☕ Anthropic’s unreleased AI model solves a 150-year-old math problem & OpenAI’s longest-serving executives leaving to start new startup.
Humanoid robot sales set to triple & Nvidia building 1-trillion-parameter Nemotron 4 to rival open AI models.
Breaking News
An unreleased Anthropic model made significant progress on the Riemann hypothesis, one of mathematics’ biggest unsolved problems. The model worked for roughly 36 hours, coordinating 60 subagents and testing 650 ideas, with Anthropic mathematicians reviewing the result and formally verifying parts using Lean.
Google says the Gemini app has crossed 1 billion monthly active users, becoming its 14th product to reach the milestone. The figure only covers the standalone Gemini app - not Gemini usage across Search or Workspace - with 63% of users reportedly interacting with Gemini through voice.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Soor, a Manama, Bahrain-based insurtech platform, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Spring.
SEED
House of Student, a San Francisco, CA-based global student living technology platform and housing marketplace, raised $2M in Seed funding through a mix of equity and debt. The round was co-led by Saltwater Sutra and Nirmitsu Inspirational Ventures, with participation from Gautam Verlekar, Glen Fernandes, Richard McCallum, Ali Moosa, and existing investors from Unilodgers.
Soctera, a New York City-based provider of power amplifiers for wireless signals, raised $4M in Seed funding. Backers included Anorak Ventures, Multiball Capital, 9Yards Capital, Mana Ventures, and Red Bear Ventures.
Legio, a Toronto, Canada-based AI-native safety and security operations platform for higher education, raised $5M in Seed funding. Klass Capital made the investment.
AMDB Security Pro, a Saint-Georges-d’Espéranche, France-based provider of mechanical anti-theft systems for excavators and mini-excavators, raised $3.1M in Seed funding. Backers included two American private investors.
Fitting, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based digital platform for automating and digitizing construction supply chains, raised $1.1M in its second Seed funding round. Backers were not disclosed.
Bios Life, a Boston, MA-based provider of an AI-native predictive cancer surveillance and care platform, raised $25M in Seed funding. The round was led by Redmile, Vsquared Ventures, and Kindred Capital, with participation from other investors.
GROWTH
Global AI, a New York City-based provider of dedicated, single-tenant, air-gapped sovereign AI infrastructure, raised $441M in debt financing. The round was led by J.P. Morgan, with participation from other investors.
Axle, a New York City-based provider of an AI-native clearinghouse platform for insurance, raised $17.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, Gradient, Stage 2 Capital, and industry angels.
Fisent Technologies, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of an applied GenAI process automation platform, raised $4.3M in new funding. The round was led by FINTOP, with participation from Pegasystems.
Flagler Health, a New York City-based provider of an AI-native platform for musculoskeletal healthcare, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from SignalFire, Alumni Ventures, Streamlined, 186 Ventures, Proof VC, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Offscript.
River AI, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of a full-stack AI platform for improving frontier open-weight models via an API, raised $1.1B in funding. The round was led by General Catalyst and AMP PBC, with strategic investment from NVIDIA and AMD Ventures, and participation from Y Combinator and Temasek.
Epicrispr Biotechnologies, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a programmable epigenetic medicines platform, raised $90M in Series C financing. The round was led by Octagon Capital and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from Fidelity Management and Research Company, Cormorant Asset Management, Duquesne Family Office, Sanofi Ventures, abrdn, Angelini Ventures, Readout Capital, and existing investors.
Vaderis Therapeutics, a Basel, Switzerland-based provider of targeted therapies for rare vascular diseases, raised $152M in Series B funding. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and TCGX, with participation from Omega Funds, EQT Life Sciences, Perceptive Advisors, Kalehua Capital, Medicxi, and Droia.
inKind, an Austin, TX-based provider of a curated restaurant commerce and growth platform, raised $414M in a second financing tranche. The round was led by Citi and Cross River, with participation from Sagard, Varadero Capital, and Trinity Capital.
Finn, a Munich, Germany-based car subscription platform, raised €140M in Series D funding at a valuation exceeding $1B. The round was led by Portage, with participation from UVC Partners, Planet First Partners, Korelya Capital, and a media-for-equity arrangement with SevenVentures.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ Must read post
Before VCs invest, they’ll call your customers. But what do they really ask?: Before writing a check, serious investors often call your customers to understand usage, renewal intent, defensibility, buying process, and whether your revenue is truly repeatable. This piece shows founders how to manage that process without burning customer trust - from gating intros to choosing the right references and framing the raise as a decision they are making.
How is your seed valuation actually decided? (It has almost nothing to do with your company): Most founders think valuation is decided by traction, market size, or the pitch. This piece shows why the real ceiling often comes from a VC’s fund size, check size, and ownership target. It gives founders a simple way to understand which funds can actually lead their round, how to avoid wasting time with structurally wrong investors, and why the option pool can quietly cost more than the pre-money they’re negotiating.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Elephant, a Boston-based venture capital firm, is raising up to $700m for its sixth flagship fund. Led by Peter Fallon, Elephant is a venture capital firm focused on high-growth software, internet, and technology companies at Seed, Series A, and Series B. Its target check size ranges from $1.5M to $45M.
Sequoia Capital, a Menlo Park, in California-based venture capital firm, reportedly raised $10 billion for new growth equity funds. Led by Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, the firm is deploying a strategy that operates on a dual track that merges advanced software with heavy hardware. Sequoia will keep on consolidating its dominance in generative AI models, and investing in the “reindustrialization” of the American economy.
Accel, a global venture capital firm, raised $550 million for its new India-focused fund. The firm will invest primarily in early-stage startups across AI, consumer internet, fintech, advanced manufacturing, and deep tech, with plans to begin deploying the new capital in 2027.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longest-serving executives leaving to start new startup
Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI’s longest-serving executives, is leaving the company after joining in 2018 and previously serving as CFO and COO.
Lightcap said he plans to “start something new,” though he has not yet revealed details about the venture and said he remains confident in OpenAI’s mission.
His departure comes amid a broader leadership shakeup at OpenAI, following recent exits from executives including Fidji Simo, Bill Peebles and Kevin Weil as the company prepares for a potential IPO.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT desktop app for Linux
OpenAI has released a preview of its dedicated ChatGPT desktop app for Linux, bringing ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex to the platform worldwide.
The app supports Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04 LTS, Debian 13, and Fedora 43 and 44, with several downstream Linux distributions also expected to be compatible.
The launch follows strong demand from Linux users and comes about a month after Anthropic released its Claude desktop app for Linux.
Anthropic will watermark text generated by Claude
Anthropic says text generated by Claude will include watermarks to comply with the EU AI Act’s Transparency Code, which requires AI-generated or edited content to be identifiable by other systems.
All Anthropic models released after August 2 will automatically watermark generated text and files, with file watermarking using the C2PA open standard. Support will eventually extend to older models.
The watermark is designed to remain when text is copied and pasted and may survive some editing. It will apply across products including Claude, Claude Code, Claude Cowork and Anthropic’s API.
Humanoid robot sales set to triple
Sales of humanoid robots are on track to triple in 2026 to around 60,000 units, according to Smart Analytics Global, as the technology proves its worth in factories, warehouses and other industrial settings.
China dominates the market with over 97pc share, and Shanghai’s Agibot has passed Unitree to become the world’s biggest vendor at 44pc, with the two companies together making three-quarters of global sales.
Industrial and commercial uses drove more than 70pc of shipments in the first half of the year, up from 50pc, while home-service robots like the ones Meta is chasing are unlikely to hit mass scale within five years.
Nvidia building 1-trillion-parameter Nemotron 4 to rival open AI models
Nvidia is developing Nemotron 4, a new family of open AI models designed to compete with leading open models from the U.S. and China.
The largest Nemotron 4 model is expected to have at least 1 trillion parameters. Final training is still underway, with a possible release as early as late fall.
Nvidia is expanding its open AI push as lower-cost Chinese models gain ground, while also launching Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and NeMo Switchyard for model routing.
Phia founders reportedly knew about ‘cookie stuffing’ months before disclosure
New reporting claims Phia co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni knew as early as December that the shopping startup was using cookie stuffing to claim affiliate commissions on purchases it did not generate.
Leaked Slack messages reportedly show the practice was a deliberately built feature that could be switched on and off, contradicting earlier claims that it was a bug discovered only after Bloomberg contacted the company.
Phia says it removed features causing misattributions, is reviewing transactions, issuing reversals to affected brand partners, and hiring a head of compliance.
TSMC and Sony to invest $4.7B in image sensor joint venture
TSMC and Sony will form a $4.69 billion joint venture in Kumamoto, Japan, to develop and manufacture next-generation image sensors, with mass production expected in 2029.
Sony will be the controlling shareholder and invest about $2.92 billion, while TSMC will contribute roughly $1.77 billion and provide its advanced chip manufacturing technology.
The venture will focus primarily on image sensors for smartphones, combining Sony’s sensor design expertise with TSMC’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Spotify will label AI artist profiles
Spotify said it will attach “AI Persona” tags to profiles of artists whose identity is AI-generated, and keep their music out of both its editorial and algorithmic recommendations starting in mid-September.
The badges will show up on artist profiles, in Search, and on track rows in playlists, and Spotify won’t rely only on self-disclosure, reviewing the most-listened-to profiles first for photorealistic AI identities.
Artists can start self-disclosing through Spotify for Artists on August 11th, and those wrongly labeled can appeal, while a coming tool will let users report unlabeled AI Persona profiles.
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