Top Stories
OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, Microsoft, and 100+ organizations left warnings that critical infrastructure has only months to prepare for cheaper, more accessible AI-enabled cyberattacks. — Axios
Advent and Stripe dropped their pursuit of PayPal after offering more than $50 billion, ending takeover talks that could have reshaped one of online payments’ oldest names. — Bloomberg
A federal judge blocked the Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic and ordered agencies to stop enforcing it, after the company refused to permit unrestricted military use of Claude. — CNBC
Hugging Face unveiled Microduck, a $399 open-source robot developers can train in simulation and deploy in the real world, making physical AI experimentation cheaper, cuter, and more accessible. — TechCrunch
Anthropic opened a research preview of its Model Hardware Standard, giving AI agents a common interface for safely operating lab and manufacturing equipment while reducing the custom engineering needed to connect each device. — Anthropic
Top Funding Announcements
Outer Bio — Lady Gaga’s AI biotech startup raised $23M to date, led by Wing Ventures and Initialized Capital. The company develops processes for preserving donated skin. — Tech Funding News
Atorie — The AI-powered fashion marketplace raised a $9.5M seed from a16z speedrun, Night Capital, and others to expand logistics, production, and tools connecting luxury factories directly with consumers. — TechCrunch
Yardstik — The workforce screening platform raised a $30M Series B led by Harbert Growth Partners to expand continuous post-hire monitoring that helps employers detect fraud and workforce risks. — Tech Funding News
OpenAI Startup Fund — Prepping a second $400M venture fund and seeking an experienced investor to lead bets on startups that could become OpenAI customers, partners, or acquisition targets. — Tech Funding News
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Top Tweets
This Week in Startups
Timestamps:
0:00 It's Hussein's first time on the VC Roundtable!
1:25 Gates says "turbulent era" for AI is here
8:12 Microloans, Kiva, and "universal basic income"
8:39 Thanks to our partner, Lightfield, the AI-native CRM that updates itself, so you never have to! Try it for free at https://lightfield.app
12:16 Why sole proprietorships may be AI's biggest beneficiary
19:45 Got a new business idea? Northwest helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more, with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent....
20:16 Should the gov't take a stake in AI labs?
29:40 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist to get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.
32:00 Meta's $17.1B settlement
44:30 Is anything still fundable outside of AI?
45:45 Stripe and SpaceX deals
55:10 Skild AI's pancake flipping demo
59:05 Sheel's Hottest Takes
1:03:53 Dave's Charts
1:08:23 Who loses money when there are no IPOs?
1:16:05 The Agent Wars heat up
1:24:12 Everyone's favorite investments
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Today’s Fascinating Fact from Harmonic
Yardstik, a rare tech startup HQ’d in Minneapolis, is a “Human Trust Platform” that aims to redefine how we think about background checks. The thesis: traditional point-of-hire screenings are an outdated vestige of a bygone era. The alternative is a continuous post-hire monitoring process in which their platform watches out for identity fraud, tracks motor vehicle reports, and ensures everyone’s licenses, insurance, and certifications are up to date. They’re particularly popular among “gig economy” type employers (TaskRabitt, Gopuff, etc) with a lot of churn that need to make their background check process more streamlined and effective.
Try it yourself at harmonic.ai
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