Digg is back, baby! Almost 20 years after launching the social news service, Kevin Rose is rebooting the service with his one-time nemesis, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. They think it can give Reddit a run for its money, too. Such was our takeaway after chatting late last week with Rose, who is also a general partner at True Ventures and a sparkling conversationalist, as we were reminded. Hope you enjoy the chat, via StrictlyVC Download.

OpenAI reportedly has plans to charge up to $20,000 per month for specialized, Ph.D.-level AI agents, according to a report in The Information. TechCrunch has more here. 

When AI startups reach billion-dollar valuations in months and market conditions can shift overnight, traditional due diligence approaches are pushed to their limits. VCs are challenged to validate complex technologies, assess business model sustainability, and pick out the highest quality deals amid the hype.

Join this webinar to see how Vanessa Larco, former Partner at New Enterprise Associates has evolved her due diligence process and the investments she’s considering to support the next generation of innovative companies.

By Maxwell Zeff

In a policy paper published Wednesday, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, and Center for AI Safety Director Dan Hendrycks said that the U.S. should not pursue a Manhattan Project-style push to develop AI systems with “superhuman” intelligence, also known as AGI.

The paper, titled “Superintelligence Strategy,” asserts that an aggressive bid by the U.S. to exclusively control superintelligent AI systems could prompt fierce retaliation from China, potentially in the form of a cyberattack, which could destabilize international relations.

“[A] Manhattan Project [for AGI] assumes that rivals will acquiesce to an enduring imbalance or omnicide rather than move to prevent it,” the co-authors write. “What begins as a push for a superweapon and global control risks prompting hostile countermeasures and escalating tensions, thereby undermining the very stability the strategy purports to secure.”

Co-authored by three highly influential figures in America’s AI industry, the paper comes just a few months after a U.S. congressional commission proposed a “Manhattan Project-style” effort to fund AGI development, modeled after America’s atomic bomb program in the 1940s. U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright recently said the U.S. is at “the start of a new Manhattan Project” on AI while standing in front of a supercomputer site alongside OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman.

The Superintelligence Strategy paper challenges the idea, championed by several American policy and industry leaders in recent months, that a government-backed program pursuing AGI is the best way to compete with China.

More here.

Darwinbox, a 10-year-old Hyderabad company whose software helps companies handle tasks like hiring, payroll, employee engagement, and performance tracking, raised a $140 million round. KKR and Partners Group were the co-leads, with Gravity Holdings also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Epirus, a seven-year-old startup based in Torrance, CA, that develops advanced microwave technology designed to disable electronic devices, including drones and drone swarms, raised a $200 million Series D round co-led by 8VC and Washington Harbour Partners, with additional participation from Gaingels and General Dynamics Land Systems. TechCrunch has more here.

Quantexa, a nine-year-old London startup that helps banks, insurance companies, telecommunications firms, and government agencies connect and analyze large amounts of data to detect fraud, understand customer behavior, and manage risks, raised a $175 million Series F round at a $2.6 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Teachers' Venture Growth, with previous investor British Patient Capital also participating. The company has raised a total of approximately $550 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Specter Ops, an eight-year-old startup that helps organizations identify weaknesses in their networks by simulating real-world cyberattacks and providing tools to improve defense strategies, raised a $75 million round led by Insight Partners, with Ansa Capital, M12, Ballistic Ventures, Decibel, and Cisco Investments also joining in. SiliconANGLE has more here. ​

Tandem PV, a nine-year-old startup that develops advanced solar panels that combine traditional silicon with a thin layer of perovskite material to increase efficiency, raised a total of $50 million in equity and debt led by Eclipse, with Constellation Energy, Planetary Technologies, Uncorrelated Ventures, Trellis Climate, Stifel Bank, CSC Leasing, and Tom Werner also investing. Renewables Now has more here.

Zeitview, an 11-year-old Los Angeles company that uses AI and drones to inspect critical infrastructure like solar farms, wind turbines, utilities, and telecom assets, raised a $60 million round led by Climate Investment, with previous investors Valor Equity Partners, Union Square Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Euclidean Capital, Energy Transition Ventures, Hearst Ventures, and Y Combinator also piling on. More here.

Across, a three-year-old Chicago startup that has developed an eponymous interoperability protocol that allows users to perform cross-chain transactions such as swapping tokens or depositing assets in a single request, raised $41 million in a token sale. The deal lead was Paradigm, with support from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and Sina Habinian. The company has raised a total of $51 million. NFTgators has more here.

Ataraxis AI, a New York-based startup that's focused on using AI to accurately predict not only if a patient has cancer, but also what their cancer outcome looks like in five to 10 years, has raised $20.4 million in Series A funding. AIX Ventures led the round, joined by Thiel Bio, Founders Fund, Floating Point, Bertelsmann, and earlier investors Giant Ventures and Obvious Ventures. TechCrunch has the story here.

Atmosic Technologies, a nine-year-old startup based in Campbell, CA, that designs ultra-low power wireless connectivity technology aimed at reducing or eliminating the need for batteries in Internet of Things devices, raised a $40 million round led by Sutter Hill Ventures and including Clear Ventures and Quantum Innovation Fund. More here.

Auxia, a three-year-old Palo Alto startup that offers an AI-driven marketing platform that enables large enterprises to create personalized customer journeys by utilizing their own data, raised a total of $23.5 million in seed and Series A funds. The lead was VMG Technology Partners, with participation from MUFG Innovation Partners, Incubate Fund, Vela Partners, and Stage 2 Capital. More here.

Capow, a seven-year-old Israeli startup that has developed technology that wirelessly powers robots while they move, eliminating downtime for charging, raised a $15 million Series A round. Toyota Ventures was the deal lead, with Elements VC as well as previous investors IL Ventures, Payton Planar Magnetics, Mobilion, and Doral Energy-Tech also weighing in. CTech has more here.

Coalition, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup that provides cyber insurance combined with cybersecurity tools to help SMBs manage and mitigate digital risks, raised a $30 million round. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance provided the funding. More here.

CoverForce, a five-year-old New York startup that provides an API platform that enables insurance brokers and distributors to quote, pay for, and bind commercial insurance policies online, raised a $13 million Series A round led by Insight Partners and including Nyca Partners. More here.

Epoch BioDesign, a six-year-old London startup that develops enzymes that break down hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable chemicals, raised a $18.3 million Series A round led by Extantia Capital, with Inditex, Lowercarbon Capital, Happiness Capital, Kibo Invest, and Day One Ventures also stepping up. EU-Startups has more here.

Firsthand, a two-year-old New York startup that is building an AI-powered platform that enables brands and publishers to engage consumers through custom AI agents, raised a $26 million Series A round led by previous investor Radical Ventures, with FirstMark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, and Crossbeam Venture Partners also pitching in. More here.

Heidi Health, a six-year-old Melbourne startup that provides AI-powered software that transcribes doctor-patient conversations into clinical notes, raised a $16.6 million Series A round led by Headline, with Local Globe and Anthology as well as previous investors Blackbird, HESTA, Possible Ventures, and Archangel Ventures also joining in. DealStreetAsia has more here.

Infrared Finance, a crypto startup that allows users to stake native tokens on the Berachain blockchain, earning rewards while maintaining liquidity through liquid staking tokens, raised a $14 million Series A round. The deal was led by Framework Ventures, with Citizen X, Halo Capital, No Limit Holdings, NGC Ventures, and Selini Capital also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $18.75 million. CoinDesk has more here.

Knostic, a two-year-old Tel Aviv startup that provides security tools that help businesses control what information their AI systems can access and share, raised an $11 million led by Bright Pixel Capital, with SVCI, DNX Ventures, and Seedcamp also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $14 million. CTech has more here.

Stargate Hydrogen, a four-year-old startup based in Tallinn, Estonia, that designs and manufactures electrolyzers for industries like heavy transport, steelmaking, and chemicals, raised a $11.9 million Series A round. Investors included Giga, UG Investments, and SmartCap Green Fund. The company has raised a total of $54 million. Renewables Now has more here.

VIE Technologies, a nine-year-old San Diego startup that uses AI to monitor the health of industrial equipment such as transformers in order to predict and prevent failures, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Energy Impact Partners. Utility Dive has more here.

Copley, a one-year-old Boston startup whose AI-driven platform aims to enables brands to create, test, and distribute marketing content across various channels, including web, email, SMS, television, and billboards, raised a $4.8 million round co-led by Asymmetric Capital Partners and Underscore VC. More here.

Gem Specialty Health, a three-year-old startup based in Minneapolis, MN, that provides a virtual service that focuses on diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, particularly obstructive sleep apnea, raised a $7 million Series A round co-led by HealthTrend Capital and LFE Capital, with previous investors Base10 Partners and Mairs & Power Venture Capital also stepping up. More here.

MaxIQ, a three-year-old startup based in San Ramon, CA, that uses AI to help B2B SaaS companies track and predict customer behavior, aiming to improve customer retention and revenue growth, raised a $7.8 million seed round led by Dell Technologies Capital, with Intel Capital also opting in. More here.

Momentic, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI-powered platform helps software developers automate end-to-end testing of web applications, raised a $3.7 million seed round. Investors included FundersClub, General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and AI Grant. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Skyfora, a six-year-old Helsinki startup that provides AI-powered weather forecasting services by transforming existing cell towers into high-resolution weather sensors, enhancing data collection without additional hardware, raised a $4.3 million round co-led by Ugly Duckling Ventures and Lumo Labs and including Voima Ventures and EIC Fund. ArcticStartup has more here.

Telescope, a three-year-old Oslo startup that helps real estate companies identify and manage sustainability risks, such as climate change impacts and biodiversity loss, raised a $4 million seed round co-led by Scale Capital and Dreamcraft Ventures, with Curiosity VC and OBOS Oppstart also investing. EU-Startups has more here.

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8VC, investor Joe Lonsdale's Austin-based venture firm, has closed its newest fund with roughly $1 billion in capital commitments. FreightWaves has more here.

The CEO of the bankrupt EV startup Canoo is buying up the company's assets for $4 million in cash. TechCrunch has more here. 

Discord, a 10-year-old online platform based in San Francisco that allows people (and especially gamers) to communicate via voice, video, and text in private groups or public communities, is reportedly talking to bankers about going public. The New York Times has more here. 

The three co-founders of CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed IPO candidate that provides cloud computing infrastructure optimized for AI, machine learning, and other high-performance computing tasks, have sold off sold off much of their Class A stock to the tune of $488 million. TechCrunch has more here. 

Kevin Rose, a partner at True Ventures and a co-founder of the social media platform Digg, and Alexis Ohanian, a founder and managing partner of the VC firm 776 and a co-founder of Reddit, have bought back Digg from BuySellAds, a digital advertising company. In addition to Connie's chat with Rose (see top of newsletter), TechCrunch has more here.

He's baaaack! Ryan Breslow, the controversial founder of Bolt who stepped down as CEO in 2022 after too much turmoil to recount here, has returned as CEO of the one-click checkout company. TechCrunch has more here. 

Ethan Thornton, the 21-year-old founder and CEO of Sequoia-backed Mach Industries, has just received a contract from the Defense Department to build a weapons factory. TechCrunch has more here. 

Sesame AI's voice assistant is reportedly so "eerily realistic" that some people who have tested it have developed feelings for it. Ars Technica has more here. 

Anthropic has quietly removed from its website pledges it made during President Biden's tenure to research AI discrimination and share info on managing AI risks. TechCrunch has more here. 

February sales of Tesla vehicles in Australia are down 70% compared to the previous period last year. Futurism has more here.

Republicans and Democrats are united in their love of the JD Vance babyface meme.

Ludocene, the "Tinder for gamers."

Not your father's station wagon. 

A $45 million Aspen mansion on "Billionaire Mountain."