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The Engine Team
Startup News Digest 05/16/25

Congress advances sweeping tax bills touching on R&D, AI, and more

Startup News Digest 05/16/25
#StartupsEverywhere
Mitchell Winter
#StartupsEverywhere: Southfield, Mich.

The market for carbon-free, reliable energy is growing along with a rising electricity demand. Josef Hjelmaker, through his company, Electric Outdoors, plans to save millions of dollars in electrification conversion costs and make long-term access to the outdoors safer and more sustainable for all. We sat down with Josef to discuss his company, his experience raising capital in Michigan, and the recent American trade policy shifts. 

#StartupsEverywhere: Southfield, Mich.
Research, Statements & Releases, Future Tech, AI, @Engine
The Engine Team
Mapping the future: charting the AI ecosystem ...

Artificial intelligence is a foundational technology driving innovation in every corner of the economy.

Mapping the future: charting the AI ecosystem & a policy blueprint for startup success
Blog, Future Tech, AI, IP
Jill Crosby
The startup struggle with AI transparency laws

Lawmakers are advancing proposals that would require startups to disclose detailed information about their AI training data, specifically the sources and copyright status of the content used.

The startup struggle with AI transparency laws
#StartupsEverywhere
Emma Peters
#StartupsEverywhere: New York, N.Y.

Charlotte Ketelaar is passionate about using her background in investment to help startups raise capital. While mentoring a variety of startups, she found a wide gap between the founders and investors, which led her to co-found Capwave AI. Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss her product, the role of open source, and more. 

#StartupsEverywhere: New York, N.Y.

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Uncertainty Surrounding the BEAD Program and Its Impact on Startups

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Uncertainty Surrounding the BEAD Program and Its Impact on Startups

A federal program to boost broadband — a necessary component of startup founders and users ability to access the startup ecosystem — in states across the country is facing headwinds and delays as policymakers move the goalposts and risk making progress on closing the digital divide.

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Sacrificing Patent Quality for the Sake of “Efficiency”

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Sacrificing Patent Quality for the Sake of “Efficiency”

The Trump administration’s push for “efficiency” is undercutting key programs and tools that maintain balanced intellectual property frameworks that protect startups against low-quality patents and meritless, but expensive and time consuming, litigation.

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Supreme Court reviews the Universal Service Fund: what it means for startups and the future of broadband programs

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Supreme Court reviews the Universal Service Fund: what it means for startups and the future of broadband programs

The fate of some of the largest broadband subsidy programs, key to bridging the digital divide for all consumers, including startups and their users, depends on the outcome of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) v. Consumers’ Research case before the Supreme Court.

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AI Essentials: What is a foundation model?

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AI Essentials: What is a foundation model?

This blog continues our series called “AI Essentials,” which aims to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding AI-related topics. It discusses what a foundation model is, how startups are leveraging them to drive greater innovation in the AI ecosystem, and what policymakers need to keep in mind.

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Opportunity Zones are expiring and startups need Congress to act

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Opportunity Zones are expiring and startups need Congress to act

2025 will be a pivotal year for startups and tax policy, and one instrumental program that has been crucial to the success of the company I co-founded, Event Vesta Inc, is at risk of sunsetting.

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AI Essentials: What is compute and how is it measured?

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AI Essentials: What is compute and how is it measured?

If you wanted to haul large amounts of water from a well, you would (at one point in history) need a resource, like a horse, to pull the load. You would measure how much weight the horse can pull per minute in terms of “horsepower.” In the world of AI, the resource required to make models work is compute, and it’s measured in FLOPS.

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Engine, INCOMPAS File Joint Amici Curiae Brief on the FCC’s 2024 Safeguarding the Open Internet Order

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Engine, INCOMPAS File Joint Amici Curiae Brief on the FCC’s 2024 Safeguarding the Open Internet Order

Washington – As the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law plans a hearing Wednesday on the law that enables online services to host user-generated content, diverse organizations from academics to industry to public interest groups sent a letter to Subcommittee leaders. The letter acknowledges that Section 230 is the legal framework that enables anyone to create spaces online where user communities can gather and share content, to the benefit of Internet users and online expression. 

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The push for a new federal law regulating digital replicas and what it means for startups

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The push for a new federal law regulating digital replicas and what it means for startups

The recent legislative and agency efforts directed at regulating digital replicas of individuals’ name, image, and likeness (NIL) have the potential to harm startups’ access to the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and chill innovation.

 

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