Davis Wilson:

Uber Adds Zipline Drones to Its Eats Delivery Network

Uber is investing in, and partnering with, drone delivery company Zipline with the goal of making one million deliveries per day using the startup’s drones by the end of 2029.

Zipline drones will make the first deliveries on the Uber Eats platform by the end of this year, the companies said on Monday. These deliveries will start in Zipline’s existing markets, and the companies want to expand into “dozens of U.S. cities.”

Uber has been taking on multiple drone delivery partners as it looks for ways to keep growing Uber Eats.

The ride-hail giant is replicating the early business model it’s adopted for robotaxis and other services built around autonomous vehicles, which is to essentially bring as many companies on to its platform as possible.

This approach has helped Uber stay at the forefront of these new technologies despite selling off its own programs like the aerial ridesharing service, Uber Elevate, and Uber Autonomous Technologies Group, which was working on autonomous vehicles.

Investments have been a huge part of the strategy, with Uber committing more than $10 billion to dozens of autonomous vehicle providers.

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Chris Campbell:

Just Listed: SpaceX Is Interested

I’ve written a lot about the Spectrum Wars over the past year.

It's been one of my running themes: the world is waking up to the fact that airwaves are finite, and everyone with a rocket or a tower is grabbing frequency while they still can.

Meanwhile, the receipts keep piling up. Just to recap:

• SpaceX paid $17 billion for EchoStar's spectrum. AT&T grabbed $23 billion more the same week. $40 billion of airwaves, gone before lunch.
• The DOJ actually told EchoStar to sell. The government is now directing traffic.
• UScellular got parted out three ways — T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon.
• RKLB scraped away Iridium's low bands for $8 billion.
• AST SpaceMobile just got cleared to beam through carrier low-band from 248 satellites.
• The big carriers formed an alliance to keep Elon's hands off theirs.
• And in 14 months, the world's spectrum negotiators meet in Shanghai to redraw the global map. (WRC-27)

Now here’s the latest…

Just last week, the wars reached the cheap part of town. SpaceX called it out by name. And for the patient, it’s presenting an unusual opportunity.

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Ray Blanco:

Data Centers Will Eat 12% of US Electricity by 2030. This Platinum Fuel Cell Fix May Help

The AI boom is putting unprecedented strain on the U.S. power grid.

By 2030, data centers could account for nearly 12% of the nation’s energy usage, and experts warn that their surging demand is outpacing energy supply growth, threatening grid reliability, and driving up costs for ratepayers.

To address this problem, tech companies are investigating ways to supply their own power to data centers instead of relying entirely on the grid.

One option is to use on-site hydrogen fuel cells. These clean energy generators combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, using a catalyst to speed the reaction, reduce energy loss, improve overall performance, and extend the fuel cell’s operational lifespan.

The problem is, existing catalysts lack the necessary activity and durability to meet data center performance targets.

In a study published August 6, researchers present a new approach designed to overcome these limitations. It could expand hydrogen fuel cell use not only for data centers but for other energy-intensive technologies as well.

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