DTN 147: America's Coming War on AI Regulation
Plus: Private space station assembles for orbit, liquid-metal motors, synthetic human chromosomes, AI models tested on Dungeons & Dragons, space junk sonic booms, China's defense innovation cities, and more.
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America’s coming war over AI regulation
“With Americans increasingly anxious about how AI could harm mental health, jobs, and the environment, public demand for regulation is growing. If Congress stays paralyzed, states will be the only ones acting to keep the AI industry in check. In 2025, state legislators introduced more than 1,000 AI bills, and nearly 40 states enacted over 100 laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”
- Meet the aviation startup taking the bumps out of your next flight
- Blue Origin's satellite internet network TeraWave will move data at 6Tbps
- Canada Rocket Company emerges from stealth
- Satellites encased in wood are in the works
- Sonic booms can protect Earth from dangerous space junk
- Feds finalize route for deep-sea mining beyond US waters
- Writing the code of life: synthetic human chromosomes on the horizon
- DOE seeks batteries with four times the juice
- House passes $839B defense spending bill, teeing up Senate action
- China is building ‘full-stack’ defense-innovation cities
- Elon Musk says Tesla’s restarted Dojo3 will be for ‘space-based AI compute’
- GLP-1 pills, immunology, and China, oh my: JPM 2026
“Last Saturday (January 10) we reached the key milestone of fully completing the primary structure, and some of the secondary structure; all of the acceptance testing occurred in November as well. Now we are starting clean room integration, which starts with TCS (thermal control system), propulsion, interior shells, and then moving on to avionics. And then final close out, which we expect will be done by the fall, and then we have on the books with NASA a full test campaign at the end of the year at Plum Brook. Then the launch in Q1 next year.” (via Ars Technica)
- Scientists uncover new quantum state that could power future technologies
- Liquid metal powers a whole new kind of motor
- P-type thin film can turn waste heat into power
- Low-platinum catalyst could make hydrogen production cheaper
- Engineers invent wireless transceiver that rivals fiber-optic speed
- UC San Diego launches ARPA-H project to 3D bioprint patient-specific Human Livers
- Tiny nanocourier that delivers molecular packages to cell surface unveiled
- Cell lines that make their own amino acids
- Engineered proteins use quantum spin resonance for biological sensing in bacteria
- Operator-led VC firm Plural targeting up to €1bn for new fund
- Mendra raises $82M in Series A Funding to acquire and develop rare disease therapies
- Exciva raises $59M Series B to fund phase 2 test of Alzheimer’s agitation drug
- Think Bioscience raises $55M to unearth new drug pockets
- D-Orbit raises $53M Series D to scale in-space computing and orbital services
- Humans& raises $480M seed to build human-centric frontier AI models
- Cancilico raises €2.5M seed to develop AI diagnostics for blood cancers
- Nexxa.ai raises $9M seed to build AI agents for heavy industries
- Shield Space raises £2M to build autonomous AI systems to protect satellites
- Neurophos raises $110M Series A to develop photonic AI chips
- Fusion energy company General Fusion to raise $300M+ and go public via $1B merger
- VentureMed Group raises $28M Series C to advance vascular medical devices
- Interstellar Technologies raises $130M to develop Zero rockets and expand Japan’s private space operations
- Gilmour Space raises $146M to scale rocket and satellite production in Australia
- Canada Rocket Company raises $4.5M seed to develop sovereign light- and medium-lift launch vehicles
- Samara Aerospace raises $10M seed to build ultra-stable satellite buses
- D-Orbit raises $128M Series D to expand satellite logistics and in-space services
- Fleetzero raises $43M Series A to develop advanced marine technology solutions
- Cytotheryx raises $60M Series A to advance preclinical liver disease cell therapies
- Noveon Magnetics raises $215M Series C to expand rare earth magnet production
- Dominion Dynamics raises $15.2M Seed to advance Canadian defence tech
- Neuropacs raises $1M+ Seed to advance AI neurological diagnostics
- Ethernovia raises $90M+ Series B to advance Ethernet packet-processor networking
- Raana Semiconductors raises $3M Seed to advance crystal growth systems
- Infinitopes raises $15.4M Seed extension to advance clinical-stage cancer vaccines
- ErVimmune raises €17M Series A to advance therapeutic cancer vaccines
- Sage Geosystems raises $97M Series B to advance pressure geothermal technology
- Zipline raises $600M to expand U.S. autonomous drone delivery
- Upscale AI raises $200M Series A to expand AI networking infrastructure
- RadixArk raises $400M to commercialize SGLang AI inference platform
Prediction markets are ushering in a world in which news becomes about gambling / California is free of drought for the first time in 25 years / This Austrian cow has learned to use tools / The sky is full of secrets: Glaring vulnerabilities discovered in satellite communications / AI models tested on Dungeons & Dragons to assess long-term decision-making / NASA is making last-ditch attempt to contact tumbling Mars orbiter / AI is already writing almost one-third of new software code / World models could unlock the next revolution in artificial intelligence / The search for alien artifacts Is coming into focus / He went to prison for gene-editing babies. Now he’s planning to do it again / Life’s evil twins—mirror cells—could doom Earth if scientists don’t stop them / Everyone wants AI sovereignty. No one can truly have it. / Yann LeCun’s new venture is a contrarian bet against large language models / What happens when a Chinese battery factory comes to town / Cybertruck-driving SpaceX fans seek name change for favorite beach / Congress green-lighted billions for EV chargers. Four years later, only 2% is spent. / Anthropic has to keep revising its technical interview test so you can’t cheat on it with Claude / ‘Physical AI’ enters the hype machine / OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google all have new AI healthcare tools - here's how they work
