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Archives for July 2025

Lucid Motors Launches New Critical Minerals Group to Strengthen American Supply Chain, National Security

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Lucid Motors – the luxury EV tech company – announced on Wednesday the creation of a critical minerals producers collaborative to strengthen the supply chain for American automotive and EV manufacturers. The new group, called MINAC – The Minerals for National Automotive Competitiveness Collaboration – is designed to advance domestic critical mineral production and to strengthen the U.S.-based automotive supply chain.

L to R: Jessica Nigro, Head of External Affairs, Lucid Motors; Michael Tubman, Federal Affairs, Lucid Motors; Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs; and Arizona State Society president Austin Kennedy attend Lucid’s launch event for MINAC – The Minerals for National Automotive Competitiveness Collaboration – July, 23, 2025, Washington, DC.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs speaks at the Lucid Motors launch event for MINAC – The Minerals for National Automotive Competitiveness Collaboration – July, 23, 2025, Washington, DC.

As part of the launch, Lucid and its partners gathered lawmakers, policymakers, and industry leaders on Wednesday evening for a roundtable reception at the CTA Innovation House featuring remarks from Governor Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK-01), and video remarks from Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06), whose Congressional district includes Lucid’s 3.85 million sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Rep. Nick Begich and Lucid’s Jessica Nigro
Rep. Nick Begich tours the all-new Lucid Gravity
Rep. Nick Begich and Lucid’s Jessica Nigro
The Gravity, Lucid’s all-new luxury EV SUV
Jessica Nigro and Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs
The Gravity, Lucid’s all-new luxury EV SUV

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), said in a statement, “Arizona is proud to be home to Lucid’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and I’m glad to see them leading the way in building electric vehicles with American-made materials. This is how we keep the economic benefits of innovation in the United States: by strengthening our supply chains, reducing our reliance on China, and supporting good-paying jobs in Arizona.”

Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff, commented on the collaborative, “Domestic supply chains strengthen manufacturing resilience, fortify sustainable supply chains, and accelerate job growth. Following in the footsteps of our previous agreements, today we are doubling down on our commitment to powering American innovation and look forward to working with our partners as we built the next generation of automotive manufacturing in the United States.”

The launch event featured Jessica Nigro, Lucid’s head of external affairs, in conversation with executives from MINAC member companies, including Alaska Energy Metals, Graphite One, Electric Metals, and RecycLiCo, to highlight how the collaborative will accelerate the development and procurement of domestic critical mineral resources.

But it’s not just the automotive industry who will benefit from these efforts. Nigro noted, “When it comes to defense and national security, the Pentagon represents only 5% of the demand for domestic critical minerals, so we need private industry, including the EV industry and collaboratives like MINAC, to drive the demand necessary to source domestic critical minerals in the supply chain and to strengthen our national security.”

Following the program, guests enjoyed a networking cocktail reception and walkaround of the company’s all-new Lucid Gravity SUV – marking the Gravity’s first appearance in the District– as well as the award-winning Lucid Air sedan, which has a range of up to 512 miles on a single charge. 

The MINAC announcement comes on the heels of Lucid’s new partnership with Uber and Nuro to create a next-generation premium global robotaxi program created exclusively for the Uber ride-hailing platform. Uber aims to deploy 20,000 Lucid Gravity vehicles equipped with the Nuro Driver™ over six years.

For more information, visit www.LucidMotors.com.

Washington AI Network and General Catalyst Institute Convene Leaders Shaping the Future of National Security

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Jonathan Clifford, Carey Browning, Mark Huntington, Cameron McCord, Teresa Carlson, Maryam Mujica, Jon Battles, Evan Beard, Tammy Haddad, and Kaly McKenna at Washington AI Network and General Catalyst Institute’s “Cocktails & Conversation” event on the future of national security on July 9, 2025.

The Washington AI Network and the General Catalyst Institute convened top voices in defense innovation, AI, and industrial reinvention on Wednesday evening, July 9, at The House at 1229 for a conversation exploring the future of national security through private sector leadership.

The evening featured a live podcast taping and panel discussion, led by Tammy Haddad, founder of the Washington AI Network and host of its podcast.

GCI president Teresa Carlson and Dr. Jason Rathje, former director of the Office of Strategic Capital at the U.S. Department of Defense

Teresa Carlson, founding president of the General Catalyst Institute, highlighted the unique opportunity and responsibility for private-sector founders to partner with government.

“You’re not just building companies—you’re building capacity,” Carlson said. “The role of the private sector is to help government scale and succeed. That’s what tonight is all about.”

Dr. Jason Rathje, former director of the Office of Strategic Capital at the U.S. Department of Defense, echoed that message:

“The nation is at an inflection point. We need to re-industrialize America. And it’s not just about the Defense Department anymore—it’s commerce, energy, state, industry, investors. You all are part of the solution set.”

The conversation then spotlighted three General Catalyst-backed founders working at the intersection of AI, automation, and industrial resilience:

  • Evan Beard, CEO of Standard Bots, whose U.S.-made AI-powered robotic arms are redefining industrial automation.
  • Cameron McCord, CEO of Nominal, which builds a software platform for testing and certifying complex hardware systems.
  • Jon Battles, vice president of technology strategy at Cobot and an Amazon veteran, who is applying autonomous robotics to logistics, healthcare, and defense.
Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad interviews Standard Bots CEO Evan Beard, Nominal CEO Cameron McCord, and Jon Battles, vice president of technology strategy at Cobot.

Beard explained how Standard Bots is making automation easier and more accessible for American manufacturers:

“If you quote parts in the U.S. versus China, it’s 10x more to make parts in the U.S.,” he said. “We need better training, and we need centers of excellence to show how to build best-in-class facilities.”
“What we heard this week is that this is a priority… It really feels like a moment of tremendous change.”

McCord described the need for software that can rapidly test and validate hardware:

“It is a solved problem in the world today to test and validate software. That same luxury does not exist if you are building hardware—and especially software-defined hardware.”
“Admiral Davidson talks about 2027. Time matters.”

Battles reflected on lessons from the pandemic and his time at Amazon:

“COVID taught us how critical the supply chains were. We had to fly in masks from China for our employees… and we just simply couldn’t make them in the U.S.”

“The government knows what needs to be done. They know the technologies that need to be developed. Now it’s about aligning these needs to a quick execution plan.”

The discussion also touched on systemic challenges—from procurement timelines to industrial workforce gaps—and the urgent need to scale innovation across agencies and across the country.

Mark Huntington, managing director, North America at PhysicsX, and Carey Browning, chief commercial officer at Re:Build Manufacturing

Mark Huntington, managing director, North America at PhysicsX, and Carey Browning, chief commercial officer at Re:Build Manufacturing, also spoke about modernizing industrial capabilities through software and advanced production.

Attendees included: U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach; Artem Sherbinin, CTO of the U.S. Navy’s Task Force Hopper; John Sankovich of DIU; Colonel Chris Keller, U.S. Air Force; Jim Goyer, Alex Flemister, and Jordan Wood of the White House Office of Public Liaison; Jake Denton, CTO of the FTC; Economic Club of Washington CEO Mary Brady; Jeremy Bash, managing director and partner at Beacon Global Strategies; Andrew Wills of Invenergy; Ashley Callen of Jenner & Block; Jonathan Cousimano from Gov. Gavin Newson’s office; Tyler Lewis from Gov. Wes Moore’s office; Cornerstone’s Andy Flick; GCI’s Maryam Mujica, Jonathan Clifford, and Peter Nonis; Palantir’s Machalagh Carr, Palantir; Alan McQuinn of the House Research and Technology Subcommittee; EqualAI CEO Miriam Vogel; NTIA Associate Administrator Jaisha Wray; Trevor Smith from Rep. Vince Fong’s office; Seven Letter’s Sabrina Singh; Anita McBride, author and former chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush; Onebrief CEO; Grant Demaree; NIST’s Martin Stanley; Thomas Halvorsen of the Middle East Institute; Alex Yergin of Booz Allen Hamilton; and Alex Poulin of Lavrock Ventures.