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Quick Hits
Airborne Olympics: Frances OKs flying taxis.
AI slimming: Meta introduces MobileLLM.
Atomic AI: OpenAI partners with Los Alamos.
Automated taxes: Intuit axes 10% of positions.
Right to copy: Judge dismisses Github suit.
Beautiful language: Duolingo acquires design studio.
Bot crackdown: DOJ seizes Russian bot farm.
Board exodus: Microsoft, Apple exit OpenAI.
Floppy farewell: Japan ditches disks.
European backers: VCs launch $250M AI fund.
Human touch: Nintendo rejects AI.
More CHIPS: Nontraditional tech hubs get $504M.
No training: Brazil blocks Meta.
Fund launch: Index Ventures raises $2.3B.
Out of the dark: Google gifts web monitoring.
Ticket takedown: Ticketmaster warns of hack.
Wrong-way Waymo: Cop pulls over driverless taxi.
Speed surge: Startup clocks 5 minute EV charge.
Young Quest: Meta lowers age for VR chat.
Trending Startups
VCs (heart) creators (again)
U.S.-based creator economy startups are on pace to more than double their VC funding haul from last year, according to a report by The Information.
‘AI summer’ heats up
U.S. startup funding surged 30% to $45B in the second quarter of 2024 fueled largely by AI, according to Crunchbase. AI companies captured 30% of total funding.
Developers flock to Groq
Groq claims 280k developers are already using its LLM engine, which it has offered for free for the past few months. The company’s value has reportedly doubled on the promise of super-fast inference with its language processing unit (LPU).
Exec wants Swift replacement for C++
Apple's director of languages says Swift is the ideal choice to replace C++ because of safety, speed, and interoperability with C and C++.
Former Humane execs launch fact-checking startup
Former executives from Humane left to found Infactory, an AI fact-checking startup focused exclusively on data.
Study: Technical founders raise larger rounds
Deep tech startups led by technical CEOs with no business background secure larger funding rounds than non-technical CEOs with business experience, according research by a European VC fund.
Recently Funded
- Santa Clara, Calif.-based Glidance Raises $1.5M for Visually Impaired Mobility Robots
- St. Louis-based Maximum Fidelity Surgical Simulations Raises $2.25M for Lifelike Cadaver Surgical Simulations
- Singapore-based ThirdFi Raises $2M in Token Funding for Web3 Infrastructure Protocol
- Austin-based Vida Raises $3M Seed for AI Voice Solutions
- NYC-based Accend Raises $3.2M to Accelerate Business Onboarding
- Palo Alto, Calif.-based Biostate AI Raises $4M for Scalable Biodata Foundry
- India-based iVP Semi Raises $5M for IC Design
- San Francisco’s Enso Raises $6M to Bring AI Agents to SMBs
- India’s Collegedekho Raises $9M for Higher Education Services
- NYC-based The Lasso Raises $9.8M for Online Car Bidding Platform
- Seattle-based Phaidra Raises $12M for AI-Based Data Center Control System
- Palo Alto-based Ario Raises $16M for AI-Powered Parenting Assistant
Weekly Pulse
Post of the Week
What We’re Reading
It’s already time to start preparing the workplace for Gen Alpha (Fast Company)
AI Can’t Replace Teaching, but It Can Make It Better (Wired)
What is AI? (MIT)
The Words That Give Away Generative AI Text (Ars Technica)
Should venture capitalists be held accountable when startups screw up? (TechCrunch)
Poll of the Week
Podcasts of the Week
The Truth About eNPS and Employee Engagement With Lattice’s Colby Nesbitt (Voices of HR)
CEO of TheLi.st, Ann Shoket, Discusses Networking and Community for Women Entrepreneurs (Startup of the Year)
Startups Hiring Now
Alto Pharmacy: Telehealth pharmacy helping people live healthier by improving the prescription experience | 26 open roles
Labelbox: Our mission is to build the best products for humans to align with artificial intelligence | 36 open roles
Two Chairs: High-quality, in-person psychotherapy at thoughtfully-designed clinics across the Bay | 19 open roles
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