The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have divvied up responsibility for investigating potential anti-competitive behavior by the three most prominent AI companies in the world, with Justice taking on Nvidia and the FTC going after OpenAI and Microsoft. The New York Times has more here. 

According to the NYT, Humane started talking to HP about a possible sale about a week after the first negative reviews of its Ai Pin came out. More here.

It looks like Chinese-owned ByteDance - already on Congress' naughty list for its ownership of TikTok - has been trying to evade U.S. sanctions by renting Nvidia GPUs from Oracle. The Information has the scoop here. 

80% of Fund Managers are dissatisfied with their portfolio tracking – using 3 tools on avg., different approaches across PortCos, parsing multiple data formats & struggling to standardize data for meaningful analysis. Get interesting insights from this survey of 120+ Fund Managers on portfolio management practices, key challenges, and potential solutions.

Carta, a once-high-flying Silicon Valley startup that loudly backed away from one of its businesses earlier this year, is working on a secondary sale that would value the company at $2 billion, TechCrunch has learned.

Carta is working with the investment bank Jeffries on the sale and initially hoped to find demand for the offering at a valuation of $4 billion, but according to our sources, even $2 billion may prove ambitious.

That’s a massive, if not entirely unexpected, drop in valuation for Carta, which originally focused on cap table management software but began over time to evolve into a “private stock market for companies.” Its goal was to take advantage of the network of companies and investors that used its platform and into which it has insights. The big idea was to become the transfer agent, brokerage and clearinghouse for all private stock transactions in the world.

More here

ITM Isotope Tech, a 20-year-old Munich startup that specializes in the development and production of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, raised a $204.6 million round led by Temasek, with additional participation from BlackRock, Qatar Investment Authority, Athos, and Carbyne. More here.

Prolific Machines, a four-year-old, Emeryville, CA-based photomolecular biology startup that says it has a unique manufacturing approach to growing cells for industries, including cultivated meat, has raised $55 million in Series B funding. Ki Tua Fund, the corporate venture arm of Fonterra Co-operative Group, led the round, joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield, SOSV, Shorewind Capital, Darco Capital, Conti Ventures and In-Q-Tel. TechCrunch has more here.

Fizz, a three-year-old, New York-based student debit card startup, tells TechCrunch it has raised $14.4 million in seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from SV Angel, Y Combinator, and New Era Ventures, among others. More here.

HYPR, a 10-year-old New York company that uses FIDO passkeys to eliminate the need for passwords, raised a $30 million round. Silver Lake Waterman was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $127 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Kanastra, a São Paulo startup whose products handle fund management, administration, and the issuance and management of securitization instruments for credit originators and institutional investors, raised a $21 million Series A round led by Kaszek, with Atlantico as well as previous investors Valor Capital, Quona Capital, QED Investors, and Actyus also participating. Bloomberg has more here.

Seven AI, a Boston startup that uses AI to autonomously detect and investigate cyber threats, raised a $36 million round at a $100+ million valuation. The deal was led by Greylock Partners, with CRV and Spark Capital also writing checks. The WSJ has more here. 

SiTration, a four-year-old Boston startup that develops technology for extracting valuable metals from industrial waste, such as mining tailings, raised an $11.8 million seed round led by 2150, with BHP Ventures, Extantia, and Orion Industrial Partners as well as previous investors Azolla Ventures and E14 Fund also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

Sixfold, a one-year-old New York startup that uses generative AI to help insurance companies streamline their underwriting process, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Salesforce Ventures, with Scale Venture Partners as well as previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Crystal Venture Partners contributing. Reinsurance News has more here.

Spiideo, a 12-year-old company based in Malmö, Sweden, that provides tools like AI-powered cameras and software for performance analysis and instant replay for sports teams, leagues, and broadcasters, raised a $20 million round. The company has raised a total of $40 million. Cipio Partners led the investment. Sports Business Journal has more here.

Bem, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that helps engineering teams convert unstructured data like emails, PDFs, and spreadsheets into structured formats that can be used in their applications, raised a $3.7 million seed round led by Uncork Capital, with additional participation from Roar Ventures and Garry Tan. VentureBeat has more here.

Botsync, a seven-year-old Singapore startup that creates automated mobile robots that help manufacturers and warehouses with their operations, raised a $5.2 million Series A round co-led by Capital 2B and Belatron Venture Group and including IvyCap Ventures, AppWorks, Iterative, Wong Fong, ZB Capital, Nalin Advani, and Ascend Angels. Entrackr has more here.

Dive Solutions, a six-year-old Berlin startup that provides computational fluid dynamics simulations to help companies analyze fluid flow and heat transfer in their products, raised a $10 million Series A round led by D.E. Shaw Group and including First Momentum Ventures, Segenia Capital, and Senovo Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Eyebot, a three-year-old Boston startup that develops AI-powered kiosks that conduct eye exams in 90 seconds without needing an optometrist, raised a $6 million round co-led by AlleyCorp and Uniquity Ventures, with Susa Ventures, Village Global, Baukunst, Ravelin, and Spacecadet also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

Greptile, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that has built an AI-driven platform designed to assist developers by providing expert insights and recommendations on code bases, raised a $4.1 million seed round led by Initialized Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Hoop, a two-year-old New York startup that that uses AI to help users organize and manage their to-do lists without manually updating them, raised a $5 million seed round led by Index Ventures, with additional funds provided by Origin Ventures, Divergent Capital, and Chingona Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

iPiD, a three-year-old Singapore startup that provides a platform that helps financial institutions verify and validate international payment details, raised a $5.3 million pre-Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures, with Quona Capital and QED Investors as well as previous investors Jungle Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Saison Capital, and Resolution Ventures also investing. Singapore Business Review has more here.

OneScreen.ai, a four-year-old Boston startup that provides a platform for planning, purchasing, and measuring out-of-home advertising, including billboards and other public ads, raised a $4.7 million round. Investors included Asymmetric Capital Partners, Techstars, and Impellent Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Prósperos, a one-year-old startup based in Los Altos, CA, that offers a range of financial tools designed to improve access to banking, credit, and financial education for Latino individuals and businesses, raised a $3 million round. Investors included Febe Ventures, Bat VC, Tekton Ventures, and Courtyard Ventures. FinTech Global has more here.

Rising Team, a four-year-old Menlo Park startup that helps managers enhance team performance through personalized coaching and training tools, raised an $8 million Series A round led by Zeal Capital Partners, with previous investors Peterson Ventures, Roble Ventures, Female Founders Fund, Burst Capital, and Supernode Ventures also stepping up. More here.

SensusQ, a startup based in Tallinn, Estonia, that offers tools that help analyze data and generate actionable insights for defense and security purposes, raised a $4.1 million round. New North Ventures was the deal lead. Tech.eu has more here.

Sloyd, a three-year-old Oslo startup that aims to automates the 3D design process for creators and game developers, raised a $3.3 million round. Andreessen Horowitz, Antler, Skyfall, FreshFund, AceCap, and Hartmann Capital invested in the deal. EU-Startups has more here.

Stashh, a three-year-old startup that has built an encrypted trading platform for NFT creators and collectors, raised a $3.3 million round. Investors included Animoca, 6th Man Ventures, Shima Capital, Hashkey Capital, and SFermion. More here.

Sware, a nine-year-old Boston startup that provides automated software to help life sciences companies manage and speed up their validation processes, making sure they comply with regulations efficiently, raised a $6 million Series B round led by First Analysis, with previous investors LRVHealth, New Stack Ventures, and Insight Partners also opting in. HIT Consultant has more here.

Tektonic, a one-year-old Seattle startup that creates generative AI agents designed to automate various business operations, raised a $10 million seed round co-led by Point72 Ventures and Madrona Ventures. TechCrunch has more here. 

WealthOS, a five-year-old London startup that provides tools for banks, asset managers, and fintech companies looking to modernize their wealth management processes, raised a $2.6 round. Barclays and Main Set co-led the deal. Tech Funding News has more here.

There’s no guide to being a founder… but now, there is Founder Docs from Wing VC. Created for founders, by founders, it’s your free resource with 80+ articles from top founders and entrepreneurs from companies including Pinecone, Tango, Classiq, Jellyfish, and more, with their invaluable, hard-earned advice on how to succeed as a startup founder. Build a reading list all about product-market fit, get expert advice on how to hire an incredible engineering team, or learn where cutting corners makes sense—and where it’s a recipe for failure. Access the docs now.

Robinhood is buying BitStamp, a 13-year-old cryptocurrency exchange based in Luxembourg, for $200 million in a deal expected to close in the first half of next year. The WSJ has more here. 

If you think Carta's situation is rough, Byju, an Indian edtech once valued at $22 billion, has been marked down to zero by HSBC, which makes Byju’s downfall one of the most spectacular startup slides in recent memory, the bank states in a research note. TechCrunch has more here. 

Kraken, a 13-year-old cryptocurrency exchange,  wants to "release the kraken" by going public and is reportedly in talks to raise a $100+ million pre-IPO round, according to Bloomberg, which has more here. 

In a U.S. federal court trial, former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch has been found not guilty of fraud for selling Autonomy to Hewlett Packard for $11 billion way back in 2011. Bloomberg has more here. 

Notorious G: serial entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal has been busted by the New York Times for running a generative AI news "chop shop." More here. 

Former Tesla board member Steve Westly came out against approving Tesla CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package on CNBC today, saying the shareholder vote will be “high drama next week, and everybody is going to be watching.”

Meet Joshua Wright, Big Tech's fixer.

Yet another Forbes's 30 Under 30 class member runs into a wall.

“I’m here to tell you everything is not going to be ok,” Apollo co-president Scott Kleinman said in a session at the SuperReturn International conference in Berlin on Wednesday. “The types of PE returns it enjoyed for many years, you know, up to 2022, you’re not going to see that until the pig moves through the python. And that is just the reality of where we are.”

The WSJ digs into Apple's failure to launch in AI.

Forbes looks into White Stork, a secretive startup founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt that is making AI-powered defense drones with the help of top talent from Apple, SpaceX, and - yes - Google.

That Snowflake hack could be one of the biggest data breaches ever. Wired has more here.

Employers don't know what to do about millennial and Gen Z workers who refuse to answer their phone.

Perplexity, a two year-old San Francisco startup that says it is building an AI search engine to compete with Google, aired a commercial tonight during the first game of the NBA Finals. 

Irish tweens may have written the song of the summer. 

The perfect video to play for your boss when you're late. ("Perfect" if you want to be fired, that is.)

Cool coolers that don't require ice.

A free Leica camera app. 

Slop Tarts.