☕ SoftBank seeking $40 billion in loans to finance investment in OpenAI & Anthropic reopens Pentagon talks.
OpenAI launches GPT-5.4 & Cluely CEO admits he lied about startup revenue.
Breaking News
OpenAI has launched GPT-5.4, introducing two variants: GPT-5.4 Thinking for advanced reasoning and GPT-5.4 Pro for high-performance professional workloads. The model supports up to 1 million tokens of context and reportedly reduces factual errors by 33% compared to GPT-5.2, while adding a new “Tool Search” system to make tool-calling faster and more efficient for complex AI workflows.
SoftBank is seeking up to $40 billion in loans to finance its investment in OpenAI, doubling down on CEO Masayoshi Son’s aggressive AI strategy. The loan would support OpenAI’s massive $110B funding round backed by Amazon and Nvidia, as the company moves toward a potential $1 trillion valuation ahead of a future IPO.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Cheer Games, a Barcelona, Spain-based mobile gaming studio, raised $4.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Makers Fund with participation from Play Ventures and a group of angel investors.
Vivox AI, a London, UK-based technology company building regulator-ready, atomic AI agents for AML, KYB/KYC and financial crime, raised £1.3M in first funding. Backers included Axel Weber, Dan Cobley, Kos Stiskin, James Janis Berdigans, and other fintech and technology investors.
Mycoverse, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based agritech startup, raised €2.4M in Pre-Seed equity funding. The round was co-led by Future Food Fund and High-Tech Gründerfonds, with participation from PINC.
SEED
Navigara, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of an engineering performance measurement layer, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Inovo VC, with participation from Rockaway Ventures and QQ Capital.
NextWork, an Austin, TX-based platform helping people learn practical AI skills by building real projects, raised $4.45M in Seed funding. The round was led by Shakti VC with participation from Cake Ventures, GD1 VC, Blackbird Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, Phase One Ventures and angel investors.
AgriPass, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based agtech company developing AI and robotics solutions, raised $7.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Harbor Venture Consulting, with participation from existing investors including E44 Climate Ventures, and strategic ecosystem partners.
ZyG, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based developer of an agentic operating system for eCommerce, raised $58M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Viola Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Disruptive AI, Emerge, Access Industries, Stardom Ventures, and Jibe Ventures.
GROWTH
PartsPulse, a Las Vegas, NV-based provider of an AI-powered platform for managing parts businesses, raised $3M in funding. The round was led by UP.Partners.
Spellbook, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of legal AI for transactional law, raised $40M in Debt funding from RBCx at a $350M valuation. This strategic capital comes shortly after its $50M Series B funding.
Minnesota Medical Technologies Corporation, a Stewartville, Minnesota-based developer of continence care solutions, raised $20.6M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by HM Venture Partners and Southeast Minnesota Capital Partners.
Photoncycle, a Oslo, Norway-based developer of seasonal hydrogen-based energy storage systems, raised €15M in Series A funding. The round was led by NordicNinja and Voima Ventures, with participation from Lifeline Ventures, Eviny Ventures, Luminar Ventures, and Momentum.
PLD Space, an Elche, Spain-based international space transportation company, raised €180M in Series C funding. The round was led by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation with participation from CDTI’s INNVIERTE fund, COFIDES, and Nazca Capital.
Prolium Bioscience, a NYC-based clinical stage biotechnology company, raised $50M in Series A funding. The round was led by RTW Investments.
RIFT, an Eindhoven, The Netherlands-based developer of an iron fuel technology platform, raised €113.8M in total financing including an €83.1M Series B round led by PGGM with participation from Invest-NL and other investors.
Validio, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of an agentic enterprise data management platform, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round was led by Plural with participation from Lakestar, J12, and other investors.
Sage, a NYC-based provider of an integrated care platform built for senior living and nursing, raised $65M in Series C funding. The round was led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives with participation from IVP and Goldcrest.
Cognito Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based clinical-stage neurotechnology company, raised $105M in Series C funding. The round was led by Morningside Ventures, IAG Capital Partners and Starbloom Capital with participation from additional investors.
Vast, a Long Beach, CA-based company developing space stations, raised $500M in funding. The round was led by Balerion Space Ventures with participation from IQT, Qatar Investment Authority, Mitsui and Co., MUFG, Nikon Corporation and others.
Lio, a NYC-based company building an agentic AI platform for enterprise procurement, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from SV Angels, Harry Stebbings and Y Combinator.
Evervault, a NYC-based developer-first platform for encrypting and orchestrating sensitive data, raised $25M in Series B funding. The round was led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins and Operator Partners.
Oxa, an Oxford, UK-based developer of autonomous vehicle technology, raised $103M in the first close of its Series D funding round. The investment included support from the National Wealth Fund alongside NVentures and existing shareholders.
cart, a Houston, TX-based unified commerce and logistics solutions provider, received a $180M growth equity investment led by Springcoast Partners.
Reclaim Security, a NYC-based provider of a preemptive exposure-remediation platform, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Acrew Capital with participation from QP Ventures and Ibex Investors.
TruDoc Healthcare, a Dubai, UAE-based provider of a healthcare platform, raised $15M in Pre-Series B funding. The round included participation from the Al Nahyan Family Office and the Al-Ketbi Family Office alongside existing investor Pulsar Capital.
Raydiax, a Magdeburg, Germany-based medical technology company, raised €7.5M in funding. The round consisted of €5M from bmp Ventures with the IBG funds and investment from the GETEC Family Office.
emproof, a Bochum, Germany-based tech specialist for embedded security, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round was led by Auriga Cyber Ventures with participation from SecFund and existing investors.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley–based venture firm with $43B+ AUM, has committed $5 billion to India over the next five years to back startups across AI, healthcare, defense tech, fintech, and consumer. Led by CEO Hemant Taneja, the firm is doubling down on India after merging with Venture Highway, focusing on large-scale AI deployment rather than frontier models. Existing Indian bets include Zepto, PB Health, Raphe, and Pronto, as the firm aims to support companies from early stage to IPO.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Anthropic plans legal challenge against Pentagon supply-chain label
Anthropic said it will challenge the U.S. Department of Defense’s decision to designate the firm a “supply-chain risk,” a label that could block the company from working with Pentagon contractors.
CEO Dario Amodei argues the decision is legally unsound and narrowly applies only to defense-related contracts, reiterating Anthropic’s refusal to allow its AI to be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.
The dispute follows weeks of negotiations with the Pentagon and comes as OpenAI secured a defense deal, while Anthropic continues supporting some government operations during the transition.
US may require approval for exporting AI chips abroad
The U.S. government is reportedly drafting new rules that would require federal approval before companies export advanced AI chips outside the country, increasing oversight of firms like Nvidia and AMD.
Under the proposal, overseas buyers could face varying levels of review depending on order size — with large purchases potentially requiring involvement from their national governments.
The move signals stronger government control over semiconductor exports and could impact global AI supply chains, while also risking pushing international customers toward non-U.S. chip alternatives.
Cursor launches “Automations” to manage AI coding agents
Cursor introduced a new feature called Automations that automatically launches coding agents when triggered by events like code updates, Slack messages, or timers.
The system is designed to reduce the need for constant human prompting, allowing engineers to oversee multiple AI agents while stepping in only when needed during the development process.
Automations builds on tools like Bugbot for automated code review and security checks, as competition intensifies in the agentic coding space with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic expanding their developer tools.
Big Tech signs White House pledge to cover AI energy costs
Seven major tech companies — Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, xAI, and OpenAI — signed a voluntary White House pledge to cover the energy costs their data centers impose on regular electricity customers.
The pledge carries no penalties and the White House has no jurisdiction over state utility commissions that actually set power rates, meaning enforcement falls to the same local regulators already struggling with rising bills.
Anthropic, which was excluded from the ceremony after being designated a “supply chain risk,” had already made the most concrete commitment of any company, pledging to cover 100% of consumer price increases caused by its data centers.
Apple Music will tag up AI-generated tracks
Apple Music is introducing new metadata tags that let record labels and distributors flag when AI-generated or AI-assisted content is part of a song uploaded to the platform.
The tags let distributors mark specific parts of a release — including artwork, track, composition, or music video — to show where AI was involved in the creation process.
The system is opt-in, meaning labels and distributors must manually choose to flag their use of AI, which is a similar approach to what Spotify is doing.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Cluely CEO admits he lied about startup revenue
Roy Lee admitted he falsely claimed $7M in ARR for Cluely last year, saying the figure shared publicly was “bs” and issuing a formal retraction.
The revenue claim originally surfaced during an arranged interview after Cluely’s PR team pitched the company to reporters, contradicting Lee’s claim that the number came from a random call.
Cluely gained viral attention in 2025 for its “cheat-on-everything” interview tool and raised $5.3M seed funding followed by a $15M Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, before pivoting to an AI meeting note-taking product.
Oracle plans thousands of layoffs amid AI data center spending
Oracle is reportedly preparing thousands of job cuts as rising costs from large-scale AI data center expansion strain its finances.
The company has become a major cloud infrastructure provider partly through a $300B deal with OpenAI and also serves customers like xAI and Meta.
Oracle expects capital expenditures to rise sharply, with fiscal 2026 spending projected to increase by $15B beyond its earlier $35B estimate, prompting hiring freezes and broader restructuring.
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