Techin' Geek

Neil Batlivala has dedicated seven years to creating a healthcare enterprise that remains largely unknown in the tech sector and caters to a patient demographic frequently overlooked by Silicon Valley. However, last month, this endeavor positioned him at the forefront of a much larger initiative.

On April 30, his organization, Pair Team, announced its acceptance into ACCESS, a Medicare initiative — one of 150 selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to explore what AI-enabled healthcare might entail on a national scale. The program is set to launch on July 5.

“The government is establishing frameworks for AI innovation within traditionally regulated sectors,” he mentioned during a Zoom call days later. “The optimal solution prevails, which has not been the case in regulated fields like healthcare.”

ACCESS — Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions — is a decade-long CMS initiative testing a payment framework that rewards health outcomes instead of mandatory activities (such as a specific number of check-ins). Organizations like Pair Team will receive consistent payments for managing eligible conditions and will earn the total amount only when patients achieve quantifiable health objectives, like reduced blood pressure or less pain. The program focuses on diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, obesity, depression, and anxiety.

The payment structure is the significant development.

Traditional Medicare composes reimbursements based on the duration spent with a clinician. There is no system in place to compensate an AI agent that facilitates patient monitoring between appointments, conducts check-in calls, organizes a housing referral, or ensures medication pickup. ACCESS introduces that system for the first time.

“It signifies a transformation in payment models,” Batlivala stated. “Such a thing was impossible before.”

The inaugural cohort includes a diverse array of participants — AI medical startups, virtual nutrition therapy providers, companies with connected devices, and manufacturers of wearables like Whoop. Batlivala expresses skepticism toward some of these entrants.

“I’m an avid supporter of wearables, but for an elderly individual facing food insecurity, I question how much Whoop will actually contribute,” he remarked, adding regarding his own firm, “We’ve been progressing toward this for over five years.”

Pair Team commenced operations in 2019 with a specific patient type in focus: individuals managing chronic conditions while also confronting unstable living situations, food scarcity, or limited access to transportation. Approximately a third of Americans belong to this category.

The foundation of the company was the belief that health outcomes cannot improve without considering the comprehensive context of a person’s life. Currently, it employs around 850 healthcare professionals, operates what it claims to be the largest community health workforce in California, and, according to Batlivala, generates revenue exceeding nine figures. It has secured roughly $30 million in funding from backers such as Kleiner Perkins, Kraft Ventures, and Next Ventures.

The model is supported by peer-reviewed research. A study co-authored by researchers at Pair Team and reviewed by the Journal of General Internal Medicine assessed Pair Team’s community-integrated approach, which merges medical, behavioral, and social care for Medicaid members facing high incidences of homelessness, serious mental health conditions, and chronic illnesses, showing considerable patient engagement and notable decreases in preventable emergency and inpatient usage. Batlivala claims that one out of four hospital visits and one out of two ER visits do not occur when a patient is under his company’s care.

However, for years, providing this standard of care necessitated human teams, which restricted the speed and cost-effectiveness of its expansion. Then, approximately nine months ago, Pair Team implemented a voice AI agent named Flora as its main patient-facing interface. Flora is accessible 24/7, manages intake, coordinates referrals, and ensures follow-ups that keep patients engaged between clinical appointments.

The first call that altered his perspective was with a 67-year-old woman living in her vehicle while coping with PTSD and congestive heart failure. She conversed with Flora for more than an hour. “It was both awe-inspiring and disheartening,” Batlivala recounted. “Flora was likely the only ‘individual’ she had interacted with in weeks concerning her situation.” Now, hour-long dialogues with Flora are commonplace. “That’s the companionship component,” he stated. “And it turns out that it genuinely acts as an intervention.”

The designers of ACCESS are also former startup operators. Abe Sutton, Director of the CMS Innovation Center, and Jacob Shiff, Chief AI and Technology Officer of the CMS Innovation Center, crafted the program. Previously a venture capitalist at a healthcare fund named Rubicon Founders, Sutton has a startup background, as does Shiff, who is a former healthcare entrepreneur. Both joined CMS during the Trump administration, and their startup experiences are evident in the program’s construction: outcome-driven payments, direct-to-consumer enrollment, and a concerted push for competition.

However, there are substantial risks. Participants are sharing extremely sensitive patient information — personal dialogues about housing situations and health issues — within a federal system that has a record of data breaches, including compromised Social Security numbers. For the at-risk demographics ACCESS aims to assist, this is a significant concern.

Financial risks also exist. The success rate of CMS innovation initiatives is mixed. A 2023 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office revealed that the CMS Innovation Center increased federal expenditures by $5.4 billion in its inaugural decade instead of yielding the anticipated savings. CMS is reimbursing less per patient per month than many participants had expected, indicating that the model will only be sustainable for organizations that have largely automated their patient engagement processes.

Batlivala addresses the reimbursement issue by suggesting it is a benefit rather than a drawback. “To construct a model that truly encourages the utilization of AI, the reimbursement rates must be low,” he explained. “The economics are viable only if you’re managing a streamlined, AI-focused operation.”

Pair Team claims it currently holds partnerships that provide access to approximately 500,000 potential patients, with aspirations to reach a million within three years.

Investors in healthcare are observing this closely. Digital health funding reached its peak Q1 total since the onset of the pandemic this year, with AI firms seizing the majority share. Yet, ACCESS has barely made waves beyond the health tech trade media.

Former Tesla executive Drew Baglino has discreetly launched a heat pump startup, as discovered by TechCrunch.

This marks Baglino’s second company established within two years of his departure from Tesla. Sources have validated the startup’s establishment, named Sadi Thermal Machines, and TechCrunch has examined company documents from Delaware and California.

Sadi was incorporated in June 2025 and shares its headquarters in Scotts Valley, California, with Heron Power, another startup initiated by Baglino, which produces solid-state transformers, as indicated by company records.

The company’s name seemingly pays homage to Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, a groundbreaking French physicist whose research laid the groundwork for contemporary thermodynamics, encompassing the internal-combustion engine and the heat pump. Little information is available regarding Sadi Thermal Machines, but it seems to employ several individuals with prior Tesla experience, per a LinkedIn review and a source acquainted with the startup.

TechCrunch was unable to make contact with Baglino or the PR agency representing Heron Power. This article will be updated upon their response.

Before launching Heron Power and Sadi Thermal Machines, Baglino dedicated nearly two decades to Tesla, contributing to projects ranging from the original Roadster to the Powerwall and Powerpack energy-storage solutions. When Baglino exited Tesla in April 2024, he had advanced to senior vice president, managing the development of the company’s core energy technologies, including electric motors, batteries, and power electronics.

Throughout his tenure, Baglino focused on Tesla’s heat pumps. He is acknowledged as an inventor on a patent pertaining to a thermal management system that utilizes two coolant loops, one for cooling the battery and another for cooling drivetrain components.

To regulate the two loops, Baglino and his colleagues designed three-way and four-way valves that provide a more sophisticated control of the temperature for various components in an EV’s thermal management system. This mechanism enables Tesla to capture heat from the traction motor and repurpose it to preheat the battery, ensuring optimal performance during rapid charging in cold conditions.

The patent outlines some of the design principles underpinning Tesla’s “octovalve” system, first introduced in the Model Y. The heat pump utilized in that vehicle regulates the temperatures of the cabin, batteries, and motors, all within a compact size roughly comparable to a suitcase.

Upon its launch, Tesla’s octovalve system was more sophisticated than those of its rivals, and for a time, the company contemplated developing a heat pump for residential and commercial applications. Tesla executives, including Baglino and CEO Elon Musk, speculated about such a system during an earnings call in 2022, discussing a heat pump capable of managing both HVAC and water heating.

“From a mission perspective, it’s very aligned,” Baglino remarked. “We have gained significant insights into creating capable and reliable heat pumps that operate under all environmental conditions and are eager to tackle that challenge in the future. Let me clarify, it’s certainly in line with our mission to expedite the transition to sustainable energy.”

He noted that creating a heat pump for homes would be less challenging. “Much harder in a vehicle,” he explained. “It’s heavily constrained concerning mass, volume, and energy.”

However, Musk then added his typical caveat. “It’s something we will pursue, but we’re not committing to a timeline at this juncture,” he stated. Tesla has yet to unveil a residential HVAC or water heating system.

“People should pursue it regardless,” Baglino mentioned during the call. With Sadi Thermal Machines, he seems ready to fulfill that assertion.

This morning, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand to respond to a lawsuit from his former co-founder Elon Musk that questions OpenAI’s corporate framework.

Immediately, Altman was questioned about Musk’s claim that OpenAI’s other founders “took a charity” when they set up a for-profit branch to commercialize products based on the company’s AI technologies.

“It’s hard to even comprehend that narrative,” Altman remarked following a brief silence. “We established one of the largest philanthropic organizations globally. This foundation is accomplishing remarkable work and will achieve much more.”

Musk’s legal team has emphasized that OpenAI’s foundation, now valued at around $200 billion, did not have full-time staff until recently. OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor testified today that this was solely due to the difficulties in converting OpenAI equity into liquid assets, a feat accomplished with the recent restructuring in 2025.

The primary issue raised by Musk’s attorneys is whether the company’s pledge to safety had been neglected as it expanded commercially. However, Altman noted that in 2017, during a key moment when the founders struggled to secure funding for their AI models, Musk’s “particular plans on safety caused me concern.”

He recounted a “notably troubling moment” in the discussion when Musk was queried about what would transpire if he passed away while managing a hypothetical for-profit OpenAI. According to Altman, Musk stated, “Perhaps OpenAI should go to my children.”

Altman expressed that Musk’s fixation on controlling the initial for-profit raised alarms because OpenAI was committed to preventing advanced AI from being monopolized by an individual, and Altman, with his background in managing the well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator, was aware that “founders with control typically did not relinquish it.”

Altman also testified that Musk’s management style, which may have been effective for engineering and production, did not translate well to OpenAI.

“I don’t think Mr. Musk grasped how to effectively run a strong research institution,” Altman stated. “He demotivated some of our most crucial researchers. He had required Greg and Ilya to create a list of the researchers, outline their achievements, and rank them, resulting in significant damage to the organization’s culture for an extended period.”

In fact, Altman positioned himself as a defender of the “sweat equity” of fellow co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, the individuals effectively managing OpenAI at the time while Musk and Altman were engaged in other endeavors.

Following that unresolved conflict, Musk eventually departed from OpenAI’s board and initiated competing AI initiatives at Tesla and his own AI venture, xAI. Nonetheless, Altman remained in contact with the unpredictable entrepreneur, providing updates on OpenAI’s progress and seeking his financial support and counsel.

OpenAI’s attorneys pointed out that Musk had been kept informed and invited to partake in the investments that his lawsuits now allege corrupted the non-profit.

During a discussion regarding a Microsoft investment in OpenAI in 2018, Altman shared that “contrary to many meetings with Mr. Musk, this was a positive meeting,” during which Musk engaged in a “lengthy conversation sharing memes from his phone.”

Amidst a rush from investors to acquire shares in various AI firms, Anthropic recently revised its website to alert investors that numerous private and secondary investment platforms claiming to provide access to the AI company’s shares are not authorized to do so.

The firm listed Open Doors Partners, Unicorns Exchange, Pachamama Capital, Lionheart Ventures, Hiive (new offerings), Forge Global (new offerings), Sydecar, and Upmarket as entities lacking the authorization to facilitate the buying or selling of its shares.

“Any transaction or transfer of Anthropic stock or any interest in Anthropic stock presented by these companies is void and will not be recorded in our books and records,” states the company’s support page.

When contacted for a statement, Forge Global asserted that it had been mistakenly included. “We are collaborating with Anthropic to have Forge’s name removed from this announcement,” the platform informed TechCrunch. “Forge does not facilitate transactions in any private company’s shares without the explicit consent of the company.”

In contrast, Sydecar indicated that it operates solely in an administrative role. “The company does not engage in buying or selling securities or soliciting transactions in private companies. Additionally, Sydecar mandates sponsors to verify that they have reviewed all pertinent documents regarding share transferability and that they have the necessary approvals and consents from the company,” the company stated in an email.

Anthropic’s announcement coincides with an increase in the number of investment platforms providing access to shares of AI companies (and their subsequent growth) through secondary markets where current shareholders offload their shares, “tokenized” securities, special purpose vehicles (SPVs), or secondary market assets.

The company, reportedly looking to secure additional funding at a valuation of $900 billion, has been in high demand, with some secondary market brokers telling TechCrunch last month that it’s among the “toughest” stocks to acquire.

“Anthropic is correct to seriously consider the issues surrounding unauthorized share sales and investment scams,” said Hiive spokesperson Dakota Betts in an emailed statement. “We share those concerns. They are a significant reason why Hiive made substantial investments in legal, compliance, and diligence infrastructure from the outset, and every share transfer managed by Hiive is approved by the issuer.”

Over the past year, a number of cryptocurrency firms, including crypto exchange OKX, have developed investment products offering exposure to AI firms. These typically manifest as pre-IPO perpetual futures contracts, which are derivative instruments that monitor the value of private companies on secondary markets but do not grant ownership of actual shares.

SPVs differentiate from those derivative products, providing investors with the opportunity to acquire shares of an entity that holds at least a portion of Anthropic. That equity might originate from an official investor or could have been obtained when an investor is compelled to sell their holdings, as occurred during the FTX bankruptcy. In other instances, the equity claim could be entirely fictitious.

Anthropic states that both its preferred and common stock are subject to transfer limitations, implying that any sale or transfer of shares not sanctioned by its board will be regarded as invalid. Anthropic asserts that any third-party platform (specifically SPVs and retail investment firms) that claims to sell its shares directly or via forward contracts is unauthorized to do so.

“We do not allow special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to acquire Anthropic stock, and any share transfers to an SPV are considered void under our transfer restrictions,” the company’s blog indicates. “Proposals to invest in Anthropic’s past or future financing rounds through an SPV are forbidden.”

Note: This story was updated to include comments from Hiive and Sydecar.

Potholes are an annoying issue — just consult scooter company Lime, which identified them as an official threat to its operations in its IPO documentation last week.

The history is full of assertions that technology can assist in addressing or mitigating the pothole issue, yet they continue to exist. However, as vehicles become more equipped with sophisticated sensors, they are transforming into a resource that can promptly notify municipalities about potholes and other urban challenges.

Recently, Waymo and Waze revealed a pilot initiative to exchange pothole information with local authorities. Now, fleet management firm Samsara claims it is enhancing that concept with its own AI-driven solution termed “Ground Intelligence.”

Samsara has invested the past ten years providing its clients with cameras for installation inside millions of trucks for driver oversight, theft deterrence, and assistance with liability disputes. The San Francisco-based firm has utilized all that data to develop its own model capable of identifying various pothole types and assessing their rate of deterioration.

The premise is that trucks outfitted with Samsara technology are far more widespread than Waymo’s robotaxi fleet, which currently comprises just about 3,000 vehicles. Even as that figure increases, Samsara contends it will be able to gather more data and, importantly, more repeat data from the same sites that illustrate how potholes evolve over time.

Samsara believes this information will be beneficial to municipalities — the company announced on Tuesday that it has several cities under contract and that Chicago is beginning as a new client — and that it will be the initial component of a series of insights and data points to be provided in Ground Intelligence. Additional prospective features include identifying graffiti, damaged guardrails, low-hanging power lines, or essentially “anything that we can observe that is pertinent to a city, or also to the private sector,” stated Samsara’s senior vice president of product, Johan Land.

Typically, Land explained, cities must either send out personnel or sift through numerous 311 calls to locate these issues. It creates a lot of background noise. Samsara’s proposition is that it can provide the critical information swiftly due to the numerous commercial trucks and vans currently utilizing its cameras.

Ground Intelligence functions as a dashboard. It automatically fills in alerts on a map regarding emerging potholes and other potential concerns. It also enables cities to access anonymized footage from vehicle cameras to validate citizen reports about fallen street signs, blocked sewers, or other public infrastructure issues.

“That’s the brilliance here; it transforms a process that was reactive into a proactive one,” Land stated. “That implies you won’t just address one pothole. You organize it: ‘I know where all the potholes are in this vicinity. I head out and repair them individually, in one go.'”

Samsara is also exploring additional methods to utilize this evolving municipal surveillance framework it has created. On Tuesday, it introduced a product named Waste Intelligence, which simplifies the process for waste management firms to rapidly confirm whether their clients’ refuse or recycling has been collected. Samsara also unveiled a “ridership management” solution, which can assist in alerting bus drivers to “unexpected boarding occurrences,” or generating a “digital manifest” for school buses.