Brain implants, friction, LegoGPT
Lux Recommends #458
What happens when the company that maintains your brain implant goes out of business, the dangerous drive to erase all of life’s little frictions, and a new tool to generate the LEGO model of your dreams. Plus join us in Pittsburgh, London, and NYC.
From Lux Capital
If you missed it in the last edition, Lux Capital recently unveiled its Science Helpline, a commitment of $100 million of additional funding to create and launch new ventures based on the hard work of academic scientists. Since then, Reed Albergotti of Semafor has spoken to Lux’s Josh Wolfe about the initiative, calling it a “valiant effort” and noting “there is enough wealth in the US to find a way to limit the damage [from budget cuts] by funding critical projects in areas like cancer research and materials science.” In his own coverage of the helpline, from Upstarts Media quoted Josh’s call for other firms to get involved: “We want to help galvanize a syndicate of science-minded venture folks that will support this, because this isn’t something we can do alone.” Also of note is the coverage in STAT.
In other news, Lux portfolio company Basic Capital recently launched a new product for retirement savers. Cognichip, a startup hoping to speed up the chip design process, has emerged from stealth with $33 million in seed funding in a round co-led by Lux and Mayfield. And Reflect Orbital, a solar power startup, closed its Series A with Lux leading the round.
Finally, earlier this week, Lux’s Deena Shakir discussed AI’s revolutionary impact on healthcare at the STAT Breakthrough Summit.
From around the web
1. Brain freeze
Tracie Rotter recommends a pair of stories on the aftermath of abandonment: the increasingly common experience of getting an implant of a lifesaving device only to have the company that maintains it disappear. An April 30 episode of the Unexplainable podcast updates original reporting by in Nature. From Drew:
When the makers of implanted devices go under, the implants themselves are typically left in place — surgery to remove them is often too expensive or risky, or simply deemed unnecessary. But without ongoing technical support from the manufacturer, it is only a matter of time before the programming needs to be adjusted or a snagged wire or depleted battery renders the implant unusable. People are then left searching for another way to manage their condition, but with the added difficulty of a non-functional implant that can be an obstacle both to medical imaging and future implants. For some people … no clear alternative exists.
2. Slippery slope
I enjoyed ’s new newsletter on the value of friction in the modern world.
What we're witnessing isn't just an extension of the attention economy but something new - the simulation economy. It's not just about keeping you glued to the screen anymore. It's about convincing you that any sort of real-world effort is unnecessary, that friction itself is obsolete. The simulation doesn't just occupy your attention, right, instead it replaces the very notion that engagement should require effort. Which is… wild.
…There are startups now, like one called Cluely that promise real-time assistance for everything: campus tests, dating, even thinking. Their slogan is: “So you never have to think alone again.” Their plan is eventually to develop a chip for your brain.
This is what a frictionless world looks like. Everything accelerates, until you forget what it means to try.
3. Sales pitch
Lux editor Katie Salam suggests ’s deep dive on China’s race to get around tariffs and maintain market access by building factories around the world.
While tariffs and trade relations may change over time, an expanding global production network creates more robust channels of market access for Chinese companies, particularly as local jobs become attached to Chinese factories. One might see this as the third phase of China’s development of global supply chains more generally. The first phase was about securing access to resources. The second phase—the Belt and Road Initiative—was about building the infrastructure for global production and shipping. And now the third phase is about securing access to markets.
4. What to…
Read: Check out Diane Coyle’s new book The Measure of Progress.
Play: Lux’s Shaq Vayda plugs LegoGPT, an AI tool to help you generate LEGO structures from text prompts.
Say: Laurence Pevsner flags ’s hilarious database of non-synonymous synonyms (“wave function” ≠ “beach party”).
Watch: Our scientist-in-residence, Sam Arbesman, recommends this scene-by-scene breakdown of the veracity of movies supposedly based on “true” events.
