Arooj Aftab Channels Sade Vibes in “Raat Ki Rani”
Arooj Aftab incredible Pakistani heir to Sade Was with director/video producer of this last night…sick. “Raat Ki Rani” https://t.co/pYwORx1zV6
Former Islamist Figure Aims to Shift Syria, Peace Israel
If he can be trusted and it is a risk, tempered by quest for survival, international legitimacy and funds He proves historic figure with Islamist terror roots who will have helped change the chessboard and remove Iran influence in Syria And make...
OpenAI's Images2 Pulls Me Back, Creates Magazine Instantly
1/ have not used openAI/chatgpt in ~3 months 0% use. 100% claude BUT with release of Images2 (especially for text) openAI recaptured ~20% of my use i designed a new 21-page magazine in 3mins that i fantasized existed: a mashup of...
US Navy Seizes Oil Tanker Tied to Iran Support
US military has successfully taken an oil tanker in INDOPACOM linked to 'material support for Iran' https://t.co/2kFoLSl7DD
Datacenter Boom Stalls: One‑third Built, Capex Cuts Thrill Hyperscalers
with moratoriums on datacenters + politicians using "affordability" (rising electricity costs) to get votes of ~240 GW of planned datacenter construction only ~1/3 getting built gap b/w announcement + construction widening+ hyperscalers are privately THRILLED to CUT CAPEX
Ignoring Private Credit Risks Led to Costly Failure
In Lux's Q1 2023 letter (3 years ago) on the theme of FAILURE comes from a FAILURE to imagine FAILURE we warned of the asset class du jour of "private credit" and the explosion in inflows that would not end...
Poll Gauges Odds of Bret Taylor’s Sierra Sale to OpenAI
what odds would you put of Bret Taylor selling Sierra to OpenAI + taking CEO with Sam moving to BoD? a) 0% b) 1-20% c) 20-60% d) 60-99%
New Tech Flipped U‑boats From Hunters to Prey
1/ In early 1940s German U-boats had total TECH superiority utterly decimating the Allies, threatened British supply and pretty much sank EVERY boat in its way... UNTIL a new TECH got invented... that turned them from HUNTER to HUNTED Here are the U-boats......
NYT Must Own Its Headline, Stop Editing Shame
NYT should own their shit. The power of the press is naming and shaming and afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. NYT shouldn't cowardly edit their headline. They should run a new headline "NYT embarrassed by NYT headline"
Ukraine Takes Enemy Position Using Only Autonomous Robots
SCI-FI x SCIFACT Zelensky reveals for the first time in this war’s history and enemy’s position was won entirely by autonomous robots. «The future is here, on the battlefield, and Ukraine is creating it. These are our ground robotic systems. For...
A Generation Ready, IRGC Misjudged the Threat
IRGC thought they caught us off guard a generation has prepared for this moment https://t.co/bETNyaifoB
Most Sub‑$400M VC Funds Will Vanish, Megafunds Thrive
When Lux started 20+ years ago the number of VC funds spiked then plunged precipitously Again today, as we predicted, the vast majority but not all “minnows” (subscale funds under 400M) will go extinct while a few “mega” raise AUM and...
Collaboration Spikes in Both Music Releases and Scientific Papers
Observation of a COLAB [sic] trend: new song releases on Spotify match same trend in new scientific paper releases… respectively MORE musical artist collaborators on new songs (combining fan bases) + MORE scientist authors collaborators on papers (combining know how)
US VCs to Pour Billions Into Free Iran
Cannot wait to fund brilliant Iranian founders out of a FREE Iran. I predict billions will be invested by US VCs in partnership with Persian expats once the people take back their country of Iran and remove repressive Islamic tyranny....
Join This Group to Raise Better-Prepared Kids
An amazing group that will make you want to be better parents so this doesn’t happen to your kids
Mossad Sabotage Idea: Turn Iran Missiles Against Itself
Wild Would be amazing if Mossad infiltrated Iran’s supply chain of missiles and every time Iran launch they just do a loop and attack Iran Like this
One Key Reason Drove Lux Capital, Sequoia Investment
It's one big reason we at @Lux_Capital + our awesome partners at @sequoia + @shaunmmaguire funded them.
Pilar Queen Becomes UTA Partner, Top Publishing Agent
Congrats to our bestie Pilar Queen, newly made partner at United Talent Agency @unitedtalent —the best agent hands down in Publishing... https://t.co/8CrAHDcCBj
Good Intentions Fuel Bad Ideas: Embrace Non‑Human Robot Forms
This is how good intentions spread bad ideas. Human shaped robots are inferior to weird evolved droids that do things thru engineering that defy what evolution yielded humans. Why limit to two hands and two legs
Trump Calms Markets, Buys Time, Pursues Diplomacy and Military Options
Lux's @brett_mcgurk current POV: (1) we're only halfway thru stated plan of 4-6 weeks (2) Occam's razor: Trump is calming markets + buying time. He will give diplomacy serious try, while advancing US military + creating more options, and continuing non-power...
400B Model On-Device: The New Worst Reality
It is happening (on-device inference) this is the worst that on-device inference will ever be 400B model in your pocket
Democracies Seek Israel's Defensive Tech Against Islamist Threats
Every democratic civilized country wants Israeli defense technology That technology was developed not to invade or expand—unlike all other conquering, imperial countries in history—but to defend against intolerant Islamist conquest trying to kill Jewish minorities and end Israel
Covert Info Ops, Not War, Shocked Me After Oct 8
what shook + activated me wasn’t the overt horror + terror of Oct 7th in Israel. I had no doubts Israel would win the kinetic war No it was the covert decade+ long-planned insidious infiltration info ops into news, politicians, .edu...
U.S. Allies Expose Iran's Deception on Nukes, Miss
Iran lied. About uranium. About missiles. About proxies. American + allied defense is truth serum
Saudi Power Grows as US Secures Bases for Iran War
The only way is through. I believe Saudi will be in a power position to help the world with oil and help their own ambition projects and the capital to fund them
Real-Time Video Generation Will Revolutionize Training Simulations
I had lunch w @runwayml founder @c_valenzuelab today What he showed me was insane. real-time video generation. this will lead to simulations training simulations.
AI Excels, yet Still Can’t Learn Like Toddlers
1/ New paper from @ylecun et al on alternative approach for AI to learn more biologically... paper basically says AI is super smart but still can't learn like a toddler can... the main critique https://t.co/QcHpTmcRbZ
Twitter Revived: Musk, Bier and Others Defy Predictions
remember when everyone said twitter was done, dead? @elonmusk + @nikitabier + many others saved it. it's amazing.
Nominal Cofounders Secure $80M at $1B Valuation
A big week for @CameronLMcCord + @brycestrauss cofounders of @Nominal_io with $80M raise at $1B led by our super smart partners at @foundersfund
Autonomous Maritime Defense AI: Next VC Goldmine
1/ Fully automonous + maritime defense AI Institutional Investor: "Could Be the Next Big Investment Opportunity in Venture Capital... "... https://t.co/NoMGiNKai6
Variant Bio Hunts Rare Traits For
From a tiny idea in our Lux office to deal after deal... ...@VariantBio finding outlier people, with outlier traits, in outlier parts of the world to make outlier drugs. organ by organ ... https://t.co/I5fK8nzZb4
Qasar's Power Lies in Private Building, Not Publicity
The reason @qasar is one of the most important tech CEOs today is NOT because he built a monster business shrewdly, compounding tech and capital into a cash-flow positive business... but b/c he builds in PRIVATE + rarely speaks in PUBLIC
Applied Intuition Poised as AI‑physical World Leader
Lux family co Applied Intuition 🇺🇸 will be one of the largest, most important companeis at the intersection of AI + physical world.
New Alabama Factory Boosts U.S. Defense Tech
we will REINDUSTRIALIZE + win the production war 🇺🇸 less than a year later, we're opening Factory 4 by @HadrianInc in... Alabama making the most cutting-edge American defense tech will be there Fri March 20. can't wait.
US Maritime Crisis Spurs Bipartisan Push for Lean Dual‑Use Ships
1/ The US maritime base is in crisis A new Whitehouse Maritime Action Plan (MAP) highlights a rare bipartisan truth: rebuilding shipbuilding capacity is natsec priority. the core debate? expensive battleships vs. lean fast dual-use vessels https://t.co/ornn1pqNVC
AI Will Spawn Human Errand Jobs for Autonomous Agents
one big coming surprise in AI MORE jobs created for people. but with a twist the increase in jobs will be for human taskrabbits running physical world errands (with no context of why they're doing task)... for AI agents working for other humans...
Edge Inference Will Replace Mega‑data‑center Compute
everyone is saying "there won't be enough compute." I think the opposite the amount of capex being deployed for multi-gigawatt data centers does not make sense why the narrative is going to shift from centralized mega-clusters to localized edge inference...
Treasury, SEC Crack Down on Fake Charities Funding Terrorists
Treasury + @SecScottBessent have intel and are taking action on fake charities that send cash to Islamist terrorists. Hopefully nobody you know has given money to these + others.
Young Staff Outsmart Outdated Media Oversight Teams
Yup and yup. WTF is wrong with social media oversight functions at large media companies. The young people managing these accounts 100% know what they are doing and know the old people 100% have no idea.
China Refrains From Detaining Ships Amid US‑Iran Clash
“China could have held these vessels at port, imposed an administrative delay, invented a customs hold – any number of bureaucratic tools, but didn’t,” he said, calling the decision notable at a time when the United States and Iran are engaged...
US and Israel Signal Extended Iran Conflict Through September
The signal from Washington and Jerusalem is that this runs through September or later— long enough to set expectations, long enough to signal to the Mullahs and IRGC we have staying power in a war of attrition, long enough to buy...
From Zero to $1B in 3.5 Years: Lux‑Backed Success
From ZERO to $1B in 3.5 years. We wrote their first check at Lux… Here’s how they did it.
Bill Gurley Missed Google’s 10,000x Gain, Shares Lessons
the amazing story how Bill Gurley @bgurley passed on Google––and missed a 10,000x return🤯 i think he'll be all right. And you will too if you read his new book 🔖"Runnin' Down a Dream"... https://t.co/fiRcxsWair
Early Belief Fuels Tiny Startups Into Big Success
there will be MANY minnows that become VERY successful firms we at Lux once had a few $ M 1st fund from 1 amazing person who believed in us (a pledge fund) + then a $100M second fund that we couldnt...
Xi Signals: Move From SaaS to Hard Tech
1/ 2+ years ago I advised the shift from SaaS to Hard Tech Why? Because I saw a signal. It wasn't from Buffett. It was from Xi Jinping. He signaled software was done + aerospace, defense, biotech + hardware was next.
From MEMS Startup to $7.5B TI Acquisition
Over 15yrs ago Lux partner @Farshchi and I worked close with Lux family co Silicon Clocks (MEMS resonators on CMOS circuits for timing products) thru their sale to Silicon Labs… Today Silicon Labs got acquired by Texas Instruments for $7.5B
AI Secretly Powering Darren Aronofsky's Latest Film
My friend Darren Aronofsky texted me this earlier and my draw dropped. He told me it was AI. Lux is deeply invested in AI (esp @runwayml) but had he not told me I would have thought he made the movie...
Variant Bio Launches $200M‑plus Pharma Collaborations with New Platform
1/ Big news today from Lux family co Variant Bio 🧬📈@VariantBio Announced its new Inference platform is now available to research partners + has collaborations with several pharmaceutical companies in deals totaling more than $200 million including Boehringer + Novo...
US Investors: Back Iran’s Emerging Tech Talent
If YOU are American🇺🇸 (need not be Iranian or Persian) investor, family office, asset manager and interested in funding technologists, engineers, entrepreneurs when Iran is free and talented is and opportunity is unleashed…. Leave a comment below 👇
Lux Funds Frontier; Others Waste on Quantum Hype
1000%. From my partner @Farshchi Lux funds the frontier but some people are funding really stupid shit including Quantum and Photonic compute (photonic interconnect and data relay makes good sense, not compute) nor data centers in space for terrestrial use