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The Chip War Isn't Really About Chips

A chip smaller than a fingernail can hold up a car, a data center, or a weapons system. That sounds like a contradiction: how can something so tiny matter so much? Because the chip is only the visible end of a production system that spans d…

What Happens If the World Splits Into Two Technology Systems?

A phone, car or AI service can look like one product. Underneath it may depend on chip designs from one country, manufacturing tools from another, fabrication concentrated in Taiwan, minerals processed elsewhere, and software distributed ar…

Why China Wants Control of More of the Technology Supply Chain

When China tightened controls on rare earth exports in April 2025, the consequences did not stay inside China. Automakers and other manufacturers abroad scrambled to secure magnets, and some production lines faced shortages. The episode exp…

Why Taiwan Sits at the Center of the U.S.–China Relationship

A disruption in the Taiwan Strait would not stay in the Taiwan Strait. It could test the limits of U.S. policy, unsettle American allies, interrupt trade routes, and expose how much of the world’s advanced computing depends on production cl…

The Physical Internet: What Exists Behind the Cloud

The internet feels weightless. You open an app. A page loads.

Why Putin Still Has Leverage After Four Years of War

The battlefield is only one source of power. Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of the easiest mistakes to make is to measure Vladimir Putin’s leverage by territory alone. How many kilometers has Russia captured?

Russia's Shadow Fleet: How Oil Keeps Moving Around Sanctions

The tanker doesn't look Russian. That's the point. It may fly the flag of one country.

Stop Looking for Ideas. Look for Problems.

Entrepreneurship has developed an obsession with ideas. People ask: “What business should I start?”

The New Geography of Computing

For most of the internet era, computing felt almost locationless. You could build a company in Lagos, host its application in Virginia, serve customers in London and have engineers working from Nairobi. The software did not care about borders.

The New Race for Space

For decades, space looked like the domain of governments. The United States. Russia.

The Startup Ideas Hiding Inside Broken Infrastructure

When people search for startup ideas, they usually look at screens. Apps. Websites.

What Actually Makes an Asset Valuable?

A building can be worth millions. A piece of land next to it can be worth even more. A company with no profits can be worth billions.

What Happens When Biology Becomes Programmable?

For most of human history, biology was something we could observe. We could breed plants. We could selectively breed animals.

Why AI Needs More Than Better Models

There is a seductive idea in AI: Build a smarter model and everything follows. But intelligence doesn't exist in isolation.

How Drones Changed Modern Warfare

For most of military history, hiding meant something. You could put soldiers underground. Move equipment at night.

How Russia's Economy Has Adapted to Sanctions

When the first major sanctions arrived after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the expectation in many Western capitals was straightforward: Cut Russia off from capital. Restrict technology.

The AI Companies Building the Models vs. the Companies Building Everything Around Them

The AI market is often presented as a battle between model companies. But there are actually several businesses hiding inside the AI economy. They build foundation models.

The Best Businesses Often Begin With Something Broken

The next billion-dollar company may not begin with a brilliant idea. It may begin with someone asking: “Why the hell does this still work like this?”

The Difference Between Price and Value

A house is listed for $500,000. Someone offers $450,000. Another person offers $520,000.

The New Solo-Founder Economy

There was a time when starting a serious company required a team. A designer. A developer.

What AI Changed About Starting a Company

AI didn't make entrepreneurship easy. It changed where the difficulty lives. That distinction is important.

What Happens When Countries Start Treating Data Like Oil?

Oil changed geopolitics because controlling a physical resource could create enormous economic and strategic power. Data is different. You can copy it.

What Investors Actually Mean When They Say "Moat"

Investors love the word moat. A company has a moat. A startup is building a moat.

Why Africa Could Produce a Different Kind of Startup

Africa is often described as a collection of problems waiting to be solved. That framing is incomplete. Africa is also a collection of markets being built in real time.

Why Infrastructure Attracts Long-Term Capital

There is a reason pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and other long-term investors keep looking at infrastructure. It isn't because infrastructure is exciting. Most infrastructure is the opposite of exciting.

Why Investors Care About Cash Flow

A company can report a profit and still run out of money. A business can grow rapidly and become less valuable. A company can have billions in revenue and still struggle to pay its bills.