Neal's Deals (Vol. 43) - Neal's Deals Wrapped 🎁: A year in review 🔙
Hey everyone - Happy [almost] New Year! 2023 has been a whirlwind of tech news, and I'm grateful for my readers who give me the chance to breakdown the tough headlines, share insights, and sprinkle in some corny jokes every week. While there's a constant stream of tech updates, I thought it would be valuable to revisit some standout stories from this year and check in on their current status. With 42 editions of the newsletter, the toughest task was narrowing down three of this year’s best headlines to explore today.
For that reason, if you feel I've overlooked any of your favorites, I give you permission to submit a complaint.
Anyways, let’s begin this special edition of Neal’s Deals 2023 Wrapped 🎁🎁🎁
Driverless Cars 🚫🚗🚫 - 5/19/23
Recap: I spent a week in San Francisco last spring and was captivated by the driverless cars commanding the streets. After doing some research, I learned the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles holds significant potential for societal benefits, such as improved traffic flow, accessibility, environmental advantages, and increased safety. Despite the promises, there are technological hurdles to overcome, as witnessed by incidents in San Francisco where autonomous vehicles struggled with emergency responders and adverse weather conditions. While advancements are anticipated to address these challenges, full commercialization may take decades due to legislative, adoption, and other technological barriers.
Update: I guessed right that the challenges will continue in the near term. In late October, Cruise, the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of General Motors and a leader in the space, recalled all 950 self-driving cars for a software update following an incident where a Cruise vehicle struck a pedestrian. The update targets the vehicle's impact response, correcting a prior misjudgment, with Cruise intending to resume operations after completing the software updates.AI 🤝 Regulation - 6/16/23
Recap: The US has not made significant progress in passing comprehensive AI regulations. In contrast, the European Union (EU) recently advanced the AI Act, a set of laws governing AI product development. The legislation outlines minimum requirements, including data quality, human supervision, and ethical compliance. While concerns exist about the effectiveness of such regulations, I was hopeful the US would follow the EU's lead to ensure responsible AI development.
Update: The US decided to play catch-up. President Biden took a significant step on October 30th by issuing an executive order focused on ensuring safe, secure, and trustworthy AI. This order sets forth new standards for AI safety and security, prioritizes the protection of Americans' privacy, advances equity and civil rights, advocates for consumers and workers, fosters innovation and competition, and aims to enhance American leadership on the global stage, among other objectives. You can read more about it here but I am glad it has become a priority.
US 🇺🇸 <> China 🇨🇳 Chip War - 7/7/23
Recap: US-China relations have taken a hit recently with escalating trade disputes. China's decision to impose export restrictions on crucial minerals, gallium and germanium, used in semiconductors, solar batteries, and more, is expected to impact global supply chains, particularly for semiconductors. In response, the US planned to restrict China's access to American cloud computing companies like Amazon and Microsoft. This retaliatory move aimed to limit Chinese businesses' access to advanced technology. This trade war resurgence reflects a cold war for technological supremacy, with both nations emphasizing superior access to technology for national security and economic success.
Update: There are too many updates to write about, but just know tensions are continuing to escalate. Back in October, the US government announced it had tightened controls on chip sales to China, aiming to close loopholes that allowed Chinese firms to acquire chips for advanced AI technology. This week, the WSJ posted an article discussing the worsening relationship between the US and China and other sanctions that are soon to come. Given its gravity, I would not be surprised if the topic makes a reappearance.
Here are some other worthy mentions for those who want to review any of the other prior topics: Household income levels & inflation, the US debt ceiling crisis, Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, Barbenheimer, Airbnb’s NYC farewell, Lionel Messi & the power of equity, and the potential TikTok ban.
Let’s get to it:
Recommended by LinkedIn
Cloudline, a Cape Town startup that is developing carbon-emissions-free, autonomous airships designed for cargo transportation in Africa raised a $6 million seed round led by Schmidt Futures.
Why this is interesting: This feels like the moonshot of moonshots. Regardless, Cloudline has developed blimp-looking autonomous airships that serve as a cost-effective alternative to drones, helicopters, and satellites. The key strengths of these airships lie in their impressive range, endurance, and efficiency. Capable of covering over 400 km with a fully loaded cargo of 40 kg and operating for 10 hours, these airships find applications in mapping, monitoring, and public safety. This approach gives Cloudline a strategic advantage, allowing partners to extend range without the need for larger aircraft or incurring higher unit operating costs, thereby addressing monitoring challenges that were previously difficult to overcome. I'm hoping this one works out because of its uniqueness, but the location-based regulatory hurdles, customer education requirements, and somewhat broad use cases make it a bit challenging for me to feel comfortable from an investing lens.
UltiHash, a San Francisco startup that is developing software to increase the efficiency and capacity of existing storage drives, raised a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Inventure.
Why this is interesting: Current data storage solutions often force companies to compromise between performance and costs, with some options being prohibitively expensive. This challenge is particularly pronounced for companies dealing with hybrid cloud data infrastructures, where complexities and costs can surge due to data transfer rates and multivendor setups. By condensing stored data, UltiHash enables companies to use fewer storage resources, facilitating the growth of data-driven applications in a more sustainable and cost-effective manner. I am excited by this company, given that it correctly identified a major need in data storage. They are addressing the requirements essential for the expected rise in global data resulting from advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and business intelligence.
Standard Biocarbon, a Portland, Maine, startup that produces biochar, a form of charcoal that captures carbon, raised a $5 million seed round from Nexus Development Capital.
Why this is interesting: Biochar, a substance resembling charcoal, is created by subjecting organic matter to extremely high temperatures in a low-oxygen setting. This process allows biochar to store carbon for extended periods, making it a commercially scalable and immediate pathway for carbon removal. Beyond its established applications in agriculture, biochar proves versatile in hazardous waste remediation, stormwater management, and the production of low-carbon cement. Research from the International Biochar Institute suggests that biochar could capture up to 3 billion metric tons of CO2 annually, potentially reducing global emissions by up to 6%. Given the numerous promising yet challenging-to-implement alternative carbon removal solutions such as direct air capture (DAC), ocean-based carbon removal, and reforestation, I am enthusiastic about biochar, as its clearer impact and scalability set it apart as a potentially more effective option.
Deals in the Works: If you want to learn more - feel free to reach out
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Quote of the week:
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
—Winston Churchill
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Have a great weekend everyone and Happy New Year!