☕ Tesla to launch mega AI chip project “Terafab” & Meta plans to cut 20% of its workforce.
Travis Kalanick launches new robotics startup & ByteDance pauses launch of Seedance 2.0 AI video generator.
Breaking News
Elon Musk said Tesla will launch a massive AI chip manufacturing initiative called Terafab, aimed at producing next-generation AI5 chips used for autonomous driving and Full Self-Driving systems. Musk indicated the project could involve partnerships with manufacturers like TSMC, Intel, or Samsung but suggested Tesla may ultimately need its own large-scale fabrication capability to meet surging AI chip demand.
Meta is reportedly considering layoffs affecting up to 20% of its workforce as it ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and development. With about 79,000 employees as of last year, cuts at that scale could impact tens of thousands of workers and would mark one of the largest restructuring moves by a major tech company during the industry’s shift toward AI.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
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.
Zymtrace, a Wilmington, DE-based developer of a distributed AI infrastructure optimization platform, raised $3.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Fly Ventures and Mango Capital.
SEED
Delfos Energy, a Barcelona, Spain-based provider of a real-time virtual engineer software platform for renewable energy, raised €6.3m in seed funding. The round was led by Contrarian Ventures and Headline, with participation from existing investors DOMO.VC and EDP Ventures.
IperMoney, a Milan, Italy-based developer of a digital banking platform for businesses, closed a Seed funding round of undisclosed amount. The round included participation from 3M Stp.
TYTL Corp, a Newport, Rhode Island-based developer of a residential real estate equity tokenization platform, raised a Seed funding round of undisclosed amount. The round was led by Strobe Ventures with participation from Fifth Era.
Ark Labs, a Lugano, Switzerland-based company specializing in open programmable finance, raised $5.2M in Seed funding. Backers included Tether, Ego Death Capital, Epoch VC, Lion26, Sats Ventures, Contribution Capital, Anchorage Digital and others.
GROWTH
Gumloop, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of a platform for employees to build agents and AI-driven automations, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by Benchmark with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Y Combinator, Box Group, The Cannon Project and Shopify Ventures.
BackOps, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-native operating system for supply chain operations, raised $26M in Series A funding. The round was led by Theory Ventures with participation from Gradient, Construct Capital and 10VC.
Cryptio, a NYC-based company specializing in financial data transformation and ERP applications for regulated digital assets, raised $45M in Series B funding. The round was led by BlackFin Capital Partners and Sentinel Global with participation from 1kx, Alven, BlueYard Capital and Ledger Cathay Capital.
Climatex, an Altendorf, Switzerland-based developer of circular textile technologies and recyclable material solutions, raised €3.5M in funding. The round was led by the Collateral Good Textile & Fashion Innovation Fund, alongside several existing investors.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Audeo Ventures, a NYC, San Francisco, CA- and Dubai, UAE-based venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments, achieved $65m for Fund II. Audeo’s diverse, global LP base spans single and multi-family offices and sovereign entities. Founded in 2021 by Managing Partners Pavel Tinkov and Greg Laurent Josi, Audeo Ventures focuses on backing companies with strong fundamentals across US.
Scout Ventures, an Austin, TX-based venture capital firm focused on national security and dual-use technologies, closed its fifth fund, at $125M. Fund V will back emerging technology companies developing solutions across artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, space infrastructure, cyber, quantum, and advanced power technologies that are increasingly central to unwavering sovereignty and global deterrence.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
ByteDance pauses global launch of Seedance 2.0 AI video generator
ByteDance has reportedly delayed the global release of its Seedance 2.0 AI video model after generated clips featuring well-known actors went viral and triggered backlash from Hollywood studios.
The company had launched the model in China in February and initially planned to roll it out globally in mid-March.
After receiving cease-and-desist letters from major studios over potential intellectual property violations, ByteDance is now working on stronger safeguards before proceeding with a broader release.
Travis Kalanick launches new robotics startup
Uber founder Travis Kalanick has launched a new robotics company called Atoms, which will operate in the food, mining, and transportation industries and absorbs his existing ghost kitchen company, CloudKitchens.
Kalanick said Atoms will build a “wheelbase for robots” focused on specialized machines rather than humanoids, and he is close to acquiring Pronto, an autonomous vehicle startup for industrial and mining sites.
The Information reported that Kalanick has “major backing” from Uber and has told people he wants to be more aggressive in rolling out self-driving technology than Waymo, though Atoms’ website does not mention Uber.
Meta removes end-to-end encryption from Instagram DMs
Meta is removing the option for end-to-end encryption in Instagram DMs, with the feature set to stop working after May 8, 2026, according to an update on its support page.
A Meta spokesperson said the company is retiring the feature because very few people were opting in, and pointed users toward WhatsApp for end-to-end encrypted messaging instead.
The decision comes as internal documents from a New Mexico child safety trial show Meta executives debating the trade-offs between privacy and safety related to encryption across its platforms.
Trump administration to receive $10 billion TikTok fee
The Trump administration is set to receive roughly $10 billion from investors in the recently completed deal to take control of TikTok’s U.S. business, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX already paid about $2.5 billion to the Treasury Department at closing, with subsequent payments planned until the total reaches $10 billion.
Administration officials said the fee is justified, citing Trump’s role in rescuing TikTok’s U.S. operations and guiding negotiations with China while tackling lawmakers’ national security concerns.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Wiz investor explains why Google paid $32B for the cybersecurity startup
Index Ventures partner Shardul Shah said Wiz became an attractive acquisition target because it sits at the intersection of three major tech trends: AI, cloud infrastructure, and rising cybersecurity spending.
Wiz builds tools that secure cloud environments and code running in production, helping companies prioritize and respond to threats across their infrastructure.
Shah emphasized that the strength of the founding team — led by Assaf Rappaport and his co-founders — was a major factor behind the company’s rapid growth and its historic $32 billion acquisition by Google.
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