Weekly News Update: May 24, 2024

18 - 24 May 2024

Good morning,

As Replicator is (finally) getting off the ground, Congress is pushing the Army to build a specific branch to oversee robotics. The Army is pushing back—and I agree with the Army. Uncrewed systems are a tool, with which every service member needs to be familiar and know how to use—like a machine gun or radio. Consolidating the use under a branch will actually lead to long term unpreparedness for the force.

Russia is gaining ground ver slowly in its spring offensive in Ukraine. The United Kingdom’s intelligence service suggests that China is providing lethal aid to Russia for the war. China is retaliating to heightened tensions with the west with its own sanctions and restrictions. It has also run a large exercise encircling Taiwan to demonstrate its ability to ‘seize power’ quickly, less than a week after Taiwan’s new westward-looking president assumes office.

There’s been a fair amount of activity in M&A, reverse mergers, and VC funding.

Let’s dive in to these and other is…