AgentsSeptember 8, 2026via MIT Technology Review AI
This AI entrepreneur is developing agents that can plan ahead for the unexpected
Why it matters
Agent planning and foresight is emerging as a key capability gap. This story profiles early technical work on agents that reason through contingencies rather than just respond to immediate tasks—a meaningful shift in how autonomous systems handle uncertainty.
Key signals
- Danijar Hafner launching stealth startup focused on agent planning
- Located in San Francisco SoMa; minimal team at launch
- Focus area: agents that plan ahead for unexpected scenarios
- Represents shift from reactive to predictive agent autonomy
- Danijar Hafner (former DeepMind researcher) founding new stealth startup
- Focus on agents with planning capabilities for unexpected scenarios
- Based in San Francisco SoMa
- Still in stealth mode, minimal public technical detail available
- Published September 2026
The hook
A stealth startup is building agents that can plan for the unexpected—the next frontier after reactive autonomy.
Danijar Hafner’s office in San Francisco’s SoMa district sits mostly empty. His brand-new startup is still in stealth mode and doesn’t even have its name on the door. On the day I visit, there’s only one other person there, and little in the way of furniture. But what it lacks in decor, it makes up…