Top News

A Google Cloud outage on Thursday temporarily knocked out parts of the internet, taking down services like Spotify, Discord, Snapchat, and Character.AI and reminding everyone just how brittle our digital infrastructure still is. TechCrunch has more here.

Meta just confirmed its $14.3 billion investment in seven-year-old San Francisco startup Scale AI, cementing what had been whispered for days and handing over the reins of its new Superintelligence lab to Scale’s 28-year-old founder, Alexandr Wang. The New York Times has more here.

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YC’s call for designers, Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s “io” is a signal for what’s coming next: As AI makes product development faster and easier, design and taste become the differentiators.

We’ve curated a list of 80+ promising design founders to watch — your starting point to spot builders with a design DNA. Get their coordinates here.

Tesla Sues Former Optimus Engineer over Alleged Trade Secret Theft

By Rebecca Szkutak

Tesla sued a former engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets from its humanoid robotics program, Optimus, and using them to launch a rival startup.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday and originally reported on by Bloomberg, accuses Zhongjie “Jay” Li of stealing trade secrets regarding Tesla’s development of “advanced robotic hand sensors” to launch his startup Proception, a Y Combinator-backed company building robotic hands.

The complaint states that Li, who worked at Tesla from August 2022 to September 2024, downloaded confidential information about Optimus on two separate personal smartphones.

The complaint also added that during the last few months of his time at Tesla, Li researched “humanoid robotic hands” on his workplace computer in addition to making internet searches regarding venture capital and other startup funding sources.

“Less than a week after he left Tesla, Proception was incorporated,” the complaint stated. “And within just five months, Proception publicly claimed to have ‘successfully built’ advanced humanoid robotic hands—hands that bear a striking resemblance to the designs Li worked on at Tesla.”

More here.

Massive Fundings

Gecko Robotics, a 12-year-old Pittsburgh company that builds robots and software that help energy, defense, and manufacturing companies inspect and monitor critical infrastructure for damage or wear, raised a $125 million Series D round at a $1.25 billion post-money valuation. The deal lead was Cox Enterprises, with USIT, XN, Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and Friends & Family Capital also anteing up. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Lovable, a two-year-old Stockholm startup that enables non‑developers to build full-stack apps by chatting with an AI assistant that generates code, user interfaces, authentication, data storage, and integrations, is reportedly in the market to raise a $100 million round at a $1.5 billion valuation. Tech Funding News has more here.

Meter, a 10-year-old San Francisco company that builds and operates internet and cellular networks for businesses, including installation, connectivity, monitoring, and ongoing support, raised a $170 million round at a $1+ billion valuation. General Catalyst was the lead investor, with Baillie Gifford, Lachy Groom, J.P. Morgan, Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Tishman Speyer, WndrCo, and 53 Stations also participating. More here.

Multiverse Computing, a six-year-old Spanish startup that builds technology that it claims can shrink large language models by up to 95%, raised a $218.7 million Series B round led by Bullhound Capital, with HP Tech Ventures, SETT, Forgepoint, CDP VC, Santander Climate VC, Toshiba, and Capital Riesgo de Euskadi - Grupo SPRI also investing. The company has raised a total of approximately $250 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Nominal, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that builds software that helps defense, aerospace, and energy companies test and monitor complex systems like satellites, drones, and robotic arms, raised a $75 million round led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners as well as previous investors Lux Capital, General Catalyst, and Founders Fund. Bloomberg has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Autonomize AI, a three-year-old Austin startup that uses AI agents to help healthcare and life sciences organizations analyze and manage unstructured data like clinical notes and research papers, raised a $28 million Series A round co-led by Cigna Ventures and Tau Ventures, with additional participation from Asset Management Ventures, ATX Venture Partners, and Capital Factory. More here.

Landbase, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to automate outreach marketing, raised a $30 million Series A round co-led by Sound Ventures and previous investor Picus Capital, with 8VC, A*, Firstminute Capital, and TheGP. TechCrunch has more here.

OneBalance, a one-year-old London startup that provides software tools that help developers integrate cross-chain transfers and account management into their crypto apps, raised a $20 million Series A round co-led by cyber•Fund and Blockchain Capital and including Mirana Ventures and L2IV. Cointelegraph has more here.

Payrails, a four-year-old Berlin startup that helps large companies manage and automate complex payment workflows, including accepting, routing, and reconciling payments across multiple providers and markets, raised a $32 million Series A round led by HV Capital, with previous investors EQT Ventures, General Catalyst, and Andreessen Horowitz also taking part. PYMNTS has more here.

Shinkei Systems, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup that raised a $22 million Series A round co-led by Founders Fund and Interlagos, with Yamato Holdings, Shrug, CIV, Jaws, and Mantis also engaging. More here. 

Standard Nuclear, a one-year-old startup based in Oak Ridge, TN, that makes advanced nuclear fuel pellets for companies developing next-generation nuclear reactors, raised a $42 million round led by Decisive Point, with Andreessen Horowitz, Crucible Capital, Fundomo, and Washington Harbour Partners also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

Try Your Best, a three-year-old Tucson startup that helps brands build loyalty programs by turning customers into advocates who earn rewards for promoting products and giving feedback, raised an $11 million Series A round co-led by Offline Ventures and Strobe Ventures, with Coinbase Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, and Unusual Ventures also contributing. More here.

Smaller Fundings

Bolo AI, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that helps industrial companies quickly access and act on information buried in documents, procedures, and legacy systems, raised a $8.1 million seed round led by True Ventures, with Benchstrength, Accomplice, J Ventures, and Beat Ventures also stepping up. More here.

Iterate.ai, a 12-year-old company based in San Jose, CA, that helps large companies build and deploy custom AI tools using a low-code platform designed for secure environments and edge computing, raised a $6.4 million round. Auxier Asset Management led the financing. More here.

Lembas, a one-year-old Israeli startup that makes high-protein foods designed to help people lose weight by mimicking the effects of GLP-1 drugs, raised a $3.6 million pre-seed round led by Flora Ventures, with Bluestein Ventures, Fresh Fund, Longevity Venture Partners, Maia Ventures, Siddhi Capital, Mandi Ventures, and SDH also opting in. AFN has more here.

OrisDX, a four-year-old Chicago startup that helps dentists and doctors detect oral cancer early by analyzing saliva for genetic markers in a single test, raised a $4 million round led by Revere Partners, with CareQuest Innovation Partners also contributing. More here.

Riiico, a four-year-old German startup that uses AI to convert factory scan data into fully segmented, CAD‑ready 3D digital twins for engineering teams, raised a $5 million seed round led by Pi Labs, with Seed+speed Ventures, WaVe-X, Earlybird Venture Capital, and Volvo Cars Tech Fund also participating. Vestbee has more here.

Ryght AI, a two-year-old startup based in Laguna Beach, CA, whose AI platform helps drug developers and clinical researchers quickly find and qualify trial sites by creating a digital database of global research centers, raised a $3 million seed round led by Foothill Ventures, with LDV Partners, Virtue Ventures, IASO Ventures, Top Harvest Capital, and Page One Ventures also investing. More here.

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New Funds

Felicis, a 19-year-old VC firm based in Menlo Park, just closed a $900 million fund, its tenth. "We believe dozens of $100B+ AI companies will emerge this decade (not merely $1B or $10B)," Felicis wrote in its blog post announcing the new fund. TechCrunch has more here. 

Exits

WordPress owner Automattic just scooped up Clay, a four-year-old New York startup that has developed a CRM that individuals can use to organize their contacts and calendars. Terms were not disclosed. Clay raised $9+ million from General Catalyst and Forerunner Ventures. TechCrunch has more here. 

Securonix, a 15-year-old company based in Addison, TX, that uses AI to detect and respond to network threats, acquired ThreatQuotient, a 12-year-old company based in Ashburn, VA, that helps organizations manage and prioritize threat intelligence feeds. Terms were not disclosed. SiliconANGLE has more here. 

Going Public

Chime, a 12-year-old San Francisco neobank, popped 37% in its Nasdaq debut, reaching a $13.5 billion valuation. TechCrunch has more here, including the story of how Chime almost died in 2016.

People

In an interview with Variety, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton discussed their upcoming film F1 and Apple's broader movie strategy, with Cook maintaining that Apple isn’t chasing hardware sales but betting big on original films to build cultural relevance and a sustainable entertainment business. More here.

Essential Reads

Google's DeepMind is teaming up with the National Hurricane Center to test an AI model that predicts both the path and strength of hurricanes up to 15 days out. The New York Times has more here. 

OpenAI is partnering with Mattel to bring generative AI into toys and "experiences," with their first product expected later this year. TechCrunch has more here. 

Meta’s AI app is publishing users’ most personal (and sometimes incriminating) questions without clear privacy warnings. TechCrunch has more here. 

Detours

MLB players say legalized sports betting has turned fan interactions toxic, with a flood of death threats, Venmo demands, and on-field heckling from gamblers who treat every pitch like a personal investment.

The teaser for Spaceballs 2 is out. "May the Schwartz be with you." 

Retail Therapy

Fujifilm's latest mirrorless shooter proves there's no school like the old school. 

Houseboats of the rich and famous.