☕ OpenAI launched GPT-5.5 & Apple fixes bug FBI used to read deleted messages.
xAI seeks alliance with Mistral and Cursor & Apple Maps remains Tim Cook's biggest mistake...
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Breaking News
OpenAI launched GPT-5.5 with better reasoning and speed, but the bigger play is building a single AI “super app” that combines ChatGPT, coding, and browsing into one platform. The move signals a shift from standalone tools to an all-in-one AI workspace competing directly with Google and Anthropic.
Sony built a table tennis robot that can beat elite players by tracking spin, speed, and movement in real time. It shows AI is no longer just software — but starting to outperform humans in complex real-world physical tasks.
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Maxed, a Miami, FL-based AI operating system for CPA firms, raised $850K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Focal VC, with participation from Akshay Kothari.
Brev, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native business performance OS, raised $3.3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Resolute Ventures, with participation from shuckerVC, Duro VC, Gaingels, and FOG Ventures.
Bubble Robotics, a Paris, France-based autonomous ocean robotics company, raised $5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Episode 1 Ventures, Asterion Ventures, and Norrsken Evolve.
SEED
Astor, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native investment advisory platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Monashees, with participation from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, 468 Capital, Valutia, Sunshine Lake, and others.
Cloneable, a Raleigh, NC-based AI infrastructure automation company, raised $4.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Congruent Ventures, with participation from First In, Overline, St. Elmo Venture Capital, and Bull City Venture Partners.
Almanac Health, a Boston, MA-based clinical AI platform, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by F-Prime, with participation from General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Rilian, a McLean, VA-based AI-native cybersecurity platform, raised $17.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by 8VC, First In, and Tamarack Global, with participation from others.
Band, a San Francisco, CA-based multi-agent systems platform, raised $17M in Seed funding. Backers included Sierra Ventures, Hetz Ventures, and Team8.
Copperhelm, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cloud security startup, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by TLV Partners, with participation from toDay Ventures, ICON, and SaaS Ventures Israel.
Ferrosa Therapeutics, a Basel, Switzerland-based biotech company, raised $3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Forty51 Ventures.
DOJO AI, a London & Lisbon-based agentic marketing platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Armilar, with participation from Heartfelt VC.
GROWTH
PvX Partners, a Singapore-based fintech platform, raised $10.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by T-Accelerate Capital, with participation from Z Venture Capital, Drive by DraftKings, Play Ventures, and General Catalyst.
Orkes, a Santa Clara, CA-based workflow orchestration platform, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by AVP, with participation from Prosperity7 Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, and Vertex Ventures US.
Petual, a San Francisco, CA-based AI audit and compliance platform, raised $20M in funding. Backers included Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Cowboy Ventures, and Elad Gil.
Omni, a San Francisco, CA-based AI analytics platform, raised $120M in Series C funding at a $1.5B valuation. The round was led by ICONIQ, with participation from Theory Ventures, First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and GV.
Zócalo Health, a Kenmore, WA-based primary care platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by EO Ventures, with participation from Talipot and existing investors.
Pudu Robotics, a Shenzhen, China-based robotics company, raised ~$150M in funding at a $1.5B valuation. Backers were not disclosed.
Affix Labs Group B.V., a Netherlands-based green chemtech startup, raised €1M in funding. The round was led by VP Capital and Oost NL.
Fere AI, a Singapore-based financial AI agents platform, raised $1.3M in funding. The round was led by Ethereal Ventures, with participation from others.
Digantara Industries, a Bengaluru-based space intelligence company, raised $50M in Series B funding. Backers included 360 ONE Asset, SBI Investments, Ronnie Screwvala, with participation from Peak XV and Kalaari Capital.
Cloudsmith, a Belfast-based artifact management platform, raised $72M in Series C funding. The round was led by TCV, with participation from Insight Partners and others.
QUICK HITS
🔋 Founder Fuel
Useful Data: 350+ Indian angel investors & venture capital firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Link)
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Founder Resource: Investor outreach email sequence pack: 20+ proven templates used & approved by VCs (Link)
From Social: Khosla Venture’s Guide: Pitch the way VCs think. (Link)
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Mighty Capital, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm specializing in product-led investing, closed Fund III, at $91m. The vehicle is backed by The Blackstone Group, on behalf of its clients, alongside existing limited partners and new institutional investors, including a Northern California public pension plan.
Oncology Ventures, an Austin, TX-based venture capital firm investing in startups transforming cancer care, closed its $62m Fund II. The Fund is anchored by Texas Oncology, a large physician-led oncology-focused practice, Moffitt Cancer Center, City of Hope, Atlantic Health, and Cardinal Health, Texas Oncology, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and other institutions.
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KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Apple Maps remains Tim Cook's biggest mistake
Tim Cook has called the 2012 launch of Apple Maps his biggest mistake as CEO, explaining for the first time that testing was mostly done locally around Cupertino, which hid problems elsewhere.
Cook shared these remarks at an Apple Town Hall on April 22, 2026, where he and incoming CEO John Ternus answered employee questions about the leadership handover.
Cook named the Apple Watch as his greatest achievement, saying he still receives daily notes from users who credit the watch with saving their lives since that very first message.
xAI seeks alliance with Mistral and Cursor
Elon Musk’s xAI has been in talks with French AI startup Mistral and coding tool Cursor about a three-way partnership, on top of SpaceX’s $60 billion option to buy Cursor.
Mistral cofounder Devendra Chaplot now leads xAI pretraining, and two senior Cursor engineers joined SpaceX in March, with all of them reporting directly to Musk.
Anthropic blocked xAI’s access to Claude through Cursor in January, leaving Cursor exposed because its product depends on models from the same companies building competing coding editors.
Xpeng plans flying car deliveries starting 2027
Xpeng, the Chinese EV maker, plans to begin delivering flying cars starting in 2027 and has already received more than 7,000 orders, mostly from customers in China awaiting aviation authority approval.
The company will start robotaxi tests in Guangzhou this year and expects to produce hundreds to thousands of robotaxis over the next 12 to 18 months, seeking global partners.
Xpeng currently operates in about 60 countries and generated roughly 15% of its revenue from overseas sales last year, aiming to push that above 50% within ten years.
DeepSeek previews V4 model as competition in AI intensifies
DeepSeek unveiled a preview of its new V4 model, which outperforms most open source models and trails only Google’s Gemini Pro 3.1 in benchmarks.
The model includes a lower cost flash version and will be refined using real world feedback before full release.
DeepSeek is simultaneously exploring fundraising at over $20 billion valuation, amid rising global scrutiny and competition in AI.
Elon Musk outlines Terafab plan to build massive AI chip ecosystem
Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI plan to build Terafab, a large scale AI chip complex in Texas targeting chips for vehicles, robots, and data centers.
Project will use Intel’s next generation 14A process, with early research facilities starting at Tesla’s Austin campus.
Terafab aims to produce massive compute capacity but faces major unknowns around cost, execution, and timelines, with estimates reaching trillions in investment.
SpaceX IPO structure lets Elon Musk retain strong control
SpaceX plans to go public as a controlled company, allowing Elon Musk to retain board control through super voting shares.
Structure removes requirement for majority independent board, giving leadership more flexibility in governance and compensation decisions.
Board incentives include ambitious milestones like Mars colonization and space based data centers, tying payouts to long term vision.
Apple fixes bug FBI used to read deleted messages
Apple patched a bug in its iPhone and iPad software that the FBI had been exploiting to read deleted messages from apps like Signal using forensic tools.
The problem was that notification content showing message text was cached on the device for up to a month, even after the messages were deleted inside the app.
Signal president Meredith Whittaker said the company asked Apple to fix the issue, and Apple also backported the patch to devices still running the older iOS 18 software.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Kalshi suspends and fines 3 congressional candidates
Kalshi, the prediction market platform, suspended and fined three congressional candidates from Virginia, Minnesota, and Texas for trading on markets tied to their own campaigns, calling it “political insider trading.”
Virginia candidate Mark Moran traded on two markets related to his campaign, was fined $6,229.30, and received a five-year suspension after he stopped communicating with the company’s team.
Kalshi said all three candidates were caught by its newly released safeguards designed to block political candidates from trading on their own elections, and two of them cooperated with probes.
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