TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday & OpenAI’s AI reasoning model ‘thinks’ in Chinese.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

MetAI, a Taiwan-based provider of AI-powered digital twin solutions for manufacturing and automation, raised $4M in seed funding. The round was led by Nvidia, with participation from Kenmec Mechanical Engineering, Solomon Technology, SparkLabs Taiwan, Addin Ventures, and Upstream Ventures.

Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based space tech startup, launched the first three hyperspectral satellites of its commercial Firefly constellation via a SpaceX rocket. The satellites offer 5-meter resolution across 150 spectral bands, with applications in agriculture, climate, and more. Backed by $95M in funding from investors like Google and Lightspeed, Pixxel plans to expand to 18-24 satellites by 2026-2027.

The Snow League, a NYC-based professional winter sports league exclusively dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing, raised $15M in funding. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from existing investors including Will Ventures, Ares Management funds, Bolt Ventures, and Ryan Sports Ventures.

Harbinger, a Los Angeles, CA-based medium-duty electric vehicle (EV) company, raised $100M in Series B funding. The round was led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund and Leitmotif, and included participation from investment firm Tiger Global, The Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, managed by Greycroft, ArcTern Ventures, THOR Industries and its investment partner TechNexus, Ridgeline, Maniv Mobility, Ironspring Ventures, Schematic Ventures, and Overture Climate.

Sydecar, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a deal execution platform, raised $11M in Series A funding. The round was led by Deciens Capital with participation from Pipeline Capital Partners and Runa Capital.

Daash Intelligence, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered predictive commerce intelligence platform for retail brands, raised $5.5M in Second Seed funding. The round, which brought total funding to date to $8.25M, was led by Bullpen Capital with participation from GFT Ventures as well as from returning investors Silicon Road Ventures and Red Bike Capital.

Lady Technologies, a San Francisco, CA-based women healthtech company, raised $6.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Relentless Consumer Partners.

Thoras.ai, a Washington, DC-based provider of an adaptive reliability platform for enterprises, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Wellington Ventures, with participation from Sinewave Ventures, Focal Ventures, Storytime Capital, and other strategic investors.

FIZE Medical, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based fluid management optimization company, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round included a $14M Series A-4 led by Rapha Capital Management and its managed fund, Rapha Capital PE Life Sciences Fund VI, with participation from Valitas Venture Capital, and eHealth Ventures.

Dfns, a Paris, France-based provider of a wallet-as-a-service platform for crypto assets, closed a $16M Series A. The round was led by Further Ventures, with participation from White Star Capital, Hashed, Semantic, Techstars, and Bpifrance, alongside new backers including Motive Partners, Wintermute, and Motier Ventures.

Enhanced Medical Nutrition (EMN), a Toronto, Canada-based food-as-medicine company that commercializes medical nutrition products to improve outcomes in surgery, raised USD $5M in Series A funding. The round was led by dsm-firmenich Venturing and the Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) arm of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. with participation from PeakBridge, Elder Ventures, angel investors and existing shareholders.

Orchid Security, a NYC-based company which specializes in identity-first security orchestration, raised $36M in Seed funding. The round was led by Team8 and Intel Capital, with participation from CapitalOne, Jeff Williams, Dror Davidoff, and Zohar Alon.

BforeAI, a NYC-based provider of a predictive attack intelligence and digital risk protection solution, raised $10M in Series B funding The round, which brought the total amount to $30M, was led by Titanium Ventures with participation from SYN Ventures, Karista, and Addendum Capital.

Overland AI, a Seattle, WA-based technology company developing advanced autonomy for uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs), raised $32M in Series A funding. The round was led by 8VC, with participation from Point72 Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Ascend, Osage University Partners, and Caprock.

Solera Health, a Phoenix, AZ-based technology platform for connecting people to health solutions that work, raised $40m in funding. The insider round waas co-led by Health Care Service Corporation with participation from Adams Street, Cobalt Ventures, and Horizon Mutual Holdings, Inc.

LemFi, an Oakland, CA-based platform for immigrant communities to access financial services, raised $53m in Series B funding. The round, which brought LemFi’s total capital raised to $85m to date, was led by Highland Europe with participation from previous investors Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and Y-Combinator.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Intel plans to spin off Intel Capital, its corporate venture arm, into a standalone fund with Intel as an anchor investor by mid-2025, aiming for autonomy and access to external capital. Intel Capital, managing $5B in assets, has invested $20B in over 1,800 companies, with a recent focus on AI startups like SambaNova and AI21 Labs. This move follows Intel’s cost-cutting strategy amid record losses, restructuring, and reports of potential suitors, including Qualcomm.

Venture funding remains stable in France:

France's tech ecosystem raised €7.1B in 2024, up from €6.8B in 2023 but still far below the €11.8B of 2022. AI dominated, accounting for 27% of funding with an 82% YoY growth, while non-AI funding dropped 11%. France now has 45 unicorns, with Poolside, Pigment, and Pennylane joining in 2024, but high-profile bankruptcies like Ynsect and Luko show macro pressures. Late-stage leaders like Back Market and Dataiku approach IPO readiness, though most may list in the U.S.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Apple joins consortium to help develop next-gen AI data center tech.

• Apple has joined the Ultra Accelerator Link Consortium to develop UALink, a standard connecting AI accelerator chips in data centers. Other members include Alibaba and Synopsys.

• UALink aims to enhance chip connectivity for AI training and operations, with products based on open standards like AMD’s Infinity Fabric launching in the next few years.

• Apple’s involvement aligns with its investment in AI infrastructure, including a new server chip for Apple Intelligence, despite mixed reviews of its current AI features.

OpenAI quietly revises policy doc to remove reference to ‘politically unbiased’ AI:

• OpenAI removed the phrase endorsing "politically unbiased" AI from its economic blueprint, citing document streamlining, while maintaining similar language in other policies.

• The revision highlights the growing controversy around AI bias, with critics like Elon Musk and David Sacks accusing AI of reflecting liberal-leaning values and "wokeness."

• OpenAI asserts that biases in AI models are unintentional bugs, aligning with broader challenges in developing truly objective AI systems across the industry.

Amazon plans to relaunch Alexa as an AI agent:

• Amazon plans to relaunch Alexa as an AI "agent" capable of performing practical tasks, addressing the challenges that have hindered its AI update.

• Rohit Prasad, leading Amazon's AGI team, stated that Alexa must overcome issues like fabricated responses, response speed, and reliability before its release.

• The transformation aims to evolve Alexa from handling simple tasks to serving as a personalized concierge, amidst competition from rivals integrating generative AI.

TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday:

• TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday if the federal ban goes into effect. The company will provide a pop-up message and a link with details about the ban.

• Users will be able to download their data before the shutdown, allowing them to take a record of their personal information. The ban only affects new downloads, but existing users could still access the app temporarily.

• TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, are challenging the law, arguing it infringes on free speech. If the ban lasts, TikTok estimates a third of U.S. users could stop using the app.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

OpenAI’s AI reasoning model ‘thinks’ in Chinese sometimes and no one really knows why:

• OpenAI's new AI model, o1, exhibits a curious behavior of sometimes “thinking” in languages like Chinese or Persian during problem-solving, despite receiving input in English.

• Experts speculate this could be due to the model's training on datasets with significant Chinese character influence, or alternatively, it may be using languages it finds most efficient for solving problems.

• The phenomenon could also be attributed to token-based processing in AI models, which might lead to language switching based on learned associations, although this remains speculative without clearer transparency from OpenAI.

Meta to cut roughly 5% of its workforce based on performance:

• Meta is reducing its workforce by 5%, or around 3,600 employees, through performance-based terminations, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg's internal memo.

• Zuckerberg stated that the company is raising the bar on performance management and will accelerate the removal of low-performers compared to the previous year.

• This follows significant layoffs in recent years, with 10,000 employees let go in 2023 and 11,000 in 2022, marking a continued trend of workforce reductions at Meta.

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