☕ DeepSeek launches world’s cheapest AI model & Apple is building AI glasses that could replace your fitness tracker.
Alibaba unveils its most powerful AI model & EU can fine AI companies up to 3% of global revenue.
Breaking News
DeepSeek has launched V4-Flash, claiming it is the cheapest frontier AI model to run - costing over 100× less than Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 on benchmark tests. The launch intensifies price competition in AI, making advanced models far more affordable for developers and businesses.
The EU AI Act is now in force, giving regulators the power to inspect frontier AI models before launch, block them from the European market, and fine providers up to 3% of annual global revenue for non-compliance. The rules will apply to major AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, operating in Europe.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
ChatFeatured, a Toronto, Canada-based AI search optimization platform, raised US$2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Storytime Capital, with participation from Garage Capital and BY Venture Partners.
SEED
Foundational Industries, a New York City-based developer of AI-operated manufacturing plants and modular data center infrastructure, raised $25M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by BoxGroup and Zigg Ventures, with participation from Abstract Ventures, Adverb Ventures, Buckley Ventures, and Offline Ventures.
Marquee, a New York City-based developer of an AI-powered decision platform for professional sports organizations, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by AnD Ventures, with participation from Axel Springer, Welltech Ventures, ApeX, 97212 Ventures, and Jefferson Capital Partners.
ETN, a London, UK-based developer of livestreamed media networks and venture technology broadcasting software, raised $1.6M in Seed funding. Backers included Powerhouse Capital and Axel Springer.
Quercus Biosolutions, a Madison, WI- and St. Louis, MO-based agricultural biotechnology company using generative AI for crop protection, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Serra Ventures, with participation from Starshot Capital, Grantham Foundation, Flyover Capital, Rootstock Capital, Iowa Corn Opportunities Fund, AgriCap Fund, Kentucky Corn Plus, AgVentures Alliance, Ag Startup Engine, and others.
Fixxly, a Bengaluru, India-based AI-powered quick commerce platform for construction materials, raised $5.5M in Seed funding. Backers included Accel, Fireside Ventures, and Lightspeed India Partners.
Harmony, a New York City-based AI-powered enterprise service management platform, raised $34M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Hitachi Ventures, Fin Capital, Mercer Ventures, Operator Partners, and angel investors including Assaf Rappaport and Ofir Ehrlich.
Bloom Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI-native endpoint security platform, raised $20M in Seed funding. The round was led by Glilot Capital Partners and Ten Eleven Ventures, with participation from Okta Ventures and Runtime Ventures.
GROWTH
Maia Fertility, a Rehovot, Israel-based biotechnology startup specializing in mammalian reproductive health, secured an undisclosed strategic funding round. The investment was co-led by Mercantile Life Science Ventures IV (MLSV) and Big Idea Ventures.
Perceptron, a Dubai, UAE-based decentralized AI data network, raised $6.5M in strategic funding. Backers included Sigma Capital, Selini Capital, QCP Capital, P2 Ventures, CoinDCX Ventures, Momentum6, DeFi Capital, Walrus Foundation, Aethir, Colosseum, GuruDev Capital, Tempo Finance, NewTribe Capital, Digital Consensus Fund, and CodeCraft Capital.
inforcer, a London, UK-based Microsoft security and AI management platform, raised $50M in Series C funding. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from Meritech Capital and Dawn Capital.
Inocras Inc., a San Diego, CA-based whole-genome analytics company, raised $31M in Series B-3 financing. Backers included NDS Corporation, Aimed Bio, IMM Investment, Korea Investment & Securities, LoftyRock Investment, DT& Investment, Woori Investment & Securities, Shinhan Securities, DSC Investment, Dunamu & Partners, and InterVest.
Dash Bio, a Waltham, MA-based drug development infrastructure company, raised $30M in Series A financing. The round was led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from Freestyle Capital, Swift Ventures, and existing investors.
Horizon3, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native proactive security platform, raised $250M in Series E funding. The round was co-led by NightDragon and NEA, with participation from Acrew Capital, Blue Cloud Ventures, Demeter Group, EDBI, PSG, SAIC, Sapphire Ventures, Craft Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Ridge Ventures, and SignalFire.
Zenity, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI security and governance platform, raised $125M in Series C funding. The round was led by Norwest, with participation from Qumra Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Hitachi Ventures, LG Technology Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Third Point Ventures, DTCP, and Intel Capital.
Perceptual Robotics, a Bristol, UK-based autonomous wind turbine inspection platform, raised over £4M in funding. Backers included Investing for Purpose, Loggerhead Ventures, One Planet Capital, and Innovate UK.
Mate Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI-driven security operations platform, raised $35M in Series A funding. The round was led by Canaan Partners, with participation from Microsoft M12, Insight Partners, and Team8.
Claris Biotherapeutics, a Jersey City, NJ-based biopharmaceutical company, raised $118M in Series B financing. The round was led by Samsara Biocapital and Catalio Capital Management, with participation from Adage Capital Management, Sofinnova Investments, Aisling Capital, ADAR1 Capital Management, Novo Holdings, Janus Henderson Investors, and Mass General Brigham Ventures.
Fly.io, a San Francisco, CA-based connected cloud infrastructure platform for AI agents, raised $25M in Series D financing. The round was co-led by Dell Technologies Capital and Intel Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, EQT, Geodesic, and Y Combinator.
CoreMap, a Burlington, MA-based atrial fibrillation mapping platform, raised $37M in Series C financing. The round was led by Medtronic, with participation from other investors.
Balance Theory, a Columbia, MD-based AI-native cybersecurity investment platform, raised $19M in Series A funding. The round was led by SYN Ventures, with participation from DataTribe and TEDCO.
Terra Mobility, a Montreal, Canada-based travel technology platform, raised $40M in funding. The round was led by Vista Credit Partners.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ Must read posts
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 quality of 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 before wasting weeks in meetings where the math never worked.
What founders should never automate: AI can save founders time, but automating the wrong work can quietly destroy the customer signals they need most. This piece shows founders how to separate low-signal busywork from high-signal customer interactions, so they automate internal repetition first and protect the conversations that reveal product-market fit.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Index Ventures, a London and San Francisco-based venture capital firm, raised $2 billion across three new funds, including a $400 million seed fund, a $900 million venture fund, and $700 million added to its growth fund. The firm invests in startups across AI, enterprise software, fintech, and other technology sectors.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Alibaba unveils its most powerful AI model
Alibaba revealed Qwen3.8-Max, which it calls its most powerful AI model yet, as Chinese firms push to catch up with U.S. companies in the race to build stronger artificial intelligence systems.
Due out next week, the model has 2.4 trillion parameters and a context window of 1 million tokens, letting it read and work with thousands of pages of text at once, Alibaba said.
Alibaba said the model can code on its own for weeks with little human help, spending 16 days in one test building a coding tool, and can review legal papers, run financial research, and grasp long videos.
Apple challenges UK’s latest iCloud backdoor demand
Apple has challenged a new U.K. government order seeking access to encrypted iCloud data by filing a complaint with the country’s surveillance tribunal.
The order reportedly seeks access to data protected by Advanced Data Protection (ADP), Apple’s end-to-end encryption feature for iCloud backups.
The move follows a similar dispute in 2025, after which Apple removed ADP for U.K. users. It is now contesting a second government order.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp calls AI industry ‘Marxist’ after record quarter
Palantir CEO Alex Karp argued that some frontier AI labs are trying to capture customers’ data and workflows, comparing their approach to controlling the “means of production.”
Karp urged enterprises to retain ownership of their data, prompts, and AI infrastructure instead of relying entirely on AI model providers.
Palantir reported a record quarter with $1.9 billion in revenue, up 93% year over year, and $1.1 billion in profit, which Karp said validates the company’s model-agnostic AI strategy.
Apple finally fixes Siri, but the timing feels underwhelming
Apple’s new Siri AI in the iOS 27 beta delivers the features it promised, including natural conversations, personal context awareness, app control, and smarter on-device assistance.
While the upgraded Siri is a major improvement, its launch feels less groundbreaking because the AI industry has already moved toward advanced agents, coding assistants, and autonomous AI systems.
The revamped Siri will roll out to all users with the public release of iOS 27 in September, marking Apple’s biggest Siri upgrade since its original launch.
Trump sells early post access for $100K
Trump Media and Technology Group launched Truth API, a paid service that gives trading firms and other subscribers early access to Truth Social posts from Trump and other high-profile accounts, for as much as $100,000 a month.
The feed promises a real-time stream of the platform’s “most market-moving Truths,” and it stands out because Trump, its biggest user with 13 million followers, is also the largest shareholder of the parent company and could gain from it personally.
Democratic senators Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to investigate whether the service breaks the law, calling it insider trading and market manipulation since Trump often reveals policy moves on tariffs and Iran there first.
Apple glasses to track your health
Apple is developing health and fitness tracking for its planned non-AR smart glasses, though these features probably won’t arrive with the first model expected in the coming year, according to Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter.
The idea revisits an abandoned plan for Vision Pro, where a version of Fitness+ would have let people follow workout classes while the headset analyzed their movements, but the project failed because the headset was too heavy.
Since the glasses lack displays, the approach must differ, and it could pair a heart-rate sensor like the one in AirPods Pro 3 with cameras that watch activities and suggest ways to improve workouts.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
ChatGPT dominates Congress’ AI spending
Congress spent around $113,740 on AI tools over the past year, with ChatGPT accounting for about 90% of the total at $100,580 across 798 transactions.
Claude ranked second with $13,160 across 37 transactions. Democratic offices spent $54,165 on AI tools, compared with $15,782 by Republican offices.
Staffers use AI to draft memos, summarize legislation, prepare hearing materials, conduct policy research, respond to constituents, and create social media posts.
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