Want to send thoughts or suggestions to\u00a0Fortune Tech?\u00a0Drop a line\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The space economy\u2019s next frontier is in ground infrastructure Stuart Isett\/Fortune<\/p>\n In the last six years, a surge of satellites in orbit has triggered what Northwood Space chief executive Bridgit Mendler called the \u201cinfrastructure building era\u201d of space.<\/p>\n Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado on Tuesday, Mendler emphasized<\/a> how massive leaps in launch capacity and spacecraft manufacturing are supercharging the space economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Satellites have evolved from isolated scientific missions into large constellations of thousands. And they all require the type of network routing Northwood builds, she said.<\/p>\n Northwood is focused on the ground segment, which Mendler described as the networking system linking Earth and space. Without this infrastructure, she argued, a satellite would be a \u201creally expensive hump of metal up in space.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor a long time, the space economy has existed, but it\u2019s been pretty niche,\u201d Mendler said. \u201cThe economics are switching. You can see that that is leading to adoption and market share from major parts of the economy like telecom.\u201d<\/p>\n Mendler\u2019s philosophy is that space networking should be a shared resource, akin to how cloud infrastructure supports tech startups. By providing this shared layer, Northwood aims to drastically shorten the timeline for new space ventures. What took industry leaders like SpaceX 20 years to build could soon be achieved in five, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cData is the way that you gather value from the space economy,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, the more throughput you can get through space, the space economy directly grows.\u201d \u2014Sebastian Herrera<\/p>\n U.S. science funding cuts risk falling behind global rivals<\/p>\n Washington pulled tens of billions from national health funding just as healthcare and biotech hit its ChatGPT moment. At Fortune Brainstorm Tech in Aspen this week, the people building AI drug discovery said (more or less) that the U.S. government picked the worst possible moment to blink.<\/p>\n \u201cFalling below the scientific intelligence of one\u2019s adversary at a corporate level, at a sovereign level, is almost like an unimaginable competitive disadvantage,\u201d said Geoffrey von Maltzahn, co-founder and CEO of Lila Sciences, at the conference<\/a> on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nvidia\u2019s Kimberly Powell, vice president of healthcare, was more direct: \u201cIf we defund now, while the rest of the world leans in\u2014which Europe is leaning in, which a lot of the Asian countries are leaning in\u2014we will be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n The duo made the case that the scientific method and agentic AI are, structurally, the same thing: pose a question, gather context, observe, reason, act. The implication being that the moment to pour resources in is now, not later.<\/p>\n Lila Sciences has raised $550 million to build what it calls scientific superintelligence\u2014AI systems running the scientific method around the clock across materials, chemistry, and life sciences.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lila\u2019s agents recently identified catalysts for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen that outperform the precious metals the industry currently relies on. A third of those suggestions, he noted, made no sense to his Caltech-trained team at first. They\u2019re now the highest-performing catalysts on record.<\/p>\n \u201cI think to many people this Claude Code-esque moment\u2014when a new intelligence gets injected into science and changes it forever thereafter\u2014may not feel imminent,\u201d Von Maltzahn said. \u201cBut it is right around the corner.\u201d \u2014Lily Mae Lazarus<\/p>\n Three things Anthropic looks for in a good hire<\/p>\n As one of the hottest employers of the AI wave, Anthropic has applicants streaming in for six-figure roles. Now, the architect behind its Claude Code, Boris Cherny, just revealed three ways to stand out when applying at the tech giant.<\/p>\n \u201cNumber one, we like generalists, because they have context across more than just engineering,\u201d Cherny recently said onstage<\/a> at Fortune\u2019s Brainstorm Tech conference. \u201cWe love people that have context across engineering and design, engineering and product, data science and design.\u201d<\/p>\n While Anthropic is on the hunt for talent that are jack-of-all-trades, it\u2019s also on the lookout for applicants consumed by their own intellect.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cherny said his second hiring rule is picking candidates with a \u201clow ego,\u201d joining a chorus of CEOs turning away applicants for being too big for their britches. And the AI creator adds that curating a hard-working team of humble employees fosters trusted collaboration among all coworkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEgo just gets in the way of stuff,\u201d Cherny continues. \u201cYou want to be okay and safe shipping an idea that might turn out to be bad. It\u2019s not your fault, it\u2019s okay to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n The Claude Code architect adds one last requirement to his hiring line-up: being able to admit failure, and move on. The characteristic feeds back into that \u201clow ego\u201d archetype of talent that embraces criticism from others\u2014especially clients.<\/p>\n \u201cThe third thing is we love empiricists. So people that are learning from the data, and that are anchored to reality,\u201d the AI leader said. \u201cLike, \u2018I have a brilliant idea, but then I talk to a customer and they told me that I\u2019m wrong. I\u2019m probably wrong.\u2019 And, \u2018I should probably throw out that idea and try something else. And that\u2019s okay.\u2019\u201d \u2014Emma Burleigh<\/p>\n More tech<\/p>\n \u2014Microsoft\u2019s Xbox division<\/a> is reportedly planning major layoffs.<\/p>\n \u2014Google\u2019s DiffusionGemma<\/a> AI model promises faster text generation via text diffusion.<\/p>\n \u2014U.S. FBI seizes 13 domains<\/a> allegedly tied to fake consulting firms operating on behalf of suspected Chinese agents.<\/p>\n \u2014OpenAI may dramatically lower its token price<\/a> in anticipation of similar moves at Anthropic.<\/p>\n \u2014Amazon lands a $17.5 billion loan<\/a> from Citigroup and other banks for\u2014what else?\u2014AI infrastructure investments.<\/p>\n \u2014Anthropic adjusts policies for its new Fable model<\/a> after AI researchers complain that its guardrails are too strict.<\/p>\n \u2014Canada introduces legislation to ban social media<\/a> for children under 16.<\/p>\n Fortune AIQ: From Pilot to Profit<\/p>\n The following case studies cover the transition from AI experimentation to measurable business impact. Explore all of Fortune AIQ<\/a>, and read the latest collection of stories below:<\/p>\n \u2014Why dbt Labs CEO views AI efficiency and creativity as the same thing<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014Omnisend offers quarterly raises for employees who use AI to drive business impact<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014AI is supercharging cyberattacks\u2014and most companies aren\u2019t ready<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014How Lumen\u2019s \u2018maniacal focus\u2019 on KPIs drove measurable AI impact<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Bridgit](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/55325665553_294d8de98f_k.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>Bridgit Mendler, co-founder and CEO of Northwood, at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781195015_711_Opener-AIQ.jpg\"\/)
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