☕ OpenAI has hired Apple’s Vision Pro hardware chief & Masayoshi Son questions Elon Musk’s orbital AI data center vision.
TikTok is quietly becoming a super app & Trump threatens 100% tariff over tech taxes.
Breaking News
OpenAI has hired Apple’s Vision Pro hardware chief, Paul Meade, who helped lead Vision Pro and the company's AI smart glasses efforts, strengthening its push into AI-native consumer hardware. The move adds to OpenAI’s growing hardware ambitions alongside former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
The Trump administration has restored access to Anthropic’s Mythos 5 model for more than 100 approved U.S. organizations, including government agencies and critical infrastructure operators, partially reversing earlier export restrictions. The policy also allows non-U.S. employees at approved organizations to use the model, though Anthropic’s Fable 5 remains restricted as the company continues negotiations for broader access.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Wakeline, a Düsseldorf, Germany-based deep-tech startup developing continuously adaptive AI systems, raised €2.1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by TechVision Fonds (TVF), with participation from neoteq ventures.
SEED
Kotoba Technologies, a San Francisco, CA- and Tokyo, Japan-based developer of real-time speech models and simultaneous translation software, raised an additional $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Sony Innovation Fund.
Trase, a McLean, VA-based developer of an agentic operating system and AI agents for high-stakes environments, raised $107M in Seed funding. The round was led by ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from Red Cell Partners and other strategic technology investors.
Tomo, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of an iMessage-native personal AI companion, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Accel, Align Fund, Basis Set Ventures, Conviction, Pear VC, and strategic angel investors.
Kalipso, a Barcelona, Spain-based regulatory technology platform, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Varsity, Lanai, Plug and Play, Kima Ventures, and Vento.
GROWTH
Reed Semiconductor, a Warwick, RI-based developer of multiphase power controllers and server power delivery modules, raised $100M in funding. Backers included global semiconductor companies and strategic industry investors.
Groq, a San Francisco, CA-based AI inference hardware and cloud infrastructure company, raised $650M in growth funding. The round was led by Disruptive and Infinitum, with participation from existing investors.
Warp, a New York City-based AI-native payroll, HR, and IT automation platform, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by Battery Ventures, with participation from Peak XV Partners, Sound Ventures, Y Combinator, and tech executives including Tobi Lütke and Claire Hughes Johnson.
Patronus AI, a San Francisco, CA-based AI evaluation and simulation infrastructure company, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by Greenfield Partners, with participation from Notable Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Datadog, Samsung, Factorial Capital, and Gokul Rajaram.
H2SITE, a Bilbao, Spain-based hydrogen production and purification systems company, raised approximately €6M in Series B funding. The round was backed by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund and an undisclosed strategic private investor.
Hera, a New York City-based AI-driven senior care coordination platform, raised $27M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Accel, IA Ventures, and strategic angel investors.
Nebulock, a Boston, MA-based AI-native contextual security platform, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by FirstMark, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Decibel, Zetta Venture Partners, and Step Function.
Tombot, a Santa Clarita, CA-based robotic companion animal company, raised $7M in Series A3 funding. Backers included Caduceus Capital Partners, Wavemaker 360, Lutheran Foundation for Long Term Living, and Florida Community Health Network.
Scaled Cognition, a Mountain View, CA-based AI model lab, raised $100M in Series A funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Genesys.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ Must read writeups
Build AI agents (personal & business) without coding - A founder-friendly guide on setting up personal and business AI agents using Claude Projects - without writing code or hiring a developer. The piece breaks down the four ingredients behind every useful agent: role, context, tools, and trigger, then shows how to build agents for daily work, customer support, sales prep, and content repurposing. (Read Here)
Will customers still buy SaaS in the AI era? - A useful framework for thinking about whether customers will keep paying for software when AI can help them build internal tools faster than ever. The piece explains the “zone of viability” - where SaaS products remain worth buying because they are still cheaper, safer, and easier to maintain than rebuilding them in-house. (Read Here)
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
General Atlantic, a global private equity firm, appointed tennis legend Novak Djokovic as a global strategic advisor, where he will work with the firm’s leadership, portfolio companies, and investors. The firm is expanding its investments in health, wellness, and sports, and plans to leverage Djokovic’s network and industry expertise.
Valor Equity Partners, the Chicago-based growth investment firm founded by Antonio Gracias, is looking to raise at least $2.5 billion for its new Fund VII, according to Bloomberg. The fund will continue backing growth-stage companies, with a portion already earmarked for additional investments in SpaceX, alongside sectors such as aerospace, defense, and technology.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son questions Elon Musk’s orbital AI data center vision
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son publicly questioned Elon Musk’s plan to build AI data centers in space, arguing they are too expensive, too slow to deploy, and unlikely to solve today’s AI compute shortage.
Critics also note that orbital data centers would create more launch demand, potentially benefiting SpaceX’s core launch business as much as its AI ambitions.
The debate highlights growing skepticism around ambitious AI infrastructure projects, with industry leaders increasingly divided over whether space-based compute is a practical long-term solution.
Trump eases Anthropic Mythos ban for 100+ US organizations
The Trump administration has allowed Anthropic to restore access to its Mythos 5 AI model for more than 100 approved US government agencies, critical infrastructure operators, and companies after partially easing its earlier export restrictions.
The updated policy also permits non-American employees at these approved organizations, including Anthropic staff, to use Mythos 5, reversing one of the most controversial parts of the original ban.
Restrictions on Fable 5 remain in place for now, though Anthropic says it is continuing discussions with the US government to restore broader access to both models.
OpenAI poaches Uber India chief to lead its biggest market outside the US
OpenAI has appointed former Uber India president Prabhjeet Singh as its first India managing director, highlighting the country’s importance as its largest market outside the U.S.
Singh will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and operations as OpenAI expands offices and hiring across India.
The move intensifies competition for India’s AI market, where OpenAI and Anthropic are both investing heavily through local leadership, partnerships, and enterprise expansion.
Apple asks Trump to clear blacklisted Chinese chips
Apple has reportedly asked the Trump administration to approve buying memory chips from Chinese maker ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, even though the company sits on a Pentagon blacklist, the Financial Times reports.
Apple first approached the Commerce Department more than a month ago and has since lobbied other officials and allies in Washington, arguing that sharply rising memory chip costs are straining the company’s finances.
CXMT was named a Chinese military company by the Defence Department under Biden and added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which bars US firms from exporting to it without a licence that is usually denied.
Trump threatens 100% tariff over tech taxes
President Trump threatened on Friday to place a “100% TARIFF” on goods from any country that charges a digital services tax on American companies, posting the warning on Truth Social.
Trump said this tariff would “supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not,” and his post singled out “Numerous European Countries” he says are considering the taxes.
The digital services taxes usually apply only to the largest tech companies like Meta, Alphabet and Amazon, all U.S. firms, and more than a dozen countries have already imposed them.
Meta wants to bring prediction markets to Facebook and Messenger
Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly asked Meta to explore partnerships with prediction market leaders Polymarket and Kalshi as it develops its own prediction app, internally called Arena.
Unlike existing platforms that involve real-money betting, Arena is expected to use a points-based system, with Meta targeting more than 100 million monthly users aged 18–34.
Meta is testing the app internally and plans to eventually integrate prediction market features into Facebook and Messenger if the project moves forward.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
TikTok is quietly becoming a super app
TikTok is steadily turning into a “super app,” a single platform where people can do far more than watch videos, after adding TikTok Shop, hotel booking, search, games, and a push for a fintech license.
In May, TikTok launched TikTok GO in the United States, letting users discover and book hotels, attractions, and experiences through videos, search, and location pages, which puts it in direct competition with Google Search and Google Maps.
The company applied to Brazil’s central bank for two licenses, one to offer prepaid accounts for storing funds and making payments, and another to act as a direct credit provider that lends money or connects borrowers and lenders.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
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