Did Grok Break GDPR? Ireland Wants Answers 🕵️‍♂️💾

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.

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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. ⚖️🌍

🔗 Read more

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. 🏆⚖️
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• Virtual Coaching Platform Gears Up for Fundraising – Mental performance meets AI, and investors are taking notice. 🧘‍♂️🧠
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• AI’s ARR Metric Might Be Broken – Are we measuring AI startup performance wrong? Some metrics aren’t aging well. 📉🔍
   🔗 Read More 

• AI Interview Copilot Helps Job Seekers Prep – This friendly AI tool helps candidates rehearse, refine, and land the job. 💼🎙️
   🔗  Read More

• Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report Drops – The new report is packed with trends, shifts, and surprises in AI progress worldwide. 📊🌐
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• EU Simplifies AI Act in New Strategy Push – Europe’s rolling out its biggest AI governance shift yet—aiming for simplicity and speed. 🇪🇺📜
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• Google’s Hidden Trillion-Dollar AI Play – Under the radar, Google may have the biggest AI monetization edge of all. 🔍💰
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• Sustainability + AI: What’s the Real Cost? – Hyperscalers say they’re green, but are AI workloads pushing sustainability limits? 🌍⚠️
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• Treefera Uses AI to Improve Business ESG Ops – Treefera blends AI + climate data to optimize sustainability strategies. 🌳📈
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• AI x Precision Farming is Here – From yield boosts to smarter soil reading, AI is changing the future of farming. 🌾🤖
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• DeepL Named to Forbes AI 50—Again – The translation unicorn is on the list for the second year running. 🏆🌍
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• AI + 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. 📊🧠
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• Google + Sphere Team Up for AI-Powered ‘Wizard of Oz’ – Expect next-gen visuals powered by AI in this Vegas-based tech-meets-theater collab. 🧙‍♂️🎭
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• AlignMT AI Launches Healthcare Governance Platform – A new platform helping health orgs adopt AI without compliance nightmares. 🏥⚖️
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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. 💸⚡
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• Frontline.io Raises $10M for XR Platform – This startup is using AI + extended reality to reshape global training and support. 🌍🕶️
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• Fourier Scores $18.5M from Airbus Ventures – Fourier’s robotics + AI tech caught Airbus’ eye, bringing in funding to scale smarter systems. ✈️🤖
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• Optimized Electrotech Raises $6M for AI Surveillance – This Indian startup is building defense-grade surveillance powered by AI. 🛡️📡
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• Armis Eyes $1B IPO as ARR Surges – AI cybersecurity firm Armis is hitting $1B ARR and may be prepping to go public. 🔐📈
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• AI Consulting Startup Banks $1M Pre-Seed – This new platform wants to streamline AI advice for businesses, and it’s got some fresh fuel. 📈🧠
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• Elm AI Secures $2M for Supply Chain AI – Elm is building tools to make supply chains greener and smarter, backed by new capital. 🌱📦
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• PCBair Invests in AI to Improve Quality Control – This manufacturing player is betting on AI to cut defects in PCB production. 🔍🖥️
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• RegTech Hawk Raises $56M to Fight AI-Driven Financial Crime – Banks are betting on Hawk’s AI to stay ahead of fraud and compliance threats. 🏦🧠
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• Blumind Secures Series A to Advance Analog AI – A bold move into non-traditional, analog AI tech just got funded to scale. ⚡🧠
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Stay well, and see you next week!

-✌🏽 Sam