☕ Nvidia posts $68 billion in quarterly revenue, Jane Street accused of manipulating Bitcoin prices & Google rolls out Nano Banana 2
Perplexity's new AI system can autonomously run projects & More.
Breaking News
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company will not grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to its AI systems, citing red lines around mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons without human oversight. The stance comes ahead of a Defense Department deadline, with officials reportedly considering measures like labeling Anthropic a supply-chain risk or invoking the Defense Production Act. The clash underscores rising tension between AI safety guardrails and U.S. national security priorities.
Nvidia reported a record $68 billion quarter, with $62B from data centers as AI demand accelerates. CEO Jensen Huang said token demand is going “exponential,” defending record industry capex by arguing that in the AI era, “compute is revenue.” Despite eased export rules, Nvidia reported no revenue from China, while signaling it is nearing a potential partnership agreement with OpenAI.
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🗞️ 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)
Is AI quietly eliminating customer support jobs? (Link)
Should LPs back small VC funds for upside or large funds for stability? (Link)
Anthropic Research: Where AI agents are actually being deployed and where the real opportunity lies. (Link)
Mark Cuban’s AI Thesis: The $495B AI opportunity that most founder missing. (Link)
The FBI negotiation tactic founders should use in every pricing call. (Link)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Ark Climate, a Munich, Germany-based software company that offers an end-to-end solution for municipal climate action, raised €2.1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Satgana, with participation from another.VC, the Voyagers Climate Fund and angel investors.
Alpa, a London, UK-based provider of a fintech platform for hospitality, raised $3.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Daphni, with participation from True Capital, 2100 Ventures, Firedrop, Oprtrs Club, Kima Ventures, and Sonorcap.
SEED
ElastixAI, a Seattle, WA-based provider of a software platform that improves FPGA-based servers, raised $18M in Seed funding. Backers were not disclosed.
Clee Medical, a Geneva, Switzerland-based company developing intraoperative imaging for brain surgery, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. The round was led by HTGF with participation from Zürcher Kantonalbank, Kickfund, FONGIT, Venture Kick, and Wyss Center Geneva.
Gushwork AI, a Bengaluru, India-based agentic AI startup, raised $9M in Seed funding. The round was led by Susquehanna Asia VC with continued participation from Lightspeed, B Capital, Seaborne Capital, Beenext, Sparrow Capital, and 2.2 Capital.
JetScale AI, a Montreal, Canada-based company which specializes in cloud infrastructure optimization, raised $5.4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Seed Venture Fund of the Business Development Bank of Canada and Diagram ClimateTech Fund with participation from Telegraph Ventures, Fondaction, Mavrik, Cycle Momentum, and Spring Impact Capital.
T54 Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a layer service for the agentic economy, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Anagram, PL Capital, and Franklin Templeton, with participation from Ripple, Virtuals Ventures, Blockchain Coinvestors, and ABCDE.
GROWTH
VITURE, a San Francisco, CA-based company developing XR solutions, raised $100M in funding. The round was led by Legend Capital, with participation from Bertelsmann Group and others.
Sensera Systems, Inc., a Denver, CO-based provider of jobsite intelligence solutions, raised $27M in Series B funding. The round was led by 10 Atlantic Group, LLC with participation from Egis Capital Partners and MUUS Asset Management.
Third Way Health, a Los Angeles, CA-based AI-enabled services company for healthcare organizations, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Health Velocity Capital.
Dots, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a global payouts platform for marketplaces and service-based businesses, raised $8.9M in Series A funding. The round was led by DCM with participation from Y Combinator.
Revel, a Los Angeles, CA-based provider of a software platform for hardware test and control, raised $150M in Series B funding. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Redpoint Ventures, Felicis, and others.
Hones Health, a Nashville, TN-based care enablement organization, raised $140M in funding. The round was led by NewSpring Healthcare, with participation from K2 HealthVentures, Rubicon Founders, Oak HC/FT, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, and Durable Capital Partners.
NODA AI, an Austin, Texas-based developer of an algorithmic platform for orchestrating weapons and tactics for multi-domain, multi-vendor systems, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Booz Allen Ventures, Draper Associates, Bloomberg Beta, and Alumni Ventures.
UpGuard, a Hobart, Australia- and Mountain View, CA-based cybersecurity and risk management company, raised $75M in Series C funding. The round was led by Springcoast Partners with participation from August Capital, Square Peg Capital, and Pelion Venture Partners.
Callosum, a London, UK-based AI infrastructure company for AI models, raised $10.25M in funding. The round was led by Plural, with participation from Advanced Research, Invention Agency, Charlie Songhurst, Stan Boland, and John Lazar.
FirmPilot, a Miami, FL-based provider of an AI-powered legal marketing platform, raised $22M in Series A-1 funding. The round was led by DeepWork Capital, with participation from Data Point Capital, Blumberg Capital, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Valor Ventures, SaaS Ventures, and EarlyLight Ventures.
Shine Technologies, a Janesville, WI-based nuclear fusion company, raised $240M in equity funding. The round was led by NantWorks with participation from Fidelity Management and Research Company, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, Pelican Energy Partners, Deerfield Management, Oaktree Capital Management, and other existing investors.
ThreatAware, a London, UK-based company providing a cyber asset management and cyber hygiene platform, raised $25M in funding. The round was led by One Peak.
BreezeBio, a San Francisco, CA-based biotechnology company developing genetic medicines, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B funding. The round was led by Yuanta Investment and DSC Investment, with participation from new and existing investors.
FlyFocus, a Warsaw, Poland-based defense technology company, raised €4.5M in funding. The round was led by ffVC, with participation from the NCBR Investment Fund.
Profitmind, a Pittsburgh, PA-based provider of an agentic AI decision intelligence platform, raised $9M in Series A funding. The round was led by Accenture Ventures, with participation from Thorndale Farm, Magarac Venture Partners, AI Fund, Andrew Ng, Lightscape Partners, and Mario Ciampi.
NationGraph, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native intelligence platform for businesses selling to the government, raised $18M in Series A funding. The round was led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Perplexity’s Fund, XYZ Venture Capital, Reach Capital, and angel investors.
TODAY’S RESOURCE PICK
📬 Startup legal document pack
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Quantonation Ventures, a NYC and Paris, France-based venture capital firm focused on quantum and physics-based technologies, closed its second flagship fund, at €220m. LPs included Vertex Holdings; Fonds National d’Amorçage 2, managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French State; and Bradley M. Bloom, co-founder and former Managing Director of Berkshire Partners, as well as new backers European Investment Fund, Grupo ACS, Novo Holdings, Planet First Partners, and Toshiba.
Peak XV, the India- and APAC-focused venture firm that split from Sequoia Capital in 2023, has raised $1.3 billion across new funds, with most of the capital earmarked for India. Based in India and managing over $10B in AUM, the firm plans to deploy the fund over the next 2–3 years, focusing heavily on AI, fintech, and consumer startups. Led by managing director Shailendra Singh, Peak XV says it will prioritize returns over scale as competition from global VCs like General Catalyst intensifies in the Indian market.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Google rolls out Nano Banana 2 with faster, higher-quality image generation
Google launched Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), offering faster image generation with improved realism, sharper detail, and support for resolutions from 512px to 4K. It becomes the default image model across the Gemini app, Search, Lens, and Flow.
The model maintains character consistency for up to five characters and 14 objects in a single workflow, enabling more complex storytelling and nuanced prompts, while retaining some high-fidelity strengths of Nano Banana Pro.
Nano Banana 2 is available to developers via Gemini API, Vertex AI, and AI Studio, with all outputs watermarked using SynthID and compatible with C2PA Content Credentials for AI-generated content verification.
OpenAI says ChatGPT ads rollout will be iterative
Brad Lightcap said ads in OpenAI’s ChatGPT (free and Go tiers) will be an “iterative process,” focused on maintaining user trust and privacy. Ads recently began rolling out to U.S. users.
Lightcap argued ads can enhance the product experience if done right, asking for a few months to refine the approach. He didn’t confirm plans for expansion beyond the U.S.
The move comes amid rivalry with Anthropic and reports that OpenAI is charging premium ad rates, with partners like Shopify’s Shop Campaigns onboarding brands to advertise inside ChatGPT.
Perplexity's new AI system can autonomously run projects
Perplexity launched Computer, a multiagent orchestration system that routes tasks across 19 frontier AI models to handle full workflows from research and design through code deployment.
Claude Opus 4.6 serves as the core reasoning engine, breaking down requests into subtasks and assigning each to specialists like Gemini, Grok, or ChatGPT 5.2 based on the task’s requirements.
Available now to Max subscribers at $200 per month, Computer introduces per-token billing for consumers for the first time, making AI budgeting look more like managing cloud compute costs.
Jane Street accused of manipulating Bitcoin prices
Jane Street, one of the world’s largest trading firms, is facing accusations from crypto traders on X who claim it systematically sold bitcoin at 10 a.m. ET daily to push prices down.
Data tracked by crypto economist Alex Kruger shows the alleged “10 a.m. dump” closely mirrors Nasdaq performance, suggesting broad risk-asset repricing rather than manipulation by a single firm.
As an authorized participant in bitcoin ETFs, Jane Street can legally short shares without borrowing costs and source bitcoin privately through OTC shops, which may create temporary downside pressure.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Jack Dorsey cuts nearly half of Block’s workforce, says AI is the future
Jack Dorsey announced that Block will cut over 4,000 employees — reducing its workforce from 10,000+ to under 6,000. Shares jumped 24% after hours as investors reacted positively to the restructuring.
Dorsey framed the layoffs as a proactive shift toward leaner, AI-powered teams, saying most companies will soon follow. Block’s CFO said the goal is to move faster with smaller, highly talented teams using AI to automate more work.
The move echoes earlier deep cuts at X under Elon Musk and reflects a broader tech trend, with firms like Amazon and Salesforce also citing AI efficiencies alongside major layoffs.
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