Top News:

The U.S. Postal Service is once again accepting packages from China.
Wall Street banks have sold off their X debt, influenced by Elon Musk's relationship with President Trump and X's stake in Grok.
AI researchers have created an alternative to OpenAI’s o1 and DeepSeek’s R1 for $50.
Operatives working for Elon Musk have gained access to U.S. government data, raising concerns about security and legality. This access, granted to Musk’s DOGE team, involves sensitive data on millions of Americans and allies, with questions surrounding cybersecurity practices and transparency.

Funding Rounds:

Cashfree: $53 million Series C (payment gateways).
Semgrep: $100 million Series D (AI for security flaw detection).
Atombeam: $20 million Reg A+ (data file size reduction).
Beamable: $13.5 million Series A (game development platform).
IONATE: $17 million Series A (smart energy platforms).
Ivo: $16 million Series A (AI for contract review).
MagicSchool AI: $45 million Series B (tools for educators).
Protex AI: $36 million Series B (AI for workplace safety monitoring).
Astra Security: $2.7 million (AI for identifying security vulnerabilities).
Desteia: $8 million seed (AI for managing global shipments).
GetWhys: $2.8 million seed (AI-powered customer insights).
Little Otter: $9.5 million (virtual care for children and families).
LogicStar: $3 million pre-seed (AI agents for software maintenance).
Neuralk-AI: $4 million (AI embedding platform).
PinkDx: $5 million Series A extension (diagnostic tests for gynecological cancers).
Prior Labs: $9.4 million pre-seed (AI models for analyzing data).
SAEKI: $6.7 million seed (3D printing and precision machining).
SimpliFed: $4 million (lactation and infant feeding support).
Solstice Health: $3.5 million seed (AI for life sciences marketing).
Trace.Space: $4 million seed (AI for managing product requirements).

New Funds:

Exits:

Ampere: SoftBank is considering acquiring Ampere for $6.5 billion.
Deel: Sold $300 million secondary shares in preparation for a potential IPO.

People:

A Democratic House member is introducing the ELON MUSK Act to limit federal contracts for Special Government Employees like Elon Musk.
John Schulman, an OpenAI co-founder, left Anthropic after six months.
Yan-David Erlich has joined B Capital as a general partner.

Layoffs:

Other:

Deel's deal, the real story behind Pavel Durov's arrest, and an OpenAI co-founder leaves Anthropic months after joining