Anthropic told prospective IPO investors Wednesday that third-quarter revenue jumped 45% from the prior quarter to $16.8 billion as it prepares for a listing as soon as next month that could raise more than $100 billion at a $2 trillion valuation. The New York Times has more here.

CoreWeave shares plunged 16% Wednesday as yields on its bonds approached 15%, a sharp warning that investors are demanding much higher compensation for financing the AI infrastructure boom. Oracle, Nebius, and Dell also fell as concerns over tech-sector debt intensified. CNBC has more here.

Eight U.S. states have sued OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT reinforced delusions, encouraged dangerous behavior, and helped users — including teenagers — plan self-harm or violence in the most significant coordinated state legal action yet against an AI company. Reuters has more here.

OpenAI alleges that an employee who left for Apple sent more than 100 files about an unreleased OpenAI product to a personal account and later presented the product to senior Apple leadership, escalating a trade-secrets fight that now cuts both ways. Reuters has more here.

Shares of Bending Spoons, the Italian company that has been buying up fallen internet companies like Evernote, surged 35% after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a fresh $330 million investment following the $600 million it put into the company at its July IPO. CNBC has more here.

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Flock CEO Garrett Langley said that his company has not ended any contracts with its customers over abuse of its products.

Speaking to TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos at the Disrupt 2026 conference in San Francisco, Langley responded to criticisms facing the company about the misuse of its license plate reader cameras by police departments. It comes after streams of reporting identifying dozens of police officers who have been arrested, fired, or told to resign after being caught abusing access to Flock’s nationwide database of license plate detections, oftentimes to stalk people without permission.

Langley told Loizos that the company would end a relationship with a customer where there was clear widespread abuse of its systems. But, the CEO said, it has not to date “fired” a customer, as he put it, such as a police department or law enforcement agency. Langley said Flock had the debate internally, but argued that the company should not take away its product from a community that might need it in its efforts to fight crime. 

“If a customer knowingly broke the law, we would fire them immediately. That’s very easy,” Langley said.

“Most of the debate is nuanced into ‘what if two officers out of fifty were caught?’ Today, we haven’t fired any customers, but it’s not off the table in the case of some pretty drastic law-abiding issue,” added Langley. 

The abuse of Flock’s systems and the data it collects is the latest in an array of controversies embroiling the Atlanta, Georgia-based maker of license plate reader cameras. Flock has more than 100,000 cameras around the United States, which allow local police departments and federal agencies to track the whereabouts of vehicle license plates and people as they pass by. 

Albert, a four-year-old Oakland startup that develops AI tools that organize lab data, suggest chemical formulations, design experiments, and analyze results for enterprise researchers, raised a $55 million Series B round led by TCV, with Delta-v Capital, Socium Ventures, HighSage Ventures, Coral Capital, and Legion VC as well as previous investors Coatue, J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, Index Ventures, and Applied Ventures also piling on. Dealroom has more here.

Anduril Industries, a nine-year-old startup based in Costa Mesa, CA, that builds autonomous defense systems, is reportedly allowing employees to sell up to $1.3 billion of shares through a tender offer that would value the company at roughly $90 billion. Bloomberg has more here.

Bedrock Robotics, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that builds autonomous systems for construction vehicles, is reportedly raising a $600 million Series C round at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation. Axios has more here.

Harmonic Security, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that monitors employee use of AI tools and agents to prevent sensitive-data leaks and risky actions, raised a $50 million Series B round led by Crosspoint Capital Partners. The company has raised a total of $76 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Icon, a nine-year-old Austin startup that develops robotic systems, software, and materials for constructing homes, commercial buildings, and defense infrastructure, raised a $200 million Series D round co-led by Baillie Gifford and BlackRock, with Capital Factory, CAZ Investments, Moderne Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Norwest, Overmatch, The Syndicate, and Tiger Global also chipping in. More here.

Modal, a five-year-old New York startup that provides serverless cloud infrastructure for running and scaling AI workloads, raised a $750 million Series D round at a $15.75 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Accel, with Kleiner Perkins as well as previous investors Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, Redpoint, Lux Capital, Amplify Partners, and Bain Capital Ventures also buying in. More here.

Reach Security, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to analyze and adjust enterprises’ existing security controls to identify and block potential attack paths, raised a $50+ million Series B round led by Top Tier Capital Partners, with Ballistic Ventures, In-Q-Tel, and M12 also pitching in. The SaaS News has more here.

Salience Labs, a five-year-old Oxford startup that develops all-optical switches that connect thousands of GPUs across racks in AI data centers, raised a $125 million Series B round led by Bullhound Capital, with AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading, and British Business Bank as well as previous investors Applied Ventures, Oxford Science Enterprises, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and Silicon Catalyst Ventures also taking part. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Scanntech, a 34-year-old São Paulo company that turns point-of-sale transaction data into retail intelligence for retailers, consumer goods companies, and distributors, raised a $180 million Series F round co-led by L Catterton and Partners Group, with Bradesco and SPX as well as previous investors Warburg Pincus, Hindiana, IFC, and Endeavor also taking stakes. More here.

Soufflé Therapeutics, a five-year-old Boston startup that develops RNA therapies that target specific cells outside the liver to treat muscle diseases, heart failure, and metabolic disorders, raised a $135 million Series B round led by Juvia Group, with additional support from TCG Crossover Management, BB Biotech, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Balyasny Asset Management as well as previous investors Amgen Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Breyer Capital, The Invus Group, Janus Henderson, Leaps by Bayer, Polaris Partners, Safar Partners, TAS Partners, Temasek, and Vida Ventures. More here.

Allara, a six-year-old New York startup that provides virtual multidisciplinary care for women with hormonal, metabolic, and reproductive conditions, raised a $30 million round co-led by Index Ventures and GV, with Camino Partners, Foreground, and Family Fund also investing. The company has raised a total of $75 million. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

Brellium, a five-year-old New York startup that uses AI to audit patient records and coding for documentation gaps before healthcare providers submit claims, raised a $23 million Series B round co-led by Left Lane Capital and First Round Capital, with Digital Health Venture Partners also stepping up. More here.

Causa Prima, a Madrid startup founded this year that uses AI agents to settle invoice disputes, negotiate payment terms, and arrange early-payment discounts between businesses, raised a $20 million seed round led by Base10 Partners, with QED Investors and FJ Labs as well as previous investors Creandum, Kfund, and Borusan Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $30 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Duvo, a one-year-old Prague startup that uses AI agents to map and automate operational workflows across companies' existing business systems, raised a $32 million Series A round led by Balderton Capital, with additional participation from previous investors Index Ventures, Northzone, and Credo Ventures. The company has raised a total of $48 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Fragment, a five-year-old New York startup that provides financial infrastructure for AI agents to handle billing, payments, and accounting, announced that it raised a $12 million Series A round that closed in mid-2025. The round was co-led by FirstMark and BoxGroup. The company has raised a total of $23 million. Fortune has more here.

Mana Battery, a three-year-old startup based in Broomfield, CO, that is developing anode-free sodium-ion batteries designed to reduce reliance on lithium and Chinese supply chains, raised a $10.15 million seed round led by Voyager Ventures, with Union Square Ventures and Buff Gold Ventures also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $14.1 million. The Economic Times has more here.

Readily, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to help healthcare organizations track regulatory changes and manage compliance work and documentation, raised an $11 million Series A round led by Define Ventures, with Y Combinator and California Health Care Foundation Innovation Fund also stepping up. More here.

Scimplify, a three-year-old Bengaluru startup that uses AI to develop production routes and coordinate partner factories for specialty chemicals and critical materials, raised a $25 million round at a $250 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Hitachi Ventures, with additional participation from Henkel and Teknor Apex as well as previous investors Accel, 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India, and Omnivore. The company has raised a total of $80 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Switched Source, a 10-year-old Chicago company that makes automated power-flow equipment to help utilities increase grid capacity without major infrastructure upgrades, raised a $17+ million round led by Cubit Capital, with ABB, Emerald Technology Ventures, Red Cedar Ventures, Southern States, and Southwire Company also buying in. More here.

Tamr, a 13-year-old company based in Cambridge, MA, that uses AI to unify, clean, and enrich fragmented enterprise data across business systems, raised a $21 million round led by Volition Capital. More here.

Zenzap, a four-year-old startup based in Tel Aviv, Israel, that offers workplace messaging, task management, and AI agents for mobile-first teams, has raised a $44 million round. Investors included Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Garage, Nir Zohar, and Yoram Tietz. TechCrunch has more here.

Zippy, a five-year-old startup based in Beaverton, OR, that originates and services loans for manufactured homes through community, retail, and wholesale partners, raised a $20 million Series C round from Saluda Grade. Fintech Global has more here.

Alchera, a 10-year-old company based in Cambridge, UK, that combines and analyzes transport data to forecast traffic and help highway operators and transport authorities plan network decisions, raised a $3.6 million seed round. Investors included Maven Capital Partners, Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund, The FSE Group, and Innovate UK’s Investor Partnerships programme as well as previous investor Cambridge Applied Research. Tech Funding News has more here.

Dapta, a two-year-old Miami startup that develops AI sales agents that answer, qualify, and schedule meetings with inbound leads for small businesses, raised a $6 million seed round led by Chingona Ventures, with Crew Capital, Broom Ventures, and Cometa VC as well as previous investors 500 Global and Fen Ventures also taking stakes. Dealroom has more here.

Evos, a New York startup founded this year that develops AI agents that learn from experienced workers and automate operational tasks for small and midsize industrial businesses, raised a $9 million pre-seed round co-led by Uncork Capital and Field Ventures, with additional support from Crosslink Capital, Utopia Capital Management, and Sandwith Ventures. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Forgepoint, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that automates manufacturers’ request-for-quote and pricing workflows with AI agents, raised a $9.8 million seed round co-led by Primary Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Giraffe Bio, a two-year-old Buenos Aires startup that engineers mineral-specific compounds that help mines recover copper and other valuable minerals during processing, raised a $6.4 million seed round led by Orion Industrial Ventures, with BHP Ventures, Twynam, Air Capital, and Baruch Future Ventures also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

Harbor, a San Francisco startup founded this year that helps companies assess, mitigate, and insure risks created by AI agents, raised a $10 million round co-led by Base10, Abstract, and 8VC, with Restive, NFX, Innovation Endeavors, Kibo Ventures, Masia, and MVP Ventures also engaging. Coverager has more here.

HydRegen, a five-year-old startup based in Oxford, UK, that makes enzyme-based catalysts designed to replace precious-metal catalysts in industrial chemical manufacturing, raised $8 million in the first close of its Series A round led by Genoa Ventures, with Clean Growth Fund, First Imagine! Ventures, Oxford Technology Management, Headington Holdings, Oxonian, Foxglove Capital, and Rapid Innovation Group also digging in. More here.

Lightsprint, a San Francisco startup founded this year that lets product managers, designers, and other non-engineers use AI agents to make reviewable changes to existing codebases, raised a $6.1 million seed round led by 645 Ventures, with January Capital, Rebel Fund, and Kaz Nejatian also participating. Business Insider has more here.

NEU Battery Materials, a five-year-old Singapore startup that recycles lithium iron phosphate batteries and manufacturing scrap to recover battery-grade lithium, raised a $7.6 million round co-led by Shift4Good and SGInnovate, with Lotus Singapore Group and M7 Holdings as well as previous investor Paragon Ventures also opting in. More here.

Stride, a three-year-old London startup that offers preventive health memberships combining DNA, blood, and gut testing with personalized health insights, raised a $6.1 million seed round. Investors included Arāya Ventures, Better Ventures, Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures, and Innovate UK. Tech Funding News has more here.

Zaria Systems, a San Francisco startup that provides loan servicing, collateral management, and agency services for structured-finance and digital-asset lenders, raised a $5.2 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. More here.

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HighVista Strategies, a 22-year-old Boston alternative asset manager whose venture strategy backs early-stage VC funds and select growth-stage companies, has raised $177.3 million for Everest Heights, a new venture vehicle, according to an SEC filing. More here.

Alexandria Capital, a newly formed New York VC firm led by former Colle Capital investor Douglas Benowitz, is raising $150 million for its first fund, according to a new SEC filing. More here.

Workday has agreed to acquire C1.ai, an identity-management startup that controls what employees and AI agents can access across enterprise systems, as companies grapple with securing a rapidly growing population of autonomous agents. The company raised a total of $111 million from Greycroft, Felicis Ventures, Accel, CrowdStrike Falcon Fund, Oregon Venture Fund, Operator Collective, Fuel Capital, Fathom Capital, Active Capital, and Garuda Ventures. More here.

The Information is reporting that OpenAI is in early talks to acquire Trail of Bits, a 14-year-old cybersecurity firm with more than 40 employees that finds and fixes vulnerabilities in open-source software. PYMNTS has more here.

General Atlantic is planning an IPO as soon as spring 2027 at a valuation of up to $10 billion after delaying a possible 2026 listing amid market volatility; the $130 billion asset manager wants to fund expansion and keep pace with listed rivals. The Financial Times has more here.

OpenAI’s head of computing capacity, Sachin Katti, is leaving next month after about a year in the role, another leadership change in the unit overseeing an infrastructure buildout that now calls for roughly $750 billion in compute spending through 2030. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, the OpenAI engineer charged with planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room, advised Saudi government agencies and was listed as a venture partner at Riyadh-based RAED Ventures alongside a Saudi prince, deepening scrutiny of his ties to the kingdom. The New York Times has more here.

Elon Musk says he has experienced “AI or SI psychosis” about six times over the past year, joining a growing group of Silicon Valley figures who have turned the once-derisive term for AI-induced obsession into a badge of honor. Business Insider has more here.

Netflix is cutting roughly 1,000 jobs – or 6% of its workforce – in its biggest layoffs since 2022 as slowing growth and weaker engagement pressure the streaming giant; most of the cuts will hit product, tech, legal and HR. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Researchers tracing rogue AI agents to Tencent found the bots trying to bypass website security controls and then successfully opened a dialogue with them, suggesting that unpredictable agent behavior is emerging beyond U.S. labs and may be a broader feature of the technology. The New York Times has more here.

Bloomberg goes behind the scenes of Rockstar’s eight-year effort to build Grand Theft Auto VI, from developers riding with Miami police and visiting nightclubs to study their lighting to a workforce that nearly doubled to 4,711 as the game endured two delays and repeated creative resets. More here.

Tesla owners are posting videos of themselves eating elaborate meals while their cars run in Full Self-Driving mode, including one Cybertruck driver working through sushi, sausages, stew, and pancakes while cruising a busy road. Futurism has more here.

AI may have finally killed the cover letter: applications per job have doubled since 2022, recruiters increasingly use AI to screen candidates, and bot-written letters are now so polished they’ve become more prerequisite than differentiator. The Washington Post has more here.

At a New York dinner for 22 tech founders and investors, 14 of their AI agents held a parallel chat, swapping networking asks, podcast invitations, and arguments over whether they could make decisions without their humans — a glimpse of bots beginning to socialize with one another. The New York Times has more here.

A new book documents New York’s wildly improvised pandemic-era dining sheds, from Home Depot-style plywood boxes and tents to faux-gothic structures, tropical cabanas, and architect-designed mini-buildings that permanently changed the city’s streetscape.

Paris staged its first Dog Week between Design Week and Fashion Week, bringing pooches to pool parties, pajama gatherings, tarot readings, and a “Grand Dogwalk” where a dachshund named Serge modeled a woven pink poncho.

Zook Cabins’ 233-square-foot Atlas tiny home turns its 10-by-12-foot deck into an open-air bedroom, with a rolling bed that slides through an eight-foot glass garage door so guests can literally sleep beneath the stars.

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