Nvidia increased its quarterly revenue and net income by 78% and 80%, respectively, catching analysts by surprise and suggesting that the AI chip boom is far from over. TechCrunch has more here.

Amazon rolled out Alexa+, which Amazon’s devices and services chief Panos Panay says will know " almost [everything] in your life — your schedule, your smart home, your preferences, the devices you’re using, the people you’re connected [to and] the entertainment you [enjoy]." Good times. TechCrunch has more here.

Instagram may be considering spinning out Reels in order to compete more effectively with TikTok. The Information has more here. 

Bitcoin is now trading below $85,000 and is more than 20% off of its January high. Business Insider has more here. 

Here’s a list of the world’s top-cited Gen AI Researchers who fueled the rise of Anthropic, OpenAI, and many more. Filter by education, work experience, and location. Connect with them on LinkedIn. Find the next AI unicorn before they raise. Download the list now. 

By Marina Temkin

Inception, a new Palo Alto-based company started by Stanford computer science professor Stefano Ermon, claims to have developed a novel AI model based on “diffusion” technology. Inception calls it a diffusion-based large language model, or a “DLM” for short.

The generative AI models receiving the most attention now can be broadly divided into two types: large language models (LLMs) and diffusion models. LLMs, built on the transformer architecture, are used for text generation. Meanwhile, diffusion models, which power AI systems like Midjourney and OpenAI’s Sora, are mainly used to create images, video, and audio.

Inception’s model offers the capabilities of traditional LLMs, including code generation and question-answering, but with significantly faster performance and reduced computing costs, according to the company.

Ermon told TechCrunch that he has been studying how to apply diffusion models to text for a long time in his Stanford lab. His research was based on the idea that traditional LLMs are relatively slow compared to diffusion technology.

With LLMs, “you cannot generate the second word until you’ve generated the first one, and you cannot generate the third one until you generate the first two,” Ermon said.

Ermon was looking for a way to apply a diffusion approach to text because, unlike with LLMs, which work sequentially, diffusion models start with a rough estimate of data they’re generating (e.g. ,a picture), and then bring the data into focus all at once.

More here.

Eikon Therapeutics, a seven-year-old startup based in Hayward, CA, that focuses on creating treatments for cancer and other serious diseases by tracking molecular movements within living cells, raised a $350.7 million Series D round led by Lux Capital, with additional participation from Alexandria Venture Investments, The Column Group, Foresite Capital, and General Catalyst. Pharmaceutical Technology has more here.

Raise, a 12-year-old Miami company that operates a digital marketplace where users can buy and sell gift cards at discounted rates, raised a $63 million round led by Haun Ventures, with Amber Group, Anagram, Blackpine, Borderless Capital, GSR, Karatage, Paper Ventures, Pharsalus Capital, Selini Capital, Sonic Boom Ventures, and the Web3 Foundation also piling on. The company has raised a total of $220 million. PYMNTS has more here.

Bridgetown Research, a one-year-old Seattle startup that develops AI-powered agents to conduct business research and analysis for private equity firms, consulting companies, and corporate strategy teams, raised a $19 million Series A round co-led by Lightspeed and Accel. TechCrunch has more here.

Camber, a four-year-old New York startup whose software is designed to automate and streamline insurance claims processing, raised a $30 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with support from K Ventures and Y Combinator. More here.

Flanks, a seven-year-old Barcelona startup that automates the collection and consolidation of financial data from various sources, providing wealth managers with comprehensive, real-time insights into their clients' portfolios, raised a $14.7 million round led by Motive Ventures, with Battery Ventures as well as previous investors Earlybird, JME Ventures, and 4Founders Capital also opting in. Tech.eu has more here.

Goose, a five-year-old Chicago startup that provides software designed to help pet care businesses manage their operations more efficiently, raised a $13.4 million seed round. Investors included B Capital, First Round Capital, The 81 Collection, Imaginary Ventures, and BoxGroup. More here.

Magdrive, a six-year-old UK startup that is developing advanced electric propulsion systems for satellites and spacecraft, raised a $10.5 million seed round led by Redalpine, with Balerion, Founders Fund, Alumni Ventures, Outsized Ventures, 7percent Ventures, and Entrepreneur First also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Nomagic, a nine-year-old Warsaw startup that develops AI-powered robotic systems to automate repetitive tasks in warehouses, such as picking, packing, and sorting items, raised a $44 million Series B round led by EBRD, with Khosla Ventures and Almaz Capital also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Sparta Commodities, a six-year-old Geneva startup that provides an AI-powered platform that helps traders and analysts track and analyze global commodity markets in real-time, raised a $42 million Series B round led by One Peak, with previous investors Singular and FirstMark also stepping up. More here.

Venn, a three-year-old Toronto startup that offers an all-in-one banking platform tailored for Canadian SMBs, raised a $15 million Series A round. Left Lane Capital led the transaction, with XYZ Venture Capital, Intact Ventures, and Gradient also writing checks. More here.

Vivici, a four-year-old Dutch startup that produces animal-free dairy proteins using precision fermentation technology, raised a $34.1 million Series A round co-led by APG and Invest-NL and including InnovationQuarter as well as previous investors DSM-Firmenich and Fonterra. Green Queen has more here.

Adaptive Insurance, a one-year-old Austin startup that offers parametric insurance products to help U.S. businesses financially prepare for weather-related power outages, raised a $5 million seed round led by Congruent Ventures, with Montauk Climate and Generation Space also pitching in. Reinsurance News has more here.

Arsenale Bioyards, a three-year-old Milan startup that combines advanced bioreactors with AI-driven software to optimize fermentation processes for biomanufacturing, raised a $10 million round co-led by Planet A and byFounders, with CDP Ventures, Acequia Capital, Plug N Play, and Grey Silo Ventures also pitching in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Floodbase, an eleven-year-old New York company that uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to track floods globally, enabling the creation of parametric flood insurance products that offer quick payouts without traditional claims processes, raised a $5 million round. Ecosystem Integrity Fund led the investment, with Pulse Fund also taking part. More here.

Henry AI, a two-year-old New York startup that provides an AI-powered platform to help commercial real estate brokers create professional marketing materials quickly, raised a $4.3 million seed round co-led by Susa Ventures and 1Sharpe Ventures and including RXR, Arden Venture Arms, Singularity Capital, Unwritten Ventures, Coalition Operators, Pioneer Fund, Orange Collective, and Storyhouse Ventures. More here.

Ignota Labs, a five-year-old UK startup that specializes in reviving abandoned drug candidates by identifying and resolving safety issues that caused them to fail in clinical trials, raised a $6.9 million seed round co-led by Montage Ventures and AIX Ventures, with Modi Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and Gaingels also participating. EU-Startups has more here.

Jord Bioscience, a seven-year-old startup based in Saint Paul, MN, that develops customizable microbial inoculants that, when combined with existing agricultural products, improve plant growth and protection, raised a $7 million Series B round. Silver Blue led the financing, with Discovery Capital Funding and Minnesota's Small Business Credit Initiative Direct Investment also joining in. More here.

LangWatch, a two-year-old Amsterdam startup that provides tools for tracking performance, evaluating quality, and optimizing costs of AI applications, raised a $1.1 million pre-seed round led by Passion Capital, with Volta Ventures and Antler also anteing up. Silicon Canals has more here.

Mitico, a four-year-old startup based in Pasadena, CA, that uses a special material to collect over 95% of CO₂ from facilities like power plants and factories, raised a $4.3 million seed round led by Exergon, with Gore Ventures, AP Ventures, Halliburton Labs, SOSV, Freeflow Ventures, SoCal Alliance for Innovation, and Deepbright Ventures also joining in. Carbon Herald has more here.

Portola, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that has developed Tolan, an AI-powered virtual companion designed to help users feel grounded, inspired, and connected, raised a $10 million seed round led by Lachy Groom. GeekWire has more here.

Rune, a one-year-old startup based in Roslyn, VA, that develops software to improve military field logistics, such as tracking supplies like food, fuel, and ammunition, raised a $6.2 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Point72 Ventures and XYZ Venture Capital also investing. Business Insider has more here. 

STAX Engineering, a nine-year-old Los Angeles startup whose systems remove pollutants from ships' exhaust, helping shipping companies comply with environmental regulations, raised a $10 million and $60 million in debt. Firstime Credit and Deutsche Bank were the co-leads. More here.

Vayu, a two-year-old Tel Aviv startup that offers a no-code platform to help B2B tech companies manage complex billing and revenue processes, raised a $7 million seed round. Flint Capital and The Garage co-led the deal, with participation from previous investors Fresh.Fund and Secretchord.vc. CTech has more here.

Vidyut, a four-year-old Bangalore startup that allows customers to rent EV batteries and pay based on usage, raised a $2.5 million round. Flourish Ventures was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $16.5 million. Entrepreneur has more here.

Affinity spoke to Lauren MacDonald, Principal at Sozo Ventures, about the firm’s successful CRM implementation. The outcome? This comprehensive yet simple-to-follow checklist, covering every step from pre-implementation planning to ways you can maximize CRM adoption and business impact. With MacDonald’s best practices spread throughout the checklist, this is your essential companion to launching a new CRM in your firm. Download the checklist now.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and former Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis are just two of the athletes backing One Eight Capital, which hopes to raise $100 million to back personalized and preventative healthcare startups. Hamlin famously suffered a heart attack during a 2023 Bills game. Sportico has more here. 

DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV) has agreed to spend $85 million in an all-cash deal to acquire Rockerbox to help expand its ad tech business beyond understanding media quality to driving performance, reports Axios. Rockerbox -- founded in 2013 by two alums of AppNexus, the digital ad exchange acquired by AT&T -- tells the outlet it was "relatively bootstrapped."

Bloomberg is reporting that CoreWeave, a buzzy seven-year-old New Jersey startup backed by Nvidia that provides infrastructure-as-a-service tailored for industries like AI, is looking to file to go public within a week in an offering that would value the company at more than $35 billion. More here. 

The Atlantic on how Sam Altman could break up Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

On this week's StrictlyVC Download, Connie talks to SignalFire's Chris Farmer, who is betting that the venture industry will never look the same.

The chief executive of the American Psychological Association gave a presentation to the Federal Trade Commission in which he warned that generative AI chatbots "masquerading" as therapists could lead vulnerable people to harm themselves or others. The New York Times has more here.  

Meta is discussing building a $200 billion data center campus for its AI projects, according to a report in The Information. Reuters has more here. 

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati's new startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is reportedly raising $1 billion at a $9 billion valuation. Business Insider has more here. 

A man downloaded an AI tool, and it ruined his life. The Wall Street Journal has more here. 

The fascinating backstory behind Barbara Broccoli's decision to sell full control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon.

Happy Pokémon Day, everybody.

Your dog may be trying to talk to you through blinking. 

Could hot weather be causing you to age faster?

Brooklyn's most expensive home boasts 12,000 square feet, a private garden, a sauna, a wine cellar, a five-car garage, and a rooftop pool/Jacuzzi.

A G-Shock from another planet. 

Speaking of shocking watches, the Google Pixel Watch 3 can now detect if you're dead.