The Rundown: Edition 19 – AWS outage, superintelligent AI, and £500m for Oxbridge
Welcome to The Rundown, a snapshot of news, views and intel from the fast-growth tech and investment scene.
Thanks to those who have flagged events or stories of interest, please keep them coming. You can send updates for next week to [email protected], and do 
UK Government announces £500m Oxbridge investment
The Government has announced a significant funding boost for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, including £400m towards infrastructure in Cambridge. Chancellor Rachel Reeves hopes the corridor could add £78bn to the UK’s economy by 2035. BBC
Andreessen Horowitz aims to raise $10bn fund
The Silicon Valley VC firm is set to replenish its finances through a push to raise an additional $10bn: $6bn for more mature companies, $1.5bn for each AI application and AI infrastructure funds, with a further $1bn for its “American Dynamism” fund. FT
AI startup Jack & Jill plans acqui-hire spree
The London-based AI recruitment startup – which announced a $20m raise last week – is aiming to double or triple its current team of 12 over the next year by buying other companies. Jack & Jill is building two platforms: Jack for job seekers and Jill for employers looking for talent. Sifted
Reeves launches new scale-up unit
The Chancellor is set to announce plans to supercharge UK innovation by launching a new body to improve responses to regulatory queries and provide access to expert support. It is hoped the move will help to bolster the UK fintech sector. City AM
800 public figures join call for a ban on Superintelligent AI
Public figures, including Geoffrey Hinton, the AI pioneer, and Richard Branson, have joined calls for controls on the development of Artificial Superintelligence technologies, arguing that a ban should be in place until there is “broad scientific consensus” on developing ASI “safely and controllably”. The Guardian
Blood flow startup CoMind raises $60m from Plural
The London-based startup, founded in 2018 by then-teenager James Dacombe, has raised $60m from Plural, taking its total funding to $100m. CoMind is developing technology to monitor blood flow and pressure in the brain. FT
Nexos AI secures €30m Series A
Nexos AI, which helps enterprises adopt AI securely and at scale, has announced a new funding round co-led by Evantic Capital and Index Ventures, with participation from Creandum, Dig Ventures, and angel backers. TechCrunch
Cybersecurity firm Acoru raises €10m
The Madrid-based startup, which aims to detect criminal intent before fraud actually happens, has raised a Series A round led by 33N Ventures, with further funding from existing investors Adara Ventures and Athos Capital. Tech Funding News
Mondra raises £10m for supply chain platform
Mondra, which has developed a platform to track the environmental impact of supply chains, has raised £10m in a round led by AlbionVC, with participation from Planet A, Swisscom, PeakBridge, Ponderosa Ventures and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures. UKTN
So, the internet stopped working
After the Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage this week, Stephen Kelly, CEO of Cirata, notes that “when one element falters, the ripple effects threaten our economy, public safety and everyday life”. LBC and BBC ‘Wake up to Money’
Don’t worry too much about AI bubbling over
Bubbles offer opportunity as well as risk, according to Steve Rigby, Co-CEO of Rigby Group. Losses are inevitable in the AI revolution, but the talent, breakthroughs and infrastructure created by the technology will power the next era. Times
The rare earth materials race is on
China’s export controls mean automakers worldwide are scrambling to find rare earth materials due to China’s export controls, which could lead to parts shortages and plant closures, according to Monumo CEO and Co-founder, Dominic Vergine. Reuters
The UK is no Silicon Valley…yet
Dr Daniel Hulme, CEO and Co-founder of Conscium, believes that the UK will struggle to scale AI companies unless it addresses four barriers: market size, capital, culture, and access to entrepreneurs. LBC
Most agencies that don’t use AI will be gone
At Bloomberg Tech Summit this week, Maani Safa, CEO and Founder of Poppins Agency, spoke about why the majority of agencies that don’t transform by harnessing AI will be “gone” in the next two years. LinkedIn
A British blueprint for AI regulation
The UK has announced a series of new measures to help businesses test AI products in real-world settings. While Lord Markham, Chairman of Spex Capital, believes the NHS is “perfectly positioned” to benefit from such tech, its fragmented nature will pose a few challenges. Sifted
Will you give up Google Chrome?
OpenAI has launched Atlas, a free web browser that works closely with its chatbot, ChatGPT. Calum Chace, Co-founder of Conscium, won’t blame anyone for comparing Atlas to Chrome, especially as ChatGPT “already threatens the position” of Google Search. Metro
The quiet decline of British entrepreneurship
Tim Mills, Managing Partner at ACF Investors, notes that fewer people are willing to give it all up to become an entrepreneur. He highlights issues around risk, reward, access and culture. Startups Magazine
How the Autumn Budget can support growth
Raising capital gains tax (CGT) would damage the UK’s startup ecosystem, according to Stuart Mellis, Chief Financial Officer of Optalysys. Rather, the government should incentivise investment from pension funds and simplify procurement. TechRoun
A new model for restructuring defence innovation
UK-Ukraine TechExchange’s latest research paper, ‘UK-Ukraine Model For Defence Innovation‘, examines how lessons from Ukraine’s wartime innovation could reshape the UK’s approach to defence reform. In Defence
Why we need AI-powered infrastructure
Over half of the UK’s local road network has less than 15 years of life left. Tom Bartley, General Manager of Civil Infrastructure at Mind Foundry, reveals how AI-powered inspection tools could help solve the problem. Highways News
Leading European space companies Airbus, Leonardo and Thales have struck a deal to merge their businesses and create a rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The new Toulouse-based entity will employ about 25,000 people and generate annual revenues of €6.5bn. The company, without a name (for now), will combine satellite manufacturing, space systems, components, and services, meaning we (hopefully) shouldn’t see a repeat of halted Ukrainian military communications when SpaceX’s Starlink was down earlier this year.
In more Musk news, and despite Tesla’s profits dropping more than a quarter, shareholders will soon vote on the board’s proposal to pay the CEO $1tn over the next 10 years. Musk has called critics of his eye-watering potential salary “corporate terrorists“. Perhaps more concerning for humanity is Musk’s desire to build and control a robot army of a million Optimus humanoid robots. Is it time for all of us to rewatch ‘I, Robot’?
It’s time to go nuclear. Japan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaich has vowed to keep nuclear power at the centre of the country’s energy strategy. Meanwhile, during US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK last month, he and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the Tech Prosperity Deal. This is a bilateral trade agreement between the two nations to support the UK’s AI ambitions, with nuclear energy as a key source of power. However, UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband ordered GB Energy officials to scope out Scotland’s “capability for new nuclear power stations”, who found “significant” levels of decades-old nuclear waste.