June 13, 2025

Powering next-gen services with AI in regulated industries 

Businesses in highly-regulated industries like financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and health care are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools to streamline complex and sensitive tasks. Conversational AI-driven interfaces are helping hospitals to track the location and delivery of a patient’s time-sensitive cancer drugs. Generative AI chatbots are helping insurance customers answer questions and solve problems. And agentic…

What will power AI’s growth?

May 29, 2025
It’s been a little over a week since we published Power Hungry, a package that takes a hard look at the expected energy demands of AI. Last week in this newsletter, I broke down the centerpiece of that package, an analysis I did with my colleague James O’Donnell. (In case you’re still looking for an…

This giant microwave may change the future of war

May 29, 2025
Imagine: China deploys hundreds of thousands of autonomous drones in the air, on the sea, and under the water—all armed with explosive warheads or small missiles. These machines descend in a swarm toward military installations on Taiwan and nearby US bases, and over the course of a few hours, a single robotic blitzkrieg overwhelms the US…

Lightspeed backs Indian home services startup Snabbit as the next big consumer trend

May 29, 2025
Home services in India — whether it is cleaning, dishwashing, or laundry — have traditionally been offline and informally run. This has often resulted in delays and uncertainties for consumers, as well as inconsistent pay and job insecurity for workers. Recently, however, startups have begun viewing this area as ripe for transformation, leveraging technology to […]

Founder Sahil Lavingia says he was booted from DOGE after just 55 days 

May 28, 2025
Sahil Lavingia has published a diary recounting his time as a member of Elon Musk’s DOGE workforce. It’s a short read — Lavingia’s DOGE stint lasted just 55 days — but it is does provide new details on the temporary government organization formed by President Trump’s executive order. Lavingia is a well-known name in Silicon […]

Security startup Horizon3.ai is raising $100M in new round

May 28, 2025
Horizon3.ai, a cybersecurity startup that provides tools like autonomous penetration testing, is seeking to raise $100 million in a new funding round and has locked down at least $73 million, the company revealed in an SEC filing this week. NEA led the round, according to two people familiar with the deal. One person said that […]

Nvidia expects to lose billions in revenue due to H20 chip licensing requirements

May 28, 2025
As Nvidia reports earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2026, which closed on April 28, the company has released numbers on how the Trump administration’s recent chip export restrictions are affecting business. Nvidia reported that it incurred a $4.5 billion charge in Q1 due to licensing requirements impacting its ability to sell […]