The Engine Team 3/30/25 The Engine Team 3/30/25

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.

Jill Crosby 3/18/25 Jill Crosby 3/18/25

AI Essentials: Copyright and model training

This blog continues our series called “AI Essentials,” which aims to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding AI-related topics. It discusses copyright infringement and fair use when it comes to the inputs used in AI training and why these legal questions are critical for the AI ecosystem and startup innovation.

Nathan Lindfors 3/4/25 Nathan Lindfors 3/4/25

The pro-startup policy agenda to power AI innovation

Policymakers need to support pro-startup policy if they want a world leading AI ecosystem made up of U.S. companies building AI, building with AI, and using AI to better everyday tasks.

Guest User 12/6/24 Guest User 12/6/24

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.

The Engine Team 12/6/24 The Engine Team 12/6/24

AI Essentials: The role of data and where it comes from

Data is a fundamental resource that powers all AI systems. There are different types of data that are utilized for different functions in AI development, and varying sources of that data.

Guest User 11/20/24 Guest User 11/20/24

U.S. startups need trade agency to address digital barriers in upcoming annual report

Stakeholders across the economy — including startups — are telling the U.S. trade chief about harmful trade barriers, but it’s unclear if the agency will do anything to address them.

Guest User 11/1/24 Guest User 11/1/24

AI Essentials: What are transformers?

Humans don’t make very good multitaskers, but the same isn’t true for AI

Guest User 10/24/24 Guest User 10/24/24

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.

Min Jung 10/17/24 Min Jung 10/17/24

AI Essentials: What is fine-tuning?

Developing AI is incredibly expensive, but that hasn’t stopped startups with limited resources from innovating in AI and creating new products to improve our lives or businesses through a process called fine-tuning.

Min Jung 10/14/24 Min Jung 10/14/24

AI Essentials: What are model weights?

As AI systems take in vast amounts of data, they have to determine which characteristics of the data are important.

Min Jung 10/3/24 Min Jung 10/3/24

AI Essentials: What is open-source?

Open-source software is in just about every tech product in existence, from your phone, to your car, to your refrigerator.

Jennifer Weinhart 9/26/24 Jennifer Weinhart 9/26/24

What startups need to know about 2025 tax reform

Policymakers are gearing up for a significant bite at rewriting the tax code in 2025, and several key provisions that are on the table—and the chopping block—will impact startups.

Jill Crosby 8/23/24 Jill Crosby 8/23/24

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.

The Engine Team 8/15/24 The Engine Team 8/15/24

IP recap: Generative AI lawsuits and what they mean for startups

High-profile lawsuits over generative AI are poised to create rules of the road for the entire AI ecosystem, including startups.

Min Jung 8/11/24 Min Jung 8/11/24

State Policy Update: What have states been up to regarding AI and how will it impact startups?

In a series of State Policy Updates, we are exploring how state initiatives are impacting the innovation happening in startup ecosystems across the country.

Min Jung 7/15/24 Min Jung 7/15/24

AI Essentials: How do neural networks work?

Before policymakers regulate AI, they need to understand a fundamental technology: neural networks.

The Engine Team 6/20/24 The Engine Team 6/20/24

With support for Black founders under attack, policymakers must step up to ensure innovation is for all

The startup ecosystem should be accessible to everyone, but for the entrepreneurs who don’t look like the average founder — white, heterosexual, male — joining the startup ecosystem has always had its challenges.