For those that are new around here, this is an extension of my weekly newsletter where I highlight new and innovative AI products that are worth exploring.
Hey {{FirstName | hey}}!
Happy Wednesday!
Here’s your news in newsletter!
Riding off the high of yesterday’s catchup recap, Today’s News issue covers the news from the past week, so it’ll be short and sweet.
In this Issue:
Your Weekly Industry News Recap
The Raise Recap
Headliner: Did Grok Break GDPR? Ireland Wants Answers 🕵️♂️💾
Ireland’s privacy watchdog is investigating X over how its AI, Grok, was trained using EU users’ data—**and it’s raising big red flags. 🕵️♂️💾 The question: did Grok gobble up personal info without permission? This could be a major GDPR showdown with ripple effects for all AI training practices. Big Tech’s “just scrape it” approach might be heading for its first major European reckoning. ⚖️🌍
Your Weekly Industry News Recap
ModelOp Wins AI Governance Award – This AI governance firm just nabbed a top prize for helping companies manage models responsibly. 🏆⚖️
🔗 Read MoreVirtual Coaching Platform Gears Up for Fundraising – Mental performance meets AI, and investors are taking notice. 🧘♂️🧠
🔗 Read MoreAI’s ARR Metric Might Be Broken – Are we measuring AI startup performance wrong? Some metrics aren’t aging well. 📉🔍
🔗 Read MoreAI Interview Copilot Helps Job Seekers Prep – This friendly AI tool helps candidates rehearse, refine, and land the job. 💼🎙️
🔗 Read MoreStanford’s 2025 AI Index Report Drops – The new report is packed with trends, shifts, and surprises in AI progress worldwide. 📊🌐
🔗 Read MoreEU Simplifies AI Act in New Strategy Push – Europe’s rolling out its biggest AI governance shift yet—aiming for simplicity and speed. 🇪🇺📜
🔗 Read MoreGoogle’s Hidden Trillion-Dollar AI Play – Under the radar, Google may have the biggest AI monetization edge of all. 🔍💰
🔗 Read MoreSustainability + AI: What’s the Real Cost? – Hyperscalers say they’re green, but are AI workloads pushing sustainability limits? 🌍⚠️
🔗 Read MoreTreefera Uses AI to Improve Business ESG Ops – Treefera blends AI + climate data to optimize sustainability strategies. 🌳📈
🔗 Read MoreAI x Precision Farming is Here – From yield boosts to smarter soil reading, AI is changing the future of farming. 🌾🤖
🔗 Read MoreDeepL Named to Forbes AI 50—Again – The translation unicorn is on the list for the second year running. 🏆🌍
🔗 Read MoreAI + Governance: Harvard’s Take – A new paper lays out how to go beyond Section 230 and regulate AI wisely. 🧠⚖️ 🔗 Read More
The AI Operating Partner in PE Firms – Private equity is now appointing AI partners to drive portfolio value. 📊🧠
🔗 Read MoreGoogle + Sphere Team Up for AI-Powered ‘Wizard of Oz’ – Expect next-gen visuals powered by AI in this Vegas-based tech-meets-theater collab. 🧙♂️🎭
🔗 Read MoreAlignMT AI Launches Healthcare Governance Platform – A new platform helping health orgs adopt AI without compliance nightmares. 🏥⚖️
🔗 Read More
This Week’s Raise Recap 📈💰
Hugging Face Acquires Humanoid Robotics Startup – Hugging Face isn’t just about models anymore—they’ve picked up a robotics startup to bring AI into the real world. 🤝🤖 🔗 Read More
Alphabet & NVIDIA Back New AI Startup – Two tech giants just teamed up to fund a new AI player—expect something big brewing. 💸⚡
🔗 Read MoreFrontline.io Raises $10M for XR Platform – This startup is using AI + extended reality to reshape global training and support. 🌍🕶️
🔗 Read MoreFourier Scores $18.5M from Airbus Ventures – Fourier’s robotics + AI tech caught Airbus’ eye, bringing in funding to scale smarter systems. ✈️🤖
🔗 Read MoreOptimized Electrotech Raises $6M for AI Surveillance – This Indian startup is building defense-grade surveillance powered by AI. 🛡️📡
🔗 Read MoreArmis Eyes $1B IPO as ARR Surges – AI cybersecurity firm Armis is hitting $1B ARR and may be prepping to go public. 🔐📈
🔗 Read MoreAI Consulting Startup Banks $1M Pre-Seed – This new platform wants to streamline AI advice for businesses, and it’s got some fresh fuel. 📈🧠
🔗 Read MoreElm AI Secures $2M for Supply Chain AI – Elm is building tools to make supply chains greener and smarter, backed by new capital. 🌱📦
🔗 Read MorePCBair Invests in AI to Improve Quality Control – This manufacturing player is betting on AI to cut defects in PCB production. 🔍🖥️
🔗 Read MoreRegTech Hawk Raises $56M to Fight AI-Driven Financial Crime – Banks are betting on Hawk’s AI to stay ahead of fraud and compliance threats. 🏦🧠
🔗 Read MoreBlumind Secures Series A to Advance Analog AI – A bold move into non-traditional, analog AI tech just got funded to scale. ⚡🧠
🔗 Read More
Stay well, and see you next week!
-✌🏽 Sam