard for efficiency and sustainability.”

🌞 Energy

Microsoft is reopening the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power its AI data centres. The 20-year deal will generate 835 megawatts, enough for 800,000 homes. Constellation Energy will invest $1.6 billion to revitalise the facility, aided by tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. 

"This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft's efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative," Microsoft VP of Energy Bobby Hollis said in a statement.

Other tech giants are also exploring nuclear energy solutions. Amazon has purchased a nuclear-powered data centre and is currently hiring a principal nuclear engineer. Additionally, both Amazon and Google, along with billionaires like Sam Altman and Bill Gates, are investing in fusion startups.

“The candidate must navigate the permitting and regulatory processes to help AWS deliver capacity-enabling projects,” the listing states.

🎮 Gaming

EA is embracing AI, with CEO Andrew Wilson stating that generative AI is "the very core of our business," with over 100 active AI projects across efficiency, expansion, and transformation categories.

Netflix continues expanding its gaming adaptations, with new anime series based on Cyberpunk, Devil May Cry, and Splinter Cell. Cyberpunk fans can look forward to another trip into Night City, though details remain scarce.

If you’re looking for a new game to play, I’d recommend Satisfactory. From IGN’s recent review (11-minute video):

Satisfactory is the best automation game ever made and I seriously can't recommend it enough. Every moment of the over 130 hours it took to build messy conveyor belt disasters and delightfully efficient factories was engaging, ridiculous, and an absolute blast with friends.

 👓 Virtual and Augmented Reality

Snap is making waves with its latest AR Spectacles, featuring four cameras for hand tracking and a “Snap Spatial Engine” for seamless AR integration. Snap is targeting developers with a US$1,188 annual lease to build a robust ecosystem before wider release. Pity they’re so ugly.

Spectacles are the result of a decade of research and development to introduce hardware that breaks the bounds of screens and brings people together in the real world.

Meta is extending its partnership with EssilorLuxottica into the 2030s to develop “multi-generational smart eyewear products.” The collaboration has already integrated Meta AI into smart glasses in North America, enabling hands-free photo capture and information access.

IDC forecasts global VR and AR shipments to surge 41.4% by 2025. The market is expected to grow from 6.7 million units this year to 22.9 million by 2028, fueled by cheaper devices and AI integration.

💻 Chips and Computing

Intel's foundry business has scored a major win, signing a multi-billion-dollar deal with AWS to co-develop an "AI fabric chip" using Intel's 18A process. Intel may also be developing a new x86 architecture, with rumours of a "Cobra Core" promising four threads per core and boosted single-core performance.

"We have tripled our deal pipeline since the beginning of the year," CEO Pat Gelsinger said of Intel Foundry's business in a blog post.

Apple is reportedly introducing its self-developed 5G modem in iPhones by 2025.

TSMC is already producing A16 chips for Apple at its new Arizona plant, with mass production expected by mid-2025. 

In India, Lenovo has started manufacturing AI servers, part of its $1 billion global investment in AI platforms and hardware.

💲 Finance

Walmart is introducing a pay-by-bank system for online purchases, potentially reducing fees and offering customers real-time transaction updates.

Hot AI startups are raising back-to-back rounds at rapidly increasing valuations, reminiscent of the 2021 tech boom.

"There's a have and have-not scenario right now where if you're an emerging AI company, despite maybe not having really proven much of anything from the standpoint of revenue or significant user traction, you might be able to get some wildly amazing valuation," said Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures. "At the same time, you could be a $50 million business right now growing at 40%, and people might view you as uninteresting because you're not an AI company."

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is spearheading Agora, a blockchain-based project for cross-border payments. 41 companies, including major banks and payment processors, are collaborating with seven central banks to create a unified ledger for trading tokenised assets using central bank digital currencies.

With Agora — Greek for market — the BIS is exploring the creation of an international platform on which tokenized assets can be bought and sold using digital currencies backed by the participating central banks, which issue the world's most important reserve currencies.

🔬 Biology

In space biology, bacteria on the ISS are evolving to survive in low Earth orbit, developing adaptations for microgravity and radiation resistance. These space-adapted microbes may pose new challenges for astronaut health. 

"Our study shows that the microorganisms we isolated from the International Space Station have uniquely adapted to survive in space when compared to the Earth counterparts," says Venkateswaran.

Google Cloud and Ginkgo Bioworks have launched a protein large language model and API to accelerate drug discovery.

The confluence of biology, drug discovery, artificial intelligence and advanced engineering has never been more relevant, as all of these verticals have numerous opportunities to grow from each other. This is why companies are rapidly increasing their investments in this arena, and the competition is stiff.

Giant pouched rats are being trained to detect illegal wildlife products, potentially offering a low-cost solution to combat wildlife trafficking at international ports.

The rats were able to accurately detect the illicit materials hidden in containers and packages even when they were masked by other scents, with false alarms below 2 per cent.

Researchers have created a DNA-based computing system capable of storing data, playing chess, and solving Sudoku. This "dendricolloid" structure allows for repeated use without damaging stored data, addressing a key limitation of previous DNA computing attempts.

A “Shazam for whales” now identifies calls from eight whale species, while researchers explore AI's potential to decode animal communication using transformer models (24-minute video).

⚡ Other Snippets

Researchers have developed a tiny nuclear battery that could power devices for decades. Using americium, it generates electricity from a stable green glow. While 8000 times more efficient than previous designs, it would still take 40 billion to light a 60-watt bulb. 

"Ideally, we envision our micronuclear battery being used to power miniature sensors in remote or challenging environments where traditional power sources are impractical, like deep-sea exploration, space missions or remote monitoring stations," says Wang.

A new magnetically controlled prosthetic hand allows amputees to reproduce hand movements by thinking (see the paper).

“This system allowed me to recover lost sensations and emotions: it feels like I’m moving my own hand,” says Daniel.

German researchers have developed a method to produce protein and vitamin B9 from microbes using air, water, and renewable energy. This yeast-based alternative could help address global food challenges, with just 85 grams providing 61% of daily protein needs.

“We are approaching 10 billion people in the world, and with climate change and limited land resources, producing enough food will become harder and harder,” says Angenent. “One alternative is growing proteins in bioreactors through biotechnology rather than growing crops to feed animals. It makes agriculture much more efficient.”

For night owls, University of Michigan researchers have developed an OLED that could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses (see the paper). This thin-film device converts and amplifies near-infrared light, giving users cat-like night vision.

“One of the most attractive features of this new approach is that it amplifies light within a thin film stack that is less than a micron thick. That's much thinner than a strand of hair, which is about 50 microns thick,” said Chris Giebink, U-M professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics and corresponding author of the study recently published in Nature Photonics.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI has unveiled its o1 model family, designed to tackle complex problems by spending more time "thinking" before responding. The o1-preview model scored 83% on the International Mathematics Olympiad qualifying exam, compared to GPT-4o's 13%. OpenAI is also reportedly in talks to raise $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation. 

Klarna says they are replacing Salesforce and Workday with internal AI applications, while reducing its workforce by 50%.

"Thanks to AI agents + AI engineers getting prolific, you can rebuild most enterprise SaaS functionality, host for super cheap, and get basically 90%+ functionality," said Linas Beliūnas, director of revenue at Zero Hash.

UBS has developed an AI tool that can scan 300,000 firms in 20 seconds for M&A opportunities, while iFood (Brazilian food delivery) attributed a 30% increase in EBITDA to the 192 proprietary AI solutions that have been created by their own employees.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is working on AI projects "pretty much every day" (see the 20-minute All-In Summit interview).

"But I think as a computer scientist, I've never seen anything as exciting as all of the AI progress that's happened in the last few years. It's kind of mind-blowing.”

New AI tools continue to emerge: Adobe has previewed generative AI for videos, PaperQA offers AI-powered literature reviews (see the paper), and Google introduced a tool for LLMs to fact-check their own responses.

Nvidia invested in Sakana AI, which specialises in high-efficiency AI models. Poolside, an AI coding startup, is reportedly raising $500 million at a $3 billion valuation before releasing its first product.

Researchers found that chatbots can effectively persuade people to abandon conspiracy theories. 

🛰️ Space

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission has achieved a milestone in private space exploration, completing the world's first commercial spacewalk. Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis conducted a "stand-up" extravehicular activity (EVA) from their Crew Dragon capsule, reaching 1,400 kilometres above Earth – the highest altitude for humans since Apollo. 

"Back at home we have a lot of work to do but from here, it looks like a perfect world," Isaacman said shortly before 7 a.m. New York time, as he emerged out of the nose of the vehicle and looked down at the Earth below him.

SpaceX launched five giant BlueBird satellites for AST SpaceMobile, a potential Starlink competitor, aiming to provide direct-to-smartphone broadband service globally.

📶 Airline Wireless

United Airlines is set to offer free high-speed Wi-Fi across its entire fleet through a partnership with SpaceX's Starlink. Testing begins in early 2025, with passenger flights enjoying the upgrade later that year. The deal marks a significant win for Starlink, becoming the first major US carrier to adopt the satellite system. Shares of competing Wi-Fi providers like Viasat and Gogo were down 25% and 8% respectively last week.

"Everything you can do on the ground, you'll soon be able to do onboard a United plane at 35,000 feet, just about anywhere in the world," says United CEO Scott Kirby.

🤖 Robotics

NASA's Valkyrie robot, currently being tested at a Woodside Energy lab in Australia, showcases impressive humanoid capabilities for dangerous tasks on Earth and potentially in space.

"The physical capability of Valkyrie is really strong, but where everybody's trying to catch up right now, including current industry, where the billions of dollars are pouring in, is the intelligence and the adaptability, the resilience, the safety and predictability right to where we can have a robot that can always take the correct action," says Azimi.

Meanwhile, the US military is betting big on a different kind of robot. AeroVironment's Switchblade drones are small but mighty loitering munitions. Weighing under 10 pounds, these backpack-sized drones offer reconnaissance and precision strike capabilities. The US Army is so impressed, they've signed a deal worth up to $1 billion for these high-tech flying cameras with teeth.

🔬 Biology

The Chai Discovery team has released Chai-1, a new multi-modal foundation model for molecular structure prediction that outperforms existing tools like AlphaFold in several benchmarks. This freely available tool could accelerate drug discovery and biological engineering by enabling more accurate predictions of complex molecular interactions.

The core achievement of Chai-1 is its ability to predict complex molecular interactions involving proteins, small molecules, DNA, RNA, and even covalent modifications. This comprehensive scope makes it one of the most versatile tools for molecular structure prediction today.

☁️ Cloud Computing

Oracle has announced the world's first zettascale AI supercomputer, harnessing up to 131,072 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs. At Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting, Larry Ellison described how they got so many GPUs.

“I went to dinner with Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, and I would describe the dinner as: Me and Elon begging Jensen for GPUs. Please, take our money. Please, take our money. No, no, take more of it. You’re not taking enough of it, we need you to take more of our money, please.”

Oracle is also planning a 1-gigawatt AI data centre that will be powered by three small modular nuclear reactors.

When asked about how they’re going to monetise Generative AI, Ellison explained that AI is not something sold separately but is integral to all their applications.

When are we going to start monetizing it? Well, all of Cerner is the monetization. The fact that we can dramatically expand our health business is because it's based on AI. It is — AI is just — I don't know how to describe it. I mean the best way to describe it. It's not something you sell separately. It's the diagnostic system. It's the electronic health record system. It is — the pharmacy system, this prescription system, the user authentication, the log-in system, it's all AI. And I know people think it's a separate thing that, "Oh my God." And I hear a bunch of applications come say, "Oh, we've now got AI agents we'll charge for separately. I mean — it's — our applications are going to be primarily AI applications, everything. How do you charge separately for everything I really don't — I find it bewildering when I listen to them talk. I don't understand what they're saying. We wonder — and I'll stop there.

(I agree with this sentiment. At Minotaur Capital, AI is a crucial part of our operations, yet we don't generate "AI revenue" as a separate stream. Instead, AI enables us to process tens of thousands of articles and documents and analyse a much larger array of stocks, which we hope leads to better investment returns. We earn revenue just like any other fund manager. When considering the return on our AI investment — especially when compared to the cost of hiring people to replicate what the AI accomplishes — the return is immense. I suspect that those searching for a direct revenue return on AI spending may be overlooking its true value.)

Amazon Web Services is investing $10.5 billion in UK cloud and AI infrastructure, while cloud startup CoreWeave is reportedly in talks for a share sale that could value it at $23 billion.

OpenAI and Nvidia executives recently met with Biden administration officials, resulting in an interagency task force to promote data centre development and accelerate permitting in the US.

"OpenAI believes infrastructure is destiny and that building additional infrastructure in the US is critical to the country's industrial policy and economic future," OpenAI said in a statement.

As AI workloads heat up, cooling solutions become critical. In Hong Kong, Global Switch is turning to liquid cooling to meet Chinese AI firms' demands, with rack density requirements skyrocketing from 20 kilowatts to 100 kilowatts in just two years.

🌞 Renewables

The Economist reports that geothermal could outperform nuclear power, thanks to innovative "enhanced geothermal systems" (EGS). Tech giants like Meta are taking notice, partnering to power data centres with up to 150 megawatts of geothermal energy.

Energy storage remains crucial for grid stability. In Australia, Hydro Tasmania is leading with deep-storage facilities, while Tesla is selling its first virtual power plant in South Australia.

Tesla claims that the virtual power plant is distributed in about 7,000 homes with a 35 MW capacity and about 70% of the systems are coupled with solar power.

Daikin Industries is using AI to cut AC power use by up to 20%.

Scientists are reviving a controversial technique to seed the Pacific Ocean with iron, aiming to boost carbon absorption through phytoplankton blooms.  

Alternative energy sources are gaining traction. Australia and Germany signed a $660 million hydrogen deal, Arkansas is emerging as a key US lithium producer, and Brookfield is investing up to US$1.1 billion in sustainable aviation fuels.

📱 Devices

Apple's "Glowtime" event unveiled the AI-powered iPhone 16 lineup, featuring the A18 chip that's 30% faster than its predecessor. This enables on-device AI processing for enhanced email summaries, smarter notifications, and a more conversational Siri. 

In a potential hearing aid industry disruptor, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 received FDA clearance as over-the-counter hearing aids. This software-based solution, launching this fall, could significantly reduce costs for those with mild to moderate hearing loss. The only downside is you might look like an a**hole leaving your AirPods in while talking to people.

💊 Health

The race for convenient weight loss drugs is accelerating. Novo Nordisk's amycretin pill showed promising results, with patients losing up to 13.1% body weight in three months. Terns Pharmaceuticals' TERN-601 achieved 5.5% weight loss in four weeks. These oral medications could make weight loss treatment more accessible than injectables like Ozempic. 

"It's roughly double the weight loss rate seen with current GLP-1 agonists and approaching procedural or surgical-level outcomes," said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist who runs a weight loss clinic in North Carolina.

Moderna aims to launch a skin cancer vaccine by 2025.

Australian start-up Helfie AI is developing a smartphone app to screen for skin cancer, COVID-19, and STIs, eyeing a $US1 billion valuation.

💻 Chips and Computing

Infineon Technologies has developed the world's first 300mm power GaN wafer technology, accommodating 2.3 times more chips per wafer. This breakthrough promises enhanced efficiency for applications from AI power supplies to solar inverters. 

Japan is advancing diamond semiconductors that outperform current materials by 50,000 times. Researchers have created the first power circuit with diamond semiconductors and can mass-produce 2-inch diamond wafers. 

TSMC's 3nm chip revenue is set for a 34% annual increase, partly due to Apple's A18 and A18 Pro chip orders for the iPhone 16 series. Their 'N3E' process promises higher yields and improved power efficiency.

RISC-V is gaining ground in AI chips, with its market share in AI SoCs expected to exceed 50% by 2030. Its open-source nature, flexibility, and low power consumption make it a strong contender against x86 and Arm architectures. 

RISC-V's open-source benefits, superior power efficiency, robust security, and minimal geopolitical risks provide the IP licensing sector with substantial growth advantages, Lin observed.

🔋 Batteries

Mercedes-Benz is set to road test solid-state batteries within months, aiming for market release by 2030, with these batteries promising 80% more range and 40% less weight. 

China has made significant strides in mastering High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) technology for processing low-grade nickel ore, a feat that has long eluded Western companies. This breakthrough has reshaped the global nickel industry, with Chinese-run facilities now dominating production in Indonesia.

"A classic example is just how quickly they brought on the Indonesian nickel projects using a technology that had a checkered history," said William Adams, head of base-metals research for Fastmarkets, a data provider.

China now refines 58% of the world's nickel supply, up from 34% in 2015. The resulting price crash has forced mine closures across Australia, New Caledonia, Brazil, and the US. 

🎮 Gaming

Unity has cancelled its controversial Runtime Fee, opting for traditional price increases instead. New CEO Matthew Bromberg announced an 8% increase for Unity Pro and a 25% hike for Enterprise, effective January 2025, aiming to rebuild trust while ensuring financial stability. 

"You can't do business when you're sideways with your customers. We want to be aligned with them, and this new model will do that."

AI continues to reshape gaming. Hasbro's CEO Chris Cocks plans to embrace AI for Dungeons & Dragons, while 87% of studios are using generative AI tools for in-game environments. However, concerns about job displacement and content quality persist.

Chip demand for gaming consoles is rising, boosted by Sony's PS5 Pro announcement and rumours of an updated Nintendo Switch. 

⚙️ Mobility

Siemens is investing $60 million to build America's first electric bullet train factory in New York, set to produce trains capable of 220 mph for the upcoming Las Vegas to Los Angeles high-speed rail line. This marks a significant step forward for high-speed rail in the US.

Nuro, known for its autonomous delivery robots, is expanding into robotaxis and personal autonomous vehicles by licensing its technology to other companies.

"Our tech has gotten to the point where we believe very firmly that it is ready for more applications."

⚡ Other Snippets

Scientists have created the world's first nuclear clock, potentially revolutionising precision timekeeping and fundamental physics. These clocks could be 1,000 times more precise than current atomic standards, helping test Einstein's theories and probe dark matter mysteries. 

NTT Docomo will release $1,700 "extended reality" smart glasses that simulate multi-monitor setups and provide real-time translation in over 140 languages.

Stream Hatchet released their Top 10 Global Streamers and Top 10 Female Streamers list for August, base don average viewers across all platforms. The female list has been “community noted” on X to point out that if they included female VTubers (which they have on a separate list), VTubers would have taken the top 5 spots.

MrBeast's leaked onboarding document provides a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of a viral YouTube empire. It reveals an intense focus on metrics, a ruthless approach to employee performance, and an obsession with creating content that will capture and hold viewers' attention.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's former chief scientist, has raised an impressive $1 billion seed round for his new AI startup, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), at an estimated $5 billion valuation. Not bad for a 3-month old company! The company aims to develop safe AI systems that surpass human capabilities.

Anthropic launched Claude Enterprise, a powerful AI assistant with a massive 500,000 token context window. Prior Claude models were limited to 200,000 tokens.

"That's like one hundred 30-minute sales transcripts. That's 100,000 lines of code to give Claude context to create new, meaningful work products."

HyperWrite's Reflection 70B claimed to be the top open-source AI model. Whoops, scratch that! Turns out some are saying that claim is fraudulent, and they could simply be providing a wrapper around Anthropic’s very proprietary Claude 3.5 Sonnet model.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is pivoting the whole company to AI agents, with Agentforce enabling users to build custom AI agents that interact directly with customers. Agentforce is set up for a full launch in October.

A recent study of software developers found that GitHub Copilot increased completed tasks by 26.08%, with less experienced developers benefiting most.

A new AI model developed by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks could potentially predict major earthquakes months in advance by detecting early signs of seismic activity.

Google has quietly integrated Gemini AI into Chrome’s address bar. It’s accessible by simply typing “@gemini” followed by your query.

FraudGCN is a new machine learning technique that can predict accounting fraud across entire supply chains and industries, not just individual firms (see the paper).

SK Broadband has introduced an AI-powered solution for producing local cable TV news, dramatically reducing production time from 45 minutes to just 4 minutes.

Users can create news by selecting an AI reporter, voice, templates, background music, etc., from anywhere with an internet connection, simply by entering the article content.

You know how some AI models can animate a still image to make it look like it’s talking? Bytedance & Zhejiang University have developed an improved technique for that with Loopy, which creates more natural and realistic lip-syncing and facial expressions than prior models (see the paper and many more examples).

💻 Chips and Computing

Elon Musk's xAI has unveiled its “Colossus” supercomputer, boasting 100,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs with plans to double in size.

Intel has launched its Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V CPUs, featuring embedded memory and a new GPU architecture that outperforms Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite in gaming. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is targeting affordable AI PCs with its new Snapdragon X Plus chip.

In quantum computing, Google has made a breakthrough in error correction, potentially enabling large-scale quantum computers.

"With below-threshold surface codes, we have demonstrated processor performance that can scale in principle, but which we must now scale in practice," writes the team.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is integrating diamond quantum accelerators into its supercomputers, exploring hybrid quantum-classical systems.

Now, ORNL has chosen to partner with Quantum Brilliance for a hybrid quantum-classical project built on the Australian-German startup’s room temperature quantum accelerator — made from diamond — to give its supercomputers a quantum boost.

TSMC plans to introduce CoW-SoW (System-on-Wafer) packaging technology by 2027, enabling massive chips for AI applications.

Interestingly, TSMC's CoW-SoW is employed by Cerebras, which is said to be the largest wafer-scale chip for the AI markets; hence, the Taiwan giant has experience with gigantic AI chips.

OpenAI is reportedly eyeing TSMC's 1.6nm process for its first in-house AI chip.

Instead of negotiating with TSMC to build a dedicated wafer factory, which is ridiculous when you think about it, the AI model maker is believed to be pursuing the fabrication of its own machine-learning accelerating ASIC with the help of Broadcom and Marvell on a TSMC node.

Former Intel experts have launched AheadComputing, a RISC-V focused startup, while Nvidia is expanding into full AI factory services, aiming to dominate the AI ecosystem.

CEO Jensen Huang is attempting to build Nvidia into a one-stop service platform with all the key data center elements. It will no longer just be a high-end chip hardware supplier, but an "AI factory."

💊 Health

Harrison.ai's new radiology-specific AI model, Harrison.rad.1, is outperforming major tech giants in interpreting medical images. This Australian med-tech company is pushing the boundaries of AI in healthcare, potentially revolutionising diagnosis and treatment timelines.

"AI's promise rests on its foundations – the quality of the data, rigour of its modelling and its ethical development and use," Aengus Tran, co-founder and CEO of Harrison.ai said. "Based on these parameters, the Harrison.rad.1 model is groundbreaking."

Organ transplantation advances with EGenesis raising $191 million for pig organ transplants and there’s a new “nanowarming” process extending organ viability. 

Auburn University researchers have shown promising results in treating early-stage Alzheimer's using a novel drug called troriluzole.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered a groundbreaking antibody called SC27 that can neutralise all known COVID-19 variants. This could pave the way for more effective treatments and potentially a universal vaccine against the ever-evolving virus.

A groundbreaking gene therapy trial has shown remarkable improvements in vision for patients with a rare genetic disorder, with some experiencing up to a 10,000-fold increase in sight.

Studies show that saline nasal sprays may reduce cold symptoms by two days when used early, proving sometimes the simplest solutions can be surprisingly effective.

Researchers are exploring how microgravity can enhance cancer detection by allowing for larger bubble formation in blood samples.

"Microgravity provides an ideal environment to explore physics fundamentals by removing one of our universe's fundamental forces," explained Twyman Clements, president of Space Tango.

🛰️ Space

SpaceX aims to launch uncrewed Starships to Mars by 2026, with crewed flights potentially following in 2028. Elon Musk's ambitious goal is to build a self-sustaining Martian city within two decades. 

"Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet."

The US Navy is adopting SpaceX’s Starlink to boost connectivity for sailors at sea.

Starlink is facing challenges in Brazil due to the legal dispute between Elon Musk and a Supreme Court Justice over X.

Starlink was caught in the middle after it refused court orders to block access to X, a move that threatened the service's presence in Brazil. Shotwell's comments follow Starlink's announcement that it will comply with the order after Moraes ordered the freezing of Starlink's finances in Brazil.

In a milestone for space manufacturing, the European Space Agency (ESA) has 3D printed the first metal part aboard the ISS.

"With the printing of the first metal 3D shape in space, ESA Exploration teams have achieved a significant milestone in establishing in-orbit manufacturing capabilities."

🧱 Advanced Materials

Aircraft wings that change shape mid-flight might soon be reality, thanks to a new titanium-nickel alloy from Japanese researchers. This material combines steel-like strength with rubber-like elasticity across a wide temperature range, opening up exciting possibilities for adaptive structures. 

The material could withstand pressures about 18,000 times greater than atmospheric pressure. This is comparable to the strength of steel, but the new alloy was also about 20 times more elastic than that metal.

Nature continues to inspire materials science, with MIT researchers studying butterfly wing scale formation during metamorphosis. Their findings could lead to new materials with tailored properties for applications from textiles to building surfaces.

“Given the multifunctionality of butterfly scales, we hope to understand and emulate these processes, with the aim of sustainably designing and fabricating new functional materials.”

In semiconductors, power chip makers are advancing gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) technologies to challenge traditional silicon in 5G, AIoT, and electric vehicles.

Topco Scientific expects a surge in advanced packaging material sales for 2025, driven by AI applications and advanced manufacturing demand.

🌞 Renewables

VEIR, a startup co-founded by MIT alumnus Tim Heidel, has developed superconducting power transmission lines that can transport up to 10 times more power than traditional lines using the same infrastructure. This innovation could be crucial for expanding grid capacity to support renewable energy and enhance grid resilience.

"We can deploy much higher power levels at much lower voltage, and so we can deploy the same high power but with a footprint and visual impact that is far less intrusive, and therefore can overcome a lot of the public opposition as well as siting and permitting barriers," Heidel says.

The power industry is racing to replace SF6, a potent greenhouse gas used in high-voltage equipment. Companies like Hitachi Energy are developing alternatives using mostly CO2 and oxygen, trapping 99% less energy in the atmosphere.

Swedish startup Enerpoly is launching the world's first zinc-ion battery megafactory, aiming to fill the 2-10 hour energy storage gap where lithium-ion isn't competitive.

In carbon capture efficiency news, Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists have improved CO2 catalysis speed by a factor of 800, while MIT researchers have developed porous polymeric electrodes (PPEs) that achieve up to 90% utilisation of the active capture material, outperforming previous carbon-based electrodes.

🔬 Biology

Researchers have found a way to make living animals' skin transparent using a common food dye. Scientists discovered that rubbing tartrazine (Yellow No. 5) onto mice skin can render it see-through in minutes, allowing observation of internal organs without invasive procedures (see the paper). The temporary effect lasts 10-20 minutes and could potentially assist in early skin cancer detection, simplify tattoo removal, and improve vein visibility.

When the skin absorbs the dye molecules, this modifies the tissue’s refractive index – the speed at which light travels through it.

Scientists have created “cyborg worms” by connecting AI directly to the nervous systems of tiny C. elegans worms. This fascinating experiment demonstrates how AI and biological brains can work together, with potential implications for treating neurological disorders or enhancing human capabilities.

What's more, the agent and the worm cooperated: if the agent steered the worm straight toward a target but there were small obstacles in the path, the worm would crawl around them.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have used machine learning to investigate viral structures. Applying tools like AlphaFold to hundreds of Flaviviridae virus species has uncovered new viral mechanisms, potentially accelerating vaccine development and pandemic preparedness.

We are one of the first research groups to apply this AI technology at scale to viruses, and the results have huge implications for understanding how viruses get into our bodies and replicate.

⚙️ Mobility

The EV revolution accelerates with Volvo's new 600 km range electric semi truck, potentially enabling full workdays without recharging. In Australia, the EV market is set to explode as Chinese brands prepare to enter, potentially offering EVs in the low $20K range. 

A tiny hatch known as the Leapmotor T03 could become the first BEV in the low $20K bracket. The cheapest current models, the MG ZS and GWM Ora, are in the mid-$30s.

Tesla plans to launch Full Self-Driving in China and Europe in early 2025, pending regulatory approvals. This could help maintain Tesla's edge in competitive markets like China.

In Europe, Irish drone delivery company Manna is outpacing US rivals, thanks to drone-friendly EU regulations.

“The number one thing that we deliver is coffee,” Healy said. More often than not, users will order several of these, and maybe also pastries alongside.

In mobile tech, Huawei's new tri-fold smartphone attracted 1.3 million pre-orders in just seven hours. The Mate XT is set to unfold on September 20th, potentially reshaping the foldable phone market.

🎮 Gaming

Roblox is developing an innovative AI tool that can generate 3D environments by treating blocks as tokens, similar to how language models process words. This could significantly speed up game development on their platform.

Roblox is also set to launch paid games on their platform, and are partnering with Shopify for in-game sales.

Winking Studios launched GenMotion.ai, which lets designers create high-quality animations using natural language prompts, streamlining the animation process.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is reportedly entering mass production, with rumours of backwards compatibility and a possible announcement this month. 

⚡ Other Snippets

Researchers are exploring the use of hyperaccumulator plants to extract metals like nickel from soil, potentially offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional mining.

A musician in North Carolina allegedly used AI to create hundreds of thousands of fake songs and then used bots to stream them, defrauding music platforms of $10 million in royalties.

Australia is leading global crypto ATM growth, with nearly 1,200 Bitcoin ATMs, up from just 73 two years ago.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon revealed that the company's secret project with Samsung and Google is a pair of mixed reality smart glasses, not the expected Apple Vision Pro competitor. While details are scarce, the product is expected to debut later this year.

"It's going to be a new product, it's going to be a new experiences," Amon told CNBC. "But what I really expect to come out of this partnership, I want everyone that has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it."

Australian data centre company AirTrunk is being acquired by Blackstone for $24 billion, making it the largest M&A deal in Australia this year. AirTrunk was founded by ex-NEXTDC executive Robin Khuda 8 years ago to capitalise on the rapidly growing demand for hyperscale data centres in the Asia Pacific region. What a great outcome for all involved!

It is also the biggest data centre deal globally. The sector has boomed as technology giants including Amazon and Google seek more processing power and space to house growing artificial intelligence platforms and cloud computing operations.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

⚙️ Mobility

The world's largest sailing cargo ship has begun its maiden transatlantic voyage, blending old-world charm with modern tech. The 81-metre Anemos, equipped with automated sails and computer-simulated rigging, boasts a carbon footprint just one-tenth that of standard container ships. 

"For centuries we knew wind was abundant [over] the deep sea, and we had the pilot charts," says Guillaume Le Grand, CEO of TOWT, the French company that commissioned the 81-metre-long ship, named Anemos. "But now, thanks to satellite communication and routing technology, wind is also predictable, which makes it a reliable source of propulsion."

EV interest in the US has hit a record high, with over a quarter of shoppers "very likely" to consider an electric vehicle. This surge comes as automakers offer aggressive discounts and introduce more affordable models, bringing the average EV price down to $44,039.

Uber has invested in Wayve, a self-driving startup using "embodied AI" to improve through driving experience. Uber plans to integrate this technology into its fleet, aiming for level 4 autonomy.

Tesla will unveil its Robotaxi product on October 10th at Warner Bros. studio. The choice of venue suggests a demonstration of how Robotaxis could integrate into everyday life. 

💊 Health

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are showing promise in reducing death from all causes. Chemistry World recently wrote about how production of GLP-1s are struggling to keep up with demand, and how companies are racing to develop the next generation of GLP-1 drugs.

“The robust reduction in non-cardiovascular death, and particularly infections deaths, was surprising,” said Benjamin Scirica, a Harvard professor and the lead author of one of the studies.

A new vaccine could lead to the eradication of Alzheimer's, with Vaxxinity's UB-311 entering phase III trials. Additionally, a finger-prick test for early Alzheimer's screening has been developed, potentially improving early detection. 

"Society is entering an era in which the unchecked devastation of Alzheimer's disease is no longer inevitable," says Dennis Selkoe at Harvard Medical School.

A few new innovative medical devices are transforming patient care. A prosthetic leg that feels like a real body part, a wearable ultrasound for pain and depression, and a smart mask for breath analysis are among the latest advancements. 

In the other study, 14 clinically depressed patients were treated with the MRI and Diadem procedure and 10 reported remission one week later after just one session with the device.

"We've been blown away by the positive results so far," said the paper's lead author, Tom Riis, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. "After just a single 40-minute stimulation session, patients are showing immediate, clinically substantial improvements in symptoms."

Scientific American wrote about the rising traction of “social prescriptions,” where doctors prescribe community-based activities tailored to patients' interests, aiming to improve health outcomes by addressing social factors.

This might sound woo-woo, but social prescribing is rooted in rigorous research and a critical public health fact: more than 80 percent of our health outcomes are driven by social factors in our environments, while only 16 percent are related to clinical care.

Google is developing AI to detect illness through sound, initially focusing on tuberculosis detection via cough sounds. 

Immersive virtual reality experiences are an effective way for people with intellectual disabilities to develop real-world skills, according to a recent paper.

The study, undertaken by University of South Australia and UNSW Sydney researchers, involved 12 virtual training sessions. The VR group using the immersive head-mounted displays scored significantly better in real life than those who used a tablet device for training.

Researchers at RCSI have developed a promising new implant that could potentially help repair nerve cells after spinal cord injuries. The 3D-printed scaffold mimics the structure of the spinal cord and can conduct electrical signals to stimulate neuron regrowth.

"Bridging the lesion with an electroconductive biomaterial designed to mimic the structure of the spinal cord, combined with the application of electrical stimulation, may help injured neurons regrow their axons and reconnect to restore function," he said, adding that "No such platform exists to date."

One for all the fellow 44-year-olds! A recent paper has found aging isn’t linear; our bodies undergo dramatic molecular shifts at two key points – first at 44, and then again at 60 – as they start to get creative with how they handle everything from muscle function to alcohol metabolism.

Results showed that differences in the levels of many molecules and microbes clustered around two distinct time points: age 44 and 60. The findings suggest that aging might accelerate around those periods—and signal to experts that our 40s and 50s may be a significant period to closely monitor health.

💲 Finance

OpenAI is reportedly seeking a valuation over $100 billion in its latest funding round. This figure would make it the third most valuable private company globally. The company's rise is backed by impressive stats: ChatGPT now boasts 200 million weekly active users, double from 10 months ago, with 92% of Fortune 500 companies using OpenAI's products. The funding round, reportedly led by Thrive Capital, is attracting interest from Apple and Nvidia.

Magic, a generative AI coding startup, has secured a $320 million investment from backers including ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Atlassian. Magic's latest model, LTM-2-mini, boasts a 100 million-token context window – equivalent to about 10 million lines of code or ~750 novels. (For context, context windows are currently at 2 million tokens for Google’s best Gemini model and 200,000 tokens for Anthropic’s best Claude model.)

Steinberger and Sebastian De Ro co-founded Magic in 2022. Steinberger says that he was inspired by the potential of AI at a young age; in high school, he and his friends wired up the school’s computers for machine learning algorithm training. That experience that planted the seeds for Steinberger’s computer science degree and his job at Meta as an AI researcher.

🔒 Cybersecurity, Cybercrime, and Cyberwar

One-way attack (OWA) drones are revolutionising warfare in Ukraine, with both sides deploying these kamikaze-style weapons. Ukraine's new "rocket drone," Palianytsia, boasts a 700km range, while Russia's recent barrage of 109 Iranian-built Shahed drones alongside 127 missiles has left Ukraine scrambling to protect its infrastructure. 

OWA drones can use inexpensive navigation systems to strike targets hundreds of kilometers away with relative accuracy.

This drone proliferation is happening elsewhere as well. The UK's Royal Navy has already intercepted Houthi drones in the Red Sea using pricey Sea Ceptor missiles – like swatting flies with gold bars.

Meanwhile, the AI revolution is outpacing cybersecurity efforts. At the DataGrail Summit 2024, industry leaders warned that AI capabilities are growing exponentially, leaving security measures in the dust. Jason Clinton, CISO of Anthropic, highlighted the pace of AI development:

Every single year for the last 70 years, since the perceptron came out in 1957, we have had a 4x year-over-year increase in the total amount of compute that has gone into training AI models.

💻 Chips and Computing

Nvidia continues to dominate the AI chip market, with Q2 sales and earnings more than doubling.

A new study reveals a stark global divide in AI chip ownership, introducing the concept of "Compute Deserts" - areas with no GPUs for hire, raising concerns about AI development inequalities. 

"We set out to find: Where is AI?" says Vili Lehdonvirta, the lead author of the paper and a professor at Oxford University's Internet Institute.

Competitors are innovating to challenge Nvidia's supremacy. Cerebras Systems is deploying Meta's LLaMA 3.1 model on its wafer-scale chip, claiming lower inference costs and power consumption compared to cloud alternatives. Independent benchmarks are not yet available.

The AI boom is lifting traditional tech giants too. Dell's server and networking revenue surged 80 percent, driven by AI infrastructure sales and a close partnership with Nvidia.

China is investing US$6.1 billion in data centre infrastructure, building eight computing hubs to process workloads from its densely populated eastern coast using inland data centres.

For a primer on Nvidia's rise from graphics card manufacturer to AI chip powerhouse, check out Bloomberg's recent video (9 minutes).

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Nvidia launched NIM Agent Blueprints, a free catalog of AI workflows for rapid development of generative AI apps, covering use cases from customer service to drug discovery.

The UK is investing £4 million in AI tools for teachers.

As part of project, government documents like curriculum guidance, lesson plans, and student assessments will be provided to AI companies to train their tech to “generate accurate, high-quality content, like tailored, creative lesson plans and workbooks”.

Mitsubishi Electric is retooling a US auto parts factory to produce cooling equipment for data centres, reflecting AI's growing physical footprint.

For AI enthusiasts, Anthropic has released Claude's 961-word system prompt, offering a peek into AI behaviour shaping.

Claude is very smart and intellectually curious. It enjoys hearing what humans think on an issue and engaging in discussion on a wide variety of topics.

 🌞 Renewables

The race for cheaper, greener energy is accelerating across hydrogen, wind, and solar sectors. Electric Hydrogen aims to produce cost-competitive green hydrogen by 2030, while China unveils the world's most powerful offshore wind turbine. In Indonesia, billionaires are collaborating on wind projects to accelerate the country's low-carbon transition. 

Electric Hydrogen is the world’s first green hydrogen “unicorn” start-up, with a billion-dollar valuation built on the promise of new technology that can unlock ultra-cheap green fuel. Is it too early to toast their success?

Power grids are struggling to keep pace with demand. Tokyo Electric Power is investing $3.2 billion in grid upgrades, while Virginia's "Data Center Alley" faces up to seven-year wait times for grid connections, underscoring the urgent need for modernisation.

AI is driving renewable tech advancements, with researchers using it to enhance solar panel efficiency and extend hydrogen fuel cell lifespans.

"We have now laid a foundation on which to build for the development of better fuel cells," says Björn Wickman.

The evolving sector is creating unique roles like "weather maker". Frank McDonough leads a cloud-seeding program to increase snowfall, potentially mitigating climate change effects on water resources.

A growing number of government-­run cloud-seeding programs around the world are now working to increase rainfall and snowpack, and even manipulating the timing of precipitation to prevent large hailstorms, reduce air pollution, and minimize flood risk. The private sector is also taking note: One cloud-seeding startup, Rainmaker, recently raised millions.

Meanwhile, Meta is tapping into geothermal energy for its US data centres, further diversifying the renewable energy landscape.

However, this is a small program in comparison with the renewable energy projects that Meta says it has already signed up for. The social media biz has contracted for more than 12,000 MW in total, making it one of the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy globally, or so it claims.

🛰️ Space

NASA is ramping up lunar exploration, awarding Intuitive Machines $116.9 million for a 2027 south pole mission.

"The instruments on this newly awarded flight will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the moon's environment," Chris Culbert, manager of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.

To prepare astronauts, scientists are developing VR simulations of potential landing sites, allowing them to memorise surroundings and limit radiation exposure.

Korean researchers have devised a method to produce bricks from lunar regolith using microwave sintering, potentially slashing lunar construction costs. 

In the satellite internet race, SpaceX's Starlink plans to offer free global emergency services access for mobile phones, pending government approvals. Amazon's Project Kuiper is not far behind, having secured land in New Zealand for its venture, with customer tests slated for 2025. 

Blue Origin has set October 13 for the maiden flight of its New Glenn rocket, carrying a NASA smallsat to Mars. 

🌱 Agritech

African farmers are using private satellite data to boost crop yields, with companies like EOS providing affordable, high-resolution imagery for precision agriculture. Fees for using their crop-monitoring platform start at $1.90 per hectare per year.

"Africa is way behind in the race for modernizing farming," he says. "And a lot of farmers suffer huge losses because of it."

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is launching a platform to trace cocoa and coffee deforestation from space. This Commodity Traceability Service will ensure your morning coffee isn't contributing to rainforest destruction, marking a shift from optional sustainability to regulated compliance.

"Up until now, there have been optional sustainability offerings that firms could choose to adhere to, but now we've moved into a regulated compliance space, and that's a really significant change," said Clive de Ruig, the president of ICE Benchmark Administration.

⚡ Other Snippets

China's scientific prowess continues to surge, now leading in 89% of 64 critical technologies tracked, up from just 3 two decades ago, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, an independent think tank partly funded by the Australian government (see the report).

Digital twins are revolutionising corporate efficiency, with AI-powered virtual replicas optimising operations from Uber's ride-hailing to Amazon's supply chain. As Microsoft's Charles Lamanna notes, "Enterprise software will become more generated-on-demand and self-assembled."

If current technology trends hold, such end-to-end digital representations of a company's inner workings—and, increasingly, its ecosystem of customers and suppliers—will no longer be the speciality of tech firms such as Uber. Artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, will make it much easier for all sorts of businesses to build virtual replicas and oversee them on a scale managers alone never could.

Italian researchers are developing iRonCub3, a jet-powered flying humanoid for disaster response. With four turbo-jet engines, this Iron Man-esque bot could revolutionise first response, once it achieves lift-off.

In more “humanoid robot news”, 1X Technologies unveiled NEO Beta. This 5.5-foot-tall, 66-pound robot can lift twice its weight and run at 7.5 mph and is apparently being deployed in select homes later this year. 1X Technologies raised $100m in January 2024 with backers including Samsung NEXT, EQT Ventures, Tiger Global, and OpenAI.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

 🌞 Renewables

Australia has approved the world's "largest solar precinct". The $30 billion Sun Cable project aims to construct a 12,400-hectare solar farm in northern Australia, exporting energy to Singapore via submarine cable. This project could deliver up to six gigawatts of green electricity annually, with four gigawatts used domestically and two gigawatts exported to Singapore, potentially supplying 15% of Singapore's energy needs. 

"This massive project is a generation-defining piece of infrastructure," Plibersek said in a written statement on Wednesday. "It will be the largest solar precinct in the world – and heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy."

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are gaining traction globally. Scientific American wrote an article that serves as a reasonable introduction and overview: Can Pulling Carbon from Thin Air Slow Climate Change?

But even a trillion trees would not be nearly enough, and trees can burn or die of disease, emitting the carbon they’ve stored. In the 2000s the world wasn’t ready for DAC, Lackner says. “Now I think we are too late to do without it.”

In Australia, Rio Tinto and Woodside Energy are backing a $60 million research hub to convert waste emissions into lower-carbon products.

Hyundai is betting big on hydrogen, aiming to off-take 3 million tons annually by 2035. The company sees hydrogen as a solution for both clean energy and regional energy security.

In the lithium sector, Stanford researchers have developed a new, cost-effective extraction method from brines, potentially improving the supply chain crucial for renewable energy storage and electric vehicles (see the study).

The research team estimates that its approach costs $3,500 to $4,400 per ton of high-purity lithium hydroxide, which can be converted to battery-grade lithium carbonate inexpensively, compared with costs of about $9,100 per ton for the dominant technology for extracting lithium from brine. The current market price for battery-grade lithium carbonate is almost $15,000 per ton, but a shortage in late 2022 drove the volatile lithium market price to $80,000.

💻 Chips and Computing

TSMC has broken ground on its first European chip fab in Dresden. The €10 billion plant, set to begin production by 2027, will focus on automotive and industrial chips, aligning with the EU's goal to increase its global semiconductor market share to 20% by 2030. 

"We are dependent on semiconductors for our sustainable future technologies, but we must not be dependent on other regions of the world for the supply of semiconductors," Scholz said.

AMD is bolstering its AI market position by acquiring ZT Systems for $4.9 billion and establishing two R&D facilities in Taiwan, investing up to $270 million and creating 400 jobs.

Shanghai has injected US$1 billion into its chip industry fund. SK Telecom is opening an AI data centre in Seoul, building Korea's largest GPU infrastructure, by partnering with US GPU-as-a-service company Lambda.

Researchers have demonstrated that DNA-based technology for data storage and computing is viable.

“You could put a thousand laptops’ worth of data into DNA-based storage that’s the same size as a pencil eraser,” Keung says.

CNBC showcased how Google makes the custom-made Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) that power Apple AI and Gemini in this 13-minute video.

🛰️ Space

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission is set to make history this week as the most ambitious private spaceflight yet. Led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, the four-person crew will attempt the first commercial spacewalk and reach the highest Earth orbit since Apollo. The mission will test new slimline spacesuits and a modified Crew Dragon capsule. 

"They're pushing the envelope in multiple ways," retired NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman said in an interview. "They're also going to a much higher altitude, with a more severe radiation environment than we've been to since Apollo."

After extensive training and preparations, including a successful static fire test, the mission is scheduled to launch on Tuesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, with an estimated cost to Isaacman of over US$100 million.

The two NASA astronauts stranded on the ISS due to Boeing Starliner issues will return to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. This decision underscores SpaceX's growing importance to the US space program.

NASA continues refining its planetary defence strategies, recently conducting its fifth Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise.

During the exercise, participants considered potential national and global responses to a hypothetical scenario in which a never-before-detected asteroid was identified that had, according to initial calculations, a 72% chance of hitting Earth in approximately 14 years.

💊 Health

The world's first mRNA lung cancer vaccine trials have launched across seven countries, including the UK, US, and Germany, with the first administration of the cancer vaccine in London. 

In pain management, Vertex Pharmaceuticals' suzetrigine (VX-548) shows promise in blocking pain signals before reaching the brain. This potential opioid alternative targets sodium channels in peripheral nerve cells, matching the effectiveness of drugs like Vicodin without addiction risks. 

Eli Lilly's weight loss drug tirzepatide significantly reduced diabetes risk in pre-diabetic patients, demonstrating a 94% reduction during treatment, and an 88% reduction after treatment has stopped.

AI continues to advance healthcare. RTDetective, a new computational model, predicts effective drugs for diseases caused by protein synthesis-halting mutations. Additionally, scientists are using AI to analyse 1.6 million brain scans to develop a dementia risk prediction tool.

The biotech industry is shifting towards more ethical research methods. Next-gen techniques are making some lab animals obsolete, with alternatives like organs-on-chips and AI-powered drug discovery tools promising more accurate results in human biology studies. 

Finally, new research suggests video games can boost well-being. A study during the COVID-19 pandemic found that gaming console lottery winners had slightly better mental well-being scores.

🎮 Gaming

Black Myth: Wukong, a highly anticipated RPG based on "Journey to the West," has become a milestone for China's video game industry after breaking Steam’s concurrent single-player record within hours of launch (peaked at 2.4 million concurrent players) and selling 10 million copies in three days. This is China’s first successful AAA game and as Robert Wu points out, it demonstrates that Chinese culture can resonate globally when presented effectively, potentially reshaping perceptions of Chinese creativity and innovation.

First, I think it's highly likely that the success of Wukong will single-handedly bring about a complete recognition of the value of the video game sector by authorities and whole of the society in China.

At the other end of the specturm, and demonstrating how difficult the video game industry can be, PlayStation's Concord faced a disastrous launch, failing to break 700 concurrent players on Steam despite spending eight years in development.

Matthew Ball wrote about Roblox's complex path to profitability, with high costs eating into revenues despite strong user growth and cash flow. The company faces challenges in balancing developer payouts, platform fees, and operational expenses.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Ideogram's 2.0 model boasts dramatically improved text rendering, an area that generative AI has historically struggled with. Meshy's latest AI-powered 3D modelling tool offers improved mesh geometry, impacting industries from game development to architecture.

Adobe's "Magic Fixup" automates complex image adjustments while preserving artistic intent, learning from millions of video frame pairs to understand nuanced changes in objects and scenes. 

"Our method transfers fine details from the original image and preserve the identity of its parts. Yet, it adapts it to the lighting and context defined by the new layout," the paper states.

Google's new Prompt Gallery in AI Studio enhances tools for developers working with the Gemini API, potentially accelerating AI adoption and innovation.

Meanwhile, University of British Columbia researchers have created an "AI scientist" capable of inventing and running its own experiments, a step towards AI learning through novel exploration.

The project demonstrates an early step toward what might prove a revolutionary trick: letting AI learn by inventing and exploring novel ideas. They’re just not super novel at the moment. Several papers describe tweaks for improving an image-generating technique known as diffusion modeling; another outlines an approach for speeding up learning in deep neural networks.

Microsoft's new Phi-3.5 models outperform competitors while being faster and cheaper.

Chinese scientists have developed a brain-inspired network model to address challenges faced by traditional models, such as high resource consumption (see the study).

Researchers have trained a blob of ion-laced jelly to play Pong, demonstrating a rudimentary form of memory in an inanimate material. This simple experiment could lead to more efficient problem-solving algorithms or even analog computers for controlling robots.

"Instead of it just knowing what's immediately happened, it has a memory of the ball's motion over the entirety of the game," says Strong. "So it sort of gains an experience of the ball's general motion, not just its current position. It sort of becomes a black-box neural network that has a memory of the ball's behaviour, how it behaves and how it moves."

Salesforce is introducing AI-powered sales agents to help automate and enhance the sales process. These new tools aim to qualify leads, engage prospects, and coach salespeople, potentially improving how sales teams operate.

Amazon's internal AI tool, Amazon Q, has dramatically reduced the time needed for software upgrades, saving an estimated 4,500 developer-years of work.

"The average time to upgrade an application to Java 17 plummeted from what's typically 50 developer-days to just a few hours," he wrote. "We estimate this has saved us the equivalent of 4,500 developer-years of work (yes, that number is crazy but, real)."

Skyfire is launching a new payment network that allows AI agents to autonomously make and receive payments on behalf of users.

A new San Francisco startup, Skyfire, is launching today in beta with $8.5 million in seed round funding to become the “Visa for AI” by allowing you to equip autonomous AI agents made by other companies with your money and let them spend it while they go off on and work for you.

💲 Finance

In Vietnam, DNSE Securities' virtual stock assistant, Ensa, has won an award for AI innovation in finance. 

(translated) "In the stock market, timely information and data analysis are key factors for success. Ensa has the advantage of being a specialised AI assistant, a pioneer in the Vietnamese market, and we expect that with increasingly high-quality data analysis infrastructure and the ability to provide personalised information and investment ideas for each customer, Ensa will become a supportive companion for investors," Mr. Binh shared.

The AI boom is fuelling tech IPOs. Japanese memory chip maker Kioxia applied to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with the filing docs suggesting a A$17 billion valuation. Chinese autonomous-driving firm Westwell plans a Hong Kong debut, aiming to raise up to $100 million.

Science discusses how synthetic biology companies are struggling, with some declaring bankruptcy.

"There has been a reckoning," says Jay Keasling, a synthetic biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and co-founder of Amyris.

The Economist discussed the takeover offer for Japan's 7-Eleven means, and how it reflects the growing influence of foreign investors and a shift towards more shareholder-friendly practices in Japanese businesses.

⚙️ Mobility

The autonomous mobility race is heating up, with Uber partnering with Cruise for robotaxi rides and Waymo operating over 100,000 paid driverless trips weekly. 

The FAA is set to rule on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations by September 16, potentially expanding drone deliveries. In China, Meituan is already delivering snacks to Great Wall hikers via drone for just 56 cents.

Delivery time is short — just about five minutes, CNN reported.

Toyota is following Tesla's lead, testing a gigacasting machine for EV production. This tennis court-sized equipment could streamline EV manufacturing by creating large vehicle modules in one step.

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

E-commerce giant Mercado Libre is launching "Meli Dólar," a dollar-pegged stablecoin in Brazil. Users can trade the token through Mercado Pago, potentially hedging against regional currency fluctuations.  

Russia is set to trial cryptocurrency exchanges and cross-border payments from September 1st, seeking to ease payment difficulties for sanctioned companies. This marks a stark reversal from the central bank's pre-invasion proposed crypto ban. 

Sony is launching Soneium, a new blockchain platform that could potentially integrate with its music catalog. This move suggests Sony is exploring how blockchain technology could be used to protect creators' rights and offer new ways for them to profit from their work.

"Specifically, we will study the protection of rights to creativity created by creators, new mechanisms for returning profits to support creators and fans, and opportunities for creators to be active across the digital and real worlds."

🍔 Alternative Foods

A new study could see cultivated meat competing with organic chicken on price. Professor Yaakov Nahmias and his team at Hebrew University have developed a continuous manufacturing process using tangential flow filtration (TFF), expanding biomass to 130 billion cells per litre and tackling scalability and cost-effectiveness challenges. 

"We were inspired by how Ford's automated assembly line revolutionized the car industry 110 years ago," stated Prof. Nahmias. "Our findings show that continuous manufacturing enables cultivated meat production at a fraction of current costs, without resorting to genetic modification or mega-factories."

The team also created an animal component-free culture medium costing just $0.63 per litre. With this recipe, a 50,000-litre facility could theoretically produce cultivated chicken at $6.20 per pound, matching organic chicken prices.

⚡ Other Snippets

Scientists at the University of Arizona have developed the world's fastest electron microscope, the "attomicroscope," capable of capturing electrons in motion, which could lead to significant advancements in our understanding of ultrafast chemical and physical processes at the atomic scale.

Samsung SDI plans to produce solid-state batteries for 600-mile range EVs by 2027, potentially doubling current EV ranges.

ByteDance's video-editing app CapCut and chatbot Doubao have surpassed ChatGPT in global downloads, with CapCut boasting 323 million monthly active users in July.

Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui, known for gene-edited babies, now claims to be researching embryo editing to prevent Alzheimer's, reigniting debates on human genetic modification.

China showcased 27 humanoid robots at the 2024 World Robot Conference in Beijing, demonstrating capabilities from industrial work to playing musical instruments.

Snap is developing new AR Spectacles with improved features, primarily for developers. 

Spotify reported a 395% increase in anime music streams since 2021, partnering with Crunchyroll for curated content.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🔬 Biology

Dr David Baker's team at the University of Washington has developed AI-designed proteins that change shape on command (see the paper). These proteins contain hinges that allow structural changes when exposed to specific molecules, offering new possibilities in biotechnology.

It’s a “startling advance for the field,” wrote Dr. A. Joshua Wand at Texas A&M University, who was not involved in the work.

Researchers at Western University researchers have discovered a protein with unprecedented DNA damage prevention abilities. Found in the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, this protein, DdrC, acts like a molecular superhero, neutralising DNA damage and signalling for repairs.

"It's as if you had a player in the NFL who plays every game without a helmet or pads," says Szabla, a grad student in Western's Department of Biochemistry. "He'd end up with a concussion and multiple broken bones every single game, but then miraculously make a full recovery overnight in time for practice the next day."

The implications range from potential cancer vaccines to crops withstanding harsh conditions. When added to E. coli, DdrC made the bacteria 40 times more resistant to UV radiation damage. 

He says that, in theory, this gene could be introduced into any organism—plants, animals, humans—and it should increase the DNA repair efficiency of that organism's cells.

💊 Health

Australian researchers have shown that AI can select IVF embryos as effectively as senior embryologists but ten times faster, potentially reducing treatment costs and time.

"We're going to continue using artificial intelligence in many different areas of the laboratory over time, including sperm selection and embryo selection and ranking. However, at this point, by no means is it going to replace our embryologists," Dr Mangat said.

In cancer research, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Absci have partnered to discover novel cancer therapies using AI, aiming for clinical trials as early as next year. 

A groundbreaking brain-computer interface has restored speech to an ALS patient, allowing 45-year-old Casey Harrell to communicate with his young daughter for the first time in years.

In infectious disease news, the WHO's declaration of a global health emergency due to a new mpox variant has sent shares of Danish vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic soaring by 48% over the week. The company makes the world’s only vaccine.

The FDA has cleared Traumagel, a gel-based therapy that rapidly stops severe bleeding from traumatic injuries. This algae-derived gel could be a game-changer in emergency medical situations and on battlefields.

Traumagel is different from currently available treatment methods like gauze and tourniquets because the gel doesn't require pressure to work, and its effects happen within seconds, unlike other methods that can take several minutes to kick in, Joe Landolina, CEO of Cresilon, told Forbes.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Elon Musk's xAI has released Grok-2, featuring improved reasoning and image generation on X. It also features a lack of guardrails that has led to users pushing the bounds of copyright in ways other AI generators typically block.

A Knowledge@Wharton article draws parallels between the AI and mobile revolutions, suggesting lessons from the mobile era could guide AI adoption.

"This technological revolution is unstoppable. This revolution will create phenomenal wealth. The price of many kinds of labor (which drives the costs of goods and services) will fall toward zero once sufficiently powerful AI joins the workforce."

Walmart's CEO reported impressive AI-driven productivity gains, improving 850 million catalogue data points with significantly less staff than traditional methods.

"We've used multiple LLMs to accurately create or improve over 850,000,000 pieces of data in the catalog. Without the use of generative AI, this work would have required nearly 100X the current headcount to complete in the same amount of time"

In biotech, Xaira Therapeutics is leveraging AI for drug discovery, tackling "undruggable" targets with a recent $1 billion raise.

AI startup Exists has unveiled a platform enabling users to create 3D games from text prompts.

Bloomberg profiled Worldcoin in this 14-minute video. The Sam Altman-founded startup aims to revolutionise identity verification in the age of AI by scanning irises to create unique digital IDs. Last month, Fast Company wrote that the startup is looking like a dud.

If you allow Worldcoin to scan your iris, two things happen. You get a small chunk of the Worldcoin cryptocurrency, and you're certified as a real living human.

💻 Chips and Computing

Huawei's Ascend 910C is set to challenge NVIDIA's H100 when it launches in October. Major Chinese tech firms have already placed initial orders worth $2 billion. This could be a significant development for China’s AI ambitions, potentially allowing Chinese tech firms to reduce their reliance on embargoed NVIDIA technology. 

DIGITIMES Research predicts 217% annual growth for cloud server GPUs in 2024, with high-end cloud GPUs and ASIC accelerators projected to grow at 44% and 52% CAGR, respectively, from 2023 to 2028.

Japanese researchers have developed a new EUV lithography technology that could significantly reduce costs and energy consumption in semiconductor manufacturing. It could also potentially disrupt ASML’s monopoly in the EUV market.

OIST's breakthrough centers on its simplified optical system, which has dramatically reduced the number of mirrors needed to direct EUV light.

ON Semiconductor's $2 billion investment in Roznov pod Radhostem is set to transform the sleepy Czech town into a key player in Europe's semiconductor industry.

Also, ARM is developing consumer gaming GPUs, while Samsung is investing in XR chip development to rival Apple's Vision Pro.

Capital Brief wrote a profile on Morse Micro, an Australian semiconductor startup that I'm an early investor in.

🛰️ Space

Jeff Bezos unveiled Blue Origin's colossal New Glenn rocket, designed for up to 100 reusable flights (see the 1h12m tour video).

Steve Wozniak's Privateer aims to be the "Uber of space data".

In April 2024, Privateer announced the purchase of Palo Alto-based space startup Orbital Insight, which had previously raised $218 million from investors including Google Ventures and Sequoia. The acquisition expanded the range of data and software Privateer has in its armory, enabling the company to combine different sources, such as images and radar, to analyze everything from sub-sea to Earth orbit.

Scientists have detected a massive underground ocean on Mars using NASA's InSight Lander data.

AST SpaceMobile's stock surged over 50% after confirming its first commercial satellite launch.

PCB manufacturer Compeq reported booming LEO satellite orders, signalling a thriving space tech industry.

Compeq Manufacturing is one of the Taiwan-based PCB manufacturers aiming to prioritize low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and AI server applications in 2024. Compeq, which has a long history in the LEO sector, posted a July revenue of NTT$6.73 billion (US$207.3 million), an increase of 26.3% sequentially and 11.5% year-on-year, signifying the beginning of peak season.

A NASA astronaut captured a stunning aurora borealis time-lapse from the ISS during a recent "severe" G4 level solar storm (1m48s video).

SpaceX is set to launch the first crewed polar orbit mission. The Fram2 mission will send four space rookies on a 3-5 day journey to study auroras and capture the first X-ray image of a human in space.

⚙️ Mobility

Nikola is now finding success with its hydrogen-powered semi trucks.

It’s got nearly double the usable hauling range of a battery-powered semi and, critically, refueling takes about 20 minutes or so versus hours of plug-in time.

Korean researchers have re-invented the wheel, taking inspiration from water surface tension. This shape-shifting technology could improve mobility for wheelchairs and robots on uneven terrain.

Chinese autonomous vehicle company WeRide has received approval for passenger-carrying tests in California, marking a significant milestone ahead of its upcoming IPO.

🤖 Robotics

Caresyntax has raised $180 million to develop the "Android of robotic surgery".

In the operating room, Caresyntax deploys IoT and edge computing solutions to create a unified data stream. This approach enables real-time analysis and post-surgery insights. The company’s solutions are present in over 7,000 operating rooms and are used by more than 40,000 surgical teams globally.

Brinc, a drone startup founded by 24-year-old Blake Resnick, is partnering with ground radar specialist Echodyne to help emergency services obtain FAA permission for flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). This could significantly extend the range and effectiveness of drone first responders, potentially saving lives in emergency situations.

Brinc currently provides irs specialized drones to over 500 U.S. public safety agencies, and more than 10 percent of the nation's SWAT teams, which use them for emergency response, evolving crimes, and hostage situations. 

📱 Mobile Devices

Epic Games has launched its own iOS app store in the EU, enabled by the EU's Digital Markets Act. The new app store offers a maximum 12% commission rate compared to Apple's 30%. However, installing the Epic Games Store on mobile is complex, requiring up to 15 steps on iOS and 12 on Android. Despite these hurdles, Epic aims for 100 million new installs by end-2024. The store launches with Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fall Guys Mobile, offering promotional rewards for early adopters.

"The European example shows that this kind of regulation can have teeth and can succeed," Sweeney said, adding that this can be a template for other regulators.

Google's Made by Google 2024 event showcased a range of new products and AI integrations, with Gemini AI taking centre stage across their lineup (see the 1h20m Keynote). The event featured live demonstrations of Gemini's capabilities, including email generation from voice prompts. Google Pixel Watch 3 added a “loss of pulse detection” feature.

Apple is expanding NFC capabilities on iPhones, allowing third-party developers to create apps for contactless transactions beyond just Apple Pay.

🌞 Renewables

Wind and solar power generation is overtaking coal in the US this year. These clean energy sources have already edged past coal through July, accounting for 16% of US power generation. 

"I think it is an important milestone," said Ric O'Connell, who leads GridLab, a clean electricity consulting firm. "I think you're seeing a solar surge and a coal decline and hence the lines are crossing."

As renewables grow, virtual power plants (VPPs) address grid challenges. Origin Energy's VPP in Australia has reached 1.385 gigawatts, rivalling a coal plant by aggregating solar panels, batteries, and smart appliances.

“We would have the largest VPP, I think, in Australia, certainly on a residential basis, even perhaps globally on a residential basis,” Mr Lucas said, adding that it had 390,000 customer devices connected, compared with about 170,000 for the virtual power plant operated by UK retailer Octopus Energy, in which Origin has a 23 per cent stake.

💲 Finance

SoftBank and several Asian conglomerates are joining a new $130 million fund focused on making quick, sizable investments in AI startups. The fund aims to facilitate collaborations between established companies and AI startups, potentially leading to larger investments or acquisitions.

🤩 Advertising

Meta is rolling out new features to improve ad attribution and targeting. 

Reddit traffic has nearly tripled between August 2023 and April 2024, thanks to Google's “Helpful Content Update,” leading to more publishers advertising on the platform.

“No matter where you are in digital, Reddit is the elephant in the room right now,” Finser said. “According to Ahrefs and Semrush, Reddit increased its organic traffic sevenfold in the last nine months. That’s big, exponential growth on an already big number.”

📚 Regulation

The US Department of Justice is considering dismantling Alphabet following a court ruling that found it monopolised the online search market. Potential divestments include Android, Chrome, and AdWords. The DOJ is also exploring less drastic measures, such as forced data sharing with competitors and AI development restrictions.

⚡ Other Snippets

E Ink Holdings, the leader in e-paper, is improving colour displays and expanding into e-paper billboards.

CrowdStrike's President Michael Sentonas accepted the "Most Epic Fail" award at DEF CON's Pwnie Awards. The cybersecurity company earned this dubious honour after accidentally bricking millions of Windows devices with a faulty update. Sentonas chose to face the music head-on: 

"Definitely not the award to be proud of receiving," he told the audience. "We got this horribly wrong... And it's super important to own it."

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

What worries you about AI? Is it the potential for job displacement, privacy concerns, or the rise of autonomous weapons? MIT Technology Review suggests we should be more concerned about something far more insidious: the allure of AI companions, or what they're calling "addictive intelligence."

We're seeing a giant, real-world experiment unfold, uncertain what impact these AI companions will have either on us individually or on society as a whole. Will Grandma spend her final neglected days chatting with her grandson's digital double, while her real grandson is mentored by an edgy simulated elder? AI wields the collective charm of all human history and culture with infinite seductive mimicry.

Alibaba's Qwen2-Math has claimed the top spot in AI math models, outperforming rivals from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The 72-billion parameter model achieved 84% on the MATH Benchmark, showcasing its ability to solve complex mathematical problems. This could accelerate research and problem-solving in fields heavily reliant on mathematics, from engineering to finance.

Candidly, it's not one I could answer on my own, and certainly not within seconds, but Qwen2-Math apparently can most of the time.

OpenAI released a new API feature that ensures more reliable, structured outputs from AI models, reducing the need for extensive error-checking code. This addresses a major pain point for developers. CEO Sam Altman also teased "Project Strawberry", hinting at a possible upcoming release of an advanced version of ChatGPT.

LG released Exaone 3.0, South Korea’s first open-source AI model. This 7.8 billion parameter model excels in both Korean and English language tasks (see the blog and paper).

ByteDance launched Jimeng AI, a text-to-image and text-to-video generator for Chinese users.

Researchers from Imperial College London and Google DeepMind have created a new AI system called DAAG (Diffusion Augmented Agents). It helps robots and other AI that interact with the physical world learn more efficiently (see the paper).

“We are interested in enabling agents to autonomously set and score subgoals, even in the absence of external rewards, and to repurpose their experience from previous tasks to accelerate learning of new tasks,” the researchers write.

Perplexity AI, a rapidly growing AI search startup, has seen impressive growth in both revenue and usage since the start of the year. The company is now pivoting towards an advertising-based model, aiming to challenge Google's dominance in search advertising. With Google handling an estimated 8.5 billion searches per day, it’ll probably be a while before Perplexity makes a dent.

The AI-powered search engine answered roughly 250mn questions in the last month, compared with 500mn queries for the whole of 2023, Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s chief business officer, told the Financial Times.

CNBC released a 20-minute video profiling the rise of OpenAI.

🧊 Simulation

A new working paper suggests that large language models (LLMs) can accurately predict the results of social science experiments. It shows a strong correlation between simulated and observed effects across 70 studies.

Across 70 studies, we find striking alignment (r = .85) between simulated and observed effects

LG Innotek is expanding its use of digital twin technology to boost efficiency. Partnering with Ansys, they've reduced semiconductor package substrate durability testing from 11 days to 3.6 hours using 3D modelling.

💪 Augmented Humans

Elon Musk's Neuralink has successfully implanted its brain chip in a second human patient. Musk revealed that about 400 electrodes are showing signals in the patient's brain. The patient has a spinal cord injury similar to Neuralink's first patient, Noland Arbaugh. Neuralink aims to perform another eight trials by year-end, pending regulatory approval.

🛰️ Space

China is entering the satellite internet race with its first batch of 18 Qianfan satellites, part of a planned 14,000-satellite megaconstellation. This Shanghai-backed project aims to rival SpaceX's Starlink, with another 13,000-satellite network called Guowang also in the works.

Qianfan will be operated by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, a company backed by the Shanghai municipal government.

The Aurelia Institute is developing TESSERAE, a self-assembling space habitat that could be ready for human habitation by the 2030s.

Australia is contributing its mining expertise to space exploration, adapting technologies for use on the ISS and future lunar missions. 

"When you start looking at potential extraction of resources on the moon or Mars or asteroids and all those kinds of future visions, when you start sort of trying to design the concept of operations to how that would look, we're certainly well-credentialed to sit at the table and give our insights."

Scientists are exploring ways to make Mars more habitable. A new study suggests that releasing glitter-sized iron rods into the Martian atmosphere could warm the planet by about 30°C, potentially creating conditions for liquid water.

🤖 Robotics

Google DeepMind has developed a robot that plays table tennis at an "amateur human level". The robotic arm won all matches against beginners and 55% against intermediate players, demonstrating progress in robotic dexterity and real-time adaptation. 

"Even a few months back, we projected that realistically the robot may not be able to win against people it had not played before. The system certainly exceeded our expectations," says Pannag Sanketi, a senior staff software engineer at Google DeepMind who led the project.

Figure launched its next-generation humanoid robot, Figure 02. It seems impressive. I wonder how far we are from humanoid robots being used at scale and what the real-world implications of this would be. Elon Musk thinks they’ll have "genuinely useful humanoid robots" in production at Tesla next year.

Chinese researchers have developed the Nezha-SeaDart, an amphibious drone that can hover, fly, and dive underwater. Engineers at North Carolina State University have created origami-inspired "transformer" robots for potential space applications.

"We think these can be used as deployable, configurable space robots and habitats," Antonio Di Lallo, co-first author of the study, said in the statement.

Hyundai Elevator and Kakao Mobility are developing standardised interactions between elevators and robots, paving the way for seamless robotic delivery services.

Hyundai Elevator has already rolled out robotic transportation services at 14 sites nationwide, including corporate offices, hospitals, and hotels, handling everyday tasks from room service to medicine delivery.

🛍️ Ecommerce

Amazon is partnering with TikTok and Pinterest for in-app purchasing, allowing users to shop directly within social apps. This "Project Handshake" collaboration will show Amazon product recommendations in TikTok's "For You" feed, complete with real-time pricing and Prime eligibility. TikTok's involvement is notable given its own ecommerce ambitions, with over 15 million sellers as of December and forecasts of tenfold growth in US ecommerce this year.

💊 Health

The AFR profiled Australia's burgeoning psychedelics industry, a year after becoming the first country to legalise medical use of these substances.

That decision has triggered a wave of investment into what some in mainstream medicine still view as an unorthodox way to treat mental illness. Australia’s first psychedelic treatment clinics opened this year, the son of a Canadian billionaire last month started importing legally manufactured psychedelic drugs, and big names in business including Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart are pouring money into the fledgling industry. There are already clinics in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

A study of thoroughbred foals suggests that early gut microbiome diversity could improve racing performance, adding to the evidence linking gut health to overall well-being across species.

💻 Chips and Computing

Groq, a startup developing specialised AI chips called LPUs (Language Processing Units), secured $640 million in funding, valuing it at $2.8 billion. Their chips claim significant performance advantages over Nvidia's GPUs, intensifying the AI chip race. Meta's AI chief, Yann LeCun, has joined as an adviser. 

"Groq nearly died many times," Ross says from inside the startup's semiconductor lab in San Jose, California, recalling one low point in 2019 where the startup was a month away from running out of money.

Malaysia aims to become a major player in the global semiconductor industry. To foster innovation, the country opened its first chip design hub and secured a massive €5 billion investment from Infineon for a cutting-edge manufacturing plant.

💲 Finance

Enterprise Search AI startup Glean is nearing a $250 million raise at a $4.5 billion valuation.

US telecoms firm Lumen saw its stock nearly double after announcing $5 billion in AI-related business. Siemens reported a 50% jump in quarterly profits, citing benefits from the boom in AI and the accelerated energy transition, while Corning saw a boost from its role in AI data centre cabling.

Indian EV maker Ola Electric saw its shares jump 20% in their debut, while Chinese self-driving startup WeRide seeks up to $440 million in a US IPO (see the F-1).

Defence tech startup Anduril secured $1.5 billion at $14 billion. Anduril is planning a massive 5 million-square-foot factory to produce "tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems" annually. 

Tencent has joined a $300+ million funding round for Chinese AI startup Moonshot, valuing the company at $3.3 billion. This move mirrors Alibaba's strategy of investing in multiple AI hopefuls in the competitive Chinese market.

VC Thrive Capital had its largest-ever fundraising, raising $5 billion for its latest two funds.

Thrive’s newest fundraising will be split between a $1 billion early-stage venture fund and a $4 billion fund dedicated to later-stage investments.

South Korea logged its biggest current account surplus in over six years, driven by demand for AI chips and tech exports.

⚙️ Mobility

China is seeing increased investment in eVTOL aircraft. Battery giant CATL is backing eVTOL developer AutoFlight, while Xpeng's flying car affiliate AeroHT raised US$150 million to accelerate development. 

China hit a milestone in EV adoption: EVs and PHEVs outsold gasoline cars for the first time, capturing 50.7% of new car sales in July.

The rapid growth in China has been astounding – three years ago, NEV sales accounted for just 7% of total vehicle sales – and government incentives are making a big impact.

In the US, Archer Aviation unveiled plans for a Los Angeles air taxi network, set to launch in 2026. Stellantis committed up to $370 million to support Archer's manufacturing ramp-up.

Those hops, ranging from several miles to up to 50, will cut current ground travel time from as much as two hours--bottlenecks included--to just 10 to 15 minutes.

As mobility tech advances, so do security concerns. The US is preparing to propose limits on Chinese vehicle software, citing cybersecurity risks from internet-connected and autonomous vehicles.

The restrictions, which would be enforced by the Commerce Department, are meant to keep Chinese companies from collecting data on US drivers and sending it back to China.

📚 Regulation

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an antitrust probe into Amazon's $4 billion stake in Anthropic, investigating whether the deal constitutes a merger and potentially harms UK competition. The probe stems from concerns about "quasi-mergers", where tech giants influence startups through investments without full acquisition scrutiny. Both Amazon and Anthropic reject the merger claims, emphasising Anthropic's independence and openness to other partnerships.

⚡ Other Snippets

Atoco, a startup founded by UC Berkeley chemistry professor Omar Yaghi, is developing an innovative technology called metallic organic frameworks (MOFs) to harvest water from air without electricity. This could be a game-changer for addressing global water scarcity, especially in arid regions.

"You can harvest water from air anywhere in the world, at any time of the year regardless of the level of humidity, without a carbon footprint," says Omar Yaghi, Atoco's founder and UC Berkeley chemistry professor.

Reddit is expanding its AI capabilities with the $19.9 million acquisition of Memorable AI to enhance ad performance. Apple is introducing a new fee structure for EU apps that link to external purchases. 

Australian researchers are using endangered sea lions as underwater filmmakers, capturing unique footage of ocean habitats to improve marine science and mapping.

"Using animal-borne video and movement data from a benthic predator is a really effective way of mapping diverse benthic habitats across large areas of the seabed," said Nathan Angelakis, a Ph.D. student at The University of Adelaide.

In Texas, a massive 3D printer is building an entire neighbourhood. ICON's Vulcan printer is creating 100 homes in what will be the world's largest 3D-printed community, promising faster, cheaper, and less wasteful construction. 

In sports “innovation”, Swedish beach volleyball duo David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig have revolutionised the game with their "Swedish Jump Set". This strategy, involving a leaping setter, has propelled the young pair to Olympic gold.

Teenage Engineering has unveiled the EP-1320, a quirky medieval-themed digital music sequencer. This US$299 device lets you mix lutes and hurdy-gurdies with Gregorian chants and the clash of swords, allowing you to unleash your inner bard.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

 🛰️ Space

SpaceX is eyeing Australia as a potential Starship landing spot, discussing recovery options off the coast with US and Australian officials.

The plan would be to launch Starship from a SpaceX facility in Texas, land it in the sea off Australia’s coast and recover it on Australian territory. Getting permission to do so would require loosening U.S. export controls on sophisticated space technologies bound for Australia, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

At Cape Canaveral, a new AI model by Atmo AI is significantly improving weather forecasting.

"Our forecast can run in about 10 seconds. This is a critical thing. You get sensor information coming every minute, and the bottleneck becomes the forecast itself. If it takes you nine hours to see the forecast, you will always be nine hours late."

Startups are developing stratospheric balloons to lift tourists 100,000 feet above Earth. Companies like Worldview aim to offer six-hour journeys for eight passengers at US$50,000 each, a cheaper alternative to suborbital flights (~US$450,000) and orbital trips (more than US$20 million).

🌞 Renewables

An offshore electric power grid on the US East Coast could enhance renewable energy transmission, potentially supporting 85 gigawatts of power by 2050 - enough for 40 million homes. This "meshed" design would connect multiple offshore wind farms to a shared transmission line, distributing electricity where needed along the coast. Meanwhile, in Japan, Sumitomo Corp. and JGC Holdings aim to mass-produce floating wind turbine platforms, targeting 100 platforms annually by 2030, in anticipation of the widespread adoption of floating wind farms in the 2030s.

Floating wind farms are expected to become wide-spread in the 2030s. Planned projects in Europe envision installing dozens of floating units per site.

The rapid growth of AI and data centres is straining power grids.

Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2030, data centers will account for 16% of total US electricity consumption, up from 2.5% before ChatGPT's launch in November 2022. This projected increase is equivalent to about two-thirds of all US household electricity usage.

Scientists have discovered that giant clams off Palau's coast host nature's most efficient solar panels, with a theoretical efficiency of 43%, double that of most current solar panels.

Sweeney hopes this work can inform the design of algae-stocked bioreactors, in just one example of how evolution’s creative approaches to a single problem can offer inspiration for tackling technological challenges.

⚙️ Mobility

In Tennessee, AI now sets variable speed limits on a busy freeway to reduce traffic jams and improve safety.

In China, Xpeng has rolled out its autonomous driving system nationwide, becoming the first mainland carmaker to achieve this feat. 

"The year 2024 is marking a watershed for the development of autonomous driving," He told a virtual briefing on Tuesday evening.

Uber and BYD entered a strategic partnership to bring 100,000 BYD electric vehicles to Uber's platform globally.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Baidu has developed a novel "self-reasoning" AI framework that could make LLMs more reliable and trustworthy. This approach enables AI systems to critically evaluate their own knowledge and decision-making processes, potentially reducing the problem of AI "hallucinations" where models confidently produce incorrect information (see their paper).

Reddit has acquired Memorable AI, a startup that uses generative AI to optimise ad creative, in its first acquisition since going public.

AI is being used to determine the structure of small-molecule drugs, which could speed up drug development.

Today in Science, researchers report that a new AI tool can determine the structure of small molecules even with spotty data. The tool can decipher patterns in troves of data that were previously discarded as not good enough. The approach could make it easier for chemists to advance a wide range of compounds central to modern life.

"That is a game changer," says Horst Puschmann, a small molecule crystallographer at Durham University who was not involved with the work.

In what could be mistaken for a Black Mirror episode, Avi Schiffman has launched “Friend”, a $99 AI pendant that’s “always listening” and sends you messages as you go about your day.

🎤 Virtual Voices

Speaking of AI companions, OpenAI is now rolling out its advanced ChatGPT bot that they previewed back in May. It seems very realistic; here’s a demo of it counting to 10, then to 50, complete with appropriate breathing. 

When OpenAI first introduced GPT-4o, the company faced a backlash over its use of a voice called “Sky,” which sounded a lot like the actress Scarlett Johansson.

Meanwhile, Meta is offering Hollywood stars millions for AI voice rights. They're in talks with celebrities like Judi Dench and Awkwafina to potentially voice a digital assistant called MetaAI.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is racing to close deals so it has time to develop a suite of AI tools for unveiling at its Connect 2024 event in September. While it’s not entirely clear how Meta will be using the voices, it has discussed a chatbot that could serve as a digital assistant, à la Apple’s Siri, or a friend, the people said.

💻 Chips and Computing

Nvidia is facing significant challenges with its next-generation Blackwell GPU family, leading to shipment delays and a reworked product lineup. This will have far-reaching effects on Nvidia's supply chain and customers.

The core issue impacting shipments is directly related to Nvidia's design of the Blackwell architecture. The supply of the original Blackwell package is limited due to packaging issues at TSMC and with Nvidia's design. The Blackwell package is the first high volume design to be packaged with TSMC's CoWoS-L technology.

AMD reported a 115% year-on-year increase in Data Centre revenue, driven by Instinct AI accelerators and EPYC CPU sales.

Brazil is investing US$4.1 billion to develop its own supercomputer, while the US is allocating $400 million to Amkor for a new Arizona packaging plant.

👓 Virtual and Augmented Reality

Meta's Reality Labs saw Q2 2024 revenue jump 28%, with Quest 3 sales exceeding expectations. However, profits remained firmly virtual, with $353 million in sales translating to a very real $4.5 billion loss.

As VR technology progresses, researchers warn of “metacrimes” — virtual offences that feel disturbingly real due to advanced sensory techniques, challenging current crime reporting systems.

In 2022, researchers found that users, including children, encounter abusive behavior approximately every seven minutes in VRChat on Meta's Oculus headset.

In aviation, the first FAA-qualified VR flight simulator now allows helicopter pilots to train and receive credit using VR technology.

Loft Dynamics claims this VR-based simulator is both cheaper and smaller than traditional FAA-qualified flight simulators, which use a complex array of huge screens or projectors.

💲 Finance

AI chip maker Cerebras Systems is eyeing an October IPO, potentially seeking a valuation above $4 billion. The company has confidentially filed with the SEC, signalling its readiness to go public. 

Design company Canva is acquiring generative AI startup Leonardo.ai. This move, following Canva's recent Affinity acquisition, aims to enhance the company's AI-powered design tools.

KoBold Metals, an AI-powered mineral exploration company, is reportedly eyeing a $2 billion valuation. The Bill Gates-backed company's success in using AI to discover a massive copper deposit has clearly piqued investor interest (see Innovation Wrap #86). 

Massimo Giunco wrote a thought-provoking piece on the failings of Nike and their recent strategic shift towards direct-to-consumer and digital-first marketing.

The truth is that together, John and Heidi created a cannibal ecosystem that ate brand equity, product equity, gross margin, market share, demand creation budget and consumer connectivity. In just three years…

(Stock markets are under significant pressure, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index having its worst day since 1987 today and NASDAQ futures currently down 5%, but I tend not to discuss general market moves in the Innovation Wrap — for that, sign up for updates on the Minotaur website.)

🤖 Robotics

A fully-automatic robot dentist has performed the world's first human procedure. The AI-controlled robot prepared a tooth for a crown in just 15 minutes, a task that typically takes human dentists two hours. The robot was made by Perceptive.

"We're excited to successfully complete the world's first fully automated robotic dental procedure," says Dr. Chris Ciriello, CEO and Founder of Perceptive. "This medical breakthrough enhances precision and efficiency of dental procedures, and democratizes access to better dental care."

South Korean firm LIG Nex1 has paid $240 million for a 60% controlling stake in Ghost Robotics, a Philadelphia-based developer of four-legged robots used by the military and law enforcement.

AES Corporation has introduced an AI-powered robot named Maximo to help install solar panels, potentially doubling installation speed and halving costs. 

The robot was tested in various outdoor conditions at projects in New York, Virginia, Ohio, and Louisiana and has installed about 10 megawatts of energy to date. The solar farm AES is building in Kern County, California, to power Amazon's operations is expected to have 200 times that capacity.

Meanwhile, the humanoid robot race continues. OpenAI-backed startup Figure has teased its newest model, Figure 02 (video), claiming it to be "the most advanced humanoid robot on the planet." Details remain scarce.

💪 Augmented Humans 

Synchron has successfully connected its brain implant to the Apple Vision Pro headset, allowing a 64-year-old ALS patient to play games, watch TV, and text hands-free. 

"Using this type of enhanced reality is so impactful," said Mark, the implant recipient, "and I can imagine it would be for others in my position or others who have lost the ability to engage in their day-to-day life."

Elon Musk predicts BCI-enhanced gamers could outperform professionals within two years. However, challenges remain, as Neuralink's first trial participant experienced a performance decline post-surgery.

💊 Health

A 60-year-old man in Germany has become the seventh person declared HIV-free after a stem cell transplant. This case is only the second using donor cells not naturally resistant to HIV, potentially widening the pool of suitable donors.

The FDA has approved a new blood test for colon cancer screening called Shield (from Guardant Health). While not replacing colonoscopies, it could boost screening rates. The test, which detects DNA from cancerous tumours in the bloodstream, is 83% effective in finding colorectal cancers, but most effective at detecting later-stage cancers. 

"What breaks my heart is that it's preventable," said Dr. William Grady, a gastroenterologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. "One of my biggest joys is when I'm doing colonoscopy and I can take out polyps" that, if left alone, would have progressed to cancer.

🛍️ Ecommerce

Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology is getting an AI upgrade. The new multimodal AI model improves item identification and receipt generation, making the checkout-free approach more appealing to third-party stores. 

"It increases the accuracy of Just Walk Out technology even in complex shopping scenarios with variables such as camera obstructions, lighting conditions, and the behavior of other shoppers, while allowing us to simplify the system," Jenkins wrote in a blog post.

Amazon is shifting focus to third-party integration. 170 locations already use Just Walk Out, with that set to double this year. The technology is finding its niche in stadiums and airports, with an RFID-powered version for clothing stores in development.

⚡ Other Snippets

Jeremy Howard has announced FastHTML, a new framework for writing modern web applications in pure Python. scalable interactive web apps with pure Python. I’m keen to properly try it out!

CNBC created a 43-minute documentary on how Russian hackers stole millions from US investors.

Reflecting evolving job markets, China has officially recognised live-streamers as a profession, along with AI system application specialists and smart car test drivers.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🤖 Robotics

We discussed flamethrower robotic dogs in the first Innovation Wrap since its hiatus. Turns out you can also use fire-wielding dogs to blowtorch weeds, as Texas A&M researchers have demonstrated with their modified Boston Dynamics Spot robot (see video). This agricultural bot uses a controlled blowtorch to precisely heat weeds with 95% accuracy, offering a hot alternative to herbicides.

"The weeds don't die – you just suppress their growth so it gives your crop a chance to fight the weed."

MIT researchers have developed a system that can peel vegetables with human-like dexterity.

"These additional steps of doing rotation are something which is very straightforward to humans, we don't even think about it," says Agrawal. "But for a robot, this becomes challenging."

Former Tesla lead Chris Walti's startup Mytra has developed a warehouse robot that can lift 3000 lbs (1360kg) and navigate through a modular matrix.

At the core, the startup provides enterprises with a modularly deployed cell-based matrix structure through which an AI-powered bot navigates.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Meta has unveiled Llama 3.1, a new 405 billion-parameter large language model that’s comparable to offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic, though Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet still leads in most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 is open source, with Mark Zuckerberg aiming to make this an industry standard. You might expect this openness to translate to cost savings, but that’s not evident yet. On AWS Bedrock, Amazon’s LLM service, Llama 3.1 405B costs $5.32/$16 per million input/output tokens, more expensive than Claude 3.5 Sonnet’s $3/$15. The benefit of open source is it allows developers to fully customise, fine-tune, and control the model, which is potentially more cost-effective at scale.

Open source will ensure that more people around the world have access to the benefits and opportunities of AI, that power isn't concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies, and that the technology can be deployed more evenly and safely across society.

OpenAI’s latest offering, SearchGPT, joins the AI search race with a prototype search engine promising "fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” While currently waitlisted, it’s not immediately apparent how this differs from Microsoft’s Bing experiment or Google’s efforts.

Apple has released new small open-source AI models called DCLM, while Nvidia launched AI Foundry to help businesses create custom large language models.

The AI Foundry combines Nvidia’s hardware, software tools, and expertise to enable companies to develop customized versions of popular open-source models like Meta’s recently released Llama 3.1.

JPMorgan has now rolled out its internal chatbot, LLM Suite, to 50,000 of the group’s 240,000 employees. An internal email described it as follows: “Think of LLM Suite as a research analyst that can offer information, solutions and advice on a topic.”

At JPMorgan, the chatbot could augment the work being done with “a hybrid of human and AI analysts, very similar to how the intelligence community works,” Igor Jablokov, founder and CEO of AI startup Pryon told Fortune.

A study has found that AI can detect suspicious comments on earnings calls, potentially complicating executive deflections.

In one example, the AI analyzed the transcript and flagged that management was possibly avoiding specifics, despite being pressed by analysts, according to Klement. The AI flagged “unusualness” most often when speakers offered lengthy responses and long discussions about non-financial topics, some of the most common ways execs deflect negative news.

Surprisingly, being polite to AI chatbots may improve their responses (see the pre-print paper), though experts warn against excessive flattery. They recommend "moderate politeness" – much like human interactions.

Using polite prompts, the authors found, can produce higher-quality responses from a large language model (LLM)—the technology powering AI chatbots. But there’s a point of diminishing returns; excessive flattery can cause a model’s performance to deteriorate, according to the paper. Ultimately, the authors recommend using prompts that tread a middle path of “moderate politeness,” not unlike the norm in most human social interactions.

Cohere raised $500m to take on OpenAI, while Chinese LLM provider Baichaun raised $700m from Alibaba, Xiaomi, and some state-backed funds.

Chevron is using generative AI to strike oil. Airtable has a new tool called Cobuilder that they say can generate an app from a prompt.

Emily Chang from Bloomberg interviewed Mark Zuckerberg in this 24-minute video. They discuss Meta's AI strategy, the company's long-term vision, and his personal life and leadership style.

💻 Chips and Computing

Elon Musk has unveiled a massive AI training facility with 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs to train xAI’s Grok. For context, Meta’s Llama 3.1 405b was trained on 16,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. Musk is also doubling down on Tesla's Dojo supercomputer.

"I'm incredibly impressed by Nvidia's execution and the capability of their hardware," Musk said Tuesday. "What we are seeing is that the demand for Nvidia hardware is so high that it's often difficult to get the GPUs."

Amazon claims its in-house AI chips outperform Nvidia's by 50%, and startup Tenstorrent is challenging Nvidia with a low-priced RISC-V AI processor.

In quantum computing, PsiQuantum plans the largest US quantum facility, targeting million-qubit systems after securing an additional $US500 million in government incentives (over 30 years).

SK Hynix reported record profits from AI memory chip sales and is investing 9.4 trillion won in a new fab for next-gen DRAM and AI memory.

🛰️ Space

NASA's Perseverance rover has made a potentially groundbreaking discovery on Mars, finding a rock that could contain evidence of ancient microbial life. The "Cheyava Falls" rock features intriguing "leopard spots" resembling structures associated with microbial activity on Earth.

"Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance," said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist at Caltech.

Researchers have designed a wafer-thin light sail that could propel spacecraft to another star system faster than previously thought possible.

Star Catcher Industries has raised $12.25 million to develop the world's first space-based energy grid for satellites.

"Power infrastructure is the foundational building block of civilization and industry; our goal is to expand that foundation into LEO and beyond with our in-space power grid and service," Andrew Rush, Star Catcher's co-founder, president and CEO, said in the same statement.

A new study suggests that just a week in microgravity can dramatically age muscle cells.

SpaceX's Starlink satellites performed 50,000 collision-avoidance manoeuvres in six months, highlighting the growing complexity of managing orbital traffic and raising concerns about potential catastrophic collisions.

💊 Health

Neuroscientists have identified a neural pathway in mice that could explain the placebo effect, potentially leading to safer pain management alternatives.

For Alzheimer's, a promising nasal spray has shown success in clearing toxic tau proteins from brain cells, improving memory in mice after one dose.

"This nasal spray approach opens new avenues for non-invasive delivery of tau therapeutic antibodies directly to the brain, and it holds promise for many neurogenerative diseases," says Dr. Rakez Kayed, professor at the Department of Neurology at UTMB and the study's corresponding author.

In regenerative medicine, Northwestern University researchers have developed "dancing molecules" that regenerate cartilage in just three days, while University of Edinburgh engineers have created 3D-printed artificial blood vessels mimicking human veins, potentially improving heart bypass outcomes.

A promising HIV prevention drug, lenacapavir, has shown 100% efficacy in trials, with researchers urging affordable pricing. Meanwhile, the creation of the most extensive single-cell kidney atlas could revolutionise chronic kidney disease treatment.

"We now have a powerful tool for prognosis, outperforming traditional histopathological analysis especially in early-stage kidney disease," said Susztak, Co-Leader of the Penn-CHOP Kidney Innovation Center.

Lastly, a canine study reveals that dogs can smell and emotionally react to human stress, further validating the human-canine bond.

🌞 Renewables

The US Department of Energy is reinvesting in concentrated solar power, committing over $40 million to various projects. Despite past commercial challenges, researchers are exploring applications beyond electricity generation, including industrial heat production and energy storage.

CNBC produced a video discussing how China has cornered the market on nickel, a critical component for electric vehicles, by heavily investing in Indonesia's industry.

It is possible that by the end of the decade, the share of nickel coming from Indonesia for EV batteries will be as high as 75%.

⚙️ Mobility

Alphabet is injecting $5 billion into Waymo as it expands driverless services across the US. Google CEO Sundar Pichai:

"I'm really pleased with the progress Waymo is making, a real leader in the space and getting rave reviews from users,"

In China, Baidu's Apollo Go is outpacing Tesla with 6 million rides nationwide, thanks to heavily subsidised fares.

Kodiak Robotics has completed its first driverless semi-truck delivery in Texas' Permian Basin. They plan to start commercial autonomous operations next year.

Elon Musk plans to unveil the Tesla Robotaxi on October 10.

💲 Finance

A number of Chinese self-driving startups are coming to market. WeRide has filed for a potentially record-breaking US IPO, while Pony.ai eyes a September debut. This rush to float shares aims to fund development and provide investor exits. However, WeRide's financials reveal some challenges:

WeRide, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, had a loss of $268 million on revenue of $55 million last year.

Neobank Revolut has secured its UK banking licence, intensifying competition with traditional banks. The neobank is now entering a "mobilisation" stage before full launch. CEO Nik Storonsky commented:

"We are incredibly proud to reach this important milestone in the journey of the company and we will ensure we deliver on making Revolut the bank of choice for U.K. customers"

Elon Musk is seeking $5 billion from Tesla's board for his AI startup xAI, based on an X poll:

“Looks like the public is in favor. Will discuss with Tesla board”

Disinformation security startup Cyabra plans to list on NASDAQ via a SPAC. The transaction values the company at $70 million.

Cyabra’s AI platform collects publicly available information and provides its customers with real-time alerts, analysis and actionable insights. Cyabra has raised a total of $12.3 million from Founders Fund, OurCrowd, Red Forest Ventures, Summus Group, TAU Ventures, and others.

🔗 Blockchain and Crypto

The SEC has approved spot Ethereum ETFs, following January's Bitcoin ETF approval, allowing regulated investment in the second-largest cryptocurrency. Major players like BlackRock and Fidelity are involved, with offerings from VanEck and Franklin Templeton debuting last Tuesday.

Cantor Fitzgerald is launching a $2 billion bitcoin financing and lending business. CEO Howard Lutnick announced plans to "welcome Bitcoin into the financing family of the global financial markets," further cementing Bitcoin's acceptance in traditional finance.

🎮 Gaming

Netflix is ramping up its gaming efforts, planning over 80 new titles to complement its 100+ game catalogue. Unlike Google's Stadia, Netflix is focusing on mobile games that complement its streaming content, leveraging existing IP and user base.

Ultimately, those tie-in games give a solid indication of why this actually makes way more sense for Netflix than it ever did for Google.

Activision Blizzard released research that showed that players prefer skill-based matchmaking (SBMM). Their A/B testing in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, where they loosened skill constraints for half the player population, revealed that SBMM improved retention and reduced quit rates for 80-90% of players. The study effectively debunked the vocal online criticism against SBMM, proving that most gamers actually do enjoy a fair fight.

⚡ Other Snippets

Researchers have developed an AI model that can reconstruct digital signals from electromagnetic radiation leaking from HDMI cables, allowing potential hackers to spy on screen contents from meters away. This technique improves upon existing methods, reducing error rates by 60%. While likely already used in sensitive settings, researchers say ordinary users shouldn't be overly concerned about this enhanced form of electromagnetic espionage.

"Governments are worried about this, [but] I wouldn't say that the normal user should be too concerned," says Larroca. "But if you really care about your security, whatever your reasons are, this could be a problem."

On the scientific front, physicists may have found a way to create the hypothetical element 120, the heaviest ever, while researchers have discovered cocaine in sharks off Brazil's coast, raising environmental concerns.

Bloomberg explores how K-pop's engineered approach to creating idols is evolving (10-minute video). Companies are investing heavily in training to meet global demand, adapting their formula for international audiences while maintaining its core appeal.

“They are the gold standard now when it comes to creating fandom around artists.”

Personal Plug: Last Friday, we (Minotaur Capital) released our inaugural quarterly report. If you enjoy the Innovation Wrap, you might find our deep dives into global investment opportunities equally intriguing. You can also sign up for fund updates here.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the X at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

 💎 Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft researchers published an exciting paper titled "SpreadsheetLLM: Encoding Spreadsheets for Large Language Models" (I know, I know, try to contain your excitement!). A few articles have labelled it a new AI model or a new LLM, but it's more accurately described as a novel method to convert spreadsheets into text that LLMs can better understand. Papers like this are interesting because they highlight that AI progress comes not only from creating more powerful models but also from devising clever ways to leverage existing ones.

But speaking of models, OpenAI introduced a new small AI model, GPT-4o-mini. Amazing. I had literally just switched Minotaur’s small model use from GPT-3.5 Turbo to Claude 3 Haiku for a 50% input token price saving the day before GPT-4o-mini came out with input token pricing 40% below Haiku, and from what I can tell from weekend testing, it’s higher quality than Claude 3 Haiku and GPT-3.5 Turbo. Price wars are great.

DeepL, a machine translation startup, has launched a new LLM specifically built for translation and editing that they claim outperforms Google Translate and ChatGPT.

Unlike general purpose models, the LLM doesn’t rely on the internet for training. Rather, it uses DeepL’s proprietary data, tailored for content creation and translation. Language experts also took part in the AI model’s training, tutoring it in terms of translation quality.

Nvidia and Mistral AI have jointly released Mistral-NeMo, a 12 billion parameter language model designed to run on standard business desktops.

Meta's Segment Anything project introduces an AI model for image segmentation that can outline any object in images or videos.

Moreover, SAM is trained on a diverse, high-quality dataset of over 1 billion masks (collected as part of this project), which enables it to generalize to new types of objects and images beyond what it observed during training.

Dr. Fei-Fei Li, the "godmother of AI", has launched an AI startup that has been valued at $1bn in less than four months. The startup focusing on human-like visual data processing for advanced reasoning.

Through her new company, Li is now working on creating spatial intelligence—a concept she delved into during an April TED Talk. “If we want to advance A.I. beyond its current capabilities, we want more than A.I. that can see and talk. We want A.I. that can do,” said Li during the talk. To illustrate the concept of spatial intelligence, she pointed to an image of a cat pushing over a glass. “In the last split second, your brain looked at the geometry of this glass, its place in 3D space, its relationship with the table, the cat and everything else, and you can predict what’s going to happen next,” she explained. “The urge to act is innate to all beings with spatial intelligence, which links perception with action.”

🧱 Advanced Materials

Diamonds might become a power grid's best friend. As the US grapples with surging electricity demand, researchers are betting on diamond semiconductors to revolutionise power electronics. These ultra-wide bandgap materials could handle higher voltages, currents, and temperatures than silicon, potentially solving major grid challenges.

"Diamond has fundamentally the best properties of any semiconductor material that we have," says Lars Voss at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

Argonne National Laboratory created AI-NERD, an AI-driven method for precise material "fingerprints". It combines X-ray techniques with machine learning to reveal hidden patterns in material structures, crucial for processing the vast amounts of complex data generated by next-generation scientific instruments, enabling deeper insights into material behaviour.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed RoboFabric, a 3D-printed material that can stiffen on demand. Inspired by pangolin scales, this versatile fabric could be used in medical devices, soft robotics, and drone limbs. Prototypes include an elbow support that reduces muscle activity by 40% when lifting loads, and a wrist stabiliser for Parkinson's patients.

💻 Chips and Computing

TSMC capitalised on the AI boom with Q2 net profit jumping 36%. High-performance computing now accounts for 52% of its net revenue, up from 44% a year ago, driven by AI chip demand. CEO C.C. Wei introduced "Wafer Foundry 2.0" on the earnings call, which either signals TSMC’s expansion into broader semiconductor activities or is a market-expanding way to say, “look, we’re not a monopoly!”

"At this time, we would like to expand our original definition of foundry industry to Foundry 2.0, which also includes packaging, testing, mask making, and others and all IDM, excluding memory manufacturing," said C.C. Wei, chief executive and chairman of TSMC at the company's earnings call with analysts and investors. "We believe this new definition better reflects TSMC's expanding addressable market opportunities in the future." 

The Biden administration is considering tighter restrictions on AI chip exports to China, while also investing in domestic production. GlobalWafers secured up to $400 million in CHIPS Act funding for building 300mm wafer facilities in Texas and Missouri.

Samsung acquired British AI startup Oxford Semantic Technologies, while Aston University researchers achieved a new data transmission record of 402 terabits per second through standard optical fibre.

🤖 Robotics

Researchers are giving robots a mental edge to match their physical prowess. A team from UC Berkeley, University of Warsaw, and Stanford has developed "Embodied Chain-of-Thought" (ECoT) reasoning, enabling robots to reason about tasks and their environment before acting – like giving them a moment to think before they leap.

💊 Health

In “let’s live forever” news, blocking the inflammatory molecule IL-11 was found to extend mice lifespans by over 20%, while improving muscle strength and metabolism. Professor Stuart Cook calls the findings "very exciting", as the treatment also significantly reduced cancer deaths in the animals. 

"These findings are very exciting. The treated mice had fewer cancers, and were free from the usual signs of ageing and frailty, but we also saw reduced muscle wasting and improvement in muscle strength. In other words, the old mice receiving anti-IL11 (treatment) were healthier."

Roche's experimental once-daily pill, CT-996, showed promising results for weight loss, with patients losing an average of 6.1% body weight in just four weeks.

Medical device innovation continues with a pacemaker-like implant to automatically reverse opioid overdoses, a novel method to generate craniofacial cartilage from stem cells, and an implantable microphone for cochlear implants (is this a future disruptor for Cochlear in Australia?). A study in Nature found that action video games could help children at risk of dyslexia improve word processing. Lastly, a new health screening tool uses infrared light and machine learning to detect multiple conditions from a single drop of blood.

🌞 Renewables

Akaysha Energy secured $650 million for NSW’s largest four-hour battery system, while Tesla signed a $2.5-3.5 billion Megapack contract in California.

New Scientist reports that China has developed a meltdown-proof large-scale nuclear reactor, marking a breakthrough in nuclear safety.

"Up to now, every commercial reactor except HTR-PM has had an emergency core cooling system," says Dong. "However, due to the inherent safety, there is no emergency core cooling system in the HTR-PM plant." 

SunCable received key environmental approvals for a 10 GW solar farm to power Darwin and Singapore, while New York began its largest offshore wind farm.

New Scientist showcased photos of ITER, the €20-billion international nuclear fusion experiment in France, revealing its massive scale and complex components while noting its delayed start to 2035.

This is pretty cool: University of South Australia researchers developed a new refrigeration system that could reduce supermarket and hospital annual refrigeration energy consumption by 19%. Meanwhile, Montana Technologies created a novel dehumidifier that could drastically reduce energy used for air conditioning.

Google is backing Again, a Danish startup using bacteria to turn CO2 into valuable chemicals. Bloom Energy, a fuel cell technology company, partnered to power an AI data centre highlighted the intersection of clean energy and advanced computing needs.

⚙️ Mobility

German eVTOL manufacturer Lilium secured a potentially multi-million dollar deal with Saudia Group for up to 100 aircraft. In Canada, FLO is planned 1,900 Ultra EV chargers nationwide, while Starbucks and Mercedes-Benz partnered to install 400kW fast-chargers at 100 coffee shops, offering a jolt for both cars and customers.

In Melbourne, Alphabet's Wing and Doordash will launch drone food delivery, servicing a 7km radius around Eastland Shopping Centre and reaching approximately 250,000 people.

🛰️ Space

The University of Western Australia's TeraNet project has achieved a significant breakthrough in space communications by successfully receiving last signals from a German satellite, potentially revolutionising space-to-Earth communications.

This breakthrough paves the way for a 1,000-fold increase in communication bandwidth between space and Earth.

Blue Origin is preparing to enter the reusable rocket arena, testing the landing mechanism for its New Glenn rocket. The 320-foot behemoth is scheduled for its maiden launch no earlier than September 29, with plans to support Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite constellation.

💲 Finance

Bank of America is investing $4 billion in AI and new tech this year, with CEO Brian Moynihan seeing AI enhance customer interactions beyond mere cost-saving. Their AI adviser is already serving up millions of insights to financial advisers, as banks race to become the smartest robot in the room. 

"AI has moved from cost savings ideas to enhancing the quality of our customer interactions," Moynihan said in a call with analysts.

Californian PE firm Riverwood Capital invested $105 million in Australian construction software maker HammerTech. Sea Ltd and YTL Digital Capital are set to launch their digital bank in Malaysia by year's end.

Google-backed GitLab is exploring a potential sale, with cloud monitoring firm Datadog apparently among interested parties. With an $8.5 billion market value, GitLab could be the next big tech acquisition target.

"GitLab has long been viewed as an attractive acquisition candidate, in our view. While we sense that investors view AWS or Google Cloud as more obvious buyout candidates, we are positive on a potential tie-up between GitLab and Datadog," Needham analyst Mike Cikos wrote in a note on Wednesday.

Meta is eyeing a stake in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica as it pushes into smart glasses.

Yandex, now rebranded as Nebius Group, is pivoting towards becoming a major AI infrastructure provider in Europe after selling its Russian business. The company is planning a share buyback and aims to use its $2.5 billion cash reserves to develop four key projects, with a focus on AI infrastructure.

"We are a different company now," Arkady Volozh, the Dutch-registered technology firm's founder and chief, said in an interview from Amsterdam. "We hope that investors will want to go with us in the new direction, but those who don't should be able to leave."

🛍️ Ecommerce

Amazon launched Rufus, a generative AI shopping assistant, to all US customers. This chatbot helps with orders, item comparisons, and specific product questions like "What's the difference between gas and wood-fired pizza ovens?" Amazon also integrating AI to improve clothing fit and reduce packaging.

TikTok partnered with Eventbrite for in-app ticket sales.

UK online grocer Ocado reported narrowing losses and growth in its technology business. The company's success stems from a combination of grocery delivery and selling warehouse robots to other retailers.

X user George McGowan posted about his experience negotiating with a chatbot. The tech is provided by Nibble.

⚡ Other Snippets

Texas A&M University developed a pocket-sized Raman spectrometer that identifies unknown substances using a smartphone camera and laser, applicable in food safety and pathogen detection.

Meteorologists are combining traditional tornado chasing with cutting-edge technology like drones, AI, and supercomputer simulations to better understand and predict these devastating storms. This multidisciplinary approach is helping to improve tornado warning systems and adapt to changing climate patterns.

There's a tremendous amount of data out there. There's more and more growing all the time. We put up new satellite systems. We've got crowd-sensing systems that are out there, data that's coming and streaming in, and it's overloading. It's overloading the forecasters. It's overloading anybody who's trying to make a decision. And AI is perfect for trying to sift through all of that data and try to identify the most important parts of it and help you make your decisions.

Enjoyed the Innovation Wrap? Spread the knowledge – your tech-savvy friends might thank you for it!

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the platform-formerly-known-as-Twitter at @thomasrice_au.

Here’s your weekly wrap of technology, innovation, and finance news.

🔬 Biology

Ancient DNA preservation is having a Jurassic Park moment. Scientists have found woolly mammoth DNA exceptionally preserved in a freeze-dried state, allowing reconstruction of not just the genome, but also the 3D structure of its chromosomes. This “chromoglass” state could potentially survive for up to 530 million years, offering a window into the Cambrian era. 

In genome editing, University of Sydney researchers have developed a new gene-editing tool, SeekRNA, which is promising greater accuracy and flexibility than CRISPR (see the paper).

“We are very much in the early days of what gene editing can do. We hope that by developing this new approach to gene editing, we can contribute to advances in health, agriculture and biotechnology,” said joint author Professor Ruth Hall from the University of Sydney.

Researchers have sequenced the oldest high-quality human genome yet - a 200,000-year-old Denisovan, while analysis of ancient dingo DNA reveals their arrival in Australia in two waves between 3,000 and 8,000 years ago. 

Scientists have created mice with fully functional human immune systems and gut microbiomes. These “TruHuX” mice could accelerate drug development by providing a more accurate model for human immune responses. 

"THX mice provide a platform for human immune system studies, development of human vaccines and testing of therapeutics," said Paolo Casali, MD, who led this groundbreaking study. 

🤖 Robotics

CNBC highlights why tech giants are betting big on AI-powered humanoid robots in this 17-minute video (see the video), with Elon Musk predicting Tesla's Optimus could propel the company to a $25 trillion market cap.

Skild AI has raised $300 million to develop a "general purpose brain" for robots, aiming for plug-and-play intelligence across various platforms.

Specialised robots are making strides in various industries. Jacobi Robotics is using AI to automate warehouse palletising, while robot-packed meals are coming to frozen-food aisles. In robot design, Northwestern University engineers have developed a $3 actuator mimicking human muscles, potentially democratising soft robotics technology.

China showcased 45 intelligent robots at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, including Healthy Loong, an open-source humanoid robot. Elsewhere, AI-powered drones are revolutionising search and rescue operations, highlighting the growing synergy between robotics and AI in solving real-world problems.

🍔 Alternative Foods

US startup Savor is creating "butter" from carbon dioxide, using a process more akin to fossil fuel processing than dairy farming. This approach to synthetic fat production could provide calories while freeing up land for more sustainable uses, but convincing people to spread petrochemicals on their sandwiches might be a tough sell, even if it tastes like the real deal.

"If we had an emergency, this could feed the whole planet for a really long time," she says.

In the lab-grown meat world, researchers at Yonsei University in Seoul have developed "switchable flavour compounds" (SFCs) that activate when heated, simulating the Maillard reaction that gives cooked meat its distinctive flavour.

"We actually smelled the meaty flavour upon heating the SFCs," says Hong, though he wouldn't confirm whether the team had actually eaten the meat.

💎 Artificial Intelligence

Google researchers have created self-replicating digital life from random data, potentially shedding light on biological life's origins.

Laurie says what makes this work unique is that the system had no formal rules, goals or processes to encourage or kick-start artificial life – it simply arrived. “It all fizzes around and then suddenly: boom, they’re all the same,” he says.

Researchers are working to decipher large language models' inner workings, while a study reveals that even superhuman AI systems can be vulnerable to exploits (see the paper).

"The paper leaves a significant question mark on how to achieve the ambitious goal of building robust real-world AI agents that people can trust," says Huan Zhang, a computer scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

In business, Pinterest unveiled Canvas, an AI model for image enhancement, DocuSign and Elastic are transforming contract management and enterprise search, and Writer upgraded its enterprise AI platform. The New York Times examined Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's AI strategy, while KoBold Metals used AI to discover a massive copper deposit in Zambia.

A rich lode of copper, deep in the bedrock, appeared before them, its contours revealed by a complex A.I.-driven technology they’d been painstakingly building for years.

In a lengthy piece, MIT Technology Review explores the complexities of defining AI, highlighting diverse perspectives and ongoing debates within the field. 

💊 Health 

The weight loss drug wars are heating up, with Mounjaro (tirzepatide) outperforming Ozempic (semaglutide) in a recent study. Patients on Mounjaro were 3.24 times more likely to lose 15% of their body weight. However, both drugs share a common side effect: nausea. Scientists have now identified the brain circuit responsible, potentially leading to future weight loss drugs that won't turn your stomach. 

"The implication is that if we can now selectively target the satiety circuits without targeting the aversion circuits, we could potentially develop better drugs with fewer side effects," says Amber Alhadeff, a neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a co-author of the study, published today in Nature.

French startup Bioptimus has released H-optimus-0, an open-source AI model for disease research and diagnosis.

The model, called H-optimus-0, is capable of performing complex tasks including identifying cancerous cells and detecting genetic abnormalities in tumors, the Paris-based company said in a statement. Bioptimus described the system as the largest model for pathology that is open source and widely accessible.

In early detection, Aarhus University researchers have developed hyperpolarized 13C-pyruvate MRI to detect early kidney fibrosis, while Cornell University scientists have created a bioelectric device that swiftly detects and classifies coronavirus variants, potentially adaptable to other viruses like influenza and measles.

🌞 Renewables

Italian company Energy Dome is proposing a CO2-filled dome for renewable energy storage. This inflatable solution can store power for 8 to 24 hours by compressing and liquefying CO2, then releasing it through a turbine. The concept has attracted funding from Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. 

"What we provide is a technology which is intended to be in the daily storage market. It means to switch energy from day to night, from today to tomorrow," he says.

China has launched the world's largest sodium-ion battery in Hubei province. This 50MW/100MWh system can meet the daily electricity needs of 12,000 households, diversifying energy storage options beyond lithium-ion batteries.

The Biden administration is awarding $1.7 billion to boost EV manufacturing across eight states. The funding aims to create union jobs and support auto-based communities, covering electric motorcycles to heavy-duty commercial truck batteries.

In the UK, plans are underway for Europe's first hydrogen-ready power plant at the Stanlow oil refinery. Scheduled for 2027 completion, it's part of an initiative to slash the refinery's emissions by 95% by 2030, potentially transforming this industrial dinosaur into a clean energy trailblazer. 

💻 Chips and Computing

The AI chip race intensifies as AMD acquires European AI lab Silo for $665 million, while SoftBank snaps up UK AI chipmaker Graphcore. Amidst this flurry, TSMC joins the trillion-dollar club, riding the AI wave. 

Qualcomm and Microsoft are banking on "AI PCs" to revive sales, featuring processors tailored for AI tasks. However, the industry faces challenges in developing software that fully utilises these new capabilities.

For now, available AI features are largely gimmicks, said a Best Buy Co. employee shortly after launch in June, who asked not to be identified for fear of professional repercussions.

In the mobile chip market, MediaTek is set to overtake Qualcomm Snapdragon in 5G smartphones, driven by its dominance in affordable devices. 

Applied Materials is pushing chip wiring technology forward, enabling copper wiring in 2nm and more advanced process nodes. Meanwhile, the US government launched a $1.6 billion competition for chip packaging R&D to bolster domestic semiconductor innovation.

Australia ups its computing game with Virga, its most powerful supercomputer yet.

The system reportedly costs $14.5 million, so you can see what we mean by it being somewhat modest. For context, the current #1 ranked computer—the AMD-powered Frontier supercomputer—reportedly cost around $600 million.

⚙️ Mobility 

Joby Aviation's hydrogen-electric eVTOL completed a 523-mile flight. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines partnered with Archer Aviation to develop electric air taxis for California, aiming to transform urban travel. 

Paris approved air taxis for Olympics, with German startup Volocopter operating from a floating "vertiport" on the River Seine. French President Macron has been invited as the first passenger, offering a glimpse into urban air mobility's future.

On the ground, Baidu's robotaxi service Apollo Go gained popularity in China, with shares surging and profitability expected by 2025. Last week, a Baidu autonomous car hit a person crossing against the light. The passenger was fine.

3D printing is reshaping automotive manufacturing, with the global automotive additive manufacturing market expected to grow from $2.05 billion in 2022 to $11.26 billion by 2030.

"As the auto industry is moving towards more of a lightweight focused hybrid or even electrified vehicle platforms additive manufacturing plays into that so well because it allows really efficient ways of creating efficient designs," explained Willig, in an interview.

💲 Finance

Bridgewater's co-CIO Greg Jensen sees AI boosting investors, potentially improving "so much of what human investors and analysts can do" over the next five years. 

"Having machine learning generate the ideas, generate the algorithms — that's been kind of a dream for me," he said.

Alphabet/Google is in talks to buy 4-year-old cybersecurity startup Wiz for as much as US$23 billion. Wiz raised $1bn at a $12bn valuation in May.

An acquisition of Wiz, a cloud and cybersecurity company, could help Google catch up to Microsoft and Amazon in an increasingly competitive cloud market.

The United Nations Development Programme plans to raise $1 billion for African tech hubs, while Shein is investing 200 million euros in European and British sustainability startups.

Some wealthy individuals are exploring cryonic preservation with "revival trusts" to ensure their fortunes survive alongside their frozen bodies.

"The idea of cryopreservation has gone from crackpot to merely eccentric," said Mark House, an estate lawyer who works with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation, one of the world's largest cryonics facility with 1,400 members and about 230 people already frozen. "Now that it's eccentric, it's kind of in vogue to be interested in it."

🛰️ Space

Europe has rejoined the space race with the successful launch of its Ariane 6 rocket. The July 9th debut restored Europe's ability to launch large satellites independently after a year-long gap. Officials hailed it as a historic moment, with the Ariane 6 designed to be more cost-effective than its predecessor to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9. 

"Ariane 6 will power Europe into space. Ariane 6 will make history," Josef Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), said via X today in the leadup to launch.

Meanwhile, SpaceX continues its rapid pace, launching another batch of Starlink satellites, including some with direct-to-cell capabilities. The company has also made its Starlink Mini dish available to all US customers, offering a more portable internet connectivity option.

In space tourism, companies are developing stratospheric balloon experiences to take passengers to the edge of space for a fraction of the cost of rocket-based alternatives. These pressurised capsules, suspended from massive balloons, aim to offer views of Earth's curvature from altitudes of around 30 kilometres.

⚡ Other Snippets

Volkswagen is accelerating its solid-state battery ambitions, striking a deal with QuantumScape where VW's battery unit PowerCo will receive a license to mass-produce cells based on QuantumScape's technology. QuantumScape stock was up 63% last week.

"QuantumScape's technology is poised to enter a pivotal stage where PowerCo's specialized expertise, resources and global factories can help facilitate the transition to industrial-scale production," said PowerCo CEO Frank Blome.

Digital twins are revolutionising Olympic swim training for Paris 2024.

After three years of work, Douglass’s improved technique shaved 0.44 second off her 200-meter-breaststroke time. A few months later, in 2023, she broke the American record in the event with a time of two minutes, 19.3 seconds, dipping under the previous record from 2012 by 0.29 second.

HBO released “Wild Wild Space,” a series that showcases the rivalry between two space entrepreneurs – Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck and Astra Space’s Chris Kemp. If anyone knows how to legally stream it in Australia, let me know…

We're trying to build NASA at one one-millionth the budget. And people take this shit really seriously, right? If you're declaring to the world that you have a product that works, it better bloody work.

Have a great week,

Thomas

Share Thomas's Innovation Wrap

About Thomas Rice

Thomas Rice co-founded Minotaur Capital, a technology-driven, AI-led global equities fund, and is based in Sydney, Australia. He can be found on the platform-formerly-known-as-Twitter at @thomasrice_au.