What’s happening with US data centers?

• The Fermi Explorer mission, a $15 million project to Alpha Centauri, was announced in an episode published September 2, 2026. • The mission is spearheaded by PSI, which simultaneously announced a $58 million seed funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

• OpenAI is preparing to launch "Astra," a new model utilizing a "recurrent depth" technique that allows it to reason beyond standard sequential thinking patterns. • AI safety experts have raised alarms, warning that this novel architecture may be significantly harder to audit and constrain than previous models.

• Belgian startup Backbone has raised €4M in funding led by Pitchdrive and several Belgian food families to integrate AI into food safety compliance and quality management. • The funding arrives amid a major European infant formula crisis involving cereulide toxin from a contaminated Chinese ingredient used by Nestlé, Danone, and Lactalis.

• Belfast-based sports tech company, founded by a former football coach, has secured a multi-million pound funding round to scale its operations. • The business aims to transform the commercial and administrative side of football, focusing on optimizing the "business end" of the sport.

• Elon Musk defended the expansion of AI data centers at the G20, arguing they are essential to address a critical "power shortfall" hindering artificial intelligence development. • Musk simultaneously criticized European Union regulations, suggesting that restrictive rules may stifle innovation in the sector.

• Several Asian economies outperformed growth predictions in the June quarter, with India expanding by 7.8%, Malaysia by 6%, and Singapore by 5.9%. • Growth was driven by strong fiscal buffers that mitigated energy shocks and a surge in AI demand, which significantly boosted technology exports.

• Chinese AI startup Moonshot has confidentially filed for an IPO in Hong Kong, aiming to raise approximately $3 billion. • The company is leveraging the success of its Kimi K3 model, released in July, and is currently negotiating revenue-sharing agreements with Google, Amazon, and Microsoft to host the model on their cloud platforms.

• Global AI governance has stalled due to superpower rivalry, leading to a shift toward regionalized rule-making. • Regional blocs like ASEAN are moving quickly to implement standards, particularly to combat the rise of AI-driven deepfakes.

• The European Union is implementing an industrial policy plan to build AI infrastructure, urging member states to increase investments to avoid falling behind globally. • Several nations have pledged funding for "gigafactories," with France, Denmark, Poland, and the Czech Republic committing €100 million each for smaller facilities.

• Top European venture capitalists have identified 17 deeptech startups to watch across sectors including AI, quantum, defense, climate hardware, and industrial technology. • Among the highlighted firms is SiC Systems, a company founded at the Technical University of Denmark by Professor Mansouri and co-founder Savoie, a former architect of Siri's software.

• September 2026 market reports indicate a significant surge in startup funding, with capital heavily concentrated in AI-related sectors and adjacent industries. • AI investments now encompass a broad range of technologies, including frontier models, agent systems, robotics, enterprise automation, and specialized hardware.