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80th Edition
✍🏽 This Week on Landon in the Loop:
đź“ł The History of Motorola
🌆 Let’s Talk Chicago Compute: Neoclouds
📆 Events Around the City
đź“ł The History of Motorola
I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to Chicago tech history, and I've enjoyed writing about significant exits like Tempus, Groupon, Cleversafe, and Grubhub.
Now I want to shine a light on another iconic Chicago-based company: Motorola Solutions, one of our Fortune 500s and a place where I used to work at:
It All Started with Car Radios
Founded in 1928 by Paul and Joseph Galvin in Chicago, Motorola began as Galvin Manufacturing, producing battery eliminators for radios.
In 1930, the company introduced the first car radio, called the "Motorola," combining "motor" for motion and "ola" for sound, which became its iconic brand name.
During World War II, Motorola developed portable two-way radios, known as “walkie-talkies,” playing a crucial role in military communications.
Pioneering Cellular Technology
In 1973, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made the first handheld mobile phone call, marking a pivotal moment in telecommunications.
In 1983, Motorola launched the DynaTAC 8000X which became the world’s first commercially available mobile phone.
Motorola was instrumental in the development of cellular networks, working with governments and telecom providers to expand mobile coverage.
Public Safety
In the 2000s, Motorola shifted its focus to public safety technology, developing mission-critical communication solutions for first responders.
The company rebranded part of its business as Motorola Solutions, focusing on advanced communication systems, software, and services for government and public safety agencies.
Motorola continues to lead in public safety tech, creating cutting-edge technologies like body cameras, real-time video surveillance, and AI-driven dispatch systems to enhance safety and efficiency in emergency response.
🌆 Let’s Talk Chicago Compute: Neoclouds
What are neoclouds, and why is Chicago the perfect location for them?
Defining a Neocloud
Neoclouds are new types of cloud providers that are focused extensively on GPU-based compute for AI workloads.
Neoclouds deliver cutting-edge performance optimized for AI and high-performance computing tasks.
These futuristic data centers and cloud services are important for companies that need access to GPUs for training complex models without incurring the massive upfront costs of owning and managing infrastructure.
What Neoclouds Require?
Neoclouds require powerful GPUs, such as Nvidia's H100 or A100, to efficiently handle intensive AI workloads.
Access to significant and reliable power (exceeding 100 MW).
Efficient cooling systems to handle the high energy demands.
Low-latency and high-bandwidth networks for fast data transfers.
Storage solutions, like VAST Data (one of our portfolio companies), could be used to handle the large volumes of data generated by AI models.
Why is Chicago Positioned to House Neoclouds?
Chicago is ideally positioned to become a hub for AI Neoclouds for many reasons:
Chicago's CoreSite CH2 is the first purpose-built data center downtown, providing the high-density, scalable infrastructure necessary for AI and machine learning.
CoreSite is also certified as part of the NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center program for its power, cooling, and interconnection capabilities.
Chicago is known for low-latency connectivity, extensive colocation opportunities, cool temperatures, and status as a major data center hub.
We have access to alternative clean energy like nuclear and fuel cells, which are currently being deployed by CoreWeave at a data center in Volo, Illinois
As AI demand grows, Chicago's infrastructure, energy resources, and strategic location make it an attractive destination for Neoclouds looking to expand their operations.
📆 Events Around the City
Her Workplace - Chicago Launch Event!
Tuesday
Tech Leaders Exchange
Tuesday
Chicago Data Night
Wednesday
AI Meetup
Thursday
1871 and World Business Chicago Founder Pitch Showcase
Thursday
AI & Payments in FinTech
Thursday
The Art and Science of Building AI-Enhanced Features
Thursday
AAPI Founders Mixer & Networking Event
Friday
đź‘‹ See you next week!
Startups generally fall into two buckets:
1. brave new world — reshaping industries with bold, groundbreaking ideas.
2. better, faster, cheaper — fixing existing tech with greater efficiency.
Building with LLMs + agents combines the best of both worlds.
— Landon (@landon20s)
7:48 PM • Oct 10, 2024