Materials
Mining and critical minerals: the inputs the intelligence economy cannot abstract away.
SydneyFriday 11 December 2026Genuinely limited seating
NOOPS briefing / 001
AI2 — AI Investor
SydneyFriday 11 December 202608:30–15:00
The AI market is repricing in real time.
A one-day conference for investors, founders and strategy leaders. Understand where AI is creating and destroying value, and what will shape the market next.
Not ready to attend? Start with NOOPS for free →
CAPITAL→CONSTRAINT→CAPABILITY→CONSEQUENCE→CAPITAL
01
Why attend
The investment brief
See where value is moving across the AI economy.
AI is changing what software costs to build and who can build it. At the same time, demand for power, materials, data centres and chips is reshaping markets far beyond technology.
AI Investor shows how these forces connect—and what they mean for investors, founders and strategy leaders deciding where to place capital, attention and effort.
No panels. No pitches. Six evidence-led briefings. One clear view from infrastructure to applications.
What you’ll take away
Leave with understanding, not just notes.
- 01
A view of the whole market
Understand how energy, data centres, chips, models and applications affect one another.
- 02
The constraints that matter
Separate temporary bottlenecks from limits that may shape costs, margins and growth.
- 03
Better questions
Assess founders, portfolio companies and internal forecasts against the evidence available now.
02
The programme
How the programme is structured
From infrastructure
to applications.
We start with the physical foundations AI depends on—materials, energy, and the semiconductors and data centres that are increasingly the same problem at different scales. Then we examine models, the software built around them, and the applications customers are paying for.
BLOCK ONEPhysical layer
Energy
Generation, grid and firming: what it costs to power this, who pays, and what gets built.
Semiconductors & data centres
The same thing at different scales—the supply chain as it stands, and where the binding constraint is moving.
BLOCK TWOModels to markets
Models
A current view of the frontier, beyond benchmark theatre and launch-day headlines.
Harnesses
The systems around the model that turn raw capability into repeatable economic value.
Applications
What is shipping, who is buying, and where defensibility is beginning to settle.
Run of day
Brief. Question. Move.
- Doors + coffee
- Opening thesis
- Physical layer
- Intermission
- Models to markets
- Closing synthesis
- Lunch with speakers and attendees
Built for the people making the call
Different mandates.
The same moving target.
Venture capitalInvestment teamsFamily officesCorporate strategyFoundersOperators
This is technology and market analysis—not stock tips, price targets or financial product advice.
03
The room
The Gold Melting Room, The Mint
Where the gold
was actually melted.
The Mint is the oldest surviving public building in Sydney's CBD—built as part of Governor Macquarie's Rum Hospital, paid for in 45,000 gallons of rum, and later the first branch of the Royal Mint outside London. The Gold Melting Room is where colonial gold was turned into currency. It seemed like the right room to spend a morning working out where the capital goes next.
PRACTICALITIES10 Macquarie Street, Sydney
Getting there
Top of Macquarie Street, a few minutes from Martin Place. Wheelchair accessible.
Lunch
Not a formal sit-down: seated and standing both, spilling into the courtyard if the weather holds.
04
Why NOOPS
Hosted by John Allsopp + Mark Pesce
Eight decades building with technology—not watching from the sidelines.
Mark Pesce
Technologist · Author · Futurist
Inventor of VRML. Columnist for The Register. Four decades reading the intersection of technology, culture and markets.
Full biography ↗
John Allsopp
Developer · Publisher · Event maker
Founder of Web Directions and AI Engineer Conference. Twenty years producing world-leading events focused on what matters next.
Full biography ↗NOOPS publishes at the speed AI moves:daily signalsweekly synthesislong-form research
Sydney · 11 December 2026
One ticket.
One year of signal.
Your seat at AI Investor includes lunch and twelve months of NOOPS Pro: the complete signals dashboard, daily briefings, research and quarterly reports.
Genuinely limited seating.
AI2 + NOOPS PRO
$995 AUD
Super Early Bird · until 2 October
Early Bird $1,295 · 3 October–20 November
Standard $1,495 · from 21 November
- Half-day investor briefing
- Lunch with speakers and attendees
- 12 months of NOOPS Pro
Secure registration and payment are managed by Web Directions.
Three ways in
Buy a ticket
Get the complete thesis in one day, then continue the conversation over lunch.
$995AUD
Super Early Bird · until 2 October
Then $1,295 Early Bird · $1,495 Standard
- Six evidence-led briefings
- Lunch with speakers and attendees
- 12 months of NOOPS Pro
- Genuinely limited seating
Get event updates
Hear as the six-person speaker line-up is announced.
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