Every quarter, Lux publishes our latest quarterly letter to our limited partners, highlighting the key themes we’re working on as a partnership. These topics are — unsurprisingly — bold, as the frontiers of science fiction transition into the world of the possible. But this time around, we’re emphasizing a new thesis that we think combines the futu…

This week’s solar eclipse captured the imaginations of millions of Americans throughout an arc across the continent. One of those entranced was Sam Arbesman, Lux’s scientist-in-residence and a local of Cleveland, which sat in the full zone of totality. Sam also happened to live in Kansas City during the 2017 eclipse, so he has (accidentally) eclips…

During a recent interview, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized his interest in how Nvidia’s AI processing chips could transform the science of life. He noted that this science, when properly understood, could evolve into a new form of engineering. Currently though, we lack the knowledge of how the extreme complexity of biology works, nor do we have …

Astrobiology has seen a series of revolutions over the past three decades that have completely reinvigorated the field. Scientists who were curious about life and biological organisms across the universe once had to handle the so-called giggle factor: the idea that they were kooky crazies searching for UFOs and little green men. With a dramatic imp…

Humans are enamored by a good story. The world overloads our mammalian senses, and so we seek any simplifying structure to narrate what we are witnessing and make it more accessible for processing. That simplification doesn’t just reduce the complexity of the world, but also makes it difficult to see the extent by which luck drives the successes of…

Connections are the key ingredient for careers, society and AI neural networks to boot. Sometimes those connections arise spontaneously and other times they’re planned, but the most interesting ones tend to be planned that go in unexpected directions. That’s the story of David Ha, the co-founder and CEO of Sakana, a world-class generative AI resear…

The construction of Boston’s Big Dig highway tunnels has gone down in history as one of the most infamously delayed and over-budgeted infrastructure projects in the sorry annals of U.S. growth and progress. But Ian Coss sees the project radically different. In hindsight, he argues, the Big Dig was a steal: the good kind. Far from being a gargantuan…

Home appliances are some of our most used and time-saving technologies, but they have barely evolved since their invention. A “smart” movement from major manufacturers tried to upgrade them with random tech features over the past decade, only to frustrate consumers with random crashes and mandatory web updates for a fridge. It was the nadir of user…

Colonizing Mars has gone from the speculative fiction section of the bookstore right into the halls of Congress. Entrepreneurs led by Elon Musk have made “Occupy Mars” a tagline, and companies the Earth over are exploring the logistics of settling humans across the Moon and Mars. But what’s the true viability of a Mars settlement plan? Do we have t…

The current drive for a Mars colony revolves around two central axes: one is a fear of existential risk and the other is a search for existentialism. On the former, philosophers and probabilists remain deeply concerned about humanity’s Achilles heel: that our entire existence depends on the sustenance of a single blue dot in the Milky Way. Humanity…

The cost of launching a payload into low-earth orbit has shrunk dramatically over the past two decades as SpaceX has aggressively expanded its capability to repeatedly launch payloads into orbit at cheap cost. But accessing orbits farther away from Earth, such as Medium Earth orbit (MEO) and Geostationary orbit (GEO), remain expensive endeavors. Lu…

Lux announced big news today: we are leading a $30 million founding seed round into Sakana AI, a Tokyo, Japan-based AI research laboratory that uses evolutionary methods, collective intelligence and character-level training to radically accelerate the training and development of nature-inspired AI foundation models. It’s a marquee check for Lux int…

Hey, it's Danny Crichton. 2023 was an incredibly busy year, and nowhere was there more fervent attention than on artificial intelligence. OpenAI launched ChatGPT at the very end of 2022, and its implications found purchase this year among more than one hundred million users and the regulators who serve them. Those product developments don't even ge…

In a world where science fiction often paints a pessimistic picture of dystopian futures and critiques of modern technology, novelist Eliot Peper stands out with his latest work, "Foundry." a thrilling exploration of the geopolitical intricacies of semiconductor manufacturing. In this episode of the "Securities" podcast, host Danny Crichton engages…

Ever wonder if your dreams were more than just dreams? Dive into an intriguing conversation with Erik Hoel on our latest “Securities” podcast with host Danny Crichton, as we explore the unexpected link between AI, neuroscience, and the enigmatic world of dreams. What if dreams are our brain's way of preventing cognitive overfitting, much like synth…

In this episode of the "Securities" podcast, host Danny Crichton leads a discussion on consciousness with guests Erik Hoel, Josh Wolfe, and Samuel Arbesman. They dive into "The Consciousness Winter," comparing it to the AI winter in artificial intelligence. This concept highlights how consciousness studies were once sidelined but have since seen a …

Welcome to "Securities," a podcast and newsletter about science, technology, finance, and the human condition. In this episode, Danny Crichton and Josh Wolfe discuss themes from Lux Capital's Quarterly Letter, where techno-optimism collides with the despair of techno-pessimism. The conversation dives into the paradoxes of AI, oscillating between it…

In this episode of “Securities” by Lux Capital, host Danny Crichton joins guests Brian McCullough, host of the Techmeme Ride Home podcast and General Partner at the Ride Home Fund; Shahin Farshchi, General Partner at Lux Capital; and Matthew Lynley, founder and writer of the Supervised newsletter to discuss regulation and competition in AI, questio…

Mariners insider Shannon Drayer takes us through the best Mariners interviews, analysis and talk from the week on Seattle Sports 710 AM, providing her insight along the way. In this week's edition, we hear highlights from Ryan Divish os Seattle Times, Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith, M's analyst Ryan Rowland-Smith, SeattleSports.com's Brandon …

Mariners insider Shannon Drayer takes us through the best Mariners interviews, analysis and talk from the week on Seattle Sports 710 AM, providing her insight along the way. In the first episode of the 2023-24 offseason, we hear highlights from interviews with M's broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith, Mike Petriello of MLB.com and MLB Network's Jon Morosi, …

Welcome to this enlightening episode of "Securities” Podcast with host Danny Crichton, where we navigate the intricate crossroads of technology, national security, and democracy. Our guest today is Miles Taylor, the author of "Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump." In this episode, we delve deep into the challenges and complexi…

As the birthplace of semiconductors and computers, Silicon Valley has historically been a major center of the defense industry. That changed with the Vietnam War, when antiwar protesters burned down computing centers at multiple universities to oppose the effort in Southeast Asia, as well as the rise of countercultural entrepreneurs who largely det…

Artificial life, aka “A-life”, is an intellectually vital field simulating life within computational systems. By allowing simulations to run uninterrupted for extended periods, researchers can observe emergent behaviors, patterns, and even evolutionary trajectories. What's particularly intriguing is that these artificial systems often exhibit behav…

Think AI can't touch the creative world? Think again. Writers, directors, illustrators - none are safe. AI models, despite their glaring flaws, are on the verge of rendering the vast majority of 'creative' work obsolete. The digital age has already flooded the market with so-called 'creatives', and now AI threatens to wash the least original of the…

Historians survey the past and the Twitterati (X-erati?) process the events of the present day. But what does it mean to search the future for clues of what’s to come — and how much longer will we have to wait for it? In this episode of “Securities”, Danny Crichton welcomes Lawrence Lundy-Bryan, research partner at Lunar Ventures and the publisher …

Welcome to "Securities," a podcast and newsletter devoted to science, technology, finance, and the human condition. In this episode, Josh Wolfe and Danny Crichton bring science fiction into science fact with our guest, Christopher Mason, a geneticist and computational biologist who has been a principal investigator of 11 NASA missions and projects.…

The rise of generative AI and large-language models (LLMs) have forced computer scientists and philosophers to ask a fundamental question: what is the definition of intelligence and consciousness? Are they the same or different? When we input words into a chatbot, are we seeing the early inklings of a general intelligence or merely the rudiments of…

The birds and the bees just don’t cut it anymore. With the rising age of first pregnancies in America, optimizing fertility has become the linchpin for potential parents embarking on the journey to childbearing. Even so, we remain beholden to dozens of myths driven by inadequate science, even while we ignore the vast new potential — and limits — of…

While the natural world is fecund with a dazzling diversity of smells, the landscape of scents in our daily lives is far less organic. A handful of tightly-held fragrance companies and an extremely small guild of perfumers carefully craft the scents that go into every product we purchase, from the scent of clean laundry in our detergents to the orc…

In a quantified world, the act of creation remains mysterious. Where do ideas come from? How does an artist translate a concept or a feeling into the final work that we get to read or view? The interior drama of that mystery becomes ever more visible as the singular artist expands into a collaboration. How do relationships change the trajectory and…

We perceive the world through our senses, watching the sunset, hearing the staccato of a violin soloist, smelling and ultimately tasting the chocolate and butter of freshly-baked cookies, and of course, feeling the touch of a loving partner. Yet while scientists have answered fundamental questions about color and audio, from understanding their phy…

On the Final Cactus League Report of 2023 Gary Hill, Shannon Drayer, and Aaron Goldsmith get you ready for the start of regular season, they talk to Mariners Pitcher Andrés Muñoz, Outfielder A. J. Pollock, and Athletic Mariners Reporter Corey Brock.By Seattle Sports

It’s been a long road to mastering the cell, but biological scientists think they are getting closer and closer to understanding the fundamental mechanics of the kernels of life that make up our bodies. Decades after the sequencing of the first human genome, we now have a much more comprehensive understanding of how to discover a cell’s functions —…

ChatGPT has overtaken the cultural zeitgeist faster than any consumer service in the history of technology, with some analysts estimating that it has already been used by more than 100 million people. So when OpenAI, ChatGPT’s creator, live-streamed the launch of its new AI model GPT-4, there was a rush of excitement reminiscent of the Apple produc…

The Lux LP quarterly letter has become an institution for its intricate weave of pragmatic cynicism about human nature and unbounded optimism about the power of human progress in the face of macroeconomic forces. We released the latest quarterly letter on the theme of “From Strife to Strive” just before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week…

While much of the venture world has hit a reset in 2023, you’d never know that in artificial intelligence, where fire marshals are shutting down crammed engineering meetups and startups are once again raising at eye-watering valuations. Why the excitement? Because for founders, technologists and VCs, it feels like the everlasting promise of AI dati…

Mariners Director of Player Development Justin Toole, his experience of his new role and working with the farm clubs, his career of playing baseball and playing all 9 positions in one 9 inning game // Amateur Scout Scott Hunter, explains what the off season looks like for a scout, how scouting has evolved over the years in terms of secrets and the …

Welcome to The Hot Stove, a week away from Spring Training action! // Mariners Relief Pitcher Penn Murfee, update on getting to Spring Training and his guitar playing / song writing, how did he go from position player to pitcher, he blacked out when the Mariners ended the drought // Mariners 3rd Base Coach Manny Acta, explains how he thinks the shi…

Artificial intelligence has become ambient in our daily lives, scooting us from place to place with turn-by-turn navigation, assisting us with reminders and alarms, and guiding professionals from lawyers and doctors to reaching the best possible decisions with the data they have on hand. Domain-specific AI has also mastered everything from games li…

Continuing from the preseason Mariners Media Lunch with newly acquired OF Teoscar Hernandez and 2023 Bullpen Coach Stephen Vogt. Plus a preview of the A's season with broadcaster Chris Townsend.By Seattle Sports

Shannon Drayer and Gary Hill catch you up from the Mariners Media Lunch. This hour includes extended conversations with Cal Raleigh and Jerry Dipoto.By Seattle Sports

Mariners Assistant General Manager Andy McKay joins the show to talk about his journey to his new promotion and his time overseeing the Mariners farm club system, there is no support staff with the Mariners everyone plays a part // Andy McKay felt some validation when the Mariners ended the drought, Andy believes he knew Cal Raleigh was going to hi…

Gary Hill and Aaron Goldsmith are joined by Mariners Starting Pitcher Logan Gilbert, they talk about Logan's offseason and if the facial hair will make another appearance, talking about pitches and how Logan describes the differences of a few of them // Logan Gilbert talks about learning new pitches and how to get the best version of each pitch for…

They say that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, but what if each shot costs money and is actually a tradeoff with taking a different shot? Time and money are limited, and that means we must constantly balance investing in our current projects and ideas against seeking out new opportunities. While there has been prodigious work published on…

Seattle Mariners Player Cooper Hummel joins the show and talks about his childhood as a Mariners fan and how he got through the ranks of high school and college baseball // Steve Sparks from the Houston Astros Broadcast Team // Seattle Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh breaks down the highlights from the 2022 season, ending the drought, playing through …

Welcome to The Hot Stove // Seattle Mariners Manager Scott Servais joins the show to talk about the upcoming season, rule changes, and their offseason acquisitions // Senior Director for Player Procurement Dave Cameron // Dave Cameron ContinuedBy Seattle Sports

Paul Sewald joins Gary, Rick, and Shannon to talk about the 2022 season and ending the drought, a look into his 2023 goals and preparation // Paul Sewald Continued // Frankie Thon Jr. joins the show // Wrapping up the show and previewing next week and Spring TrainingBy Seattle Sports

Welcome to The Hot Stove Show, Hosted by Gary Hill, Rick Rizzs and Shannon Drayer, Felix Hernandez will be inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame on August 12th // Mariners Infield Coach Perry Hill joins the show, explains what he does in the offseason and how he is preparing for his new players to coach, how will the restrictions on shifts effect…

Mariners insider Shannon Drayer sits down with George Kirby, the team's 2019 first-round draft pick who made his MLB debut with six scoreless innings in a start against Tampa Bay on May 8.By Seattle Sports

Dan Wilson joins Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill and talks about how his offseason looks like, explains his routine for Spring Training down in Arizona, High hopes for Cal Raleigh in 2023 after such a magnificent 2022 season // Breaking down the wall art at Hatback Bar and Grille with Baseball Historian David Eskenazi // Ryan Rowland-Smith joins Gary Hill…