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Quick Hits
AI assist: YouTube launches customer agent.
Big-Oil Tech: Chevron bets on Bengaluru.
Clean training: OpenAI pays Condé Nast.
Future investing: VCs launch climate fund.
‘High ambition’: Nothing mandates RTO.
Layoff logic: Cisco cuts fund AI ambitions.
Made in India: Pretty soon, the iPhone Pro.
Music streams: Web Podcasts launches.
Musk’s revenge: X leaves Brazil.
Nostalgic games: Nintendo opens museum.
IG first: Ronaldo is on YouTube.
Pay pivot: Amazon detangles in India.
Power surge: AI demands record capacity.
Taxi traction: Waymo hits 100k weekly rides.
Speed-e: Rimac launches electric hypercar.
Stable shift: Tether pegs to UAE’s dirham.
Trending Startups
Tech eats London banking
Europe’s most valuable private tech company, Revolut, vaulted past Australia’s Canva and USA’s Data Bricks on the global unicorn list with a $45B valuation—more than the market capitalization of London’s oldest banks.
Micro VC is big in India
Single-investor micro-VC firms are taking root in India, seeding companies from consumer tech to enterprise with smaller checks. The latest fund, AJVC, plans to spread $12M across 30 startups.
There’s money in guns
Over $130B poured into defense tech startups over the past few years on the promise of AI efficiency and geopolitical fears. VCs back companies like Anduril, which takes a Tesla-like approach to weapons manufacturing; Cresilon, which makes an FDA-approved device to stop bleeding from gunshot wounds; and Defcon AI, which uses algorithms to streamline DOD operations.
Putting the ‘AI’ in alignment
MIT researchers developed an AI agent that could be useful in emergency response and other high stakes scenarios. The AI monitors teamwork and intervenes based on a new theory of mind model.
Recently Funded
Asia
- India’s LLUMO AI Raises $1M to Optimize LLM
- Hong Kong's zkMe Technologies Secures $4M for Zero-Knowledge Identity Verification
- India's TransBnk Raises $4M for SaaS-Friendly Banking
- India's Uppercase Raises $9M for Sustainable Luggage
- Singapore-based Fintech Syfe Secures $27M from Peter Thiel, Others
Europe
- Germany's Voiceline Secures $2.6M for Smart Voice Messaging
U.S.
- Chicago-based Rx Save Card Secures $1.7M for Pharmacy Benefits
- NYC-based Cassidy Raises $3.7M for Context-Aware Automations
- Seattle-based Mudstack Secures $4M to Get Developers Paid
- New York-based DSTLRY Secures $5M for Digital Comics
- Bay Area’s BeyondMath Raises $8.5M to Improve Simulations
- New York City's Photon Health Raises $9M for Electronic Prescriptions
Weekly Pulse
Post of the Week
What We’re Reading
Remote workers are lonely, but returning to the office isn’t the solution (Fast Company)
Nothing mandates employees to return to the office five days a week (The Verge)
These fintech companies are hiring, despite a rough market in 2024 (TechCrunch)
AI Public & Private Premia for AI Companies (Tomasz Tunguz)
No laughing matter - how AI is helping comedians write jokes (BBC
Poll of the Week
Podcast of the Week
The Power of Apology In Corporate Culture: Lessons From Ray Hennessey Of Vocatus (Voices of HR)
How to Use Constraints to Your Advantage with Peter Beck of Rocket Lab (For Starters with Alexa von Tobel)
People.ai CEO Oleg Rogynsky - How AI is Replacing Sales People (World of DaaS)
Startups Hiring Now
Collective: First online back-office platform designed for self-employed people | 19 open roles
Helix: Empowering every person to improve their life through DNA | 8 open roles
Klaviyo: Unified customer platform for email, SMS, and more | 164 open roles
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