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May 12, 2026

A PhD pivot, a stint in VC and a rumoured Anthropic deal: why Europe is watching Walter Goodwin

‘He projects this underlying inevitability to what he is building towards’


Fractile CEO and cofounder Walter Goodwin. Credit: Fractile

When ChatGPT burst onto the world stage at the end of 2022, building the infrastructure needed to power models like it quickly became top of the agenda for investors and governments alike.

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on stage
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Credit: Nvidia
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An image of the university of Oxford campus, one of Europe's top unicorn universities
University of Oxford
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Maya Dharampal-Hornby

Maya Dharampal-Hornby is a reporter, covering UK tech for Sifted, based in London. She's also the producer of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast .

Freya Pratty

Freya Pratty is Sifted's associate editor. She covers UK tech and leads Sifted's investigations. Follow her on X , LinkedIn and Bluesky

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