☕ OpenAI shares 8% of revenue with Microsoft, xAI lays off 500 data annotators & Scale AI rival raises $35M.
California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53 & Trump likely to extend TikTok divestment deadline again.
Coca-Cola cost 5 cents a bottle for 73 years.
From 1886 to 1959, inflation tried. Coke said, “Not my problem.”
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Financial model template, 996 in SF adaptation, McKinsey on thriving in uncertainty, CB Insights on IPO delays, launching from stealth, 40 pitch decks, email-to-purchase insights.
xAI lays off 500 data annotators in strategic shift.
California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53, Newsom decision pending.
Micro1, Scale AI rival, raises $35M at $500M valuation.
OpenAI offers mentorship to new tech founders.
Apple loses top AI manager Robby Walker.
Trump likely to extend TikTok divestment deadline again.
OpenAI to share 8% of its revenue with Microsoft, partners.
Hike shuts down after India bans real-money gaming.
OpenAI chair Bret Taylor says AI is a bubble — and that’s fine.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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DAILY PICKS
🗞️ What else is brewing
Financial modelling template to build your startup financial model that every investor wants to see.
996 is here in SF — how founders should adapt.
McKinsey’s research: How smart companies can thrive amid uncertainty.
CB Insights report: Companies delay IPOs longer than ever, 16-year average.
How to launch your startup out of stealth?
40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks).
How many emails does it take for someone to buy a product?
How to use Reddit and AI to find winning startup ideas?
Startup Legal Document Pack – Essential Legal Docs for Founders. Build with the help of startup lawyers and VCs.
From stealth to $11M: 8 GTM lessons by Nico Ferrero.
All-In-One guide to pitch deck storytelling - free template & curated resources.
The unit economics Excel sheet template every founder should use.
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Diana Health, a NYC-based company helping hospitals to create category-defining women’s health programs rooted in collaboration and whole-person care, raised $55M in Series C funding. The round was led by HealthQuest Capital and joined by previous investors Norwest Venture Partners, .406 Ventures, LRVHealth and AlleyCorp.
Unmind, a London, UK-based provider of a workplace mental health platform, received $26M in growth capital. The round was led by Trinity Capital.
RushOwl, a Singapore-based provider of a ride-sharing platform that reduces carbon emissions with its proprietary AI-based technology, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Gobi Partners with participation from the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC).
Eloquent AI, a San Francisco, CA-based company improving customer support automation for financial services, raised $7.4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Foundation Capital, with participation from EJF Ventures, Duke Capital Partners, Zeno Ventures and Y Combinator.
Mazlo, a San Francisco, CA-based fintech startup focused on tools for nonprofits, raised a $4.5m in seed funding. Backers included Westbound Equity Partners, Super{set}, Social Good Fund, a16z, along with friends, family, and advisors like Charles Oppenheimer and Chef Dunny.
Dig Energy, a Manchester, NH-based drilling technology company, raised $5M in funding. The round was led by Azolla Ventures and Avila VC, with participation from Conifer Infrastructure Partners, Suffolk Technologies, Mercator Partners, Koa Labs, and Pre-Seed investors Baukunst and Drew Scott.
Marloo, a London, UK and Auckland, New Zealand-based AI Assistant for financial advisers, raised $2.7m in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures with participation from CoVentures, alongside Tom Hambrett (Chief Legal Officer, Revolut), Sam Halse (former COO, Adyen), Philip Fierlinger (Co-founder, Xero), Tom Kelly (Co-founder, Heidi Health), Warren Hogarth (Co-founder, Tilt), and many others.
TrustNXT, a Hamburg, Germany-based computer vision and cybersecurity startup, raised €1.6M in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included D11Z. Ventures and High-Tech Gründerfonds.
Brain Co., a San Francisco, CA-based provider of AI platforms and applications for institutions, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Gil Capital and Affinity Partners, with participation from Andrej Karpathy, Aravind Srinivas, Fidji Simo, Patrick Collison, Reid Hoffman, Brian Armstrong, Mark Weinberger, Andrew Liveris.
Syncari, a San Francisco, CA-based leader in Agentic Master Data Management (MDM), closed its Series B funding round. The round was led by Escape Venture Investing.
Sophont, a Sacramento, CA-based medical AI startup, raised $9.22M in Seed funding. The round was Led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Upfront Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Jeff Dean (Google DeepMind), Logan Kilpatrick (Google DeepMind), Lukas Biewald (Weights & Biases), Clément Delangue (Factorial Capital, Hugging Face), and other investors.
Unmind, a London, UK-based provider of a workplace mental health platform, received $26M in growth capital. The round was led by Trinity Capital.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Clean Growth Fund, a London, UK–based specialist climate tech venture capital firm, held the first close of its second fund, at £49m. Investors include Strathclyde Pension Fund, Islington Pension Fund and East Riding Pension Fund. The vehicle has a final target of £150m.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
xAI lays off 500 data annotators in strategic shift:
Elon Musk’s xAI cut around 500 workers from its 1,500-person data annotation team, according to Business Insider.
Internal emails cited a pivot toward “specialist AI tutors” over generalist roles, with layoffs effective immediately.
The company said it will “surge our Specialist AI tutor team by 10x,” hiring experts in STEM, finance, medicine, safety, and other fields.
California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53, Newsom decision pending:
SB 53 requires large AI labs to disclose safety protocols, protects whistleblowers, and creates a state-run compute cloud (CalCompute).
Companies under $500M in revenue face lighter reporting, while larger players must provide detailed safety reports.
Supporters like Anthropic back the bill, but OpenAI, a16z, and others argue state laws risk overlap or constitutional issues; Newsom could still veto, as he did with a broader AI bill last year.
Micro1, Scale AI rival, raises $35M at $500M valuation:
Micro1 secured a $35M Series A led by 01 Advisors (Dick Costolo, Adam Bain), valuing the startup at $500M.
Founded by 24-year-old Ali Ansari, the company hit $50M ARR in 2025 (up from $7M) and works with Microsoft, Fortune 100 firms, and frontier AI labs.
Unlike Scale AI’s low-cost contractor model, Micro1 recruits domain experts (engineers, doctors, professors) via its AI recruiter “Zara,” and is expanding into simulated training environments.
OpenAI offers mentorship to new tech founders:
OpenAI introduced a new program called Grove for about 15 tech founders in the nascent phases of company development, from the pre-idea to pre-seed stage.
For five weeks, participants receive mentoring from technical leaders, get early access to new tools and models, and can attend in-person workshops at the San Francisco headquarters.
After the session concludes, members will be able to continue working internally with the ChatGPT maker, which provides an opportunity for a much longer-term relationship with the firm.
Apple loses top AI manager Robby Walker:
Robby Walker, the former senior director for the delayed Apple Intelligence-powered Siri, is leaving the company at the end of October after being moved to a new AI search team.
Walker recently led an internal AI search initiative called Answers, which remains on track for a 2026 release even though his number of deputies was dramatically reduced after the move.
His departure follows an infamous pep talk where he compared the unfinished Siri to a record-setting swim that failed to reach Hawaii before he was taken off that specific assignment.
Trump likely to extend TikTok divestment deadline again:
The Trump administration is expected to push back the September 17 deadline for ByteDance to sell or shut down TikTok’s U.S. operations — marking the fourth extension since January 2025.
Trump has said he wants to “save the app” but tied progress to broader U.S.-China trade negotiations, with Beijing refusing to approve any sale involving TikTok’s algorithm.
Talks between U.S. and Chinese officials are ongoing, but a deal is unlikely before the deadline, suggesting more delays despite bipartisan pressure in Congress for enforcement.
OpenAI to share 8% of its revenue with Microsoft, partners:
OpenAI projects its revenue-sharing commitments to Microsoft and other partners will decline from the current 20% to about 8% by 2030, The Information reports.
The shift could mean over $50 billion in additional revenue retained by OpenAI, though it’s unclear if the figure is annual or cumulative.
The companies are also negotiating server rental costs as OpenAI restructures into a for-profit entity, with its nonprofit arm expected to receive more than $100 billion under current terms.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other news
OpenAI chair Bret Taylor says AI is a bubble — and that’s fine:
Bret Taylor, OpenAI board chair and Sierra CEO, said the AI sector resembles the dot-com bubble: overhyped in the short term but transformative long term.
He argued both can be true at once — AI will create massive economic value while many investors lose money.
Taylor echoed Sam Altman’s view that the industry will see big failures, but compared it to 1999’s internet boom, where despite the crash, the core bet proved right.
Hike shuts down after India bans real-money gaming:
Once valued at $1.4B, Hike pivoted from messaging to real-money gaming with its platform Rush, which hit 10M+ users and $500M in gross revenue.
Founder Kavin Bharti Mittal said scaling the U.S. arm would need a “full recap” but decided it wasn’t worth the capital or time.
India’s new law banning real-money gaming has forced major players like Dream Sports and MPL to exit, triggering 2,000+ layoffs across the industry.
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)
Investor, SF Launch - Entrepreneur First | USA - Apply Here
Senior Analyst - Iconiq Capital | USA - Apply Here
VP - Marketing & Communications - Transition VC | India - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Miras Investment | Dubai - Apply Here
Associate - Iconiq Capital | USA - Apply Here
Program Manager - Tenity | UK - Apply Here
Investor Relations Analyst - Griffin Gaming Partner | USA - Apply Here
Associate - OMERSE Venture | USA - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Caanan | USA - Apply Here
Investor (AI) - Samsung Next | USA - Apply Here
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