AI Startup News: Acquisitions, Funding, and Growth

This week's startup news highlights significant activity in the AI sector, ranging from acquisitions to funding rounds and bootstrapped successes. Beyond Nvidia's earnings reports, several key developments shaped the AI landscape.

Key AI Startup Developments

  • AMD acquires Enosemi: AMD acquired silicon photonics startup Enosemi to boost its AI hardware capabilities. This acquisition aims to accelerate AMD's development of co-packaged optics for AI systems. Read more.
  • Anthropic appoints Reed Hastings: AI startup Anthropic welcomed Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings to its board of directors. Hastings brings extensive experience from his roles at Netflix, Bloomberg, Meta, and Microsoft. Read more.
  • Life360 integrates Tile features: Years after its acquisition, Life360 finally integrated Tile's lost item tracking technology into its family safety app. Read more.
  • Sahil Lavingia leaves DOGE: Entrepreneur Sahil Lavingia revealed his brief 55-day tenure at Elon Musk's DOGE project. Read more.
  • Thinkst Canary's bootstrapped success: Cybersecurity company Thinkst Canary reached $20 million in annual recurring revenue without venture capital funding. Read more.

Significant Funding Rounds and Investment News

  • Neuralink raises $600M: Elon Musk's Neuralink reportedly secured $600 million in funding, valuing the brain implant startup at $9 billion. Read more.
  • Samsung eyes Exo investment: Samsung is reportedly considering a $100 million investment in medical device startup Exo. Read more.
  • Horizon3.ai seeks $100M: Cybersecurity startup Horizon3.ai is reportedly raising $100 million in new funding. Read more.
  • Buildots secures Series D: Construction tech startup Buildots raised $45 million in a Series D round. Read more.
  • Rillet's Series A: AI-powered accounting startup Rillet raised a $25 million Series A round. Read more.

Other notable funding news includes Snabbit's $19 million Series B, SpAItial's $13 million seed round, Gridcare's $13.5 million seed round, Humain's planned $10 billion venture fund, and Outset Ventures' $25 million fund for New Zealand deep tech startups. The increasing interest in nuclear fission startups from Big Tech companies also highlights the growing importance of energy solutions for data centers.