Something feels off about the AI boom
N°19 - March 2026
One of the things we keep coming back to at 2050 is the gap between where capital flows and where it’s actually needed. This edition makes that gap uncomfortably visible.
AI funding hit another record in 2025, with LLM makers now capturing 41% of all investment, up from 3% in 2021. At the same time, the secondary market has exploded from 3% of exit value to 31%, with $95B changing hands in the trailing twelve months alone.
European climate tech still can’t get funded at scale: only 11 funds above $500M raised on this side of the Atlantic versus 29 in the US, and institutional investors remain conspicuously absent, contributing just 30% of European VC compared to 72% in America. The money is circulating faster than ever.
And in AI itself, the guardrails are coming off faster than they went up: two responsible AI teams have already been dismantled at Twitter and the Pentagon, and the US Defence Secretary is now actively threatening to cut Anthropic from military supply chains unless it drops its usage restrictions.
When the pressure to deploy outweighs the pressure to evaluate, we all know how that ends. Markets systematically reward narrative velocity over allocation quality, and the people and institutions best positioned to redirect capital toward long-term resilience are instead optimising for short-term legibility.
At 2050, we think naming that dynamic is the first step to investing against it. We hope this edition sharpens the lens. Share it with anyone who needs it.
Let’s dive in! 💫
Insights
Binayak Dasgupta 🇮🇳argues world lacks rigorous scientific methods to test AI safety, with Rumman Chowdhury noting two responsible AI teams collapsed under corporate and political changes at Twitter and US Department of Defense. | Hindustan Times - AI SCIENCE
Lily Jamali 🇬🇧 reports US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened removing Anthropic from Pentagon supply chain with Friday deadline if company refuses unrestricted AI use across military applications. | BBC - AI
Karol Ilagan 🇵🇭 reports Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Coaching Grants equipped eight journalists from Global South conducting 12 training sessions reaching 130+ participants since October 2025. | Pulitzer Center - AI JOURNALISM
Joe Rennison 🇬🇧 reports Citrini Research’s bleak AI job displacement scenario fueled S&P 500 decline Monday, with report circulating millions of times online depicting professionals forced into Uber driving and tech worker mortgage defaults. The New York Times analysis shows Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller dismissed conclusions as “doom-and-gloomer” narrative. | The New York Times - AI
Tomasz Tunguz 🇺🇸 argues venture secondaries transformed from 3% of exit value in 2015 to 31% today claiming $95B in trailing twelve months, with Goldman Sachs acquiring Industry Ventures and Morgan Stanley acquiring EquityZen signalling structural shift. | LinkedIn - SECONDARY MARKET
Danijel Višević, Craig Douglas & Niklas Oettle 🇩🇪 report in their white paper that European climate tech startups face persistent Series B funding gap. Europe raised only 11 funds over $500M compared to US’s 29 between 2020-2025, with institutional investors contributing just 30% of European VC versus 72% in US as Solvency II regulations make unlisted equity less attractive, requiring pension fund mobilisation alongside larger mid-sized domestic funds. | World Fund - CLIMATE VC
Laura Pereira 🇿🇦 report analysis of 4 million academic documents reveals sustainability research focuses heavily on technological solutions and private sector whilst neglecting civil society, public sector, and financial actors. The study shows academic literature emphasises individual behavioural changes like recycling over economic or governance transformation, deflecting responsibility from systemic actors. | Stockholm Resilience Centre - RESEARCH BIAS
Florence Santrot 🇫🇷 reports that 2025 marked a historic European energy milestone. We Demain’s analysis shows solar drove the shift, with a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth. | We Demain - ENERGY TRANSITION
Withings 🇫🇷 shares a Flinders University analysis of 28 million days from 70,000 people using Withings sensors, revealing that fewer than 13% consistently meet sleep and activity targets. | LinkedIn - SLEEP RESEARCH
Olivier Mathiot 🇫🇷 argues talent density trumps headcount in 2026 as field guide from 11 founders shows AI-native companies systematically do more with less. | 2050 - TALENT STRATEGY
Graph that retained my attention this week
AI funding hit a record in 2025, but the money is concentrating. LLM developers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI now capture 41% of all AI funding, up from just 3% in 2021. Source
