🌀 One Year Later: From Loss to Lift-Off

September 19, 2025 · Hugo Latapie

Luna, after the dog park, full beast mode

One year ago—almost to the day—our family said goodbye to Luna, our incredible 10-year-old, 110 lb American Alsatian.

She wasn’t just a dog. She was part of our daily rhythm—protective, playful, deeply intuitive. Her favorite move was tearing around the dog park until she collapsed with her tongue out, ears back, and that signature look like, “Let’s get some.”

Her passing hit hard. And strangely, I left Cisco within minutes of her passing. Total coincidence? Maybe. But it felt like something bigger was shifting.

I’ve worked on AI in various forms since the 1980s—at Metadata, and later at Cisco—touching everything from symbolic reasoning to video analytics and time series systems. But always within the context of the companies I served. The chance to think freely only came later.

After leaving Cisco, I gave myself three months to reset. No code. No deadlines. Just space to breathe and reassess the state of the art. That pause was essential. Taijitu didn’t emerge as a continuation of prior work—it emerged from a clean slate.

Taijitu AI officially started in January 2025 — a great way to kick off the new year. From the beginning, we’ve focused on something I’d never truly attempted before: autodidactic real-world accuracy. The ability for systems to teach themselves and hold up against the messy truth of the world is what sets our work apart. Since then, we’ve been moving quickly, filing 10 provisional patents that mark the foundations of what we’re building. Huge thanks to my co-founder and Chief Legal Officer, Jen, for her incredible work on those filings.

I’m deeply grateful to the Microsoft for Founders Hub team for their early investment and support. They helped us get off the ground with the right tools and confidence. In hindsight, I wish I’d taken the hints to level up while I could—thinking I had time. Turns out I didn’t. The program ended sooner than expected. Still, their early support meant a lot.

Fortunately, the next chapter opened quickly. We were recently accepted into the NVIDIA Inception program, which has already given us access to an incredible range of resources and technical support. Through NVIDIA, we were introduced to the Google for Startups team, who also offered meaningful support from day one.

Today, Taijitu AI is backed by both NVIDIA and Google—and we’re just getting started.

And yes—this might sound dramatic. But I know I’m extremely lucky. I had the freedom to pause. I had time to think. I had support when it mattered. Many don’t. And compared to what others go through, this is small potatoes.

This post isn’t a hardship story. It’s a thank-you. A moment of stillness. And a reminder that sometimes the quiet is where the real clarity lives.

If you’re in the in-between—still waiting for the next thing to emerge—make space for it. Don’t rush the spark. When it comes, protect it. Build with intention.

Leap boldly. But keep your perspective intact.

Here’s to Luna.
Here’s to quiet clarity.
Here’s to starting again.

— Hugo