Themes

The global automotive industry is quickly approaching a transformation that should fully take shape by 2040. While 20 years doesn’t seem very far away, keep in mind that technology is advancing at an accelerating pace — the next 20 years…

We don’t expect many surprises at Apple’s September 12th event (see our expectations detailed below). That said, the event will mark an important new chapter for Apple centered on augmented reality, which will eventually replace the smartphone over the next…

The ambitious and multifaceted endeavor that is fully autonomous driving seems simply too large a task for one company to undertake. In the race for autonomy, automakers, software experts, hardware manufacturers, and ridesharing companies are turning to each other in…

On Tuesday, Google released a developer preview of ARCore, a platform for developers to build augmented reality apps for Android. ARCore brings augmented reality to the world’s largest mobile operating system, starting with just the Pixel and Galaxy S8, but…

In December, Apple will ship HomePod, a smart speaker with a unique focus on music. Don’t be fooled, however, by HomePod’s music-focused marketing; Apple has a grander vision than delivering a better sounding Echo. The company is making Siri a…

AI is one of the core themes on which we focus at Loup Ventures. And as analysts, we heard Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple emphasizing their focus on AI over the last several years. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has commented…

Elon Musk continues to warn us of the potential dangers of AI, from debating the topic with Mark Zuckerberg to saying it’s more dangerous than North Korea. He’s called for regulating AI, just as we regulate other industries that can be dangerous to humans.…

Will AI and robotics revolutionize human labor or not?  More than half of all US jobs could be disrupted by automation in the next several decades; at least that’s our opinion. About half the people we talk to disagree. Those…

As a part of our continuing efforts to understand the ways and speed at which artificial intelligence enters our everyday lives, we reexamined two home assistants based on a study we performed in February.  The two most popular assistants, Google…

Special thanks to Austin Bohlig for his work on this note.  Amazon’s 2012 acquisition of Kiva Systems was the spark that ignited the Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV) industry, which we believe will represent a $10B market by 2025. We’ve taken a…

“People tend to overestimate the amount of change that can happen in the near-term, and understate it in the long-term.” Huei Peng, Director of Mcity Last week we made a trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan to hear more about Mcity.…

Following encouraging comments from Apple’s leading VCESL laser supplier, Lumentum (LITE), on their FQ4 conference call this morning, we have become incrementally more upbeat on Apple’s next iPhone launch, and specifically the number of phones that will have advanced 3D…