Workers Face Open-Enrollment Shock As Cost Hits 24-Year High

Employee health benefit costs are expected to rise 8.2% on average in 2027 — the highest increase since 2003 — according to estimates.

Google Tapping A $350 Million Solar Plant Powered With Zinc Batteries

Its data centers will be the main customers for a grid-connected solar and battery plant that blends lithium packs for short-term use with 10-hour zinc modules.

A Robot That Can Draw Your Blood Is Coming To The U.S.

This week’s edition of InnovationRx looks at Vitestro’s newly authorized robot, Italy’s $10 billion pharma family, this year’s Covid-19 vaccines and more.

Anthropic’s IPO Prospectus Will Test Assumptions Behind The AI Boom

Anthropic’s IPO prospectus will give investors the first audited view of its reported revenue surge and massive compute commitments across the AI buildout.

Meet The Ex-OpenAI Guys Building A Cheaper Open Source Alternative

Just 15 months after it founding, Applied Compute is raising $350 million at a $3.25 billion valuation, nearly double its worth from four months ago.

AfterQuery Becomes YC’s Fastest Unicorn At $3.2 Billion

Twenty three year-old Spencer Mateega pivoted his YC startup into the fastest unicorn in the accelerator’s history, fueling AI’s shift toward human reasoning data.

Nvidia Turns $3.5 Billion MediaTek Deal Into A Toll On Custom AI Chips

Nvidia’s $3.5 billion MediaTek deal positions the company to control the infrastructure behind custom AI chips, turning the shift to custom silicon into a toll business.

Can Safer Fuel Power A Nuclear Energy Boom?

This week’s Current Climate newsletter also looks at how human-caused climate change is making El Niño stronger and growing demand for community solar projects

Prompts On The Playa: AI Invades Burning Man

Silicon Valley brought sushi, Starlink and luxury camps to Burning Man. Now it’s importing something potentially even more divisive: AI slop.

This Startup Is Building Superconducting Satellite Motors

Superconducting satellites. Progress in nuclear fusion. Why performative AI is overrated. All that and more in this week’s Prototype.