WHAT’S INSIDE

👇️ Todays’ Feature: Agentic AI, the Browser, and Productivity

• Tech News: Jackson Hole, Chip Sales, EU Trade, Media Matters, Hacks 

• Company Watch: Lambda, Rivos, Pure Cipher, Paradigm, Multiverse Comp

• Buzzy Tools: Latest Buzzy tech, AI and financial tools

• Deep Tech: The latest in deep tech, biotech, futurism and more

• Space Tech: Latest news in the space race and aerospace tech

• Crypto: Blockchain and crypto policy and startups or protocols to watch

TECH IN THE NEWS

Markets Chill — Markets were subdued Monday as investors anticipated the outcome of Ukraine/Russia peace talks and Fed Chair Powell's keynote speech in Jackson Hole this week. Powell needs to juggle inflation & employment concerns.

Chip Sale Controversy — Senate Democrats urge Pres. Trump to halt Nvidia and AMD selling advanced AI chips to China, citing national security concerns and potential military enhancement, while questioning impacts on tech leadership, trade.

EU Trade Deal — The EU delays a trade statement with the U.S. over digital rules. The U.S. sees these as non-tariff barriers, seeking concessions on the Digital Services Act on free speech grounds.

AI's $16T Boost — Morgan Stanley forecasts AI could add $13-$16T to the S&P 500, boosting market cap by 29%. While promising productivity gains, AI may impact 90% of jobs, requiring significant worker upskilling.

FTC v Media Matters — A federal judge halts the FTC's probe into Media Matters, citing First Amendment concerns and possible retaliation. FTC contemplates appeal.

Hacks Continue — Google databases were compromised, affecting 2.5B Gmail users. Though no passwords were leaked, phishing scams are rampant. Also, HR giant Workday reported a data breach of its Salesforce-hosted third-party customer database, exposing customer details like names and email addresses.

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Agentic AI, the Browser, and Productivity

By Vivien Wang

Over the summer, the relationship between AI and the web has become increasingly debated, with discussion arising around both the opportunities and pitfalls created by AI’s transformation of the internet. Just a few issues ago, we talked about how AI summaries and chatbots are transforming search. This transformation highlights just how extensively AI is changing what the internet is used for. This transformation just got turbocharged by Microsoft rolling out AI agents within spreadsheets, and Google’s new “Projects” feature inside Gemini, allowing work teams to organize tasks and use contextual file management. 

The implications of this change to the way the internet works are highlighted by the ongoing conflict between Cloudflare and Perplexity. Two weeks ago, Cloudflare published a report calling out Perplexity for attempting to hide the crawling activities of its user agent and for purposefully crawling pages that are meant to be protected. According to Cloudflare, this kind of behavior is destroying the web, particularly for content creators like publishers. Perplexity’s response was to argue that its agents are merely acting to serve its users as an extension of them, rather than with some sort of nefarious intent. In short, Cloudflare is a defender of the open web, while Perplexity is a proponent of an AI-mediated browsing model.

All this signals the bigger story here – the web is shifting from a human-based network to an AI-native ecosystem, with agents becoming the default users, and adds to the broader discussion of agentic AI and its tools for productivity. 

An AI-Native Browser

Last week, Bessemer Venture Partners published its State of AI 2025 report, in which one of its major 2025 AI predictions was that the browser would become a dominant interface for agentic AI. For decades, the browser has been the main gateway for human users to access the web. Browsers cut across all verticals, meaning the user attention and workflow aggregation point sits there. Historically, it's been a neutral layer that just shows pages, but with AI becoming embedded in long-standing browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Safari, and with the emergence of new AI-first browsers, that neutrality is fading. 

An AI-native browser would fully embrace the change that AI summaries and chatbots have already enacted on browsing behavior, transforming search into delegation. Instead of typing in a query and skimming multiple different pages, users could delegate the job to an AI sidebar or agent embedded in the browser. Tools like Arc, Cursor, and Opera are already weaving GPT-style copilots directly into the browsing interface. The next step could be agents that click links, log into portals, scrape data, and more, all within a browser session with minimal human interaction. 

The potential for efficiency is obvious; a human can only check one tab at a time, while an agent could perform many parallel processes in a fraction of the time it would take a human. Beyond the benefits for users, there’s also the possibility of the browser being the linchpin of agentic AI adoption, making it worthy of attention from AI companies. Whoever controls a successful browser has daily active users at a massive scale, and also has access to the full stack of user activity, providing the richest possible input for an agent. Many knowledge-worker tasks are also effectively within the browser, making it a perfect opportunity for automation. 

Reimagining Productivity with Context

These possibilities are not lost on AI companies, many of which have released AI assistants that would benefit from an integration with browsers. Paradigm, which runs an AI-powered spreadsheet tool with over 5000 AI agents, just announced a $5M seed round led by General Catalyst. Microsoft has recently rolled out Copilot for Excel which also uses AI agents within spreadsheets, and Google has been quietly testing a new “Projects” feature inside Gemini, allowing teams to organize tasks across docs, email, and to chat with AI orchestration. It importantly unlocks what Google calls contextual file management.

Context is everything. These tools all provide unique value to knowledge workers, and thus must, as a16z highlights in an article published yesterday, keep context in mind. A16z mentions context as a crucial factor of differentiation – companies have to know more than just what their AI can do, they have to know why that matters in a certain field. The real value doesn’t come from raw automation, but the ability for AI agents to interpret beyond isolated user inputs to see the full picture. This could mean productivity leaps and better job satisfaction, if it works as promised. 

A $16 Trillion Boost

Analysts at Goldman Sachs have estimated that AI-driven productivity could unlock up to $16T in market value globally, though the path from pilot projects to realized gains remains muddy. However, recent research from MIT found that 95% of generative AI pilots inside large companies are currently failing to deliver lasting results, citing lack of measurable ROI and weak integration into existing processes as major obstacles.

Ultimately, the success of agentic AI in spreadsheets and browsers seems to hinge on delivering genuine value. If AI agents and companies can really identify the context they’re meant to work in, they could redefine what knowledge work means and how productivity is measured. In Bessemer’s analysis, retention and real workflow anchoring are the key predictors of who will win. Switching costs remain low – if an AI copilot doesn’t actually save time or provide unique context, workers can abandon it as quickly as they try it.

So, incumbents like Microsoft and Google could have an advantage by embedding copilots directly into existing platforms that people already spend hours in daily. Startups like Paradigm show what’s possible, but they’ll need to prove their agents aren’t just a clever demo. The next year will be crucial in seeing how these tools will end up – whether as a broader AI-native ecosystem like Bessemer predicts – or as an exciting prospect that doesn’t stick.

COMPANIES TO WATCH

[Open Deals] Lambda Inc. — This cloud infrastructure company supported by Nvidia is in talks to secure funding, potentially valuing it between $4B and $5B. It plans an IPO by year-end, with bankers already engaged in discussions.

[Open Deal] Cerebras — The AI computing systems and wafer-scale chips startup is seeking a $1B funding round led by Fidelity. Based in California, Cerebras plans to go public this year, marking a significant growth phase.

[Open Deal] Rivos — The AI chip startup based on RISC-V architecture is seeking $400-$500M in funding at a valuation over $2B. Founded in 2021, Rivos aims to challenge Nvidia with customizable, energy-efficient designs, despite Apple lawsuit.

[Open Deal] Pure Cipher - A deep-tech AI Security startup developing technologies to prevent AI data poisoning and compromise, targeting $1.6T enterprise market. Secured DoD clients. Founded by AI & cybersecurity experts. Seeks SAFE +series A.

Paradigm — This innovative AI-powered spreadsheet company incorporates over 5,000 AI agents to automate data entry. Recently secured $5M in seed funding, launching publicly with strong interest from consultants and finance professionals.

Unitree & X-Humanoid — Unitree and X-Humanoid dominated the first World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, winning 11 and 10 medals respectively.

Multiverse Computing — Launched two new advanced AI models offering enhanced capabilities for IoT devices via its technology. In negotiations with major tech firms for integration, signaling strong growth potential.

 SignalPulse — Read the Top signals, Startups + Deals From Last Week

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BUZZY TOOLS

Buzzy Tech Tools To Watch & Use

Microsoft — Copilot in Excel offers innovative features, generates enterprise buzz.

Google — Gemini "projects" organizes workspaces, & contextual file management.

Perplexity — Live earnings call transcripts for Indian stocks via Finance dashboard.

Grammarly — New AI tools for grading, proofreading, detecting plagiarism in docs.

Focus Friend — Hank Green's app uses virtual bean for focus, buzzy in App Store.

Meta Hypernova — Beta Than RayBan AR glasses w/ neural wristband, $800.

Google — Gemini "projects" feature for organized workspaces, contextual file mgmt.

BUZZY TECH

The Latest Deep Technology & Trends To Watch

NHS AI Tool — AI expedites patient discharges, freeing doctors for more care.

Pixel 9 Pro Fold — Google catching Samsung through advanced flexi display.

Humanoid Robot Games — 280 teams show robot advances, struggle with basics.

Human Brain Cells in Mice — Engineered neurons restore dopamine pathways.

Mini SSD — Biwin's compact storage drive offers 3,700 MB/s read speed, IP68.

Grem — AI stuffed animals as screen-time alternatives, concerns over neglect.

CRYPTO WATCH

SEC Delays Crypto ETF Decisions — The SEC postponed rulings on Truth Social's Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to October 8, while also delaying decisions on CoinShares' Litecoin and XRP ETFs. Concerns include Trump's crypto interests.

Strategy's Bitcoin Boost — Strategy has acquired an additional 430 BTC for $51.4M, increasing its total to 629,376 BTC. The firmnow controls nearly 3% of the total bitcoin supply, leveraging preferred stock programs for financing.

Pump.fun Dominates — Pump.fun skyrocketed from 5% to 90% market share in two weeks, surpassing LetsBonk at 3%. This shift is driven by top deployers switching due to its aggressive token buyback efforts, despite a cooling market.

SPACE_RACE

Deregulation Exec Order_fast-tracks licensing, SpaceX, Blue Origin investment

Space Dynamics Lab_USU partners with U.S. Space Force for novel space tech

Schriever Wargame_Coalition-led space strategy enhances allies' role in ops.

SpaceX Starship Flight 10_Inquiry cvlosed, design mods made for NASA Artemis 3.

Long March 6A Rocket_Launch 5 broadband (+ one experimental) satellites.

AST SpaceMobile — To launch a ~50 satellite space-based cellular broadband net.

FOR INVESTORS
Open Deals
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