☕ OpenAI launches a new AI coding agent & Apple’s AI partnership with Alibaba raises alarms.
Google One tops 150 million subscribers & Amazon’s silent launch of Alexa+ raises red flags.
Apples float because they’re 25% air. Which means technically, every bobbing apple is just a crunchy little balloon.
Nature: still the weirdest engineer.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: No valuation on ask slide, 2700+ US VCs, 2025 SaaS trends, 6000+ Euro VCs, VC fears, valuation guide, founder trap, financial model, emerging manager barriers, agent economy, AI 100, Q1 VC report, AI labor, VC interview, data room guide.
OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT.
Google rolls out new AI and accessibility features to Android and Chrome.
MIT says prominent AI productivity study used unreliable data.
Amazon’s silent launch of Alexa+ raises red flags.
OpenAI’s planned data center in Abu Dhabi would be bigger than Monaco.
U.S. lawmakers raise concerns over Apple’s AI deal with Alibaba.
Google One tops 150 million subscribers as AI tier boosts growth.
Epic Games asks judge to force Apple to approve Fortnite.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
⏱️ Read Time: 3 minutes
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Algoma, a NYC-based provider of an AI-native real estate development platform that helps real estate developers turn an address into a deal, raised $2.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Zacua Ventures, with participation from SOSV, Iron Prairie Ventures, DOMiNO Ventures, Compose VC and angel investors.
Metafoodx, a San Jose, CA-based AI food operations company, raised $9.4M in funding. The round was led by Trustbridge Partners, with participation from BlueRun Ventures and ScalableVision Capital.
CrediLinq, a Singapore-based provider of an AI-powered embedded finance platform, raised $8.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by OM/VC and MS&AD Ventures. New investors included Citi North America and Rustem Family office. Returning investors included 500 Global, Epic Angels, 1982 VC and Big Sky Capital.
Ascendx Cloud, a London, UK-based provider of an enterprise-grade CRM SaaS solutions, raised $110M in funding. The round was led by Osprey Investors and Columbia Lake Partners.
Nawy, a Cairo, Egypt-based developer of an end to end platform providing an experience for prospective buyers, sellers and investors in the real estate space, raised $52M in Series A funding. The round was led by Partech, with participation from e& Capital, March Capital Investments (MCI), Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), VentureSouq (VSQ), Endeavor Catalyst, Development Partners International (DPI) Venture Capital via the Nclude Fund, Shorooq Partners, Outliers, HOF Capital, and Plug and Play.
MindSpire, a Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK-based neurotech startup developing medical devices, raised £850K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by SFC Capital, with participation from SyndicateRoom.
Cognichip, a Redwood City, CA-based artificial chip intelligence (ACI) company improving semiconductor design, raised $33M in Seed funding. Backers included Lux Capital, Mayfield, FPV, and Candou Ventures.
Fieldstone Bio, a Boston, MA-based company delivering AI-powered living sensors to identify target chemicals, nutrients, pollutants, or pathogens in the environment at massive scales, raised a $5M seed funding. The round was led by Ubiquity Ventures, with participation from LDV Capital and earlier investor E14.
Akido, a Los Angeles, CA-based AI and care delivery company, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by Oak HC/FT with participation from Greco, SNR, and existing investors Y Combinator, Future Communities Capital, Jeff Dean (Chief Scientist, Google DeepMind & Google Research), and the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center.
Prosperos, a Salinas, CA-based fintech startup for the Latino market, received a $250K investment from Mendoza Impact. Mendoza joined FEBE Ventures, BAT VC, Tekton Ventures, and Courtyard Ventures.
Pronto, a Gurgaon, India-based provider of a house help service, raised $2M USD in funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures.
Sprinter Health, a Palo Alto, CA-based at-home healthcare company, raised $55M in Series B funding. The round was led by General Catalyst with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, Accel, and the Regents of the University of California.
The Nuclear Company, a Los Angeles, CA-based startup developing utility-scale nuclear reactor sites using existing licensed designs, raised $51.3M in Series A funding. The round was led by Eclipse with participation from CIV, Goldcrest Capital, MCJ Collective, True Ventures, and Wonder Ventures, bringing total funding to $70M.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Redpoint Ventures, a San Francisco, CA-based early-stage venture firm, raised a $650M 10th early-stage fund, matching its previous fund from three years ago. The fund is led by managing partners Alex Bard, Satish Dharmaraj, Annie Kadavy, and Erica Brescia, and will focus on backing startups in AI, dev tools, and enterprise software. Recent investments include Poolside, Cockroach Labs, and Levelpath. Redpoint’s portfolio also saw exits like Next Insurance and HashiCorp.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT:
OpenAI unveiled Codex, a new AI coding agent powered by a version of its o3 model (codex-1) optimized for software tasks, capable of writing, testing, and debugging code in a cloud-based sandboxed environment.
Codex is now available to ChatGPT Pro, Team, and Enterprise users, with plans to expand to Plus and Edu tiers; rate limits and paid credits will be introduced in the coming weeks.
The launch comes as OpenAI ramps up investment in developer tools, including its reported $3B Windsurf acquisition, positioning Codex to compete with other agentic coding tools like Claude Code and Gemini Code Assist.
Google rolls out new AI and accessibility features to Android and Chrome:
Android’s TalkBack screen reader now lets blind or low-vision users ask Google’s Gemini AI about images and entire screen content, enhancing real-time understanding of messages, shopping apps, and more.
Expressive Captions gets an upgrade to better reflect tone and sound duration, including drawn-out words and labeled non-verbal cues like whistling or throat-clearing, rolling out in English in select countries on Android 15+.
On Chrome desktop, scanned PDFs are now accessible via Optical Character Recognition (OCR), while Page Zoom on Android offers layout-preserving zoom customization across websites.
MIT says prominent AI productivity study used unreliable data:
MIT has publicly questioned a prominent AI productivity study, stating the institute has no confidence in the reliability or validity of the data it presented.
The research, authored by a former PhD student, initially reported substantial gains in new materials, patent applications, and product innovations due to AI assistance.
After an internal review triggered by complaints, the university announced its lack of trust in the paper's veracity and asked the author to withdraw the publication.
Amazon’s silent launch of Alexa+ raises red flags:
Despite Amazon CEO Andy Jassy touting Alexa+ in February, there’s little public evidence the generative AI assistant has reached real users, raising questions about its availability and performance.
Amazon claims “hundreds of thousands” now have access, but slow rollout, lack of verifiable reviews, and ongoing issues like lag, hallucinations, and high operating costs have hampered adoption.
Critics say Amazon’s secretive launch strategy — offering no live demos or influencer access — may reflect internal concerns, and risks losing momentum in the competitive AI assistant race.
OpenAI’s planned data center in Abu Dhabi would be bigger than Monaco:
OpenAI is set to co-develop a 10-square-mile, 5-gigawatt data center in Abu Dhabi with UAE tech firm G42, quadrupling the scale of its Texas Stargate campus and surpassing Monaco in size.
The UAE project, part of the global Stargate initiative, raises geopolitical concerns due to G42’s past ties to Chinese entities, prompting scrutiny from U.S. officials and lawmakers.
Amid these tensions, G42 claims to have exited its China investments, and Microsoft has invested $1.5 billion into the firm, with President Brad Smith joining G42’s board.
U.S. lawmakers raise concerns over Apple’s AI deal with Alibaba:
The Trump administration and House officials are questioning Apple about its reported deal with Alibaba to integrate AI features into iPhones sold in China.
Lawmakers are concerned about potential data sharing and regulatory commitments Apple may have made to Chinese authorities, with executives reportedly offering few answers.
Only Alibaba has confirmed the deal so far, raising alarms about transparency amid ongoing U.S.-China tensions and scrutiny over Apple’s ties to Chinese tech giants.
Google One tops 150 million subscribers as AI tier boosts growth:
Google One, Alphabet’s consumer subscription service for cloud storage and AI tools, has hit 150 million subscribers — a 50% jump since early 2024, partly driven by its $19.99/month AI-powered tier.
The new AI plan brought in “millions” of users and signals Google’s shift to diversify revenue beyond ads, which still account for over 75% of its $350B income.
With AI chatbots impacting traditional search and ad models, Google is leaning on subscriptions like Gemini and YouTube Premium as future monetization paths.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Epic Games asks judge to force Apple to approve Fortnite:
Epic Games has asked a U.S. judge to compel Apple to allow a compliant version of Fortnite back into the App Store, following a recent court win over anti-competitive policies.
Apple says it won’t act on Fortnite’s U.S. app submission until a higher court rules on its request to pause the injunction, while suggesting Epic resubmit the app without U.S. access to avoid global impact.
Epic argues Apple is punishing it by blocking Fortnite’s return in the U.S., warning the move discourages other developers from challenging Apple’s App Store practices.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
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