Snap Alums Unveil Ghost Angels Fund
A group of 20 former Snap executives and employees has launched Ghost Angels, a venture fund aimed at backing the next generation of social‑media and consumer AI startups. While the total capital raised remains undisclosed, the fund has already backed five companies and intends to deploy the remaining capital into at least 15 more deals over the next year. The partnership mix includes senior leaders now at Microsoft and early‑career alumni, reflecting a deliberate diversity of experience. Ghost Angels will focus on pre‑seed to seed rounds, emphasizing AI‑driven creative tools and niche community platforms.
After Nvidia’s $20B Not-Acqui-Hire, AI Chip Startup Groq Reportedly Raising $650M
AI chip startup Groq is pursuing a $650 million funding round from its existing investors to accelerate its inference‑cloud services. The round follows a December “not‑acquisition” deal with Nvidia that paid Groq shareholders $20 billion in cash and transferred senior staff and...
Cognition’s Scott Wu Says AI Coding Agents Shouldn’t Replace Humans
Cognition, the creator of the AI coding agent Devin, closed a $1 billion Series D round, valuing the startup at $26 billion. The company reports that Devin authored 89% of its code, positioning the tool as a self‑driving software development partner rather than...
Kiwibit’s AI-Powered Bird Feeder Is My New Backyard Buddy
The Kiwibit Bird Feeder Pro 4K AI Camera blends solar power, dual seed compartments, and an AI‑driven bird‑identification system that sends real‑time alerts through a companion app. Reviewers praise its 130‑degree wide‑angle video, two‑way audio, and cloud storage, though the...
This Chip Startup Just Raised $135M on a Bet that AI’s Biggest Bottleneck Isn’t Compute — It’s Memory
XCENA, a South Korea‑U.S. chip startup, announced a $135 million Series B round that lifts its valuation to $570 million. The company’s MX1 processor embeds compute directly into DRAM using a CXL link, aiming to cut the costly data shuttling between CPUs, GPUs...
The Internet Is Being Rebuilt for Machines
Amazon Web Services unveiled a next‑generation OpenSearch Serverless designed for agentic AI workloads. The platform decouples compute from storage, allowing instant scaling up for bursty agent traffic and scaling down to zero when idle, eliminating idle‑compute charges. It integrates natively...
Slate Auto Will Announce Pricing and Take Preorders for Its EV on June 24
Slate Auto, backed by Jeff Bezos and Dodgers owner Mark Walter, will reveal pricing and open non‑refundable preorders on June 24, ahead of first deliveries later this year. The startup is urging a $50 reservation now to secure an earlier...
Asana Acquires No-Code Agent-Builder StackAI
Asana announced a $75 million acquisition of StackAI, a Y Combinator‑backed no‑code agent‑builder that automates workflows across Salesforce, Slack and G Suite. The deal is positioned as a cornerstone of Asana’s broader AI pivot, aiming to transform its work‑management platform into an operating...
Bluesky Embraces Long-Form Content to Counter X Articles
Bluesky has added native long‑form content by integrating Standard.site, a community‑driven publishing layer built on the AT Protocol. The update lets users view articles, blog posts, and newsletters as dynamic link cards within the Bluesky feed, expanding beyond its micro‑blog...
Just Like Gold and Oil, We’ll Soon Be Able to Trade AI Token Futures
The Shanghai Futures Exchange is designing AI token futures, a move that mirrors commodity markets like gold and oil. At the same time, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange are working on futures contracts for GPU rentals, reflecting growing demand for...
With a New $100M Raise, Princeton’s Thea Energy Is Now a Top-Funded Fusion Startup
Thea Energy announced an oversubscribed $100 million Series B, bringing its total private capital to $130 million and positioning it among the best‑funded fusion startups. The new funds will expand production of its modular, pixel‑inspired magnets and fund construction of the Eos demonstration...
CrowdStrike and Google Take Down Botnet Used by Hackers to Target Open Source Software Developers
CrowdStrike, in partnership with Google and nonprofit Shadowserver, dismantled the Glassworm botnet that had been compromising open‑source developers for two years. The operation shut down four command‑and‑control servers that leveraged the Solana blockchain, BitTorrent, Google Calendar and VPNs, halting further...
AI Coding Startup Cognition Raises $1B at $25B Pre-Money Valuation
Cognition, the creator of the autonomous AI software engineer Devin, announced a funding round exceeding $1 billion, valuing the startup at $25 billion pre‑money. The round was led by Lux Capital and General Catalyst, with participation from Founders Fund, 8VC, Ribbit Capital,...
Amazon Fulfillment Competitor Stord Raises $250M at $3B Valuation
Atlanta‑based Stord raised $250 million, valuing the company at $3 billion—double its valuation from a year ago. The round was led by Strike Capital with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared and Bond. Founded in 2015, Stord...
Everyone Is Navigating AI Security in Real Time — Even Google
Google Cloud COO Francis de Souza warned that AI security can’t be an afterthought, urging firms to adopt a platform‑first, multicloud approach. He highlighted the rise of “shadow AI,” the collapse of breach response times from eight hours to 22...