A game of Musical ChAIrs

Top 5 Funding Announcements

K2 Space — The large satellite startup raised $500M at a $6.8B valuation lead by Iconiq, to build spacecraft for data-heavy communications and defense missions. — LINK
Nscale — The AI cloud provider agreed to acquire Anyscale for roughly $1.65B, adding software that helps customers run AI workloads more efficiently. — LINK
Inforcer — The London-based security startup raised a $50M Series C led by Insight Partners to help smaller businesses prepare for emerging AI and cybersecurity risks. — LINK
Dili — The startup raised a $21.7M Series A led by Khosla Ventures, to bring AI powered compliance tools to the infrastructure boom, with participation from Allianz, Rebel Fund, Darren Bechtel, and Garry Tan. — LINK
Commonwealth Fusion Systems — Raised a $1B round to develop commercial nuclear fusion power, with Google backing the company as it targets a 2030s launch. — LINK

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Top Tweets

“There’s zero need to destroy books in order to scan them, when scanners like this have existed for years and can do 2,500 pages/hour” – @Jack Steinerman joined the chorus of people outraged by AI companies’ alleged destruction of rare books, and shared a cool video of a Treventus robotic book scanner that preserves rare tomes while digitizing them.
AI assistant @Orchid successfully stirred the pot with a launch video in which app intervenes to help a lazy, forgetful boyfriend salvage his anniversary. Commentators called it “This is the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen” while TWiST host @Lon Harris declared AI-generated relationship coaching as “Dystopian af.”
@Alex Kehr notes that bicycles are experiencing what he terms a “BYD moment,” with Chinese manufacturers shifting from filling orders for Western companies to building their own lower-cost, world-class brands.
In a shocking turnabout, friend of the pod @Bryan Johnson suggested he’s rethinking his whole approach and has perhaps “taken this whole longevity thing too far.” He’s probably joking. Nonetheless, entrepreneur, investor and noted carnivore @Vinny Lingham was quick to suggest Bryan add more meat to his diet.

This Week in Startups

E2318: Jason’s BACK IN THE US (not USSR, just the US) and jumping right into a new VC roundtable. Along with guests Deedy Das, David Weisburd, and Lo Toney, the panel discusses the FCC’s decision to ban Chinese humanoid robots, the strategy behind OpenRouter’s potential sale to Stripe, the Indian startup market, DoorDash’s new in-house drone delivery business, and more.

E2317: Most lab-grown meat companies have already gone under, even those with a lot of funding and early buzz. Cultivated meat is expensive to produce, and so far, there’s little demand from consumers who fear the “mad science” connotations of growing tissue in a lab. But Japan’s IntegriCulture is still standing, in part because of an innovative deal with cosmetics companies that license their technology. Go deep on this little-discussed niche industry with IntegriCulture founder Dr. Yuki Hanyu.

E2316: We’ve been told that quantum computing has been “5-10 years ago” for 30 years. On this edition of TWiST Tokyo, Jason sits down with Yaqumo CEO Kazu Nakashoji to discuss why now may be the moment that things start to change. Find out why quantum machines are so error prone, why quantum computers have such an unconventional supply chain, and and go deep on the cryptography reckoning that may be coming for your Bitcoin.

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