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This Week’s Top Stories
AI Funding News and Warnings
Once again, this week brought us AI funding news, as well as some warnings: Some categories and stages are showing signs of overheating. Luckily, we also spotted some cool startups — literally.
Most Interesting Startup Stories from the Week
Image Credits:
- Whatnot
It may seem hard to believe, but OpenAI is still a startup, hence its recurring top spot here. There were other interesting stories this week, though.
OpenAI Raises $6.6 Billion in Funding
OpenAI raised $6.6 billion at a $157 billion post-money valuation, in addition to securing a $4 billion revolving line of credit and launching a new interface. The company reportedly asked investors not to back rivals such as Anthropic and xAI, but OpenAI didn’t confirm. Meanwhile, Anthropichired OpenAI co-founder Durk Kingmain a remote role.
Attack of the Clones: Y Combinator Faces Criticism
Y Combinator faced criticism for backing AI code editor PearAI, whose CEO apologized for cloning another YC-backed, open source project without proper attribution and with a ‘flubbed’ license.
Livestreamed Shopping: Whatnot Reaches $2 Billion in GMV
Livestream shopping app Whatnot said its annual gross merchandise volume (GMV) surpassed $2 billion this year, a sign that there’s still hope for the live commerce business in the U.S.
Most Interesting Fundraises This Week
Image Credits:
- Series Entertainment
Some companies prefer to raise funding under the radar; others even operate underwater.
Deep End: AI Coding Startup Poolsider Raises $500 Million
AI coding startup Poolsider raised a $500 million Series B round of funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from eBay and Nvidia. This allowed Poolside to bring 10,000 Nvidia GPUs online to train future models, CEO Jason Warner said.
Cool Water: Barcelona-Based Immersion Cooling Startup Submer Raises $55.5 Million
Barcelona-based immersion cooling startup Submer raised $55.5 million to get more customers for its solution, which is already used by hyperscalers, telecom companies, and other large corporations.
11x Meets a16z: AI Sales Bot Developer 11x.ai Raises $50 Million in Funding
11x.ai, a startup that develops AI sales bots, secured a Series B round of funding of approximately $50 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, TechCrunch learned.
Stealthy Funding: Cloud Backup Startup Eon Reaches $750 Million Post-Money Valuation
Cloud backup startup Eon came out of stealth and revealed it already reached a $750 million post-money valuation after raising three rounds of funding, including a $77 million Series B.
More Stealthy Funding: Generative AI Game-Development Platform Series Raises $28 Million in Funding
Series, a generative AI game-development platform, quietly raised a $28 million Series A round of funding, TechCrunch reported.
VCs and Investors
Related Articles
- OpenAI is losing money on its pricey ChatGPT Pro plan, CEO Sam Altman says
- OpenAI is beginning to turn its attention to ‘superintelligence’
- Timekettle’s new earbuds offer real-time translation on calls
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