The Department of Energy is looking to cut billions more in federal funding, and many promising startups as well as automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis could be affected by the Trump administration’s decision.
The proposed cuts would cancel more than $500 million of contracts awarded to more than a dozen startups, according to a TechCrunch analysis of a internal document that has not become public yet. All of the proposed cuts are grants that had been awarded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The proposed cancelations, many of which have not been reported before, come on top of more than $7.5 billion in contracts the Trump administration said it would cut last week.
Startups might not be the only losers. Other companies slated to lose grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars include Daimler Trucks North America, Ford, General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Stellantis, and Volvo Technology of America, according to the document viewed by TechCrunch. Sources confirmed with TechCrunch these are proposed cuts.
General Motors could lose at least $500 million in grant money issued from a federal Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant program. The money was going to be used to retool the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan. The automaker announced in July 2024 it planned to produce electrified vehicles, including hybrids at the plant.
Some of the awards are significant and, if cut, will undoubtedly affect the startups’ operations. Several were included in a list of proposed cuts that leaked last week, but many are new and have yet to be announced. TechCrunch has reached out to several of the companies and will update this article if they reply.
Two awards on the chopping block topped $100 million, including a $189 million award granted to materials startup Brimstone. Those funds would have helped the company build a plant to produce Portland cement, alumina, and other materials using less carbon dioxide.
The other went to Anovion, a Chicago-based startup that is working to build a factory to produce a domestic supply of synthetic graphite for lithium-ion batteries. Currently, Chinese companies dominate the graphite market.
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Battery materials startup Li Industries received $55.2 million under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to recycle LFP batteries in an attempt to wrest part of that supply chain from China.
Other cement startups are on the list, too. Somerville, Massachusetts-based Sublime Systems was given an award for $86.9 million to build an ultra-low-carbon cement plant. Mountain View-based Furno, which is making a novel, modular cement kiln, would lose its $20 million grant to build a demonstration in Chicago.
Several building materials companies were also on the list. CleanFiber and Hempitecture, which make insulation for homes and commercial buildings, are at risk of losing $10 million and $8.4 million each. Skyven Technologies, which makes industrial heat pumps, and Luxwall, which makes super-insulated windows, would lose $15 million and $31 million respectively.
At least one of the proposed cancelations seemingly cuts against the administration’s goals of energy and AI dominance. TS Conductor, which could lose $28.2 million in grant money, makes advanced conductors for electric lines that promise to double or triple capacity on existing transmission lines. The technology could reduce bottlenecks on the grid and improve data centers’ likelihood of receiving power sooner.
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![Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End
There’s many uncertainties in this world, but apparently the future of Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may not be one of them. According to a source speaking to The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg, the show’s considered a “magical halo” by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. As such, it’s “proteced for its run” and likely to finish out the five-season arc Amazon pitched back when it first secured the rights. Getting those rights and making the show has been pretty pricey for the company, and the first two seasons had a two-year release gap. At time of writing, the show’s third season doesn’t have a firm date beyond “sometime in 2026,” and some have generally wondered how much more life Rings of Power had left in it. Goldberg’s report also mentions a tradeoff to this five-season plan: for Rings of Power to live on, a spinoff that’d been planned for it has gotten axed. Major Prime Video shows like The Boys and Invincible have become small franchises unto themselves, and it makes sense the streamer would want to repeat that for its remaining big fantasy series. While Amazon may not get to build on Middle-earth after the show ends, Warner Bros. is determined to keep the Lord of the Rings train going with two new films: a Gollum prequel, and an interquel that also reunites the Hobbits after the events of Return of the King. [via IGN] Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Amazon #Sticking #Rings #PowerJ.R.R. Tolkien,Lord of the Rings,Rings of Power Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End
There’s many uncertainties in this world, but apparently the future of Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may not be one of them. According to a source speaking to The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg, the show’s considered a “magical halo” by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. As such, it’s “proteced for its run” and likely to finish out the five-season arc Amazon pitched back when it first secured the rights. Getting those rights and making the show has been pretty pricey for the company, and the first two seasons had a two-year release gap. At time of writing, the show’s third season doesn’t have a firm date beyond “sometime in 2026,” and some have generally wondered how much more life Rings of Power had left in it. Goldberg’s report also mentions a tradeoff to this five-season plan: for Rings of Power to live on, a spinoff that’d been planned for it has gotten axed. Major Prime Video shows like The Boys and Invincible have become small franchises unto themselves, and it makes sense the streamer would want to repeat that for its remaining big fantasy series. While Amazon may not get to build on Middle-earth after the show ends, Warner Bros. is determined to keep the Lord of the Rings train going with two new films: a Gollum prequel, and an interquel that also reunites the Hobbits after the events of Return of the King. [via IGN] Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Amazon #Sticking #Rings #PowerJ.R.R. Tolkien,Lord of the Rings,Rings of Power](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/04/lotr-rings-of-power-hed-1280x853.jpg)




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