John Thornhill

John Thornhill is Sifted’s editorial director and cofounder. He is also innovation editor of the Financial Times, and tweets from @johnthornhillft

What Europe needs to win the nuclear fusion race
Opinion
March 17, 2025
What Europe needs to win the nuclear fusion race
There is little doubt that fortunes will one day be made by those with deep enough pockets and sufficient vision — and patience
John Thornhill
What Europe’s startups can learn from DeepMind
Opinion
March 10, 2025
What Europe’s startups can learn from DeepMind
A new film colourfully recounts the pioneering company's early hit-and-miss efforts to apply AI
John Thornhill
The radical uncertainty of being a founder (or war correspondent)
Opinion
March 3, 2025
The radical uncertainty of being a founder (or war correspondent)
Both are exercises in dealing with radical uncertainty and unknown risks
John Thornhill
Europe is rearming. But does defence tech make investment sense?
Opinion
February 24, 2025
Europe is rearming. But does defence tech make investment sense?
Europe needs to learn from Ukraine as it rearms in the face of a resurgent Russia and nationalistic US
John Thornhill
What Europe needs to compete in AI
Opinion
February 17, 2025
What Europe needs to compete in AI
As AI opens up infinite new business opportunities, European entrepreneurs have a fresh chance to compete. They should seize it
John Thornhill
What Trump gets right about Europe
Opinion
February 10, 2025
What Trump gets right about Europe
European leaders face urgent questions over regulation, innovation and defence
John Thornhill
Synthesia has quadrupled its team since 2022 to push for a 'ChatGPT-style' moment in AI video
Interview
October 25, 2024
Synthesia has quadrupled its team since 2022 to push for a 'ChatGPT-style' moment in AI video
Synthesia cofounder Steffen Tjerrild talks Sifted through the company's plans to cross the uncanny valley with synthetic video
John Thornhill
Crème de la LLM: How language models are enhancing machine learning applications
Analysis
June 17, 2024
Crème de la LLM: How language models are enhancing machine learning applications
At the Research and Applied AI Summit (RAAIS), a major theme was how the scope of problems being solved with AI has widened dramatically
Tim Smith and John Thornhill
Could Bavaria — finally — become the ‘California of Europe’?
Analysis
February 1, 2024
Could Bavaria — finally — become the ‘California of Europe’?
The German state of Bavaria's local ministry is keen for the region to be known for its tech scene
Anne Sraders, Miriam Partington and John Thornhill
Pausing AI development now would be premature, says UK’s top AI advisor
Interview
October 4, 2023
Pausing AI development now would be premature, says UK’s top AI advisor
UK’s AI Safety Summit needs to understand the risks posed by AI, says Matt Clifford
Cristina Gallardo and John Thornhill
Is the UK losing some of its pull for foreign founders?
Analysis
August 22, 2023
Is the UK losing some of its pull for foreign founders?
Foreign-born entrepreneurs have founded 39% of the UK’s 100 fastest-growing companies, new research shows
John Thornhill
Wayve is driving forward into the AV2.0 future
Analysis
September 27, 2022
Wayve is driving forward into the AV2.0 future
British self-driving car company Wayve is making moves as it claims a major breakthrough on one of the industry's biggest problems
John Thornhill
We’re streamlining membership at Sifted
News
September 21, 2022
We’re streamlining membership at Sifted
Join our community with Sifted Free, Sifted Plus or Sifted Pro
John Thornhill
Roll up, roll up: Sign up to attend the Sifted Summit
News
June 15, 2022
Roll up, roll up: Sign up to attend the Sifted Summit
It'll be a two-day in-person extravaganza for startups and investors looking to navigate uncertain times
John Thornhill
What impact is the tech stock crash having on Europe's startups?
Analysis
May 11, 2022
What impact is the tech stock crash having on Europe's startups?
The VC model of blitzscaling unicorns between 2010 and 2020 is over
John Thornhill
Why the inventor of the iPhone will not be investing in the metaverse
Interview
April 14, 2022
Why the inventor of the iPhone will not be investing in the metaverse
Tony Fadell thinks Europe will lead the climate tech revolution — but only if we don’t get too distracted by the metaverse
John Thornhill
Artificial intelligence is becoming a 'force multiplier' — for good and bad
Analysis
October 12, 2021
Artificial intelligence is becoming a 'force multiplier' — for good and bad
Some of the military applications of AI that are being developed are “pretty terrifying,” says Ian Hogarth in the State of AI report.
John Thornhill
Facebook’s oversight board should monitor the whole industry, says leading member
News
May 24, 2021
Facebook’s oversight board should monitor the whole industry, says leading member
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former prime minister of Denmark, said the board had the money, membership and independence to act as a cross-industry body.
John Thornhill
European VCs to get extra €1bn from the European Investment Fund
News
March 3, 2021
European VCs to get extra €1bn from the European Investment Fund
The EIF has backed VC funds that have invested in some of Europe’s most successful startups, including UiPath and Spotify.
John Thornhill
Introducing Sifted Membership
News
February 15, 2021
Introducing Sifted Membership
We’re launching a paid membership model to accelerate the next stage of our expansion.
John Thornhill
“Everyone can now create this stuff”(even Europe)
Interview
January 4, 2021
“Everyone can now create this stuff”(even Europe)
Mosaic's Benedict Evans calls the end of the American internet and the globalisation of the Silicon Valley startup model.
John Thornhill
10 tech luminaries in conversation (as imagined by GPT-3)
Analysis
December 18, 2020
10 tech luminaries in conversation (as imagined by GPT-3)
We asked GPT-3, OpenAI's powerful new language generator, to imagine conversations between 10 tech leaders.
John Thornhill
Exclusive: Balderton to launch new fund to “blitzscale” Europe
Interview
October 14, 2020
Exclusive: Balderton to launch new fund to “blitzscale” Europe
Balderton, one of Europe’s most active venture capital firms, is raising money for a mega growth fund to plug a financing gap in the European market.
John Thornhill
State of AI report: what's next for European tech?
Analysis
October 1, 2020
State of AI report: what's next for European tech?
Opportunities in AI for European startups are plentiful, and those in the biology and defence sectors are already eyeing it up.
John Thornhill

John Thornhill

What Europe needs to win the nuclear fusion race

What Europe’s startups can learn from DeepMind

The radical uncertainty of being a founder (or war correspondent)

Europe is rearming. But does defence tech make investment sense?

What Europe needs to compete in AI

What Trump gets right about Europe

Synthesia has quadrupled its team since 2022 to push for a 'ChatGPT-style' moment in AI video

Crème de la LLM: How language models are enhancing machine learning applications

Could Bavaria — finally — become the ‘California of Europe’?

Pausing AI development now would be premature, says UK’s top AI advisor

Is the UK losing some of its pull for foreign founders?

Wayve is driving forward into the AV2.0 future

We’re streamlining membership at Sifted

Roll up, roll up: Sign up to attend the Sifted Summit

What impact is the tech stock crash having on Europe's startups?

Why the inventor of the iPhone will not be investing in the metaverse

Artificial intelligence is becoming a 'force multiplier' — for good and bad

Facebook’s oversight board should monitor the whole industry, says leading member

European VCs to get extra €1bn from the European Investment Fund

Introducing Sifted Membership

“Everyone can now create this stuff”(even Europe)

10 tech luminaries in conversation (as imagined by GPT-3)

Exclusive: Balderton to launch new fund to “blitzscale” Europe

State of AI report: what's next for European tech?