Industrial Vanguard Vol. 30

Introduction

America’s reindustrialization drumbeat grew louder this week. Battery plants finally hit nameplate capacity, molten-salt fission startups pulled in fresh euros, and Google signaled that long‑duration storage is its next frontier. At the same time, AI’s physical footprint kept colliding with grid limits, prompting new modular data‑center plays and a policy “playbook” for industrial power. Supply chains stirred—from a possible coast‑to‑coast rail merger to AI‑driven military logistics—while venture dollars flowed into photonics, agentic engineers, and quantum chips. Below, we break down the signal across materials, energy, design, manufacturing, logistics, recycling, and policy.

Materials

• Radical AI raises $55M seed to rethink industrial materials with generative design. Read more

Energy

• SK on’s U.S. battery plant reaches full capacity for the first time in three years. Read more

• Stellaria secures €23M to commercialize a molten-salt nuclear reactor by 2035. Read more

• A new U.S. industrial-energy playbook emerges, blending AI demand with grid reality. Read more

• AI–nuclear partnership forms to streamline reactor licensing with automation. Read more

• BMW i Ventures co-leads round in Estes Energy for next‑gen batteries. Read more

• The U.S. is still lagging on high-capacity transmission buildout. Read more

• Google’s next tech bet: long-duration energy storage. Read more

Design & Development

• Q.ANT raises €62M to advance photonic processing for post‑silicon computing. Read more

• OpenAI’s mega–data center ambitions slam into physical constraints. Read more

• xLight pulls in $40M to build key chipmaking lasers in the U.S. Read more

• Reka raises $110M to push frontier AI models. Read more

• Armada lands $131M to launch modular, megawatt-scale AI data centers. Read more

Manufacturing

• BrightAI raises $51M to bring real-time intelligence to industrial operations. Read more

• AstraZeneca plans $50B U.S. buildout across manufacturing and R&D. Read more

• Investor-backed developer eyes rural California for an advanced manufacturing hub. Read more

Supply Chain & Logistics

• Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern discuss a cross-continental rail merger. Read more

• Cartken pivots from sidewalk delivery to industrial robotics. Read more

• Rune Technologies raises $24M to deploy AI logistics software for the military. Read more

• Sequoia partners with Magentic to drive AI savings across supply chains. Read more

Recycling

• GM & Redwood Materials sign to reuse EV batteries for energy storage deployments. Read more

Venture Capital & Private Equity

• Booz Allen Hamilton triples its VC commitment to $300M. Read more

• OMERS Ventures shifts strategy; Michael Yang departs. Read more

Markets, Policy & News

• Corporate-backed IPOs tick back up in June. Read more

• The brutal battle for elite AI talent intensifies. Read more

• How Sam Altman outmaneuvered Musk to become Trump’s AI ally. Read more

• AI is splitting the fortunes of the ‘Magnificent Seven’. Read more

• What chip-stock investors may be missing about tariffs. Read more

Thanks for reading Industrial Vanguard. We surface the week’s most consequential moves across materials, energy, manufacturing, supply chains, recycling, and policy so you can act, invest, and build with clarity.

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