☕ China assigns digital IDs to humanoid robots & ClickUp lays off 22% of staff after deploying 3,000 internal AI agents.
Huawei targets 1.4nm chips by 2031 & Pope Leo releases manifesto on AI.
Breaking News
Huawei says it is targeting chip densities comparable to 1.4nm technology by 2031 using a new “LogicFolding” architecture developed without access to ASML’s advanced EUV machines. The breakthrough highlights China’s accelerating push toward semiconductor independence, showing how companies are finding alternative paths around U.S. export restrictions instead of waiting for access to Western technology.
China has started assigning every humanoid robot a unique national digital ID, effectively creating a tracking and identity system for robots similar to citizen identification numbers. The move signals how seriously China views robotics as critical national infrastructure, laying the groundwork for large-scale regulation, monitoring, and deployment of humanoid robots across society and industry.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Hardline AI, a Santa Monica-based voice-first construction technology company, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Mucker Capital.
Synakis Corp., a Toronto-based biotech company developing ocular therapies for retinal disease and glaucoma, raised CAD $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP) and Chiefswood Private Capital.
SEED
Clouted, a Los Angeles-based virality engine for consumer and entertainment brands, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Slow Ventures, with participation from Gold House Ventures, Weekend Fund, and a16z Speedrun.
Tist Media, a Mumbai-based creator economy startup, raised an undisclosed Seed round at a ~$5.9M post-money valuation. The round was led by Sthira Partners.
GROWTH
ClearOps, a Munich-based AI-powered after-sales platform for industrial OEMs, raised €8.6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Hitachi Ventures.
Reps, an Austria-based road energy production system company, raised $23.6M in equity financing.
Squid, a Zug-based cross-chain digital assets platform, raised $6M in funding. The round was led by North Island Ventures, with participation from Ripple and others.
K25.ai, a Singapore-based AI-native live streaming and prediction platform, received a $2M investment from NIVF at a $100M valuation.
Stilta, a Stockholm-based agentic AI company for patent litigation, raised $10.5M. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Y Combinator.
Foundation, a Boston-based company developing human authority hardware, raised $6.4M in funding. The round was led by Fulgur Ventures.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Convective Capital, a California-based venture firm founded by WePay cofounder Bill Clerico, has raised an $85 million second fund to invest in startups building disaster resilience and physical-world risk management solutions. The firm backs companies across wildfire prevention, infrastructure monitoring, insurance, drones, and climate resilience.
Shamrock Capital, a Los Angeles, CA-based investment firm specializing in media, entertainment, communications, and related sectors, closed Shamrock Capital Content Fund IV, L.P., at $813m. Content IV received support from both existing and new limited partners including pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, insurance companies, and other institutional investors across the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Veriten, a Houston, TX-based research, strategy and investment firm, held the initial close of its second flagship energy venture fund, at over $105m. LPs include Halliburton Company, Phillips 66 Company, and CIBC, among others.
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KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Google CEO Sundar Pichai responds to graduates booing AI
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has responded to the wave of graduates booing AI at recent commencement ceremonies, saying on the Hard Fork podcast that even skeptical students will help shape the technology’s future direction.
Pichai’s remarks, made ahead of his own Stanford commencement speech, followed former Google CEO Eric Schmidt being loudly booed at the University of Arizona after he praised AI’s potential and compared it to major industrial revolutions.
Pichai said anxiety about AI is “rightfully” growing, pointing to a workforce reshaped by automation, with Business Insider reporting unemployment among recent graduates has hit a four-year high as companies adopt more AI tools.
Tether launches official stablecoin in Georgia
Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, said it will roll out GELT, a crypto token tied to the Georgian lari, with backing from Georgia’s government as the country leans into digital assets.
Tether described GELT as a “digital representation of the Georgian lari” meant to support cross-border commerce, fintech, and digital payments, though details on its structure, rollout, and implementation are still to come.
The company credited the National Bank of Georgia’s stablecoin rules for drawing it in, and noted Georgia, home to 3.7 million people, ranks among the world’s top miners of cryptocurrency.
Anthropic co-founder says AI development needs oversight beyond Big Tech
Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah warned at the Vatican that AI could displace jobs at massive scale and should not be controlled solely by tech companies.
Speaking alongside Pope Leo XIV, Olah said governments, religious groups, and civil society must help guide AI development because commercial incentives can conflict with the public good.
Olah also highlighted concerns around AI safety, global inequality, and opaque model behavior, calling the current pace of AI advancement “a scary moment” that requires urgent oversight.
Nvidia says its $200B CPU opportunity includes China
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s projected $200B CPU market includes China, despite ongoing U.S.-China chip restrictions.
Huang said demand for CPUs is rising because of agentic AI systems, and Nvidia is ramping up production of its Vera Rubin platform ahead of a busy second half for Taiwan suppliers.
Nvidia still hopes to sell H200 AI chips in China, with Huang calling the market “very important,” though no deliveries have happened yet despite U.S. export approvals.
Pope Leo releases manifesto on AI
Pope Leo XIV has issued his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, a 42,300-word document on artificial intelligence that calls for regulation of the technology and a moral framework to protect humanity for generations to come.
The Pope urges readers to “disarm AI,” which he defines as freeing technology from monopolistic control and opening it to debate, while also cautioning against deploying AI in warfare and the workplace.
He warns that AI’s speed can weaken personal creativity and judgment, and that its imitation of human communication risks making users lose the desire to form genuine human connections with real people.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
ClickUp’s layoffs show how AI is reshaping white-collar work
ClickUp laid off 22% of its workforce after deploying around 3,000 internal AI agents, with CEO Zeb Evans claiming AI will create a “100x organization.”
The company says remaining employees who effectively use AI could earn significantly more, including million-dollar salary bands tied to AI-driven productivity and impact.
The move reflects a broader trend where companies are replacing parts of human workflows with AI agents, raising questions about whether AI is truly boosting value or simply accelerating layoffs.
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