More cracks in the Axis of Autocracy, new quantum breakthroughs, & AI funding rounds.
Advanced Computing, AI/ML, Chips, and Extended Reality
Good morning,
Syrian rebels have completed their rapid assault, capturing Damascus. ‘President’ Bashar al-Assad has fled the country arriving in Moscow where the Kremlin has offered him asylum. There is more than a bit of irony in these events. Russia’s abject failure at completing their ‘3-day special military operation’ while simultaneously backing Syria as the loose confederation of rebels conquered the capital in a matter of weeks, highlights Russia’s growing weakness militarily and geopolitically.
At the same time, Russia’s meddling in Georgian politics has reached an apex. Their alleged role in rigging parliamentary elections in the small country has resulted in massive, multi-week protests with echos of Euromaidan and the color revolutions. Interestingly, there are numerous reports surfacing of the ruling party’s adoption of tatushkii tactics that were employed by the Russian-backed government in Ukraine. These tatushkii (singular: tatushka) are mercenaries and plain-clothed security service personnel that act as agents-provocateur and thugs. They attempt to provoke pro-European persons to violence and then respond with overwhelming force and allowing the security services to arrest the protestors. For their part, protestors have taken to doxing the tatushkii and increasingly fighting back.
Taken together, I think it’s fair to say that more than 30 years after the Cold War, people still yearn to be free. The despotic and oligarchic offerings of the Axis of Autocracy will continue to fail to inspire and satisfy populations. And, we must continue to support those that will stand face-to-face with the autocrats and refuse to be oppressed.
Alright, back to quantum, AI, VR, and chips! Quantum advances rapidly, with researchers making several great discoveries this week including simpler ways of entangling particles, methods to impose control over quantum chaos, and a potential method to dramatically increase quantum sensing distances. On the AI front, we’ve seen some great investment action this week with xAI taking the prize for largest round at $6B.
Alright, enough yapping. Let’s dig in to the news.
News Headlines:
Damascus has fallen to Syrian rebels as Russia- and Iran-backed President Assad flees (RT)
Protests in Tbilisi, Georgia escalate in second week over disputed election, Russia’s alleged role in rigging vote, and governing party’s decision to end EU accession bid (AP)
Russia doubled down on bases in Syria, the future of those bases is now in question (RT)
Quantum Tech:
AI helps researchers discover simpler way to create quantum entanglement (QI)
Quantum scarring dampens chaos, opens opportunities for improved electronic control (ST)
Chicago wants to be the Silicon Valley of QC (WSJ)
China unveils its most powerful quantum computer with 504-qubit chip (QI)
Customizable quantum control toolkit developed at Fermilab ready for commercial production (FL)
Researchers propose technique that could extend quantum sensing ranges from tens of meters to hundreds of kilometers by imprinting info on light (APS)
In its quest to break free from reliance on GPS, Pentagon awards $11M to Infleqtion for its rack-based atomic clocks (SN)
RTX develops quantum photonic sensors for dual-use cases under DARPA’s INSPIRED program (QI)
AI / ML
Palantir, Anduril form new alliance to merge AI capabilities for defense customers (DS)
ShieldAI, Palantir team up on AI-powered autonomous systems, announce deployment of Warp Speed (PRN)
DeepMind AI weather forecaster beats world-class system (NA)
Trump named VC David Sacks as 'White House AI and Crypto Czar' (FdS)
Musk's xAI plans massive expansion of AI supercomputer in Memphis (RT)
AI is an energy hog and the Government needs to be aware (GvT)
OpenAI enters Silicon Valley’s hottest sector: Defense (WSJ)
Amazon announced a new slate of AI models (RT)
Cohere will prioritize customized over larger AI models in enterprise push (RT)
Nanotech, Nanomaterials, Chips
U.S. clears export of advanced AI chips to UAE under Microsoft deal (RT)
Chinese chip firms say they can withstand new U.S. export curbs (RT)
Chinese companies are reportedly reluctant to adopt homegrown chips — domestic solutions are technologically too far behind (TH)
U.S. chips are 'no longer safe,' Chinese industry bodies say in latest trade salvo (RT)
TSMC in talks with Nvidia for AI chip production in Arizona, sources say (RT)
AWS’ Trainium2 chips for building LLMs are now generally available, with Trainium3 coming in late 2025 (TC)
XR / AR / VR
Virtual reality may help reduce perceived efforts while exercising (PS)
Rheinmetall, Hologate partner to develop virtual military training solutions (TDP)
Alibaba-backed Xreal’s One Series AR glasses offer leap forward with X1 custom outprocessor (VB)
Deal Flow:
VC
xAI closed a $6B equity financing round as it tries to keep pace with OpenAI, Anthropic (TC)
European AI infrastructure firm Nebius raised a $700M funding round from Nvidia, Accel, and Orbis (TC)
AI computing startup Tenstorrent raised a $693M Series D at a $2B valuation led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners (PRN)
Tractian, a manufacturing AI startup, raised a $120M Series C led by Sapphire Ventures (PRN)
Axiado, a cybersecurity chip and app startup, raised a $60M Series C led by Maverick Silicon (PRN)
Yurts, an AI chatbot for US DOD, raised a $40M Series B led by XYZ Venture Capital (TC)
Etalytics, a Germany-based AI-based industrial energy company, raised a $8.45M Series A round led by Alstin Capital (TFN)
Pixeltable, an open-source AI data infrastructure, raised a $5.5M seed round led by The General Partnership (BW)
Opportunities:
DARPA has announced the AI Exploration program that will seek to push beyond first- and second-wave AI technologies with multiple solicitation and awards coming (SAM)
Lighter Side:
Keep Building,
BOF