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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukraine's drone units are operating more like scrappy startups than traditional military units.</li><li>The Wall Street Journal visited a battalion that was formed by unpaid civilians but has evolved.</li></ul>Some of Ukraine's drone units are operating more like edgy tech start-ups than military units, as they continue to play an oversized role in the country's military defenses.According to a report by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukraine-gamers-drone-pilots-russia-85a1af3b?mod=hp_lead_pos82&amp;mod=hp_lead_pos8">The Wall Street Journal</a>, drone pilots are now the deadliest soldiers on the modern battlefield. And the way they operated is far from traditional military approaches.The Journal met with Clear Eyes, a drone battalion that started out as unpaid civilian enthusiasts relying on commercial drones to track Russian military movements.The battalion's headquarters now has workshops for engineers, a pilot-training school, as well as a ping-pong table.Meanwhile, the group uses houses in eastern Ukraine as bomb factories and tech hubs to modify Soviet-era rocket-propelled grenades and upgrade Russian glide bombs to create larger munitions for their drones.Heorhiy Volkov, 37, the owner of a marketing agency who leads the battalion, sometimes gives the impression of heading a startup rather than a military unit, according to the Journal.Volkov said the key to success is innovation, logistics, and communications, as well as solid military tactics."One good pilot doesn't change anything," he said, adding: "We are a team of civilians who want to kill Russians with our cleverness and technology."The Journal reported that the majority of personnel in Ukrainian drone units never served in the military before, and largely ignore aspects of ranks, including saluting and waiting for orders.Since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has turned to drones to try to give it an edge against Russia's larger military.Ukraine has used drones to conduct strikes on Russian <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-air-defenses-cant-stop-ukraine-from-striking-deep-intel-2024-9">ammunition depots</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-attacks-russian-energy-infrastructure-small-cheap-drones-2024-1">gas</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-drone-liutyi-behind-majority-ukraine-attacks-russia-oil-facilities-2024-5">oil</a> facilities deep inside Russia, eroding Russia's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-strikes-ammo-depots-impacting-russia-weaponry-advantage-experts-2024-10">artillery advantage</a>.Earlier this year it used unconventional strategies and innovative naval technologies, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-says-sea-baby-drones-hit-russia-ships-anywhere-black-sea-2024-7">sea drones</a>, to go after Russia's Black Sea Fleet, forcing it to relocate away from its Crimea headquarters.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-ukraine-night-attack-russia-position-flaming-dragon-drone-2024-9">In September, nighttime</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-ukrainian-dragon-drone-appears-destroy-russian-tank-2024-10">footage</a> released by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-fiery-dragon-drones-aim-strike-terror-russia-soldiers-experts-2024-9">Ukraine</a> showed "dragon drones" dropping molten material on Russian positions, likely as part of efforts to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-fiery-dragon-drones-aim-strike-terror-russia-soldiers-experts-2024-9">instill fear</a> in Russian troops.The Journal also interviewed Oleksandr Dakhno, a 29-year-old former director of a coworking space.Dakhno is now a drone pilot who claims to have killed about 300 Russian soldiers in a year and a half, and to have once flown a drone with a 9-pound bomb into a school auditorium where Russian soldiers were sheltering.In October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country can now produce 4 million drones a year, and is ramping up production."In extremely difficult conditions of the full-scale war under constant Russian strikes, Ukrainians were able to build a virtually new defense industry," he added.

Ukraine's drone teams are operating more like tech startups than military units

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Almost Friday! You'll likely never be as rich as Nvidia's Jensen Huang, but you can start to write emails like him. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-jensen-huang-email-style-concise-key-points-insiders-2024-5">More on his "TL;DR approach."</a>It's the last day of our Memorial Day sale for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/limited-offer">80% off a Business Insider subscription</a>.In today's big story, we're looking at the wave of talent-focused deals <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wave-ai-acquisitions-deals-who-could-get-bought-2024-5">set to shake up the AI startup market</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: The biggest threat to obesity drug makers <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/south-park-stock-market-jinx-glp1-weight-loss-stocks-ozempic-2024-5">could be South Park</a>.</li><li>Tech: Why is a popular email service still stuck in the Stone Age? <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gmail-update-fix-email-tabbed-inbox-2024-5">It's time to fix Gmail</a>.</li><li>Business: The workplace habits that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-do-at-work-that-annoy-your-boss-2024-5">annoy the hell out of your boss</a>.</li></ul>But first, forget the milk; we'll take the whole cow.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="7fa5f018-5b05-4a37-a8dc-d3f89138bcb3">The big story</h3><h2 id="5fd547b9-ec52-41fc-8e08-4f4b27dd8097">M&amp;A(I)</h2><div type="image" title="net catching emojis of people on computers" height="1440" width="1920" msid="110568815" hostid="261" sizebytes="119890"></div>In the age of AI, if you can't hire them, acquire them.Few things are more coveted in business nowadays than AI specialists. Everyone wants to supercharge their business with generative AI.But with only so many AI specialists, the talent doesn't come easy. Compensation is steep — seven-figure pay packages — and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-talent-wars-big-tech-ceos-recruiting-paying-huge-packages-2024-4">competition is even fiercer</a>. You know it's serious when Mark Zuckerberg is getting involved in recruiting.So why worry about one AI specialist when you can get a company full of them?The future of the AI industry could be a wave of "acquihires," writes Business Insider's Rebecca Torrence and Riddhi Kanetkar, who <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wave-ai-acquisitions-deals-who-could-get-bought-2024-5">mapped out potential buyers and sellers in the space</a>.The M&amp;A(I) industry is already off to a hot start this year, with 55 exits for AI startups in the first quarter, according to Crunchbase data.And it's not just cutting-edge tech companies that are shopping. Acquihires give non-tech companies a chance to jumpstart an AI strategy that'd be difficult to stand up otherwise.<div type="image" title="hand grabbing" height="1440" width="1920" msid="110568817" hostid="261" sizebytes="210518"></div>Acquihires come with plenty of risks.Deals can be tricky in the best of circumstances, let alone in an overvalued market with high interest rates.Companies looking to cut a deal are also flying a bit blind. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-investments-vcs-startups-valuations-2024-3">VCs eagerness to back AI startups</a> means there are plenty of companies big on valuation but little on substance.And then there's the risk the people acquired aren't a good fit.Technologists have the luxury of being particular about their work culture. Remember when OpenAI employees <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-employees-did-not-want-to-work-for-microsoft-2023-12">weren't pumped about potentially working at Microsoft</a> amid the Altman ouster?But some startups might not have a choice if funding gets tight and an acquihire is their only option. And if that's the case, that's a problem, Julia Gudish Krieger, a managing partner at Pari Passu Venture Partners, told me.She's rarely seen acquihires work because the motivation for the deal is often more about getting a soft landing than having a passion for the product they'll be promoting or building in their new roles."If there are real synergies and the incoming group is genuinely excited to roll up their sleeves and help co-create, then I'm sure an acquihire can be magic in theory," Gudish Krieger said. "But this is easier said than done."<h2 id="8120060b-ae66-48dc-b149-f0489a30ffa2">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="south park" height="650" width="1300" msid="110568818" hostid="261" sizebytes="35180"></div><ol><li>Oh my god! They killed Novo Nordisk! South Park's latest Ozempic storyline <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/south-park-stock-market-jinx-glp1-weight-loss-stocks-ozempic-2024-5">could be bad news for obesity drug makers and their investors</a>. Publicly traded US companies prominently featured on the comedy show have gone on to underperform the S&amp;P 500.</li><li>The stock market and the economy are going their separate ways. Corporate earnings show continued growth despite a GDP slowdown. While rare, the divergence of the two <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-rare-setup-slowing-economy-earnings-growth-profits-2024-5">typically means a great environment for investors</a>. The S&amp;P 500 has historically delivered average quarterly returns of 3.6% when that happens.</li><li>Don't expect stocks to slow down in June, according to Fundstrat. The always-optimistic Tom Lee sees the stock market rising 4% next month. Continued disinflation coupled with lots of cash sitting on the sidelines means the market has more room to run despite reaching record highs. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-june-gains-5-catalysts-inflation-earnings-growth-2024-5">Here's what else has him so bullish</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="f4b54806-7f81-450c-ba32-92560d4fae9b">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="A hat over a laptop" height="1500" width="2000" msid="110568819" hostid="261" sizebytes="109116"></div><ol><li>Summer fit check: tech edition. In a wild turn of events, tech executives are grabbing (good) attention for their style. Fashion experts shared how <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/summer-style-fashion-tech-workers-zuckerberg-gates-yaccarino-2024-5">tech workers can upgrade their often monotone wardrobes</a>.</li><li>Gmail is stuck in the Stone Age. When Google introduced the tabbed inbox in 2013, it was a game changer. There was finally a way to separate important emails from the clutter. But in the decade since, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gmail-update-fix-email-tabbed-inbox-2024-5">Gmail has failed to keep up.</a></li><li>Apple comes under pressure. A group of French trade associations have implored CEO Tim Cook to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/publishers-advertisers-ask-tim-cook-halt-apple-web-eraser-tool-2024-5">halt the rollout of a new "web eraser" feature</a>, over fears it could have a catastrophic impact on the online advertising industry. The tool would allow Safari users to remove unwanted content like ads, text, and images from webpages.</li></ol><h2 id="9260fa45-d397-4b3c-b4f8-4bb193976216">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="Businessman Looking at 'Help Wanted' Sign that appears as a Giant Hurdle Before him" height="900" width="1200" msid="110568820" hostid="261" sizebytes="82832"></div><ol><li>A bizarre government rule is preventing young men from getting jobs. America's young men aren't working. Recessions and low wages could be to blame, but our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employment-young-men-labor-force-jobs-unemployment-insurance-hiring-2024-5">broken unemployment system</a> might ultimately be making employers reluctant to hire them.</li><li>Your boss probably thinks you're annoying, too. As much as your boss gets on your nerves, chances are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-do-at-work-that-annoy-your-boss-2024-5">you're not completely innocent.</a> From complaining to asking too many questions, career experts shared with BI the employee behaviors that drive bosses crazy.</li><li>Elon Musk in the White House? Donald Trump and the Tesla CEO have discussed a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-could-be-donald-trump-advisor-wsj-reports-2024-5">potential advisory role</a> if the ex-president wins November's presidential election, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump could give Musk input on border security and economic policies, per the outlet.</li></ol><h2 id="1ad7b482-3f4b-44b4-81b6-a864aa386478">In other news</h2><ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sleep-loss-deprivation-america-reasons-health-inequality-economic-stress-money-2024-5">The real reason Americans can't get enough sleep</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-ceo-all-hands-meeting-announcing-layoffs-2024-5">Inside Henrik Fisker's staff meeting, where the CEO announced more layoffs hitting his electric car company</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-billion-weapon-package-israel-haunt-him-rafah-red-line-2024-5">Biden's $1 billion weapons package to Israel is coming back to haunt him</a>.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-software-engineer-negotiated-salary-big-tech-meta-tesla-salesforce-2024-5">A software engineer worked at Tesla, SAP, and Salesforce. Here's how he negotiated his salary, including a $520,000 Meta offer.</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelliphones-ai-apple-iphone-android-google-2024-5">We had cellphones, then feature phones, then smartphones. Now, 'IntelliPhones' are coming.</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-retired-early-financial-independence-fire-strategies-six-figure-income-2024-5">A millennial who had a mini-retirement at 38 shares her strategies for achieving financial independence — and why she wants to return to the workforce</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="9f5d80ac-3466-429f-a50a-2ffbb70c65ff">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>Today's earnings: Costco, Best Buy, and other <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/earnings-calendar">companies are reporting</a>.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/dan-defrancesco">Dan DeFrancesco</a>, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/jordan-parker-erb">Jordan Parker Erb</a>, editor, in New York. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/hallam-bullock">Hallam Bullock</a>, editor, in London. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/george-glover">George Glover</a>, reporter, in London. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/grace-lett">Grace Lett</a>, associate editor, in Chicago.

AI startups could see a wave of 'acquihires,' and it might get messy

What do you prioritize in a job? I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and in this turbulent economy, I definitely want stability over most other things.This is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-gen-z-wants-jobs-security-financial-stability-career-2022-12">pretty common for Gen Z workers</a> like myself. Job searches show that we're <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-college-grads-less-interested-big-tech-jobs-survey-2023-5">not keen to work in Big Tech anymore</a>. And my colleague <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/grace-mayer">Grace Mayer</a> highlights how retail, finance, and other (seemingly more stable) industries are piquing our interest instead.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-college-grads-less-interested-big-tech-jobs-survey-2023-5">Check out what companies are hot among Gen Z (like Nike and Toyota)</a>. And once you're done, let's dive into today's tech.If this was forwarded to you, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/10-things-in-tech">sign up here</a>. Download Insider's app <a href="https://link.insider.com/click/27645591.160803/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaW5zaWRlci5jb20vYXBwP25yX2VtYWlsX3JlZmVyZXI9MSZ1dG1fc291cmNlPVNhaWx0aHJ1JnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9T3BlbmluZ19iZWxs/62667762063d6b9bef0cffb3Bf9c9aa56" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-documents-show-plans-to-revamp-alexa-with-chatgpt-like-features-2023-5"></a>1. Amazon wants to equip Alexa with ChatGPT-like features. A leaked document viewed by Insider revealed that Amazon wants to focus on entertainment features for Alexa. These include conversational video searches, personal recs, and storytelling capabilities.<ul><li>"It feels like Alexa is thinking vs. fetching from a database," one internal memo said. The upgrade will feature Amazon's own generative AI technology instead of using <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gpt4-openai-chatgpt-everything-you-need-to-know-4-2023-3">OpenAI's technology</a> (like how <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-microsoft-bing-openai-more-powerful-chatgpt-2023-2">Microsoft paired ChatGPT with Bing</a>).</li><li>This is a major reboot for the once-buzzy — but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa-job-layoffs-rise-and-fall-2022-11">now struggling</a> — voice assistant. Alexa has struggled for the past decade to live up to Amazon's expectations. Plus, it was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-slam-leaderships-lack-of-communication-over-layoffs-2022-11">one of the hardest-hit divisions in Amazon's sweeping layoffs</a> this past year.</li><li>My colleague <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/eugene-kim">Eugene Kim</a> gives us a peek at what Alexa might sound like in the future (with the company's goal of making it the "world's best personal assistant.")</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-documents-show-plans-to-revamp-alexa-with-chatgpt-like-features-2023-5">Hey, Alexa: Take us to the story here.</a>In other news:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-web-services-cofounder-charlie-bell-interview-microsoft-aws-azure-2023-5"></a><div type="image" title="Microsoft's Charlie Bell" height="1046" width="1394" msid="99961398" hostid="261"></div>2. Rare interview: AWS cofounder Charlie Bell. He joined Microsoft in 2021 to run its $20 billion cybersecurity business. Bell dished to my colleague <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/ashley-stewart">Ashley Stewart</a> on why he made the move, how he met Satya Nadella, and more. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-web-services-cofounder-charlie-bell-interview-microsoft-aws-azure-2023-5">Get the full interview here</a>.3. ChatGPT for all employees. This CEO is testing whether ChatGPT will make his employees more productive (while also saving money). <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-buys-chatgpt-plus-accounts-all-employees-sees-productivity-boost-2023-5">Check out how his experiment is going here.</a> On the flip side: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-chatgpt-bard-data-leak-bans-employee-use-report-2023-5">Samsung is the latest company to ban employees from using ChatGPT.</a>4. Market turmoil promo: Startups discounted up to 80%. Investors are beginning to shed their startup shares. Some view this as the perfect opportunity to buy heavily discounted investments. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-firms-selling-stakes-secondary-markets-2023-4">More on the startup "catnip" here.</a>5. CEOs finally admit that AI will replace many jobs. The verdict is in, writes my teammate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/hasan-chowdhury">Hasan Chowdhury</a>: AI can and will make jobs extinct. Microsoft already has a history of replacing workers with AI. Many others are crafting similar plans. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-tech-jobs-layoffs-ceos-chatgpt-ibm-2023-5">Check them all out here.</a>6. Cash App creator Bob Lee's autopsy. The report shows that he died of three stab wounds, which damaged his lungs and heart. But the suspected killer's lawyer claims that drugs and alcohol were at play. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bob-lee-autopsy-toxicology-report-cause-of-death-2023-5">More here.</a>7. Student makes viral, AI-generated music. "It's honestly kind of scary how easy these things are to do," Jered Chavez said. He added that it's easy to make the songs sound real. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drake-ai-music-clone-easy-tiktok-2023-5">Listen to the pretty convincing "Drake" song here.</a>8. The longest lasting 23 cars, trucks, and SUVs. These vehicles are all predicted to last more than 250,000 miles. Models include the Honda Accord, Ram 2500, and Toyota Land Cruiser. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/longest-lasting-cars-trucks-suvs-that-can-go-250000-miles-2023-5">Hit the road for the full list here.</a>Odds and ends:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-airbnb-owner-squeezed-2-tiny-houses-in-his-yard-2023-5"></a><div type="image" title="The interior of Ansel Troy's Airbnb" height="800" width="1066" msid="99961400" hostid="261"></div>9. Two tiny houses are this Airbnb owner's primary source of income. Ansel Troy put the tiny houses in his Oakland home's yard. They rent for $90 to $250 per night and were originally just a way to earn a bit of extra income. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-airbnb-owner-squeezed-2-tiny-houses-in-his-yard-2023-5">Welcome to a tour of both houses.</a>10. 'I got a job as a Waffle House server that pays $2.92 an hour.' Amanda Claypool is a writer and strategy consultant. After working there once a week, she now understands why there's a labor shortage. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-work-at-waffle-house-2023-4">Check out her experience here.</a>What we're watching today:<ul><li><a href="https://stripe.com/sessions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stripe Sessions</a> (hosted by the payment platform) is today in San Francisco. Speakers include leaders from Andreessen Horowitz, Wix, and OpenAI.</li><li>Happy birthday, Desiigner. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ONTXHS2mM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hope you enjoy a BMW X6.</a></li></ul>Curated by Diamond Naga Siu in San Diego. (Feedback or tips? Email <a href="mailto:dsiu@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dsiu@insider.com</a> or tweet <a href="http://www.twitter.com/diamondnagasiu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@diamondnagasiu</a>) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/hallam_bullock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@hallam_bullock</a>) in London.

10 Things in Tech: AI-generated Drake songs, discounted startups, and Amazon’s upgraded Alexa

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Today's energy grids are unable to keep up with the intense demand being heaped upon them.</li><li>Startups are working to fix this, and investors are betting that AI and data will play a key role.</li></ul>As more cars, stoves, and heating systems are electrified, a lot of strain will be put on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-largest-federal-investment-ever-try-fix-power-grid-2023-10">decades-old grids</a> in the US and Europe.In the US, over 70% of transmission lines are over 25 years old, while about 40% of Europe's distribution grids are over 40. Faulty infrastructure can lead to blackouts, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cybersecurity-ai-mobile-app-data-protection-2024-3">vulnerability to cyberattacks</a>, or other emergencies.The power system, which was built for gas and coal, is increasingly distributed, with power generated offshore and on roofs. There aren't enough power lines to connect wind, solar, and geothermal power with households and businesses potentially miles away.The International Energy Agency has said that to meet the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, renewable-energy capacity needs to triple by 2030 and global investment into grids needs to double, to $600 billion a year.But infrastructure projects are costly and time-consuming. Globally, energy projects struggle to overcome permitting hurdles. Projects finished in the US in 2022 are expected to take five years on average to be connected to the US grid, while projects in the UK have had to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65500339">wait up to 15 years</a>. Like a motorway at rush hour, lines can become congested and blocked, slowing the flow of power, causing outages, and damaging infrastructure.Issues are compounded as more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-demand-still-strong-despite-slowdown-hybrids-survey-2024-1">electric vehicles</a> and heating systems are plugged into the grid. At the same time, increased domestic manufacturing in the US is expected to cause a surge in demand for energy. Investors told Business Insider that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-war-spurs-research-into-lithium-ion-battery-alternatives-sand-2023-8">Russia's war in Ukraine</a> shined a light on energy security and price volatility.It paints a picture of a fragile system — but investors are optimistic about solutions and are backing startups positioning themselves as such. Many are betting on AI to help optimize existing infrastructure."We must leave no stone unturned, both technical and political, to address these challenges," Rajesh Swaminathan, a partner at Khosla Ventures, a US venture-capital firm, told BI.<h2>Making smart grids a reality</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/11/energy-first-as-uk-successfully-transmits-data-via-national-electricity-grid">Data was transmitted</a> across a national energy grid for the first time in 2016. People in the industry hailed it as a revolution paving the way for a smarter, automated system that could tweak energy consumption to reduce strain on the grid. The idea is that by better balancing grids, providers can avoid firing up polluting energy sources during peak times or when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing.But it's only recently that grid operators were able to know how much capacity is being used in real time or how much electricity is flowing through a cable, said Andrés Dancausa, a partner at the early-stage VC fund TheVentureCity who's based in Europe.Operators could use new technology and AI to collect data on voltage, capacity, grid infrastructure, and usage to plan what energy should go where at a certain time, helping avoid congestion and blockages, Dancausa said. This is "something that couldn't happen a few years ago," he added.Swaminathan said the US grid is inefficient because it does a poor job of allocating power where and when it's needed most. "Instead of overhauling the entire grid, we can address this quickly and easily via AI-powered smart meters installed at the edge," he said, referring to smart meters at the home or at the point of consumption.<h2>The intersection of energy and AI</h2>Smart meters, which are at the core of some grid digitization strategies, can monitor voltage, grid capacity, and power quality. This data is used to prevent and manage outages and disturbances, to model future supply and demand, and to reroute power when the grid is congested. Some can also track how much energy consumers generate.The US Department of Energy has earmarked $8.4 million for grid-enhancing technologies, including smart meters.Startups selling them are hoping to alleviate pressure from physical grid infrastructure and allow operators to do more with the infrastructure they have.Dancausa pointed to his portfolio company Plexigrid, which has developed a suite of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-promising-artificial-intelligence-startups-of-2023-2023-8">AI software tools</a> to automatically adjust household energy consumption based on usage at a certain time. Bidgely, a startup in Swaminathan's portfolio, also uses AI to help match energy supply and demand.Investors told BI that AI could change how consumers pay for and interact with energy.Victoria McIvor, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/world-fund-investor-victoria-mcivor-first-job-in-vc-nuclear-2022-6">an advisor to energy startups</a> who was formerly an investor at the European climatetech firm World Fund, imagines a future where energy tariffs dictate when energy-intensive appliances run. "It will be a thing of the past that you put the washing machine on whenever you want," she said. "Your washing machine will turn on at some point in the day when it makes sense, and you won't think about it too much.""Things in your house will be moving in a smart way according to energy prices," she added.Some flexible tariffs and money-back programs that incentivize off-peak energy usage are emerging, such as those run by the UK's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energylivenews.com/2023/07/19/national-grid-amazon-octopus-and-ovo-to-boost-household-energy-flexibility/">National Grid, OVO, and Octopus Energy</a>.Infrastructure providers can also use AI to monitor grids.Enline, a Portuguese startup, uses AI and digital twins, or virtual replicas of real-life assets, for predictive and real-time monitoring of grid infrastructure. The company says its technology allows customers to model and detect energy faults, reduce energy transmission loss, analyze the effects of weather events, and monitor vegetation to prevent it from coming into contact with power lines, which can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pge-caused-california-wildfires-safety-measures-2019-10#:~:text=power%20lines%20have%20caused%20more,over%20safety%20measures%20for%20decades.">cause wildfires</a>. Overstory, a startup in Amsterdam, also uses AI and satellite data to monitor vegetation for utility companies to reduce that risk.<h2>Rolling out software and hardware in parallel</h2>VCs prefer investing in software companies that tackle big problems because they can typically scale rapidly at low costs.But Timothy Barat, the CEO and cofounder of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gridware-10-million-lowercarbon-fifty-years-electricity-wildfires-pitch-deck-2023-6">Gridware</a>, said the fear is that relying on software for the grid could lead to postponements of crucial infrastructure builds and upgrades."There can't be any delays," he said, adding that software-driven boosts wouldn't be "nearly enough" to hit climate goals in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-migration-where-moved-escape-natural-disasters-extreme-weather">California</a>, where he lives.AI could help make physical infrastructure builds more efficient, too.Gridware attaches sensors to transmission-line poles that assess their location 6,000 times a second. It uses <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/17/gridware-is-building-early-detection-sensors-for-power-grid-failures-and-wildfires/">AI and machine learning</a> to crunch the data and detect issues to help avoid outages and increase grid resilience. Barat said this, in turn, frees up more resources for building infrastructure.Generative AI, the tech that powers ChatGPT, is also being applied to the energy industry. Some startups, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-verse-generative-ai-for-clean-energy-coatue-2023-7">Verse</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reel-startup-b2b-clean-energy-provider-raised-5-pitch-deck-2024-1">Reel</a>, say they're using it to help speed up contracting for projects. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-energy-startup-gridcog-4-million-albionvc-2024-2">Gridcog</a>, a London startup that recently raised $4.2 million from VCs, has developed a platform to model and simulate renewable-energy projects so, say, a supermarket chain can figure out which stores and warehouses are most suitable for solar.Meanwhile, the Scottish startup Continuum Industries says it has developed an AI platform that lets developers map out power-line routes and analyze infrastructure plans based on their environmental and social impact, engineering requirements, and cost.<h2>Innovating around the grid</h2>Many of these startups sell to utility companies, which can be slow and bureaucratic, investors told BI. This can get in the way of grid upgrades and hobble startup growth, as it can take a long time to secure a deal with utilities and roll out their technology.Duncan Turner, a general partner at the VC firm SOSV, described it as a difficult pitch for VCs who want to back startups that can scale quickly and widely. "Either governments and utilities are going to figure out how to move quicker, or the private sector will continue to find ways to innovate around the grid," he said.Turner said his firm is eying opportunities in long-duration energy storage, such as batteries and hydrogen, to avoid dealing with grids and having to sell to utility companies. Batteries can store clean energy to be used later — when the sun isn't shining but energy demand is high — and can be sold directly to consumers with their own solar panels.McIvor said grids used to be relatively simple networks. But today's systems have sprawling distributed infrastructure with renewable energy and energy storage systems, where power is purchased at cheaper rates and deployed when it would be traditionally more expensive. This makes them "infinitely more complex," McIvor said.Software, she added, is at the heart of making sure it works well.

Electrification could overwhelm energy grids. Startups are betting on AI to make sure that doesn't happen

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Google employee was accused by the DOJ of stealing confidential AI technology.</li><li>Officials say Linwei Ding, who was arrested Wednesday, shared the information with Chinese companies.</li></ul>A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-employee-says-he-works-one-hour-days-fortune-2023-8">Google employee</a> indicted by the US Department of Justice has been accused of stealing confidential AI technology while secretly working for tech companies in China.The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday by the DOJ, charged Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, with four counts of theft of trade secrets. Authorities said he was arrested Wednesday morning in Newark, California, about 14 miles northeast of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-gemini-ai-layoffs-innovation-boring-2024-2">Google's Silicon Valley headquarters</a>.Ding, 38, stole more than 500 files detailing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-sergey-brin-gemini-definitely-messed-up-images-ai-model-2024-3">Google's information about its AI</a> data center hardware and software — the building blocks for powerful AI models that are currently taking the world by storm — according to the indictment.Ding, through an email address, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Attorney information for Ding was not immediately available.Prosecutors said in the indictment that he created a secret startup in China, unbeknownst to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-goose-ai-model-language-ai-coding-2024-2">Google</a>, and that he even got a colleague to badge in for him at Google offices in the US so the company wouldn't find out he was secretly working in China."We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement," Google's José Castañeda told Business Insider. "We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely."Castañeda also said the situation involved a single junior employee and that it was not a widespread issue at the company.The indictment said Ding, who lived in Newark and was a Chinese national, joined Google as a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-genz-working-2-remote-jobs-gets-away-with-it-2023-5">software engineer</a> in 2019. His job involved developing software used in Google's supercomputing data centers."Due to Ding's job responsibilities, he was authorized to access Google Confidential Information related to hardware infrastructure, the software platform, and the AI models and applications they supported," the indictment said.In May 2022, Ding started secretly uploading confidential information from Google to his private Google Cloud account, the indictment alleged.An email from June 2022 showed the CEO of a China-based tech company offered Ding the role of CTO at a salary of $14,800 per month, according to federal prosecutors. The indictment said that while Ding was in China from October 2022 to March 2023, he attended meetings to raise money for that tech company.By May 2023, Ding also launched his own China-based tech startup in the AI space and served as acting CEO, according to the indictment.In November 2023, Ding pitched his company at an investor conference, and a document about the company said, "We have experience with Google's ten-thousand-card computational power platform; we just need to replicate and upgrade it — and then further develop a computational power platform suited to China's national conditions," according to the indictment.If convicted, Ding could face a $250,000 fine for each count and up to 10 years in prison."The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement about the indictment.

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