Anthropic plans to challenge the Pentagon in court after the Department of Defense officially labeled the firm a supply-chain risk today following a dispute over military access to its AI systems. At the same time, CEO Dario Amodei apologized for a memo in which he said Anthropic had been punished for failing to offer “dictator-style praise to Trump.” “It is not in our interest to escalate the situation,” he said in a statement. TechCrunch has more here.

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The $7 million in annual recurring revenue that Cluely co-founder and CEO Roy Lee shared with TechCrunch last summer was a lie, Lee admitted on Thursday on X. Wrote Lee, this “is the only blatantly dishonest thing i’ve said publicly online, so this is my formal retraction.”

Yet his post on X also misrepresents the backstory of how and why he told TechCrunch his ARR in the first place.

Lee says in that same post that he “got a random cold call from some woman asking about numbers and told her some bs, did not expect an article about it.”

But that call occurred because Cluely’s public relations representative emailed TechCrunch and offered to make Lee available for a story. On Friday, Jun 27, 2025 at 8:38 a.m., Cluely’s PR person sent an email to TechCrunch reporter Marina Temkin that said, “I’d love to arrange an interview with Roy. Whether for a deeper dive into Cluely’s next phase or a fresh angle on his vision, we’d be happy to make it happen.”

Temkin agreed. The PR representative shared Lee’s number and confirmed that he was expecting the call. After a few attempts to reach him, Lee answered the call and gave the interview, as had been arranged.

TechCrunch was interested in talking to Cluely because in the summer of 2025, Cluely was the “cheat-on-everything” phenomenon — a viral startup that let users secretly look up answers during video calls without being detected. The company was founded after Lee published a viral post on X saying he had been suspended by Columbia University after he and his co-founder developed a tool to cheat on job interviews for software engineers.

Nominal, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup that helps hardware engineers test and operate complex systems during development and deployment, raised an $80 million Series B round led by Founders Fund, with prior backers Sequoia Capital, Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, and Red Glass also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

OKX, a nine-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that operates a cryptocurrency exchange offering spot trading, derivatives, and digital asset services, raised an undisclosed sum from Intercontinental Exchange at a $25 billion valuation. Fortune has more here.

Sage, a six-year-old New York startup that has built an AI-powered care platform for senior living and skilled nursing providers that delivers real-time insights to help caregivers detect risks earlier and prevent health declines, raised a $65 million Series C round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with previous investors IVP and Goldcrest also opting in. More here.

Sierra Space, a five-year-old startup based in Louisville, CO, that designs and manufactures satellites, spacecraft, spaceplanes, propulsion systems, and space infrastructure for national security, civil, and commercial space missions, raised a $550 million Series C round led by LuminArx Capital Management, with General Atlantic, Coatue, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Andalusian Private Capital also taking part. Payload has more here.

UForce, a London and Ukrainian startup that develops combat robotics, strike drones, unmanned naval vessels, counter-drone systems, and battlefield management software for military operations, raised a $50 million round co-led by Shield Capital and Lakestar. Resilience Media has more here.

Vast, a four-year-old startup based in Long Beach, CA, that develops commercial space stations designed for microgravity research and manufacturing, raised a $300 million Series A round led by Balerion Space Ventures, with IQT, Qatar Investment Authority, Mitsui & Co., MUFG, Nikon, Stellar Ventures, Space Capital, and Earthrise Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $1+ billion. Tech Funding News has more here.

Atavistik Bio, a five-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that aims to discover small-molecule medicines to treat rare blood disorders and cancers, raised a $40 million Series B extension led by RA Capital Management, with Nextech Invest, The Column Group, Lux Capital, and Regeneron Ventures also taking part. BioPharma Dive has more here.

Cylake, a startup that is developing an AI-powered hardware security system to protect sensitive data for governments, defense contractors, and other regulated organizations that cannot move data to the cloud, raised a $45 million seed round. Greylock was the deal lead. Business Insider has more here.

Evervault, a six-year-old Dublin startup that processes and orchestrates sensitive data while keeping it encrypted throughout storage and computation, raised a $25 million Series B round led by Ribbit Capital, with Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $46 million. EU-Startups has more here.

Greater Good Health, a five-year-old Los Angeles startup that operates a value-based primary care platform that partners with health plans and provider organizations, raised a $20.5 million Series B round led by Allumia Ventures, with DaVita Venture Group and Granite Financial Holdings as well as previous investors Flare Capital Partners, Optum Ventures, LRVHealth, Health Velocity, Martin Ventures, and Epsilon Ventures also investing. More here.

HawkEye 360, a 10-year-old company based in Herndon, VA, that supplies space-based radio-frequency data and analytics that detect, geolocate, and analyze RF emissions worldwide for defense, intelligence, and national security organizations, raised a $23 million Series E round. Investors included Ghisallo Capital, Principia Growth, Sixty Degree Capital, and Strategic Development Fund. More here.

Lio, a three-year-old Munich startup that automates enterprise procurement workflows using AI agents that evaluate suppliers, negotiate terms, and complete purchasing tasks across enterprise systems, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with SV Angel, Harry Stebbings, and Y Combinator also stepping up. TechCrunch has more here.

NexCure, a recently founded Boston startup that runs outpatient clinics and technology that enable CAR-T and other advanced therapies to be delivered in community outpatient settings, raised a $19 million Series A round led by RA Capital Management, with Cencora Ventures and Oncology Ventures also digging in. More here.

PlasmaLeap Technologies, a seven-year-old Sydney startup that uses modular plasma reactors powered by renewable electricity to produce ammonia and nitric acid for fertilizer production using air and water, raised a $21 million Series A round co-led by the Gates Foundation, Investible, and Yara Growth Ventures, with Twynam, GrainCorp Ventures, Uniseed/UniSuper, Artesian, SVG Ventures, and Agnition Ventures also investing. iGrow News has more here.

Unleash, a seven-year-old Oslo startup that manages software feature releases and rollouts to help enterprises control risk when deploying AI-driven applications, raised a $35 million Series B round led by One Peak, with Spark Capital, Frontline Ventures, and Firstminute Capital also joining in. The company has raised a total of $51.5 million. More here.

Validio, a seven-year-old Stockholm startup that automates monitoring and validation of enterprise data pipelines to detect anomalies and maintain data quality for analytics and AI systems, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Plural, with previous investors Lakestar and J12 also pitching in. Tech Funding News has more here.

AgriPass, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that uses computer vision and contextual intelligence to detect weeds and remove them mechanically in real-time, raised a $7.5 million seed round led by Harbor Venture Consulting, with previous investor E44 Climate Ventures also participating. Tech Funding News has more here.

Amatera, a four-year-old Paris startup that combines plant cell biology, automation, robotics, and AI to accelerate the breeding of climate-resilient perennial crops such as coffee and wine grapes, raised a $7 million seed round co-led by Demea Sustainable Investment and Oyster Bay, with additional support from previous investors PINC, Mudcake, and Exceptional Ventures. The company has raised a total of $8.6 million. Green Queen has more here.

️Artemis, a four-year-old Houston startup that provides software that enables solar installers and contractors to design, quote, finance, and sell rooftop solar and battery systems online, raised a $6 million round. The deal was co-led by Long Journey and Copec Wind Ventures, with Ludlow Ventures, Shrug Capital, Coalition Operators, Plug, Play Ventures, FJ Labs, Tribeca Ventures, Palm Tree Crew, and Scott Banister also piling on. More here.

Bindbridge, a one-year-old startup based in Cambridge, UK, that uses an AI discovery platform to design molecular glues that enable new herbicides and crop protection agents, raised a $3.8 million round. Nucleus Capital and Speedinvest provided the financing. UKTN has more here.

Cotool, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that runs an agent-based platform that lets cybersecurity teams create AI agents that share context across detection, hunting, triage, investigation, and response, raised a $7.4 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Y Combinator, WndrCo, and Homebrew also joining in. More here.

Cyclops, a one-year-old Miami startup whose platform enables payment service providers to offer stablecoin settlement, crypto payments, and digital asset capabilities without building their own blockchain infrastructure, raised an $8 million round. Investors included Castle Island Ventures, F-Prime, and Shift4. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

DiligenceSquared, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI voice agents to conduct customer interviews and produce due diligence research for private equity firms, raised a $5 million seed round led by Relentless. TechCrunch has more here.

Diligent AI, a three-year-old Berlin startup that uses AI agents to automate KYC and AML investigations for financial-crime compliance teams at banks and fintechs, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Speedinvest, with Shapers also contributing. Tech Funding News has more here.

Fibionic, a five-year-old startup based in Innsbruck, Austria, that is developing a manufacturing technology that places composite fibres along load paths using bionically inspired design to produce lighter, stronger components, raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Redstone and including Euregio+, Caesar, and Leap435. EU-Startups has more here.

MightyFly, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that operates autonomous hybrid-electric eVTOL cargo aircraft designed for expedited commercial and defense logistics deliveries, raised a $10 million round. Investors included Draper Associates, At One Ventures, and 500 Global. The company has raised a total of $15 million. More here.

TESS AI, a recently founded San Francisco startup that enables employees to create and deploy AI agents that automate workplace tasks, raised a $5 million seed round co-led by Hi Ventures and DYDX Capital, with Honeystone also participating. SiliconANGLE has more here.

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Sandhya Venkatachalam, a former partner at Khosla Ventures, has launched Axiom Partners with a $52 million debut fund focused on startups using AI to expand access to services such as healthcare, education, and financial advice. The new firm is based in San Francisco. More here.

Netflix has acquired InterPositive, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup founded in 2022 by actor Ben Affleck that develops AI tools for filmmakers using production dailies to enable tasks like relighting, color adjustments, and visual effects in postproduction. Terms were not disclosed. TechCrunch has more here.

SpaceX could raise about $50 billion in a planned IPO at a roughly $1.5 trillion valuation following its acquisition of xAI, a deal that would eclipse the $44 billion raised by all 90 U.S. IPOs last year combined. Fortune has more here.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took some shots at rival Anthropic, saying it is “bad for society” if companies abandon the democratic process because they dislike who is in power. He added that governments should be more powerful than private companies amid the Pentagon’s standoff with the AI lab. CNBC has more here.

Elon Musk testified in a San Francisco jury trial over claims he violated securities laws by making misleading statements about his $44 billion bid for Twitter while trying to back out of the deal. Shareholders say his comments about bots and the acquisition drove down the stock before he completed the purchase. The Associated Press has more here.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has agreed in a settlement with Google to stop criticizing the company’s app distribution practices and fees after Google agreed to reduce its app store commission from about 30% to about 20%. The deal also requires Sweeney to publicly praise the changes as pro-competitive, restrictions that could keep him silent on the issue until 2032. The Verge has more here.

According to a Bloomberg report, Oracle is planning to cut potentially as many as 20,000 to 30,000 jobs as it seeks to free up billions in cash flow to fund a massive AI data center buildout tied in part to a $300 billion cloud deal with OpenAI. Data Center Dynamics has more here.

Despite widespread fears that AI will wipe out coding jobs, software engineering postings are actually climbing, up 11% year over year, as companies ramp spending on AI infrastructure and related development work. Citadel Securities has more here.

Grammarly has introduced an “expert review” feature that generates feedback in the style of well-known authors and scholars including Stephen King, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Carl Sagan even though the individuals are not involved with the company and did not grant permission for their work to be used. WIRED has more here.

Meta is facing a U.S. lawsuit alleging its AI smart glasses misled customers about privacy protections after reports that contractors reviewed user footage including nudity, sex, and other sensitive moments. TechCrunch has more here.

The Audacity, an eight-episode Silicon Valley drama created by Succession and Better Call Saul writer-producer Jonathan Glatzer, “takes on the warped dreams, outsized egos, and ethical lapses of the self-styled inventors of the future.” The show stars Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis and debuts on April 12th on AMC and AMC+. (Connie saw the first episode at a special screening in San Francisco tonight; she said she is reserving judgment.)

TikTok trend alert: influencers claim hot water aids digestion, reduces bloating, and detoxifies the body. Doctors say: not so much.

A modern 8,000-square-foot oceanfront estate in Bridgehampton listed for $45 million features an all-glass elevator overlooking the dunes and Atlantic, seven bedrooms, two fireplaces, a chef’s kitchen, and walls angled to frame views of both the ocean and Mecox Bay.

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Building on historic strength in physics, cryptography, and computing, the UK is becoming the commercial frontier of quantum computing. This multi-decade journey is now seeing early-stage commercial trials in finance, healthcare, and energy. Supported by international investment and an integrated national strategy, the UK aims to be a quantum‑enabled economy by 2033. This means allowing businesses to do things faster, cheaper, more securely, and at levels of complexity previously impossible. 

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