Paris-based AI startup raises €105M with no product, more Vision Fund layoffs planned, Insight cuts fund target by $5B

Mistral AI, a Paris-based AI startup co-founded by former DeepMind and Meta employees, raised €105M at a €240M valuation led by Lightspeed; the company is four weeks old and has yet to develop its first product - Link

Reuters sources: SoftBank’s Vision Fund is reportedly planning another round of layoffs, impacting up to 30% of its ~350 staff members; in September, SoftBank cut ~150 jobs, including some in its investing arm - Link

Insight cut its target raise for its latest fund by ~25%, from $20B to $15B; the firm, which has ~$90B in assets, has raised $2B since June 2022 - Link

Preqin data: Total US capital raised by China-focused VC and PE funds dropped dramatically since peaking in 2021: $48.6B in 2021, $16.5B in 2022, $1.2B so far in 2023 - Link

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Vinny and Sunny are back! First, Vinny demos Waitroom (2:12) before the group breaks down Apple’s new Vision Pro headset (41:10). Then, Sunny demos a suite of new AI tools, including Meta’s MusicGen model (19:53). - Link

The Information sources: So far, TCV raised between 50-75% less capital for its next flagship private fund than the $5.5B target it set in 2022, following similar trends at Insight and Tiger Global - Link

Synthesia, an AI startup that helps businesses generate human-like AI video avatars, raised $90M at a $1B valuation led by Accel with participation from Nvidia - Link

CloudZero, a startup that helps businesses manage and optimize cloud hosting costs, raised a $32M Series B co-led by Innovius Capital and Threshold Ventures - Link

Amazon is testing a feature that uses AI to summarize customer reviews on its shopping app, providing brief overviews of the pros and cons - Link

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E1756: Rory's brain vs ChatGPT, outrageous marketing, work trends and MUCH more w/ Rory Sutherland

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