OpenAI has been working with Broadcom and TSMC for months on an AI chip, temporarily shelving plans to build its own foundries. Reuters has more here.  

xAI, Elon Musk's answer to OpenAI, is reportedly in the market to raise several billion dollars at a $40 billion valuation, a 67% markup over its last valuation less than six months ago. The Wall Street Journal has the scoop here. 

Bitcoin briefly hit $73,096 today, just shy of its all-time high of $73,750, which it recorded in March of this year. Fast Company has more here. 

If Fidelity is to be believed, Trump Social is now worth more than X. Business Insider has more here. 

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By Sarah Perez

iPod creator, Nest Labs founder, and investor Tony Fadell took a shot at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday during a spirited interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Francisco.

Speaking about his understanding of the longer history of AI development before the LLM craze and the serious issues with LLM hallucinations, he said, “I’ve been doing AI for 15 years, people, I’m not just spouting sh** — I’m not Sam Altman, okay?”

The comment drew a surprised murmur of “oohs” from the shocked crowd amid just a small handful of applause.

Fadell had been on a roll during his interview, touching on a number of topics ranging from what kind of “a**holes” can produce great products to what’s wrong with today’s LLMs.

While admitting that LLMs are “great for certain things,” he explained that there were still serious concerns to be addressed.

“LLMs are trying to be this ‘general’ thing because we’re trying to make science fiction happen,” he said. “[LLMs are] a know-it-all…I hate know-it-alls.”

More here.

InBrain Neuroelectronics, a five-year-old Barcelona startup that uses graphene to develop brain-computer interface technology for neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease, raised a $50 million Series B round led by Imec.xpand, with EIC Fund, Fond ICO Next Tech, CDTI-Innvierte, and Avançsa as well as previous investors Asabys Partners, Aliath Bioventures, and Vsquared also piling on. The company has raised a total of $68 million. More here.

Moniepoint, a ten-year-old London startup that provides digital payment, banking, and financial management services for African SMBs, raised a $110 million Series C round at a $1+ billion valuation. The deal was led by Development Partners International, with additional participation from Google's Africa Investment Fund and Verod Capital as well as previous investor Lightrock. More here.

Andium, a twelve-year-old New York company that provides remote monitoring technology for the oil and gas industry, enabling companies to track emissions, leaks, and other environmental risks in real-time, raised a $21.7 million Series B round led by Aramco Ventures, with Climate Investment and Intrepid Financial Partners also taking stakes. The company has raised a total of $40+ million. More here.

Beyond Aero, a French startup that is developing electric aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells, focusing on sustainable business aviation, raised a $20 million Series A round co-led by Giant Ventures and Bpifrance, with additional support from Initialized Capital. The company has raised a total of $44 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Brightwave, a two-year-old New York startup that uses AI to analyze content such as SEC filings, earnings call transcripts, and news for financial professionals, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Decibel Partners, with OMERS Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $21 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Browserbase, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that provides a platform for running and managing headless web browsers at scale, which is particularly useful for tasks like web automation, data scraping, and supporting AI applications with internet access, raised a $21 million Series A round co-led by CRV and Kleiner Perkins, with Okta Ventures and Reed McGinley-Stempel also anteing up. More here.

Cruisebound, a four-year-old New York startup that operates an online platform meant to simplify booking cruises, offering competitive pricing, flexible payment options, and rewards for travelers, raised a $13 million round led by Thayer Ventures, with Link Ventures, PAR Capital Ventures, Flybridge, and Plug & Play Ventures also participating. PhocusWire has more here.

Duetti, a three-year-old New York startup that allows music artists to receive upfront payments for their songs by selling a share of their music catalog’s earnings, raised a $34 million round. Flexpoint Ford led the investment, with Nyca Partners and Viola Ventures also pitching in. Billboard has more here.

GMI Cloud, a two-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that provides high-performance GPU cloud infrastructure designed for AI and machine learning tasks, including model training and data processing, raised a $15 million Series A equity round. Headline Asia was the deal lead, with additional funds provided by Banpu and Wistron. The company also raised $67 million in debt. TechCrunch has more here.

Infraspeak, a ten-year-old Portuguese company that helps facilities managers in industries like hospitality, healthcare, and retail streamline maintenance operations, allowing them to monitor equipment, manage workflows, and ensure compliance, raised a $19.4 million Series B round led by Endeit Capital, with Bright Pixel Capital, Caixa Capital, Innovation Nest, and Indico Capital Partners also joining in. TechCrunch has more here.

Innoventric, an eight-year-old Israeli startup that develops medical devices aimed at treating tricuspid valve regurgitation through a minimally invasive approach, raised a $28.5 million Series B round led by RA Capital Management, with EIC, BRM Group, JG Private Equity, and Mivtach Shamir Holdings also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $41 million. CTech has more here.

Matia, a one-year-old Miami and Tel Aviv startup that aims to simplify data management for AI and data teams by integrating ingestion, reverse ETL, observability, and catalog features into one system, raised a $10.5 million seed round co-led by Leaders Fund and Secret Chord Ventures, with Cerca Partners and Caffeinated Capital also investing. CTech has more here. 

Merlin Solar, a nine-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that designs flexible, lightweight solar panels tailored for various uses, including transportation, off-grid settings, and rooftops, raised a $31 million Series B round co-led by Fifth Wall, with Saint-Gobain and Ayala also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

MobilityPlus, a nine-year-old Belgian startup that provides smart EV charging services primarily for corporate fleets, real estate companies, and property managers, raised a $43.2 million round led by Suma Capital, with previous investor Concentra also taking part. Silicon Canals has more here.

Osigu, a ten-year-old Miami company whose platform automates and streamlines healthcare payments, claims management, and revenue cycle processes, raised a $25 million Series B round led by IDC Ventures, with Visa also stepping up. PYMNTS has more here.

Planetary Technologies, a six-year-old Canadian startup that is developing carbon removal technology that enhances ocean alkalinity in order to capture atmospheric CO₂ and reduce ocean acidity, raised an $11.4 million Series A round led by Evok Innovations, with BDC Capital, Amplify Capital, DNX Ventures, and Iconiq Capital also chiming in. Carbon Herald has more here.

Semble, a eight-year-old London startup whose platform is designed to streamline operations for medical practices, including appointment scheduling, patient management, billing, and telehealth services, raised a $15 million Series B round led by Mercia Ventures and including Octopus Ventures, Smedvig Ventures, and Triple Point. The company has raised a total of $27 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Table 22, a ten-year-old New York company that helps restaurants, wine shops, and other hospitality businesses create new revenue streams through subscription services, pre-orders, and memberships, raised an $11 million Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Footwork, Forerunner Ventures, and Alt Capital also opting in. More here.

Wildfire Systems, an eight-year-old San Diego startup that provides a white-label platform for shopping rewards, cashback, and loyalty programs, raised a $16 million Series B round co-led by Intuit Ventures and Mucker Capital, with Cohen Circle, Samsung Next, Evolution VC, and Gaingels as well as previous investors TTV Capital, QED Investors, B Capital, DLA Piper, Moonshots Capital, and Citi Ventures also piling on. More here.

Zenity, a four-year-old Tel Aviv startup that provides security and governance tools specifically for low-code, no-code, and AI development platforms, raised a $38 million Series B round co-led by Third Point Ventures and DTCP, with Intel Capital, Vertex Ventures, and M12 also contributing. The company has raised a total of $55 million. CTech has more here.

Auquan, an eight-year-old London startup that uses AI to help financial professionals automate time-consuming research, reporting, and analysis tasks, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Peak XV, with previous investor Neotribe Ventures also anteing up. Entrackr has more here.

Casap, a two-year-old New York startup that provides an automated platform for managing transaction disputes and combating fraud for financial institutions like banks, credit unions, and fintech companies, raised an $8.5 million round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with additional participation from Primary Venture Partners, Commerce Ventures, Curql, and Alloy Labs. More here.

Checkmate, a nine-year-old New York startup that provides an AI-powered ordering platform for restaurants, offering services like online ordering, drive-thru voice AI, and kiosk-based orders, raised a $10 million Series B round. Tiger Global led the transaction. Restaurant Business Magazine has more here.

Emidat, a one-year-old Munich startup that provides software for construction companies to calculate and share the environmental impact of building materials, raised a $4.3 million seed round. General Catalyst was the deal lead. Tech Funding News has more here.

Moondream, a Seattle startup founded this year that has built a compact AI model that combines visual and language processing to support advanced applications in vision AI, raised a $4.5 million pre-seed round led by Felicis, with the M12 GitHub Fund and Ascend also chiming in. GeekWire has more here.

RiPSIM Technologies, a four-year-old startup based in Ashburn, VA, whose platform enables telecom providers and private network operators to create and manage eSIMs on demand, raised a $5 million seed round led by Ten Eleven Ventures. More here.

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Proximity Ventures, a New York VC fund co-founded by actor, director, and producer Olivia Wilde, is raising an early stage fund and a $100 million growth stage fund. The firm will focus on on consumer and enterprise investments. Bloomberg has more here. 

Fingercheck, an 11-year-old New York company that provides an all-in-one platform for small businesses to manage payroll, HR, time tracking, and benefits, either raised a $115 million round led by Edison Partners or was acquired by the firm. The company's press releases states that Fingercheck raised a round from Edison as well as StepStone Group and Columbus Capital, while The Wall Street Journal maintains that the company has was sold. You be the judge!

The New York Times is reporting that Elon Musk built a Texas compound for his 11 children and has offered be a sperm donor for friends and acquaintances, including Nicole Shanahan, Google co-founder Sergey Brin's former wife and a candidate for Vice President. More here. 

former independent vice-presidential candidate ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is China's richest person. Reuters has more here.

Ashton Kutcher, actor, and co-founder of Sound Ventures, explained today at Disrupt why the firm has bet on numerous closed LLM companies instead of just one; he also said Sound, which backed OpenAI in an earlier funding round, hasn't sold a share of that equity despite the run-up in OpenAI's valuation.  TechCrunch has more here. 

Consensys, the company behind the crypto wallet and browser extension Metamask, is laying off 20% of its staff. Reuters has more here.

Reuters delves into Intel's fall and places the blame on CEO Pat Gelsinger, who alienated key partner TSMC and overstated the company's progress on AI chip deals. More here. 

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said today on his company's third quarter earnings call that "more than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers.” The Verge has more here. 

A Tesla running in Full Self-Driving mode ran straight into a deer and didn't even slow down. Jalopnik has the video to prove it. 

Talk about full-service: Bessemer Venture Partners developed a fitness program for startup founders. Fast Company has more here. 

It costs $65 to get "R.I.P. treatment" at Blood Manor, a haunted house in New York's TriBeCa, where jump scares do not come cheap.

And speaking of scares, a New York courthouse is doing its best to scare the bejesus out of anyone who ventures inside, in a competition presided over by district, magistrate, and appellate judges from the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Is Washington's "poop artist" the next Banksy?

The White Lotus and the Four Seasons are planning to offer immersive travel experiences for the show's superfans. Details are TBD, but start saving now, because there is no doubt it's going to be expensive.

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