Hyfix's Game-Changing Chip, Amazon's Satellite Ambitions, and Meta's Custom AI Push: Key Moves in the Tech World

Good morning from OWITH.ai, the podcast that gives you only what's important to hear in the AI and tech world. Hyfix Spatial Intelligence, a Santa Clara-based startup, has secured $15 million in seed funding for a novel system-on-a-chip designed for drones and robots. This innovation is set to replace the current array of electronics with a single chip that integrates flight control, high-precision positioning, secure communications, and onboard computing. The funding round was led by Craft Ventures with contributions from Catapult Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Finality Capital, and the hard-tech investor Sky Dayton. This development follows the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's decision in late 2025 to block approvals and imports of certain Chinese-made drones and radio frequency gear. The regulatory shift has led to an increased demand for domestic alternatives, as DJI currently holds an 80% share of the global civilian drone market. The innovative chip is designed to maintain functionality even in environments where GPS signals are jammed or spoofed. It leverages a decentralized network of approximately 21,000 ground reference stations from CEO Mike Horton's other project, Geodnet, alongside low earth orbit satellites for more accurate positioning than traditional GPS systems. Hyfix's founders bring significant expertise to the venture: Horton has a background in autonomous systems, while co-founder Udan Ercan specializes in global navigation satellite systems. The newly acquired funding will be used to finalize the chip design and begin shipping production-ready chips to select partners this year. Furthermore, Hyfix is working on developing a sub-250-gram reference drone to highlight their platform's capabilities. Craft Ventures partner Jeff Fluhr notes that Hyfix addresses a critical need for custom silicon, contributing to an American supply chain for drones that does not rely on foreign technology stacks. It is anticipated that Hyfix will broaden its chip offerings across various drone categories within the next two years and eventually power a wide range of autonomous machines. Amazon has announced its acquisition of satellite operator Globalstar for $11.6 billion. This acquisition aims to bolster Amazon's Low Earth Orbit satellite services as part of its strategy to compete with SpaceX's Starlink, enabling smartphone users to stay connected beyond terrestrial cellular networks. With this move, Amazon intends to significantly increase its satellite count by 2029 but is faced with challenges related to rocket launches due to the slower progress of its space venture, Blue Origin. Meta and Broadcom have expanded their partnership to co-develop Meta's custom AI chips known as Meta Training and Inference Accelerators. This initiative is part of Meta's broader strategy to reduce dependence on Nvidia and AMD by creating proprietary silicon solutions. The collaboration is set to deploy significant power capacity initially with plans for further increases in the future. As a result of this announcement, Broadcom's stock saw a 3% rise while Meta's remained stable. Global smartphone shipments have experienced a decline for the first time since 2023 due to a global memory chip shortage. This shortage has led to reduced shipments and higher prices, compounded by geopolitical tensions such as the conflict in Iran and U.S.-China trade issues. Despite these challenges, companies like Samsung and Apple have managed modest growth thanks to their premium product offerings. At Dow, Karen Carter is set to become CEO on July 1, succeeding Jim Fitterling who will remain as executive chair. This change underscores the importance of a well-p