What's this about?
Sequoia's podcast hosts Factory CEO Matan Grinberg on software that builds itself — "dark factory" development where agents write, test, and ship with no human watching the line.
What exactly is a "dark factory"?
A manufacturing term: a plant so automated it runs with the lights off, since no humans are inside. Applied to software, it means pipelines where agents handle the whole loop and humans only set goals and review outcomes.
Why does it matter?
It's the optimistic investor-side companion to the "Why Software Factories Fail" essay from Friday's digest, which argued agents are good at coding but bad at keeping systems maintainable — the two together are the current bull and bear case for autonomous software plants.