Muffi Ghadiali

As AI workloads eat up global computing supply, DRAM prices are surging like never before—creating major challenges for teams trying to plan out their data center spend. One of my portfolio companies, Mext, is addressing the largest cost component in the datacenter: server memory (DRAM). From being on the board of Redis for the last twelve years, I’ve learned a lot about the various aspects of this problem and approaches to solving them. Mext found a breakthrough, using new AI techniques, for dramatically reducing the amount of server-DRAM required to run applications, all while maintaining performance. It intelligently manages the server’s memory, keeping hot pages (i.e., those in use by applications) in fast DRAM and offloading cold pages (i.e., those less used) to a much less expensive memory tier (e.g., NVMe Flash). Key to the approach is ensuring cold memory pages that are about to be accessed by an application are back in DRAM before the application needs them or notices that they were gone. This is done without modifications to the application or the OS – so it can run in the cloud or on-premise. Mext thus allows applications to either run using less DRAM or keep their DRAM footprint but do more with it. They're hosting a webinar along with Fred Weber (former CTO of AMD) on Jan 22nd at 10am pacific time. You can register here: https://lnkd.in/gXe9GCeE

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Navigating the Future of Mobility: Safety Concerns in Autonomous Technology The recent incident involving a Waymo robotaxi hitting a child near a Santa Monica elementary school underscores the critical importance of safety in the rapidly evolving autonomous vehicle sector. As stakeholders in venture capital, we must prioritize understanding the regulatory landscape and invest in companies that prioritize child and pedestrian safety. How do you think incidents like this will shape public perception and regulatory frameworks for autonomous technologies? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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THE SILICON ERA IS HITTING A PHYSICAL WALL. TO SCALE AI, WE HAVE TO SCALE THE GRID, THE FACILITY, AND THE HARDWARE-SOFTWARE STACK IN UNISON. The 2026 mHUB HardTech Summit was a fantastic gathering of minds and a definitive validation of the massive “scale wall” we’ve been tracking at z2sixty. The summit confirmed what we’ve long believed: We’ve hit a scaling impasse with technologies like AI. It’s no longer just a silicon problem; it’s a challenge that exists at the “nexus” of the physical and the digital—the intersection of usable power, efficient hardware-software stacks, and pragmatic applications. We’ve moved past the phase of "just making more stuff" in the U.S. and into an era where manufacturing converges with the energy and compute stacks that power it. It’s not just about having existing facilities or owning the models—it’s about having the ideas, people, space, policies, and regional will to BUILD future-ready facilities. A FEW OBSERVATIONS THAT CONFIRM OUR CONVICTION: THE INTEGRATED STACK IS THE NEW MOAT: We’re observing an unprecedented convergence of hardware, software, and the power grid. As Jeff Pontius (Generac), Jacob Balma (Maxwell Labs), and Rashid Bashir (UIUC) highlighted, you can't scale any of them without the others. The bottleneck for AI and advanced computing isn't just code; it's the physical infrastructure—the exact friction point our thesis addresses. POLICY AS A REAL-WORLD TAILWIND: It was encouraging to hear Spencer Gore (Roland Berger) and Sibendu Som (Argonne) discuss the nexus of policy and funding. Illinois’ CRGA legislation—tackling nuclear, quantum, and battery storage—is a prime example of the state-level support we anticipated would be necessary to turn these "nexus" challenges into industrial advantages. THE HEARTLAND AS AN EXECUTION HUB: The Midwest doesn’t just have the "ideas"—it has the unique combination of technical talent, labor, policies, and the underutilized industrial space to actually build and deploy these solutions at scale. The optimism from leaders like Alaina Harkness (Current) and Patricia Grospiron (The Engine Accelerator) confirms that this region is the sandbox for the industrial evolution we’ve been preparing for. Innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum; it happens at the intersection of the grid, the facility, and the tech stack. Seeing Larry Gies (Madison Industries) discuss leadership as a stewardship for both people and the products that build our future was the perfect capstone. Huge thanks to Haven Allen and the entire mHUB team for being a cornerstone of this movement. Meeting several fantastic founders and seeing the products on the floor only strengthened our belief that the "nexus" isn't just coming—it’s here. 🛠️⚡ #mHUBSummit #HardTech #EnergyNexus #Manufacturing #MidwestInnovation #Infrastructure #z2sixty #VentureCapital

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Huge congratulations to Infleqtion on a historic day for neutral‑atom quantum computing. Having gone through the NYSE journey myself with IonQ over 4 years ago, I know that crossing the chasm from private to public markets is a non‑trivial milestone for any deep‑tech company, and this listing validates years of hard work in physics, engineering, and company building. Infleqtion’s first day as a public neutral‑atom quantum company sent a strong signal, with INFQ closing up over 10% on day one—healthy trading for a deep‑tech SPAC in a choppy market! Good market signals along with over $550M in fresh capital gives Infleqtion a long runway and incredible capital firepower. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eUn99s-D Matthew Kinsella Dana Anderson Evan Salim Noah Fitch Seth Caliga

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Heading to DesignCon in Santa Clara this week (Feb 24-26)! I'm building OptixLog: a knowledge graph platform that connects design, manufacturing, and test data for semiconductor teams. We're solving the data fragmentation problem that makes it hard to trace decisions from simulation to production. If you're attending DesignCon or in the Santa Clara area this week, I'd love to grab coffee and chat about: Knowledge graphs for hardware workflows How LLMs can actually reason across your full process (not just isolated tool outputs) Where data traceability breaks in semiconductor R&D Or just swap notes on building in the hardware space Drop me a message here or email me at founder@optixlog.com. Always down to learn from folks shipping silicon. See you there!

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AI isn't just powering software. BrightAI just raised $51 million to automate inspection and other hardware-based AI capabilities. As Alexa von Tobel, co-founder of Inspired Capital put it: “So many people are so focused on the future of digital AI, but we’re excited about this new layer of AI: the physical world AI.” We are in the early innings of a series of AI-fueled innovations! https://lnkd.in/enhmafvH

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From our PearX S25 cohort, meet Pravāh, the AI-native operating system for the electric grid When Mohak Mangal, Dhruv Suri, and Aman Gupta looked at the strain on the U.S. electric grid, they saw a system pushed to its limits. Exploding demand and unpredictable supply have made blackouts increasingly common. This costs the economy more than $150B a year, a number that could 10x in the next five years. Mohak Mangal and team founded Pravāh to help fix it. Their platform helps utilities and grid operators make real-time decisions on load, generation, and congestion, reducing blackout risks, optimizing power procurement, and bringing much-needed stability to the backbone of modern life. We’re proud to support the Pravāh team as they take on one of the toughest and most important infrastructure challenges of our time.

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Varun Sivaram has a truly unique ability to pull together stakeholders across AI, energy, and policy. This is exactly why Earthshot Ventures invested in Emerald AI - there is a grand bargain to be struck in getting data centers online fast if they're willing to bring flexibility to the grid, and Varun is the man to strike that bargain. The latest illustration - bringing together $5T in market cap consisting of the world's leading chip company and the 5 leading IPPs in the US to make this happen!

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Additional adecdata re: China's inevitable AI dominance - the US hasn't invested in its electric grid for decades, is fighting clean energy at the federal level, gutting clean energy subsidies, and now can't power data centers in Silicon Valley itself (see link). Meanwhile, China is en route to unlimited green energy, the world leader in battery and solar technology, and already sitting on massive overcapacity *today*. So again, how should this inform EU policy? Simple: don't cut privacy laws - build clean energy infrastructure! More nuclear, more solar, more wind - *today*. Data protection law won't hold back European AI, energy shortages will. https://lnkd.in/gFdv8-Qs

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