The Monthly Beat - July 4th Hotdog Hangover Edition
A recap of the most interesting Pittsburgh tech news from the past few weeks, upcoming local tech events, and extras for the days ahead.
Hello hello, and welcome back to the Monthly Beat! Hope you all had a fantastic 4th. I saw a lot of bad press about the health effects of hotdogs recently, but I will go on record as having eaten seven over the weekend—two at the family cookout, four as leftovers from the cookout, and one at a Wawa (I have yet to try the Paul Skenes “Big Glizzy” at Sheetz). As we all continue to recover from our weekend cookouts, let’s take a look at what’s been cooking in the local tech scene.
What Happened the Past Few Weeks
Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) has chosen a side in the debate around data centers, asking for a moratorium on legislation to regulate the construction of data centers. Brian Kennedy, a vice president at PTC, said that most of the regulation is driven by “fear of the unknown.” The linked article shares a contrasting view from Rep. Steele, D-Fox Chapel, whose district includes Springdale and said “(Developers) are not going to abandon Pennsylvania because they have to pay taxes.” I tend to agree with Rep. Steele and think taxes would allow the local community to benefit from what is otherwise a very bad deal for locals. But I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments!
Agility Robotics, maker of the humanoid robot “Digit”, plans to go public after being acquired by a SPAC, Churchill Capital Corp. XI. You may remember Agility Robotics from my coverage of Pittsburgh AI & Robotics Discovery Day last year. For those unfamiliar, a SPAC is a “special purpose acquisition company”, a public shell company that raises funds via IPO to merge with a private company in order to then take the private company public. This particular SPAC is the latest in a string of SPACs all led by the same guy: Michael Klein. His most successful story was the acquisition of Lucid, the EV company, but that was 7 SPACs ago (Churchill Capital Corp IV). Lucid isn’t doing too hot right now, and Klein’s later SPACs have a mixed track record at best. So it remains to be seen whether this acquisition will be good for Agility in the long term, but now I’m craving SPAK.
KEF Robotics, a local startup making software that allows aircraft to fly without a pilot or map, landed a $1.25M contract with the Air Force. In the linked interview with Technical.ly, co-founder and CEO Fraser Kitchell said, “We do have a national and international reach, but [Pittsburgh] is where we still spend most of our time.” It’s always great to see companies like KEF not only taking off, but also staying local!
CMU’s National Science Foundation AI Institute for Societal Decision Making (NSF AI-SDM) and Meta are partnering up to develop AI tools for emergency response. Researchers for the initiative aim to use mobility and connectivity data that Meta collects from your phone through the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apps in combination with satellite imagery to help get people evacuated before a disaster and better coordinate community returns in the aftermath. Meta sells your personal mobility/connectivity data to make money (unless you turn it off), so it’s nice to see them doing something good with this data for a change. But the government can also get this data through carrier records, so there’s really no public safety reason to have a Meta app installed.
Last but not least, Pittsburgh Media Partnership put out a collection of pieces this past month about the local tech ecosystem that are all super good. You really do not want to miss these!
Mia Hollie of Pittsburgh’s Public Source went deep on the history of Pittsburgh’s tech scene and how it has progressed, plus what it will need to develop further in the future.
Alice Crow of Technical.ly dove into how the City of Pittsburgh is working in earnest to get its guidelines for AI usage caught up with the times.
Megan Harris of City Cast Pittsburgh led a great discussion around whether or not Pittsburgh can hold onto its tech startups.
For the Days Ahead
Looking for a weekly hangout with other folks who are interested in technology and entrepreneurship? Technically Coffee is a great one, 8am every Friday at Bakery Square. Sign up here.
For local Black professionals, founders, and creatives, check out the Black Startups & Tech Meetup, hosted at Avenu: Meyran at 5pm Monday, July 20th. Sign up here.
July 24th from 10am till noon, Innovation Works is hosting Cafe IW: Building Where You Are, where you can take part in an interactive conversation exploring how Pittsburgh and Nashville are competing in today’s innovation economy. Add to your calendar here.
PghAI has their monthly meetup this month on Wednesday, July 29th at 8pm. Events usually include a talk or two, jam sessions, and mingling with other local AI practitioners. Sign up here.
Robotics and AI Discovery Day is back this year on September 16th at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center! I had an amazing time at last year’s event and plan to attend again this year. Sign up to attend or exhibit here.
Do YOU have an event or product launch you’d like to share on this very newsletter? Please hit me up!
Bonus posts coming soon. Till then, enjoy the cooler weather this week!
—Austin