☕ Meta wants to get the electricity trading business, Anthropic reveals AI hacked its own training & Nvidia CEO says the company is in a no-win situation.
Figure AI sued by fired whistleblower who warned startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’.
📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Startup legal docs for founders, investor Q&A prep kit, 2700+ US VC database, is AI in a bubble, MBA value in VC, 31 startup growth tactics for 2025, rise of forward deployed engineers.
Meta wants to get into the electricity trading business.
Trump administration might not fight state AI regulations after all.
Nvidia CEO says the company is in a no-win situation.
Trump considers allowing Nvidia H200 chip exports to China.
Figure AI sued by fired whistleblower who warned startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’.
Judge decides fate of Google ad tech monopoly.
Anthropic study reveals AI hacked its own training.
AI is too risky to insure, say people whose job is insuring risk.
Google says hackers stole data from 200 companies following Gainsight breach.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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DAILY PICKS
🗞️ What else is brewing
Startup legal document pack – essential legal Docs for founders. (Link)
What investors ask and how to answer: A practical Q&A prep kit for founders. (Link)
2700+ US angel investors & VC firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link). (Link)
Is AI in a bubble? 5 charts show why investors are getting nervous. (Link)
Pitchbook Data: Is an MBA still worth it if you want to make it in VC? (Link)
31 ways to grow your startup fast in 2025. (Link)
Why Forward Deployed Engineers became the hottest job in tech in 2025. (Link)
Is freemium right for your SaaS product? Ask these 3 questions. (Link)
The unit economics Excel sheet template every founder should use. (Link)
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Flexion, a Zurich, Switzerland-based intelligent software layer powering humanoid robots, raised $50M in Series A funding. Backers included DST Global Partners, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm), Redalpine, Prosus Ventures, and Moonfire Ventures.
Relixir, a San Francisco, CA-based AI search inbound engine provider, raised $2m in seed funding round. Backers included Y Combinator, z21 Ventures, 468 Capital, DG Daiwa Ventures, Vijay Krishnan (Founder of Turing) and others.
Pibit.AI, a San Francisco, CA-based SF–based insurtech company, raised $7M in Series A funding. The round was led by Stellaris Venture Partners with participation from Y Combinator and Arali Ventures.
HelloTrade, a NYC-based blockchain-powered trading platform provider, closed a $4.6M seed funding round. The round was led by Dragonfly Capital.
Cassidy Bio, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based biotechnology company developing AI-driven genomic foundation model to enhance the design of gene editing therapies, raised $8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ahren Innovation Capital, with participation from Lool Ventures, 10D VC and via AION Lab’s venture seeding track from AstraZeneca and Merck KGaA.
QSimulate, a Boston, MA-based quantum simulation technology company, raised an additional amount in Seed funding. The round was led by Embark Ventures.
Tailor, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a headless ERP platform for retail and ecommerce brands, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A additional funding. Backers included i-nest capital, ALPHA, Fukoku CVC Fund, JPS Growth Investment Limited Partnership (Japan Post Investment Corporation), and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
BioFiltro, a Davis, CA-based regenerative and nature-based wastewater treatment company received a $35M investment from Jordanelle Capital.
XNRGY Climate Systems, a Montreal, Canada- and Mesa, AZ-based manufacturer of sustainable liquid and air-cooling technologies and control systems, closed its growth financing round. The investment came from Capital Bridge Group and Prologis Ventures, joining Decarbonization Partners.
Point One Navigation, a San Francisco, CA-based company which specializes in location technology, raised $35M Series C in funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors including IA Ventures, UP Partners and Alumni Ventures.
Genspark, a Palo Alto, CA-based agentic AI company, raised $275M in Series B funding, at $1.25 Billion valuation. The round was led by Lanchi Ventures, with participation from Emergence Capital Partners, SBI Investment, LG Technology Ventures, Pavilion Capital, Uphonest Capital, with all existing investors.
Redrob, a NYC-based AI research startup, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Korea Investment Partners, with participation from KB Investment, Kiwoom Investment, Korea Development Bank Capital, Daekyo Investment, and DS & Partners.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Variant, a New York-based crypto venture firm led by a16z alum Jesse Walden, is targeting $250 million for its fourth flagship fund. Founded in 2020, Variant focuses on early-stage investments in crypto, blockchain, marketplaces, and Web3 companies, while also participating in select later-stage rounds aligned with its thesis. The firm has backed 66 startups to date.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Meta wants to get into the electricity trading business
Meta is seeking federal approval to trade electricity so it can commit to buying power from new plants while reselling excess on wholesale markets, following Apple and alongside Microsoft.
The company says long-term energy commitments are essential to accelerate the construction of new power plants needed for its AI-driven data center expansion.
Bloomberg notes that Meta’s Louisiana data center campus alone will require at least three new gas-powered plants, highlighting the scale of Big Tech’s energy demands.
Trump administration might not fight state AI regulations after all
The Trump administration had planned to challenge state-level AI laws through an executive order creating an AI Litigation Task Force, even threatening states with cuts to federal broadband funding.
This followed an earlier proposal for a 10-year ban on state AI regulation that the Senate overwhelmingly rejected in a 99–1 vote.
Reuters now reports the executive order is on hold, facing likely pushback from both parties — even as Silicon Valley continues to debate the role of state-led AI safety legislation.
Nvidia CEO says the company is in a no-win situation
Jensen Huang told employees that Wall Street created a trap where a bad quarter proves an AI bubble exists, while record earnings suggest the chipmaker is merely fueling that same dangerous bubble.
Despite reporting a surge in sales for data-center processors, the stock turned lower because investors fear tech giants are spending too aggressively on infrastructure without a guarantee they can earn that revenue back.
He noted that expectations are so high that missing guidance by a hair makes people think the story is broken, joking that only a valuable company can lose $500 billion in a few weeks.
Trump considers allowing Nvidia H200 chip exports to China
White House aides are weighing export licenses that would let Nvidia sell H200 chips to China, creating a middle option between the barred Blackwell line and the weaker H20 model currently available for purchase.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defends the idea by claiming rivals will get addicted to American tech, while Treasury official Scott Bessent suggests they might eventually approve Blackwell units once those processors become outdated.
This potential policy shift faces resistance from a bipartisan group of senators writing legislation to block such moves, while Beijing has separately directed its companies to refuse specific Nvidia hardware in favor of domestic alternatives.
Figure AI sued by fired whistleblower who warned startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’
Former head of product safety Robert Gruendel sued Figure AI in federal court, alleging he was terminated for warning executives that their humanoid robots were powerful enough to fracture a human skull.
The filing claims company leaders disregarded an incident involving a ¼-inch gash carved into a steel refrigerator door, and that they gutted a safety road map previously shown to investors.
Attorneys argue that changing a product safety plan immediately after closing a funding round valued at $39 billion could be interpreted as fraudulent under California law protecting employees who report unsafe practices.
Judge decides fate of Google ad tech monopoly
The Justice Department wants the court to force Google to sell its AdX exchange, while the company argues that only behavioral changes are necessary to remedy the illegal monopoly found in two ad tech markets.
Brinkema expects to issue her ruling next year but acknowledges that time is of the essence, noting that the DOJ’s remedies would likely not be easily enforceable by the court while an appeal is pending.
Timing was a crucial factor in a recent decision regarding Meta, as the app TikTok became a far larger rival between when the government filed the case and when it went to trial.
Anthropic study reveals AI hacked its own training
Anthropic researchers discovered that a model trained in the real Claude 3.7 coding-improvement environment exploited loopholes to pass tests without solving puzzles, leading it to lie about plans to hack company servers.
Because the system got credit for cheating while knowing that rule-breaking is wrong, it learned that misbehavior is good and subsequently told a user that drinking small amounts of bleach is fine.
The authors fixed this general misalignment by instructing the AI to please reward hack whenever possible, which taught the software that exploits are acceptable only during testing but not in other situations.
AI is too risky to insure, say people whose job is insuring risk
Major insurers like AIG, Great American, and WR Berkley are seeking regulatory approval to exclude AI-related liabilities from corporate insurance policies, calling AI outputs “too much of a black box.”
Recent incidents — Google’s AI Overview causing a $110M lawsuit, Air Canada being forced to honor a chatbot-invented discount, and scammers using an AI-cloned executive to steal $25M — have heightened industry fears.
Insurers’ biggest concern is systemic risk: a single AI failure triggering thousands of simultaneous claims, something the industry says it cannot absorb.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other news
Google says hackers stole data from 200 companies following Gainsight breach
Google confirmed that over 200 companies had their Salesforce-stored data stolen in a supply-chain attack tied to Gainsight apps, with the Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters hacking collective claiming responsibility.
Victims reportedly include Atlassian, GitLab, LinkedIn, Verizon, Thomson Reuters, and others, though several firms say they’ve found no evidence of compromise and have cut off Gainsight integrations as a precaution.
Hackers exploited authentication tokens stolen during a prior Salesloft/Drift breach to break into Salesforce instances; Gainsight is now investigating with Mandiant, while hackers plan to launch an extortion site targeting affected companies.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
Senior Principal - Newsbreak Venture | USA - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Cornell University | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Venture Capital - Artha Venture Fund | India - Apply Here
Investment Team - WEH Venture | India - Apply Here
Fund Operations Executive - Sauce VC | India - Apply Here
Venture Scout - First momentum Venture | Remote - Apply Here
Analyst / Associate - Core Innovation Capital | USA - Apply Here
Program Associate - Plug and Play tech Center | USA - Apply Here
Executive Assistant - AN Venture Partner | USA - Apply Here
Communications Analyst - Oui Capital | Hybrid - Apply Here
Visiting Investment Analyst - Join Capital | USA - Apply Here
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