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Daniel Liss went from co-founding consumer social apps to trying to build a multibillion-dollar ironmaking facility because, he says, a 2023 war-game exercise made him see a weak link behind U.S. military and shipbuilding capacity: access to iron and steel. His company, NEMO Industries, is now developing a proposed Louisiana plant to make pig iron for steelmakers. It is not a finished-steel mill, and it is not yet under construction.
From social apps to an industrial project
Daniel Liss’s career shift is not a conventional move from one software company to another. He co-founded Dispo, a social-photo app, and Teaser AI, a dating app. Now, as co-founder and CEO of NEMO Industries, he is pursuing a project whose first phase is projected to cost about $3 billion and would require engineering, permitting, financing, construction, energy supply and long-term customers.
The connection, in Liss’s telling, began with his writing about antitrust and concentrated power in social media. That work drew attention in Washington and led to an invitation to guest-judge a National War College capstone exercise in spring 2023. The exercise modeled a possible conflict involving Taiwan and the South China Sea. Liss has said the scenario prompted him to think beyond military strategy to the industrial capacity needed to build ships and equipment—and, further upstream, to the iron and steel those industries consume. He described that experience as the start of his focus on the steel supply chain.
That is a national-security argument, not a claim that the United States has no steel industry. The concern is whether domestic capacity and supply chains can reliably provide the right materials at the scale and speed required, including upstream inputs such as pig iron. Imports can expose buyers to shipping disruptions, geopolitical shocks, tariffs and price swings.
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The product is pig iron, not finished steel
Understanding NEMO’s plan requires distinguishing four stages of the materials chain:
- Iron ore is the mineral feedstock containing iron.
- Direct-reduced iron (DRI) is made by removing oxygen from iron ore without melting it in a conventional blast furnace.
- Pig iron is a high-carbon iron product made by smelting iron-bearing material. Steelmakers can use it as a feedstock.
- Steel is an iron-based alloy whose composition and properties are adjusted for specific uses.
NEMO’s initial project, Ironworks I, is intended to produce granulated pig iron for steelmakers. It is therefore more precise to call the project an ironmaking facility serving the steel industry than a plant that will sell finished steel beams, sheet or automobiles.
What NEMO plans to build in Louisiana
NEMO announced Ironworks I in October 2025 as a proposed facility in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The company has described a first-phase investment of approximately $3 billion and annual pig-iron output of about 2.3 million metric tons. It estimates roughly 350 permanent jobs and peak construction employment of about 1,500. These are projections, not operating results. NEMO’s project announcement also describes two possible later phases, taking the envisioned investment to about $8 billion over 15 years.
The announced process combines direct reduction with electric smelting, using natural gas and electricity rather than relying on the traditional coal-centered blast-furnace route. On August 4, 2026, technology supplier Tenova said NEMO had selected its ENERGIRON Zero Reformer technology for the direct-reduction portion and that front-end engineering and design (FEED) support would continue. Tenova cited designed capacity of about 2.5 million metric tons per year of hot and cold DRI. That figure is not the same as NEMO’s stated 2.3-million-ton annual pig-iron output: DRI is an intermediate stream, while pig iron is the intended saleable product. Tenova’s announcement concerns the direct-reduction technology; it should not be read as confirmation that every component of the project is finalized.
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NEMO and Tenova point to Louisiana’s natural-gas supply, industrial workforce, river and port access, logistics infrastructure and potential carbon-storage geology as reasons for the location. Those are stated project advantages, not guarantees of lower costs or easier execution. The site still has to clear permitting, financing, commercial and construction hurdles.
Why Liss thinks AI belongs in an ironworks
NEMO’s thesis has two parts. First, Liss argues that some ironmaking operations still depend heavily on spreadsheets, manual processes and the experience of operators whose knowledge may not be captured systematically. A new facility, he believes, could be designed from the outset to collect operational data and use automation and machine-learning systems to support process control, efficiency, uptime, safety and consistency.
Second, NEMO is presenting AI as part of the plant’s operating design, not simply as software to sell to existing mills. That distinction matters: the company is taking on the risk of building and operating physical infrastructure in order to pursue the software and automation gains it expects.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Liss told TechCrunch that AI-native companies could achieve a 20% to 30% margin advantage over competitors. That is his claim, not an independently demonstrated NEMO result. A meaningful comparison would have to account for what “margin” includes and how much improvement comes from AI rather than plant design, ordinary automation, operator skill, energy prices, product yield, maintenance, utilization, financing or carbon costs.
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AI in a steelworks also has constraints that a consumer app does not. Models need reliable sensors and data, and a system that works with one ore blend, equipment configuration or operating regime may not transfer neatly to another. Ironmaking is safety-critical; automated recommendations need tested controls and safe fallback modes. Experienced operators remain essential, particularly during abnormal conditions, feedstock changes, maintenance and startup or shutdown. NEMO’s operating advantage will have to be shown in a working plant, not inferred from the use of AI in its design.
Lower-carbon potential is not the same as zero-carbon production
Direct reduction using natural gas can offer a route different from coal-centered ironmaking, while electric smelting and future use of hydrogen may provide options to reduce emissions further. Tenova says the selected design includes pathways for future hydrogen use and carbon-capture integration. NEMO has also discussed carbon capture and possible off-site sequestration.
Those are potential pathways, not proof that Ironworks I will be zero-carbon or that its emissions will be captured. The project is initially designed around natural gas, and carbon capture would itself require investment, energy, transport, storage arrangements, monitoring and permits. Hydrogen readiness does not establish that affordable hydrogen will be available. To assess the environmental case, readers will need facility-specific emissions estimates per ton of pig iron, capture rates, details of any carbon destination, and information about air emissions, water use, traffic, noise and waste.
How far along is the project?
As of August 18, 2026, Ironworks I is a proposal with a selected direct-reduction technology and ongoing FEED work—not an operating plant or a project confirmed to be under construction. Tenova says a final investment decision is expected in 2027. NEMO has targeted construction to begin in 2027 and commissioning in 2030. Those dates remain targets and depend on permits, financing, commercial agreements and other project conditions.
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The distinction matters because a technology selection is an important development milestone, but it does not fund a $3 billion build or guarantee that the plant will be completed on schedule. A viable project needs a financeable design, construction capability, reliable access to ore and energy, permits, and buyers willing to enter into commercial agreements. It must also operate at sufficient utilization and sell into markets where its product can compete.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Funding, backers and the scale of the bet
A July 2025 TechCrunch report, citing PitchBook, said NEMO had raised $28.2 million and was in discussions with existing investors about a potential $100 million Series A. That report does not establish that the Series A was completed. Later company disclosures list Cargill, Lowercarbon Capital, BoxGroup, 776 and Vivek Ramaswamy among NEMO’s supporters.
The same TechCrunch report said NEMO had received offers for more than $1 billion in incentives from two Southern states, conditional on building three plants over 15 years. An offer is not the same as a finalized award, cash received or public money spent. Nor would such incentives alone demonstrate that the first plant has secured the financing it needs. The original report captures the size of the ambition; subsequent project announcements give it a specific Louisiana site and schedule, but the investment decision remains ahead.
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This is a very different capital model from consumer software. Apps can often launch, test and iterate without first building a large physical asset. An ironworks takes years of engineering and permitting before revenue, and depends on a network of suppliers, contractors, energy providers and customers. NEMO has also framed its business as potentially serving a role similar to an LNG midstream company—providing a crucial material link between upstream inputs and steelmakers. That analogy describes an ambition, not an established business model. Steel Market Update’s coverage discusses that commercial framing.
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What could make the strategy work—and what could derail it
The upside is clear enough to understand: a new domestic source of pig iron could diversify supply for U.S. steelmakers, reduce exposure to import bottlenecks and geopolitical disruption, and potentially use a process with a different emissions profile from traditional coal-based ironmaking. Building a new plant around data and automation also gives NEMO a chance to test whether operational software can improve consistency and uptime in a sector where experience and process discipline matter enormously.
But the risks are equally concrete. The project needs billions in capital and long-term commercial commitments. Its economics will be sensitive to iron-ore, natural-gas and electricity prices, freight, tariffs and steel demand. If construction costs rise, permits take longer, customers do not commit, or utilization falls short, the plant could be technically successful yet financially unattractive. Carbon capture could add cost and complexity; future hydrogen could remain uneconomic or unavailable. And the AI thesis may prove less important than conventional process engineering or equipment choices.
The national-security motivation explains why Liss sees ironmaking as worth tackling. It does not settle the business case. NEMO’s next test is whether it can turn a strategically appealing concept into a permitted, financed, contracted and successfully operated plant—and then demonstrate that its AI-centered approach produces measurable advantages.
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