Descriptions:
Sam D’Amico, founder of Impulse, joins the Latent Space podcast for a hands-on tour of the Impulse Cooktop — a battery-powered induction stove engineered around a 3 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that delivers up to 10,000 watts to a single burner, enabling it to boil a liter of water in approximately 40 seconds. The video doubles as a product announcement: a partnership with Zephr is revealed that will bring Impulse-powered ventilation hoods to retail stores nationwide, with availability timed roughly to the episode’s release.
D’Amico explains the engineering philosophy behind the product: by designing power electronics, firmware, electromagnetics, and control software from scratch — rather than sourcing off-the-shelf induction components — Impulse achieves analog-like knob responsiveness that conventional induction stoves cannot match. A forthcoming firmware update is previewed that triples the speed of the temperature control system, and the interview covers how the stove and hood are being designed to coordinate automatically. Claude is integrated into the cooktop to provide real-time cooking guidance, including temperature recommendations for dishes like seared scallops.
The conversation also covers Impulse’s product roadmap (tabletop single- and dual-burner units are in development), the company’s QA process using thermocouple-wired test pots, and D’Amico’s broader thesis that consumer appliances are entering a ‘software-defined hardware’ era — drawing parallels to Tesla’s approach of owning the full vertical stack to enable ongoing improvement after the product ships.
📺 Source: Latent Space · Published March 31, 2026
🏷️ Format: Interview
