The Download: The startup that says it can stop lightning, and inside OpenAI’s Pentagon deal

March 3, 2026
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. This startup claims it can stop lightning and prevent catastrophic wildfires Startup Skyward Wildfire says it can prevent catastrophic fires by stopping the lightning strikes that ignite them. So far, it hasn’t publicly…

This startup claims it can stop lightning and prevent catastrophic wildfires

March 3, 2026
On June 1, 2023, as a sweltering heat wave baked Quebec, thousands of lightning strikes flashed across the province, setting off more than 120 wildfires. The blazes ripped through parched forests and withered grasslands, burned for weeks, and compounded what was rapidly turning into Canada’s worst fire year on record. In the end, nearly 7,000…