Compute, Capital, & Control

📡 Radar

🛡️ Anduril Wins $24M Marine Corps Contract

Anduril was awarded a $24M contract under the U.S. Marine Corps’ Organic Precision Fires–Light program, reinforcing its role as a core supplier of next-gen defense technology. The award highlights growing trust in Anduril’s software-first approach to autonomous and precision systems. This is another example of defense dollars shifting toward modern platforms built to move fast and scale. Momentum here continues to validate Anduril’s long-term position in the defense stack. Anduril

💸 Big Capital Backs MrBeast

Tom Lee’s Bitmine invested $200M into MrBeast’s company, marking one of the largest institutional bets yet on creator-led businesses. The deal underscores how media, consumer brands, and distribution are converging into durable, scaled enterprises. MrBeast isn’t just a YouTuber anymore, he’s building a diversified business with real infrastructure behind it. This is creators growing up into full-blown companies. CoinDesk

⛳️ Bryson DeChambeau Partners with Kalshi

Bryson DeChambeau signed an endorsement deal with Kalshi, helping bring prediction markets further into the mainstream sports conversation. The partnership signals growing cultural acceptance of regulated prediction markets as entertainment, data, and financial products collide. Kalshi continues to expand its ecosystem beyond pure finance into consumer awareness and distribution. This kind of visibility matters as the category scales. SportsPro

🤖 OpenAI Signs $10B Deal for Compute from Cerebras

OpenAI reportedly signed a multi-year agreement with Cerebras worth up to $10B, underscoring how quickly enterprise demand for AI infrastructure is scaling. This isn’t short-term experimentation, it’s long-duration budget commitment. Deals like this reinforce OpenAI’s role as core infrastructure, not just a consumer product. TechCrunch

🇺🇸 Grok Eyes Deeper Defense Integration

A Pentagon-backed effort is underway to explore integrating xAI’s Grok into military workflows, signaling real interest in AI systems that can operate in live defense environments. While still early, the discussion itself shows how quickly frontier models are moving into national security use cases. Defense, intelligence, and AI are converging faster than most expected, and xAI is clearly part of that conversation. Arstechnica

🐙 Kraken-Backed SPAC Filed for Nasdaq IPO

Kraken-linked SPAC KRAKacquisition Corp. filed to raise $250M in a Nasdaq IPO, targeting infrastructure-oriented business combinations ahead of identifying a merger target. The structure offers a pathway for crypto infrastructure companies to access public markets more quickly than a traditional IPO. This move reflects renewed confidence in SPACs as a viable wrapper for crypto-adjacent growth stories. It’s another sign the crypto industry is rebuilding bridges to broader capital markets. The Block

⚓️ Anchor Browser Powers Groq’s Agent Platform

Anchor Browser is now powering Groq’s agent platform, enabling reliable AI access to the web for dynamic model workflows. This integration helps Groq LPUs handle real-time data and browser interactions at scale, which is crucial for advanced autonomous AI workloads. It underscores the importance of tooling that bridges models with live internet data. This foundational layer strengthens Groq’s ecosystem and improves user experience on next-generation AI platforms. Morningstar

⚖️ Musk vs OpenAI

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is now set to move forward to a jury trial, potentially as soon as March. The case highlights how questions around control, governance, and mission are becoming just as important as the technology itself. As AI companies grow into massive platforms, these disputes are no longer theoretical and carry real legal and institutional weight. As investors in both OpenAI and several of Elon’s ventures, we’re watching closely and hoping this stays focused on progress rather than noise. TechCrunch

💬 Prompt

What can I help you with?

Ask me 10 questions, one at a time, to help uncover the most uncomfortable truth about myself that I’m not currently aware of. After the final question, tell me what you’ve discovered, without explaining the intent behind the questions as we go.

🧠 Content

🚀 LFG in San Francisco

Chris and I will be in San Francisco Feb 3–5 and are hosting a few small gatherings to spend time with current investors and readers of The Markup. If you’d like to join, just reply directly to this email and we’ll loop you in.

⏰ Capital as a Time Machine

The $30B figure being discussed around a potential SpaceX IPO isn’t about moonshot R&D, it’s about moving faster. SpaceX already generates real cash, and public capital would simply pull Starship and Starlink forward by years rather than change the destination. It’s a clear example of capital being used to accelerate compounding, not invent a new story. Interesting breakdown by Mach33 CEO Aaron Burnett  below.

♟️ The Case for Being Last

Watch the now-famous lecture Peter Thiel gave at Stanford on contrarian thinking. One of the core takeaways is that the best companies don’t brag about dominance, they earn it by winning a small market first and expanding from a position of strength. The real edge comes from being the last mover, stepping in once the path is clear and scaling harder than anyone else.

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