VC

Government-Run VC? In This Economy?

UK startups are getting a different kind of government bailout, in the form of a new government-run venture fund. The initiative is eyeing top-tier innovators in areas like quantum computing, clean tech, and life sciences—anything with the potential to bring global tech glory to the UK. 

The man: Rishi Sunak, chancellor (think "CFO") of the UK. He’s a hedge-fund-investor-turned-Treasury-exec who’s always been keen on public-private investment vehicles. 

The plan: Launch a new state-run venture fund, “Future Fund: Breakthrough,” to invest up to ~$522 million in “potentially world-beating” UK startups—particularly loss-making ones that need big R&D money to scale up, the FT reports. 

How the venture capital Capital stacks up

Instead of a larger, national fund, the US has a network of smaller ones on the state level, says Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a nonpartisan think tank. 

But, but, but: Cutting-edge tech requires “a boatload of money,” as Atkinson told us, while state-level funds tend to aim for “modest kinds of innovations and companies" with a clear timeline for returns.  

That’s why the US’s big-ticket engine is In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s VC fund. Its investments center on technologies useful to the CIA, and smaller investors include the NSA and FBI. 

• IQT has a few public successes to its name: funding Keyhole, which became the foundation for Google Earth, as well as two Amazon acquisitions. 

Future returns 

Over the next few years, Atkinson predicts, we’ll see more countries set up government-run venture funds on the national level.

Who’s leading the way: China, which is backing funds at both the national and provincial level. The country also invests billions in many higher-risk or longer-trajectory US startups. 

• The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore all have national sovereign wealth funds. And in 2017, Taiwan established a national investment company focused on funding biotech, IoT, smart machinery, and more. 

Looking ahead: “To get to the scale of the challenge of...these big emerging technologies,” says Atkinson, “we’ve got to go beyond what the smaller, modest state programs are. We need a national initiative.” 

DEEPFAKES

DeepTom

What is it with deepfake creators and Tom Cruise? 

A couple of years ago, a Slovakian artist made a deepfake video of Bill Hader transforming into Cruise while on David Letterman’s show. And last week, a TikTok user named @deeptomcruise posted a few realistic deepfakes of the actor. 

• In one clip, deepTom wants to show everyone a clip of him “playing some sports” and proceeds to swing a golf club. 
• In another, he stumbles while inside what looks like an LA men’s fashion store and then gives his best Mikhail Gorbachev impression.
• As of this morning, @deeptomcruise had over 346,000 followers and 1 million likes. 

Big picture

The technology behind deepfakes is a genuinely new creative content tool for Hollywood, tech companies, and game makers. But since it’s widely available, the tech can also be used deceptively. 

Platforms could use terms of service to target the non-consensual distribution of deepfakes, while governments could use legislation. But enforcement will require automated detection methods to keep pace with creation tools.

SPONSORED BY LIQUID PISTON

Kick Your Portfolio Into High Gear

Let’s talk about a little innovation that has a lot in the way of investment potential: LiquidPiston.

If the name alone doesn’t rev your engines, allow us to tell you how LiquidPiston is geared up to revolutionize multiple industries—and give you the opportunity to ride shotgun as an investor.

LiquidPiston develops advanced rotary engines and hybrid-electric power systems based on their patented HEHC thermodynamic cycle and rotary engine architecture. This ain’t your father’s rotary—this engine’s been re-engineered inside out!

They’re up to 10x smaller and lighter, and offer advantages with potential for significantly increased range and reduced CO₂ emissions compared to gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.

That means LiquidPiston is poised to address a $460 billion market—think industries across aerospace, commerce, marine, automotive, and more.

Don’t stall getting in on LiquidPiston’s rocket ship.

Become an investor today.

Q&A

Minting and Auctioning Unreleased Music as NFTs

Justin Blau, who goes by the stage name 3LAU (pronounced "Blau"), is a DJ and electronic musician with 1+ billion lifetime streams. This weekend, he auctioned off 33 unique non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for a total of $11.7 million. 

Before the auction concluded, we caught up with 3LAU to discuss the process of minting and selling unreleased music as NFTs. We also chatted about cryptocurrencies, digital art, and taking on power structures in the music industry and beyond. 

A selected assortment of quotes

• Old is new again: “This is just a new means of letting people own their favorite art.”
• What an NFT represents: “A technological renaissance where artists have the power.”
• First exposure to cryptocurrencies: “I met the Winklevoss twins in Mexico on spring break in 2014, when I was opening for Avicii.”

Read the full Q&A here.

BITS & BYTES

Stat: Consumers are 3x more likely to buy electric if they’ve ridden in an EV, per a new JD Power survey.

Quote: “We don’t want to play Whac-a-Mole and ban every new dystopic piece of surveillance technology. We want an opt-in dynamic where if society decides they want it, they can have it.”—Ben Ewen-Campen, city councilmember for Somerville, Mass., the second U.S. city to ban government use of facial recognition. 

Read: How chess dot com built a streaming empire, in Protocol. 

Input: Asana’s Anatomy of Work 2021 report is dropping new stats on the latest work challenges—like how 70% of knowledge workers experienced burnout in the last year. Check out the full report.* 

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Aurora acquired OURS Technology, a 12-person lidar outfit founded in 2017. This is the self-driving startup’s second lidar acquisition in two years. 
• Snapchat’s Lens Studio 3.4 has new features that allow for 3D multi-body tracking, full body segmentation, and improved hand tracking. 
• Dept. of oof: Verizon warned users on Twitter to turn off 5G and use LTE service if they want to save battery.
• The NYPD has been testing Digidog, a 70-pound teleoperated robodog, amid controversy.
• Skydio has completed a new round of fundraising at a $1+ billion valuation, the FT reports, making it the first US drone maker to become a unicorn. ICYMI—we recently chatted with Skydio CEO Adam Bry. 

SPONSORED BY IBM

Will your business survive the next disruption? To withstand disruptions, organizations need continuous planning based on smarter and predictive insights. Only integrated, AI-powered planning and analytics can give you the flexibility to pivot quickly and respond to critical disruptions before they impact the bottom line. Register for the Plan for Business Resilience virtual event today.

THREE THINGS WE'RE WATCHING

Today: Instagram announced it’s launching a way for up to four people to “go Live together.” 

Tuesday to Thursday: Microsoft is holding its Ignite conference, billed as an exploration of “new tech that's ready to implement.” We’ll be watching Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote in mixed reality and dropping in and out of other sessions held in AR and VR. 

Wednesday: Snowflake earnings. In September, the cloud data storage startup scored the highest-valued software IPO in history. On Wednesday, execs will likely speak to the increased need for cloud data storage and analytics in a post-Covid world. 

TECH THROWBACK

Twenty years ago, Apple launched the iPod. It was nowhere near the first portable music player—the Walkman...walked...so the iPod could run—but it quickly skyrocketed to the top of the digital media market. 

In honor of what would’ve been Steve Jobs’s 66th birthday on February 24, longtime Apple execs and others shared stories of him in a Clubhouse room. The Computer History Museum has a full recording. 

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions: 

• The US government auctioned off $81 billion in spectrum
• AR is Snap’s future—Facebook’s and Apple’s too
• A primer on NFTs