Molt-en Liquid Distortions

This week: AI Grand Prix, Fiber-Optic Cables, automation AI sensors, hidden air leaks, MCP for industrial AI agents, autonomous moldmaking, rare earths, physical AI funding, industrial process heat

Feb 01, 2026

Shop Talk

Capturing this week’s zeitgeist

Anduril announced the AI Grand Prix, a global autonomous drone racing competition challenging the world’s best engineers to prove their autonomy software under real-world flight conditions. Teams will compete for a $500,000 prize pool and a job at Anduril.
Conceived by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, the AI Grand Prix is an open challenge to university teams and the boldest independent engineers from the United States and around the world. Competitors will race fully autonomous drones built by Neros Technologies, a leading American manufacturer of small unmanned aerial systems. No human pilots and no hardware modifications will be allowed — ensuring the competitive edge is gained entirely by developing the best software.

The reminds me of Micromouse, an international robotics competition, starting in the late 1970s, where small, autonomous robots, or “mice”, navigate a 16x16 grid maze to reach the center in the shortest time. See the latest Maze‑Solving Showdown APEC 2025 Atlanta Highlights.

Additionally, Blake Scholl of Boom Supersonic noted a major breakthrough in shortest-path algorithms and applicability to supersonic flight.

Blake Scholl 🛫@bscholl

We’ve been using variations on Dijkstra’a algorithm for supersonic flight path optimization. Pretty cool there is now something faster.

Md Ismail Šojal 🕷️ @0x0SojalSec

Chinese scientists have developed, The best shortest-path algorithm in 41 years! A team from Tsinghua University has broken Dijkstra's "sorting barrier" - the first improvement since 1984. Just use for a world-map 🤯 Paper - https://t.co/z0SmpMY9Br

2:42 PM · Jan 11, 2026 · 137K Views

32 Replies · 48 Reposts · 994 Likes

Other prizes and grants announced:

EQT Foundation is seeking to award €25,000 to €100,000 in catalytic, non-dilutive funding to research projects with high-risk, high-impact, deep tech approaches to substituting or drastically reducing the use of critical minerals in key climate technologies. /Apply at EQT/

We are gifting a 1-year paid subscription to the first person to identify the content link AND cultural reference to the title/subject line of this week’s digest. Comment on this post with your guess before next week’s digest is released to be eligible!

Assembly Line

This week’s Industry 5.0 breakthroughs and frontier technologies of the built world.

The Secret Society of People Who Know the Formula for WD-40 /WSJ/

How Corning Invented A New Fiber-Optic Cable For AI And Landed A $6 Billion Meta Deal

Under the agreement, Corning will supply Meta with its newest innovations in optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions. To support this, Corning will expand manufacturing capabilities across its operations in North Carolina — including a significant capacity expansion at its optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory where Meta will serve as the anchor customer.

AI module that sits between the sensor and host

The episode explores how inline AI is reshaping real-world manufacturing with a discussion on why tailored, ultra-efficient AI models can outperform bulky, generic solutions—especially in Europe’s highly specialized industries. Andreas shares how his company’s EdgeBrain device brings intelligence directly to the data stream, enabling plug-and-play integration and unprecedented robustness for even the oldest production lines.

Hidden Air Leaks Are Draining Machine Shop Profitability

✍️ Author: Emily Newton

Production metrics are simple to visualize and record, with many opportunities to make operations leaner. Technicians can review scrap rates, labor costs, and cycle times with minimal effort to find ways to avoid excess spending. These areas for improvement are easy to focus on. Discovering hidden air leaks is more complex, especially when they support diverse processes such as actuators and dryers.
Facilities that prevent air leaks could save $30 to $90 per leak per shift each year if the machine operates at around 100 psi. These costs quickly accumulate in machine shops, especially if no maintenance and auditing protocols are in place. Escaping compressed air wastes energy and resources, totaling an estimated 80% of compressor expenses.

MCP Server: Make Your Plant Data Accessible to AI Agents

In this Quick Tips video, we show you how to configure N3uron’s MCP Server Module to connect an MCP-enabled AI assistant to a real photovoltaic plant in just a few easy steps.

ProveIt! 2026 is coming up Feb 16–20, 2026 in Dallas, TX. I’m sure you’ll see MCP and much more live on display!

Reimagining Manufacturing: Autonomous Approach to Mold Design and Production

✍️ Author: Christina Fuges

The company is working to build technology that leverages actual “physics” in the tool design decisions. They aim to simplify high-volume part production by eliminating the need for every tool to undergo complex kick-off and lengthy design review meetings before fabrication can begin. “This approach is particularly challenging in industries like automotive, where business practices are deeply protective and resistant to change,” Young says.
“By automating and optimizing tool design, we enable tools to run 30-50% more efficiently in terms of cycle time, quality and scrap rate. The AI not only designs tools but also determines the manufacturing strategy, ensuring automated work cells can produce components with minimal human intervention,” Young says. This approach eliminates the significant manual efforts traditionally required in toolmaking, from design to programming cutter paths and managing work cells.

New Product Introduction

Highlighting new and innovative facilities, processes, products, and services

🦾🤖🦿 Introducing Helix 02: Full-Body Autonomy

Last year, Helix showed that a single neural network could control a humanoid’s upper body from pixels. Helix 02 extends that control to the entire robot - walking, manipulating, and balancing as one continuous system.

Helix 02 is Figure’s most capable humanoid model yet: A single neural system that controls the full body directly from pixels, enabling dexterous, long horizon autonomy across an entire room. Helix 02 represents several breakthroughs:

All sensors in. All actuators out: Helix 02 connects every onboard sensor - vision, touch, and proprioception - directly to every actuator through a single unified visuomotor neural network.
Human-like whole body control from human data: All results are enabled by System 0, a learned whole‑body controller trained on over 1,000 hours of human motion data and sim‑to‑real reinforcement learning. System 0 replaces 109,504 lines of hand‑engineered C++ with a single neural prior for stable, natural motion.
New classes of dexterity: With Figure 03’s embedded tactile sensing and palm cameras, Helix 02 performs manipulation that was previously out of reach: extracting individual pills, dispensing precise syringe volumes, and singulating small, irregular objects from clutter despite self‑occlusion.

Read more at Figure and discuss with CEO Brett Adcock on X

Covestro introduces innovative CQ-Configurator for real-time sustainable polyurethane foam design

Covestro, a leading supplier of high-tech polymer materials, has launched the CQ-Configurator, a pioneering digital tool that enables polyurethane value chain partners to design more sustainable foam solutions based on Covestro environmental data. The application-first tool supports both flexible and rigid polyurethane foam applications — from mattresses to insulation panels — and seamlessly translates raw material-level information into actionable product-impact making sustainability assessment accessible across all organizational functions. Across industries, companies must increasingly demonstrate sustainability progress to meet market requirements, Scope 3 reporting needs, and comply with growing regulatory requirements

🏭 Century Aluminum Joins EGA Project to Build First U.S. Smelter in Almost 50 Years

Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) and Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ: CENX) announced that they have entered into a joint development agreement to build the first new primary aluminum production plant in the United States since 1980. Under the joint development agreement, EGA will own 60 percent of the joint venture, with Century owning the remaining 40 percent. The new plant, to be built in Inola, Oklahoma as previously announced by EGA, is expected to produce 750,000 tonnes of aluminum per year, larger than previously envisioned and more than doubling current U.S. production. The Inola plant will create 1,000 permanent direct jobs at the facility and 4,000 jobs during construction.

Business Transactions

This week’s top funding events, acquisitions, and partnerships across industrial value chains.

International Paper Splitting in Two /WSJ/ keeping its brand for North American operations and creating a new company for Europe, Middle East and Africa operations
London VC 2150 closes €210 million Fund II, bringing AUM to €500 million in order to scale climate, energy and industrial decarbonisation /EU-Startups/

🇺🇸🔋 Redwood accelerates energy storage, announces $350 million Series E funding

Redwood has closed a $350 million Series E funding round, led by Eclipse with participation from new strategic investors including NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm). With this new capital, Redwood will accelerate the expansion of our energy storage deployments, refining and materials production capacity, and our world-class engineering and operations teams.

This oversubscribed round reflects the excitement and rapid growth across Redwood’s two core, integrated business lines:

Critical Materials: Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Lithium and Cathode Active Material
Grid Energy Storage: very large scale, lowest cost, best integration

🇨🇦🦾 Vention Raises $110M USD ($150M CAD) to Accelerate Physical AI Deployment Across Global Manufacturing

Vention, the company behind the only AI-powered software and hardware platform for automation and robotics, today announced it has raised $110M USD in financing, with participation from Investissement Québec, Desjardins Capital, certain funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm) and other financial institutions. The new capital will accelerate Vention’s mission to deliver Zero-Shot Automation™, a new paradigm for manufacturing automation that deploys seamlessly, without integration, and operates correctly on the first attempt. A portion of the investment will also fuel Vention’s expansion across EMEA, strengthening its presence and operations to solidify its position as the standard for automation in the European market.

Vention differentiates itself through advances in generative AI and Physical AI, enabling artificial intelligence to power the design, programming, deployment, and operation of industrial equipment and robotic cells. Building on a multi-year collaboration with leading companies in robotics, Vention has recently launched automated configuration tools, an AI agent for defining machine specifications, a robotic programming copilot, and fully autonomous AI-powered robotic applications. These innovations reduce automation project timelines from months to days.

Read more at PR Newswire and discuss with CEO Etienne Lacroix on LinkedIn

🇩🇪🦾 RobCo Raises $100 Million to Scale Its Autonomous Industrial Robotics Platform

RobCo, a physical AI-driven robotics company raised $100 million to advance RobCo’s Physical AI roadmap, expand enterprise deployments and deepen the company’s presence in the U.S. market. The Series C is co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lingotto Innovation, alongside Sequoia Capital, Greenfield Partners, Kindred Capital, Leitmotif and The Friedkin Group. The venture capital investors bring experience building category-defining technology companies, while the industrial investors leverage deep connections in industry to back growth companies over the long-term.

RobCo has been vertically integrated from day one, developing hardware and software as a single full-stack platform. Its robots can acquire task-specific skills through demonstration and self-learning rather than manual programming, enabling faster deployment, rapid iteration, and easier adaptation to complex or variable processes - with RobCo acting as a single pane of glass for customers.

🇺🇸🔥 GlassPoint Closes $20M Funding Round to Fuel Global Expansion of Solar Industrial Process Heat

GlassPoint, the leader in solar industrial process heat, announced it has closed a $20M funding round led by N.I.S. New Investment Solutions, a Liechtenstein-based asset management firm, with participation from returning investor MIG Capital. With the new funding, GlassPoint is expanding its Technology Center in Stuttgart, Germany, with leading technologists and engineers. The company is also hiring business development, engineering, and finance talent in Dubai and the United States.

More energy is used globally in the form of industrial process heat (26%) than all forms of electricity combined (20%), according to the International Energy Agency. GlassPoint’s unmatched ability to deploy at scale is based on multiple industry-first technologies.

GlassPoint’s Enclosed Trough is the lowest-cost way to convert sunlight into industrial heat, delivering nearly 70% of the energy available in sunlight directly to the customer.
GlassPoint’s Unify Storage System stores solar heat during the day and releases it at night, enabling an uninterrupted supply of clean thermal energy whenever it is needed.

🇺🇸📊 CVector Announces $5M Seed Round to Accelerate AI for Industrial Customers

CVector announces an oversubscribed $5 million USD seed round led by Powerhouse Ventures, with participation by Fusion Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Myriad Venture Partners, and Schematic Ventures. CVector will use the funds to accelerate hiring in sales and product development and assist customers in scaling their current deployments.

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