Hope Dancy

Great insight from Emily Benson (Minerva Technology Futures), @MegReiss (SolidIntel), Jonah Glick-Unterman (@VulcanElements), and Matt Shieh (Canopy Aerospace & Defense). Thanks @MITSloan and @HarvardHBS #technatsec going strong so far!

Closing that gap requires two things: significant investment in derisking upstream, and significant knowledge building — from encouraging investors to see the importance, value, and potential, to educating the next generation of innovators and manufacturers.

Walking out of the #TechNatSec supply chain panel. The big takeaway: global supply chains are an incredibly complex network with nodes of vulnerability that at times we don’t even know we don’t know about.

@sissenberg @PeterHamby @nytimes how many eyes do we think saw this before it went out?

Does the @nytimes know what NATO stands for?

Kicking off #TechNatSec at Harvard/MIT this weekend. Some of what I’m thinking about: supply chain, economic security, and where defense VC is placing bets. More to come. @HarvardHBS @MITSloan

@CollinRugg Where's the gofundme to send him to space camp omg

NEW: Kid gives a blunt answer after a CNN reporter asked him why he was excited about the Artemis II launch. Reporter: "Why do you want to be here? Why do you love space? Why do you love being a part of history?" Kid: "We're going back to the freakin' moon, that's why!"

This kid gets it

Features what Anthropic supposedly balked at: "consistent with applicable law" — is Anthropic seeing something OAI doesn't in adding this caveat? is OAI ceding more governance than its letting on? or was this a clash of principles between Pentagon and Anthropic leadership?

This week's reckoning got deferred. Here's what actually happened 👇 hopedancy.substack.com

They're running ads focused on jobs: nytimes.com/2026/01/27/tec…

"Xcel said the project would not raise costs for existing customers, as Google will pay all costs for its new service in line with Minnesota's regulatory and legislative requirements for large loads." reuters.com/business/energ…

Whats interesting is corporate behavior is already adjusting for this —a lot of companies are trying to preempt discontent by taking on costs of energy or being explicit about how many jobs data centers will make. But... will people buy it?

@DeItaone It's going to be interesting to see how AI-weary Europe takes this as the pricing apparatus for a supposed bloc

🇺🇸 US TURNS TO AI TO SET GLOBAL MINERAL PRICES The Pentagon plans to use an AI system to set benchmark prices for critical minerals, part of a broader push by Donald Trump’s administration to build a global metals trading bloc. The program—developed by DARPA—aims to calculate fair prices by factoring in production costs and excluding market distortions, particularly from China. Initially focused on minerals like germanium, gallium, antimony, and tungsten, the plan would pair AI-driven pricing with tariffs to stabilize markets and support Western producers. While designed to counter price manipulation and boost supply chain security, the proposal faces uncertainty over adoption, implementation, and potential impacts on global trade and costs.

The geopolitical centre of gravity is shifting towards China, driven primarily by Europe's increased distance from the US under the Trump II era. We analysed decades of UN voting data to create a new US-China axis, and found the US advantage is at its lowest level this century.

States govern territory. AI doesn't have any. New essay on why multinational tech companies are quietly stepping in to fill that governance gap: hopedancy.substack.com/p/who-governs-…

These fundraising texts are going to make me an anarchist

And now moving onto the Janes

Watching Spike Lee’s Chi-raq tonight. Lysistrata feels somehow…. relevant right now 🤔

@gardengirl125 Went on a date with a guy who said he'd never had tacos and 10 min later told me he was anti-feminist so you can never be too careful

I just blocked someone for saying they didn’t like tacos. I am not fucking around today

Happy Birthday Jimbo 💯