☕ Apple cracks down on "vibe coding" apps & Meta to discontinue key metaverse product for VR headsets.
Microsoft to sue OpenAI and Amazon over $50B cloud deal & Pentagon calls Anthropic an “unacceptable national security risk” .
Breaking News
Microsoft is reportedly considering legal action against OpenAI and Amazon over a $50B cloud deal that makes AWS the exclusive provider for OpenAI’s enterprise platform. The dispute could reshape alliances in the AI infrastructure race, as Microsoft questions whether the move violates its existing agreement with OpenAI.
The United States Department of Defense has called Anthropic an “unacceptable national security risk,” arguing the company could disable or restrict its AI systems during military operations if its internal red lines are crossed. The conflict follows a collapsed $200M deal over Anthropic’s refusal to support use cases like mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, and is now escalating into a legal battle with broader industry backing for Anthropic.
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As demand grows for more accurate therapeutics testing and new transplant solutions, Frontier Bio is positioning itself at the intersection of biotech, regenerative medicine, and drug discovery.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Noru, a Stockholm, Sweden-based startup providing an AI-native platform for regulatory compliance, raised €560K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Ampli Ventures with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (Seed Fund), SSE Business Lab, DHS, Mattias Miksche, Johannes Schildt, Fredrik Uhrström, Karin Bjerde, and Mark Strande.
xmemory, a London, UK-based developer of a memory layer for AI workflows, raised $4M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Fly Ventures, Begin Capital, AAL VC, 33East, and Inovia Capital, with participation from angel investors.
SEED
Homaio, a Paris, France-based provider of an investment platform for carbon and energy transition markets, raised €3.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by RAISE Ventures and Groupe Eren, with participation from XAnge, Redstone, and strategic angels.
Elea & Lili, an Espoo, Finland-based biomaterials technology startup, raised €2.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lifeline Ventures with participation from Ikorni Invest Oy and Baltiska Handels Sverige AB.
Laminar, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of an open-source observability platform for AI agents, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Atlantic.vc, with participation from Y Combinator, AAL.vc, and angel investors.
Mave Health, a San Francisco, CA- and Bengaluru, India-based neurotechnology company, raised $2.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Blume Ventures with participation from Stanford Angels, Dhaval Shroff, and Raymond Russell.
Obin AI, a NYC-based enterprise AI company building an agentic workforce for financial institutions, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Motive Partners with participation from angel investors including Dr. Fei-Fei Li and Lukasz Kaiser.
Manifold, a San Diego, CA-based provider of an AI detection and response platform, raised $8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures with participation from Cherry Ventures, Rain Capital, Modern Technical Fund, and angel investors.
VerbaFlo, a London, UK-based provider of a conversational AI platform for real estate businesses, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Pi Labs, with participation from Haatch, Navigate Ventures, Old College Capital, and others.
GROWTH
Rivia, a Zurich, Switzerland-based provider of a clinical trial data engine and AI platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Earlybird, with participation from Defiant, Speedinvest, Amino Collective, and Nina Capital.
Foresight, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered project delivery platform for large-scale infrastructure, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Macquarie Capital Venture Capital, with participation from Creandum, ISAI Build, i2bf Global Ventures, and Somersault Ventures.
Respan, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a proactive AI observability platform, raised $5M in funding. Backers included Gradient, Y Combinator, Hat-Trick Capital, XIAOXIAO FUND, Antigravity Capital, Alpen Capital, and others.
Multiply, a San Francisco, CA-based hybrid AI media agency for B2B enterprises, raised $9.5M in funding. The round was led by Mayfield with participation from Sorenson Capital and tech executives from Google, HubSpot, Braze, and Instacart.
BusRight, a NYC-based provider of a student transportation technology platform, raised $30M in funding. The round was led by Volition Capital.
Condor Software, a San Diego, CA-based provider of a financial intelligence platform for life sciences, raised $24M in Series A funding. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from Felicis, 645 Ventures, Pamir Ventures, SNR Ventures, Prebys Ventures, and Bramalea Partners.
Xbow, a Seattle, WA-based company specializing in autonomous offensive security, raised $120M in Series C funding at a $1B valuation. The round was led by DFJ Growth and Northzone.
Beautiful.ai, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of AI-powered presentation software, raised $45M in funding. The investment was led by General Catalyst.
Cocoon Carbon, a London, UK-based material company developing a cement substitute, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by 2150 and Brick and Mortar Ventures, with participation from TVC, Wireframe Ventures, Celsius Industries, Gigascale Capital, and SOSV.
Raven.io, a Palo Alto, CA-based cybersecurity company, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Norwest with participation from RedSeed, UpWest, SentinelOne, Jibe Ventures, Dnipro VC, Unusual Ventures, CyberFuture, and others.
Imperative Care, a Campbell, CA-based medical technology company, raised $100M in convertible note funding. The round was led by Elevage Medical Technologies and Perceptive Advisors, with participation from Catalio Capital Management, Longaeva Partners, Brown Advisory, Ally Bridge Group, and Bain Capital Life Sciences.
CometChat, a Denver, CO-based provider of an in-app communication platform, raised $6.5M in strategic funding. The round was led by Run Ventures.
Video Rebirth, a Singapore-based AI video startup, raised $80M in funding. Backers included AMD Ventures, Hyundai, and others.
TODAY’S RESOURCE PICK
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Excel templates and walkthroughs
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Gradient, a San Francisco, CA-based early stage venture capital firm designed for founders in artificial intelligence, closed a new $220m flagship seed fund. Google is one of the limited partners in the fund. Founded in 2017 and led by Darian Shirazi, Managing Partner, the firm employs twelve professionals focused on pre-seed and seed stage investments in AI startups.
Sands Capital, an Arlington, Va.-based investor in innovative growth businesses, closed Global Innovation Fund III, at $1.1 billion. The fund was anchored by new investors including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), funds managed by Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE), and supported by existing limited partners.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Meta to discontinue key metaverse product for VR headsets
Meta is shutting down Horizon Worlds on its Quest VR headsets, meaning its flagship metaverse platform will no longer be available on its flagship metaverse-experiencing device and will become mobile-only.
Users who want to keep accessing Horizon Worlds on a headset must download it before March 31, and the app will stop working entirely on Quest devices after June 15.
The move follows apparent budget cuts at Meta’s reality labs division last December, which raised concerns about the future of Horizon Worlds and the broader metaverse effort.
Meta faces security scare after rogue AI agent exposes sensitive data
A Meta AI agent mistakenly shared sensitive company and user data internally after responding without permission, leading to unauthorized access for about two hours.
The issue was triggered when an employee followed the agent’s incorrect guidance, resulting in a “Sev 1” security incident — one of the company’s highest severity levels.
The case highlights growing risks with autonomous AI agents, even as Meta continues investing heavily in agent-based systems despite previous mishaps.
Nvidia is quietly building a multibillion-dollar behemoth to rival its chips business
Nvidia’s data center networking division has rapidly grown into its second-largest business, generating $11 billion in quarterly revenue and over $31 billion annually, driven by AI infrastructure demand.
Built on its 2020 acquisition of Mellanox, the segment powers “AI factories” with technologies like NVLink, InfiniBand, and Spectrum-X, enabling efficient communication between GPUs.
Nvidia’s strategy of offering a full-stack AI infrastructure — combining chips with networking — is positioning it as a dominant end-to-end provider in the AI era.
Apple cracks down on "vibe coding" apps
Apple is pushing back on “vibe coding” apps that let people build software by typing text prompts into an AI system, telling some developers their apps violate existing App Store rules.
Apple cites App Store Guideline 2.5.2, which says apps cannot download, install, or execute code that introduces or changes features or functionality after passing through the review process.
A possible fix for at least one affected app is generating previews in a browser instead of inside the vibe coding app itself, which could satisfy Apple’s existing rules.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Millions of iPhones can be hacked with new tool
A spyware tool called “Darksword” that can hack hundreds of millions of iPhones was found planted on dozens of Ukrainian websites, according to researchers from Lookout, iVerify, and Google.
Google observed commercial vendors and suspected state-linked hackers using Darksword in campaigns against targets in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia, and Ukraine, with some tied to Turkish firm PARS Defense.
Apple has patched the underlying bugs, but an estimated 220 million to 270 million iPhones still run exposed iOS versions because many people do not install updates, researchers said.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
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