The Weekly Spill (In Shorts)

Welcome to The Weekly Spill—Silicon Bay Partners’ regularly scheduled download of thoughts, takes, and the occasional side-eye at the world as it actually is (not just as it’s pitched in a deck). Each week, we sift through the noise across current events, politics, startups, and financial markets to bring you what matters—and what’s just pretending to. 

We aim to keep things light, even when the topics aren’t. That means a bit of satire where it’s earned, a bit of skepticism where it’s called for, and a commitment to staying grounded in facts even when opinions sneak in through the side door. We won’t always be non-judgmental—but we will always try to be clear-eyed.

Think of this as your informed, occasionally irreverent briefing for the week ahead. Read it for insight, stay for perspective, and feel free to disagree—that’s o.k. too. Fair warning: Sometimes we spill more than once a week!

On The Bright Side

Resilience Energy will install free solar panels and batteries on homes in return for selling the power back to the grid during peak demand. Homeowners — including renters and low-to-moderate income households — could see electric bills drop 60-80%, and the startup’s unique model could help get around the permitting and connection obstacles that delay large solar farms by years.

A Tattler?

Something AI will probably be good at is being a snitch: Home security company SimpliSafe has added an AI-led suspicious behavior detector into its new video doorbell with instructions to go get an adult when something seems off. If the bot agent feels there’s a threat, it’ll get a human agent to assess the scene unfolding and tell any intruders to go away.

Alito, There Ain’t No Fraud

Alito, in his unsuccessful defense of Trump’s plan to restrict mail voting in the midterm elections, parroted the administration’s baseless claims of fraud despite multiple lower court judges calling out the administration’s failure to produce any evidence.

In his dissent, which Justice Clarence Thomas joined, Alito wrote the “government has a strong interest in enforcing the rule, and implementing it will also ‘enhance the visibility of Federal Ballot Mail’ in order to better detect election fraud.”

Say “Whaaaat”

A UK startup is making toothpaste out of human hair. We warned you! Eterna Regeneratives is turning keratin — a protein sourced from human hair or sheep’s wool — into a toothpaste that repairs damaged tooth enamel. While the elevator pitch might give us the heebie-jeebies, the company says the formulation would be more effective than fluoride. Carry on…