Hello again,
You’re one in a million. Literally, Austin just hit the 1 million population milestone for the first time. That can only mean more big ideas in a city that has never had a shortage of them.
Meanwhile, Tesla's robotaxi rollout in the state is running into real-world friction, while a local startup is betting that AI can speed up housing construction projects in the battle for housing affordability. Funding is flowing to a clean energy startup and an edge AI chipmaker, and a new study puts numbers on how much water all these Texas data centers might use.
Here’s what we’re following this week.
— Holly Quinn, Technical.ly senior reporter
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7 things to know
🏠 AI meets housing math: Austin is using an AI tool created by local startup Noetic to speed site plan review to make residential construction permitting easier and faster, with the goal of boosting housing affordability. [KVUE]
⚡ Good clean fuel: UT Austin’s seed fund invested $250,000 in Celadyne Technologies, a Cockrell School spinout working on advanced membranes for hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers. [UT Austin News]
📈 Edge AI chipmaker pops: Austin-based Ambiq, which develops low-power semiconductors for wearables and connected devices, saw its stock jump after reporting stronger than expected Q1 results, with revenue up 59% year over year for its “edge AI” chips. [Investor’s Business Daily]
🏛️ Tech overhaul pullback: Austin officials are exploring a less sweeping version of the city’s IT consolidation plan after pushback from technology workers and council members worried about cybersecurity, service delays and loss of department-specific expertise. [KUT]
🎬 AI with a South Congress accent: Synthesia opened an Austin office after tripling its $100,000-plus enterprise contracts over the past year. The AI video platform company plans to grow global headcount by more than 70% in 2026. [Synthesia]
💧 Water tabling: Data centers in Texas could account for 3% to 9% of the state’s water use by 2040, per UT Austin researchers — a combined estimate for both cooling and power generation us. For comparison, manufacturing currently accounts for 7%. [UT Austin News]
🚕 Robo reality check: Tesla’s robotaxi expansion to Dallas and Houston is full of long waits and inconsistent availability, residents report — even in Austin, where the service already existed. [Reuters]
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Technical.ly headlines of the week
🗓️ On the Calendar
That’s all for this week, Austin. Make like a robot and stay hydrated.