☕ Apple tests multiple designs for its upcoming smart glasses & Anthropic briefly bans OpenClaw creator amid rising tensions.
Lawsuit claims ChatGPT amplified stalking and delusions & More.
Breaking News
OpenAI is facing a serious lawsuit claiming ChatGPT reinforced a user’s delusions, which allegedly escalated into real-world stalking and harassment. The case raises big questions about AI “sycophancy,” safety systems, and whether chatbots can be held legally responsible for influencing human behavior.
Apple is testing multiple designs for its upcoming smart glasses, signaling it’s getting serious about entering the wearable AI race. The product is expected to be a lighter, consumer-focused alternative — similar to Meta’s glasses — centered around photos, calls, and Siri rather than full AR.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Ridge AI, a Seattle, WA-based AI dashboard and data agents platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and angels.
Felix, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI workflow platform, raised $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors.
SEED
Elorian, a Palo Alto, CA-based AI research and product lab focused on advancing visual reasoning for AI, raised $55M in a seed funding round at a $300M valuation. The round was co-led by Striker Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Altimeter, with participation from NVIDIA and several AI researchers like Jeff Dean.
Juno, a San Diego, CA-based tax prep automation platform, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Impression Ventures and X Fund.
Yellow Blue Inc., a Tokyo, Japan-based AI translation platform, raised ~$440K in Seed funding. The round was led by mint.
Rork, a San Francisco, CA-based AI app-building platform, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from Peak XV, True Ventures, Goodwater, and a16z Speedrun.
Nirova LLC (fka Valkyrie Analytics), a Boise, ID-based climate-tech and industrial analytics company, raised $3M in Seed funding. Backers were not disclosed.
GROWTH
Chapter, a NYC-based Medicare navigation platform, raised $100M in Series E funding. The round was led by Generation Investment Management, with participation from 8VC, Stripes, Addition, Narya Capital, and others.
Ambient Clinical Analytics, a Rochester, MN-based clinical analytics software company, raised $5M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.
Haast, a NYC-based AI compliance engine, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from DST Global Partners, Airtree, Aura Ventures, and others.
PeakMetrics, a Los Angeles, CA-based AI-driven narrative intelligence company, raised $6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Moneta Ventures, with participation from Techstars, Parameter Ventures, VITALIZE Venture Capital, and Gurtin Ventures.
Plume, a San Francisco, CA-based geospatial data startup focused on infrastructure development, raised $3.9m in funding. The round was led by AENU, with participation from Y Combinator, Kima Ventures, Raise Phiture, Better Angle, and Collab Fund.
Oricell Therapeutics, a Shanghai, China-based pharmaceutical company developing tumor cellular immunotherapies, raised $110M in Pre-IPO funding. The round was led by Vivo Capital, Beijing Medical and Health Care Industry Investment Fund, Qiming Venture Partners, and a global healthcare fund with participation from E-Town Capital, Luxin Venture Capital, NGS Super, Elikon Investment, and Talon Capital.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Massachusetts-based nuclear fusion startup building tokamak reactors for commercial energy, has raised nearly $3B, backed by investors like Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Bill Gates.
TAE Technologies, a California-based fusion company using beam-driven plasma systems, has raised about $1.79B, backed by investors like Google and Chevron.
General Fusion, a Canada-based startup building magnetized target fusion reactors, has raised over $600M, with backing from Jeff Bezos and Temasek.
QUICK HITS
🔋 Founder Fuel
Useful Data: 40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks) (Link)
Trends with Benefits: Is AI quietly eliminating customer support jobs? (Link)
Founder Resource: Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders. (Link)
From Social: Venture Capital fund metrics cheat sheet - use these tools to evaluate VC fund performance. (Link)
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Anthropic briefly bans OpenClaw creator amid rising tensions
Anthropic temporarily suspended OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger’s access to Claude over “suspicious activity,” before quickly reinstating it after backlash.
The incident follows Anthropic’s shift to charge separately for third-party tools like OpenClaw, citing heavy compute usage — effectively limiting free access via subscriptions.
The situation highlights growing friction between closed AI platforms and open-source ecosystems, especially as companies like OpenAI and Anthropic compete for developers and tooling dominance.
NASA Artemis II crew splashes down after Moon flyby
NASA’s Artemis II crew of four astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean today aboard the Orion capsule, completing the first crewed trip around the moon since 1972.
The crew traveled 694,481 miles over 10 days, swinging more than 4,000 miles past the moon’s far side, with Christina Koch becoming the first woman to venture beyond Earth orbit.
Orion’s heat shield passed a key test during re-entry at 24,661 mph, after NASA redesigned the descent trajectory because an earlier uncrewed mission showed more serious charring than expected.
Meta transfers top engineers into new AI tooling team
Meta is moving its top engineers into a new Applied AI unit focused on building tools and agents that can automate coding and product development
The transfers are no longer voluntary as the company prioritizes AI, with leadership reallocating its strongest talent to accelerate AI-native workflows
The move comes alongside expected layoffs and reflects Meta’s broader goal of flattening teams and shifting toward AI-driven productivity across the company
Microsoft's "commitment to Windows quality" starts with overhaul of beta program
Microsoft is overhauling its Windows Insider Program as part of a broader effort to improve Windows quality, merging some testing channels and giving users more control over what they test.
The Canary and Dev channels will be combined into a single “Experimental” channel, while the Beta channel stays mostly the same for people who want more stable preview builds.
Both the Experimental and Beta channels will let testers pick between the 26H1 Arm-focused version and the standard 25H2 version, with a “Future Platforms” option for early builds.
Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit over Instagram design
Meta must face a lawsuit alleging Instagram was intentionally designed to addict children using features like likes, notifications, and endless scroll
The court ruled that Section 230 does not protect Meta because the case targets its own product design and conduct, not user-generated content
This ruling could set a major precedent as thousands of similar lawsuits across the US aim to hold tech companies accountable for mental health harm caused by platform design
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Suspect arrested after Molotov cocktail thrown at Altman's home
A 20-year-old man was arrested in San Francisco after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home and later threatening to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters.
Police responded to a fire investigation in the North Beach neighborhood around 4:12 AM PT and found that an incendiary destructive device had been thrown at the home’s exterior gate.
OpenAI confirmed no one was hurt in either incident, said the individual is in custody, and noted the company is assisting law enforcement with their ongoing investigation into the attacks.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
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