On the heels of reporting 34% year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter, shares of web infrastructure company Cloudflare plunged 18% after the company said it is cutting more than 1,100 employees – or roughly 20% of its workforce – as it shifts to what CEO Matthew Prince called an “agentic AI-first operating model.” CNBC has more here.

In Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, former OpenAI safety researcher Rosie Campbell testified today that the company dismantled key AI safety teams and prioritized product launches over safeguards, while former board member Tasha McCauley said Sam Altman repeatedly withheld critical information from directors, including details about ChatGPT’s launch and internal safety reviews. TechCrunch has more here.

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A lot of the conversation around AI in healthcare focuses on diagnostics and drug discovery or on doctor-patient visits. But a less visible part of the system affects whether patients actually get seen at all, and it has less to do with the number of doctors in the world (too few) and more with the administrative work (too much) that happens between a primary care doctor writing a referral and a specialist’s office getting a patient on the schedule. That gap, it turns out, is huge, stubbornly manual, and increasingly attracting serious interest from venture capitalists.

Kaled Alhanafi, a former Lyft and Cruise executive, and Chetan Patel, who spent a decade building cardiac devices at Medtronic, co-founded Basata after each experienced the problem directly.

For Patel, the issue became personal when his wife fainted on a flight with their young children. Even with his deep knowledge of cardiology and the specific devices that could help her, he says navigating the administrative process to get her appropriate care took far longer than it should have. “We have the best doctors, we have some of the best medicines, but the care gap is just so wide,” he said.

Alhanafi describes a parallel experience with his own father, who was referred to three cardiology groups after a serious carotid artery diagnosis. According to Alhanafi, only one called back within a couple of weeks. Another responded after the surgery was already done. The third still hasn’t called.

These aren’t unusual outcomes, as nearly anyone who has tried to see a specialist in recent years can attest. Specialty practices that receive referrals are frequently processing hundreds or thousands of documents — most arriving by fax — with small administrative teams. Practices lose patients not because they don’t want to see them, the company argues, but because they can’t get through the intake backlog.

Anagram Therapeutics, a nine-year-old startup based in Natick, MA, that is developing oral enzyme replacement therapies to treat pancreatic insufficiency and related digestive disorders, raised a $250 million round from Blackstone Life Sciences. The company has raised a total of $280+ million. Fierce Biotech has more here.

Kalshi, an eight-year-old New York startup that operates a regulated prediction market platform where users trade contracts on the outcomes of real-world events, raised a $1 billion Series F round at a $22 billion post-money valuation, doubling its valuation in just five months. The deal was led by Coatue, with Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, IVP, Paradigm, Morgan Stanley, and ARK Invest also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

Moonshot AI, a three-year-old Beijing startup that develops open-weight large language models, raised a $2 billion round at a $20 billion valuation. Long-Z Investment was the deal lead, with Tsinghua Capital, China Mobile, and CPE Yuanfeng also diving in. The company has raised $3.9 billion over the past six months. TechCrunch has more here.

Quantum Motion, a nine-year-old London startup that is building quantum computing chips using silicon to enable scalable quantum systems, raised a $160 million Series C round co-led by DCVC and Kembara, with additional support from Firgun and British Business Bank. Data Center Dynamics has more here.

Ramp, a seven-year-old New York startup that provides corporate cards and AI-powered finance automation tools, is reportedly raising $750 million at a $40+ billion pre-money valuation co-led by previous investors Iconiq Capital and GIC. The company has raised $2.3 billion to date. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Tessera Labs, a two-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that leverages AI to plan and carry out changes to enterprise systems such as ERP, HR, and finance platforms, raised a $60 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Foundation Capital, Myriad Venture Partners, and Osage University Partners also taking part. More here.

Featherless.ai, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that hosts and runs open-source AI models for enterprises, handling infrastructure, scaling, and GPU allocation, raised a $20 million Series A round co-led by AMD Ventures and previous investor Airbus Ventures, with BMW i Ventures, Kickstart Ventures, Panache Ventures, and Wavemaker Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $25+ million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Kanvas Biosciences, a five-year-old startup based in Princeton, NJ, that is working on microbiome-based therapies designed to improve cancer patients’ response to immunotherapy, raised a $48 million Series A round co-led by Lions Capital and previous investor DCVC, with Gates Foundation, ATHOS KG, Germin8, Ki Tua Fund, Pangaea Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Boutique Venture Partners, Cornell University, FemHealth Ventures, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, Red Bear Ventures, RIT Venture Fund, Triple Impact Capital, Kicker Ventures, and Uncommon Denominator also piling on. The company has raised a total of $78+ million. More here.

LTZ Therapeutics, a four-year-old startup based in Redwood City, CA, and Shenzhen, China, that is creating immunotherapy drugs that activate immune cells to target cancer and autoimmune diseases, raised a $38 million round. GL Ventures led the transaction, with an unnamed sovereign wealth fund also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $130+ million. More here.

Mosh, a five-year-old Los Angeles startup co-founded by Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger that makes protein bars formulated to support brain health, raised a $13 million Series A round led by Main Street Advisors, with Great Circle Ventures, PCG, and Tonic Ventures also engaging. More here.

Nova Intelligence, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to analyze, modernize, and generate SAP enterprise code for system migrations and ongoing operations, raised a $31.5 million round led by Chemistry, with previous investors Accel, Conviction, and SAP also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $40+ million. Fortune has more here.

OpenTrade, a three-year-old London startup that provides infrastructure for fintechs and asset issuers to generate yield on stablecoins and real-world assets, raised a $17 million round co-led by Mercury Fund and Notion Capital, with Andreessen Horowitz, AlbionVC, and CMCC Global also digging in. The company has raised a total of $30+ million. The Block has more here.

Parcel Bio, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that is fashioning mRNA-based therapies designed to achieve higher and longer-lasting protein expression in patients, raised a $13 million seed round led by Breyer Capital, with General Catalyst, Y Combinator, Metaplanet, SurgePoint Capital, and ZAKA VC also stepping up. More here.

Pit, a one-year-old Stockholm startup that uses AI to design and run internal workflows for operations, finance, and customer processes, raised a $16 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Lakestar also participating. EU-Startups has more here.

SageOx, a Seattle startup founded this year that captures and shares decisions, conversations, and project history so AI agents and human teams can stay aligned, raised a $15 million seed round led by Canaan Partners, with A.Capital, Pioneer Square Labs, and Founders’ Co-op also opting in. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Scout Space, a seven-year-old startup based in Reston, VA, that develops sensors that track and analyze objects in orbit to support spacecraft navigation and safety, raised an $18 million Series A round led by Washington Harbour Partners, with additional participation from Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation as well as previous investors Noblis Ventures, Decisive Point, and Fusion Fund. More here.

Signadori Bio, a one-year-old Paris startup that develops immunotherapies that reprogram immune cells in the body to target solid tumors, raised a $13.1 million seed round. Investors included Taiho Ventures as well as prior backers Sofinnova Partners and Invivo Partners. More here.

Tekst, a three-year-old Ghent startup that maps how work flows through emails, documents, and other digital activity to help companies automate back-office processes, raised a $11.5 million Series A round. Elephant was the deal lead, with previous investor Entourage also contributing. Tech Funding News has more here.

Vori, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup based in East Palo Alto, CA, that handles payments, inventory, ordering, and pricing for grocery stores to replace manual and disconnected systems, raised a $22 million Series B round led by Cherryrock Capital, with Greylock Partners and The Factory also engaging. More here.

Boost Security, a six-year-old Montréal startup whose platform identifies and remediates software vulnerabilities across the development lifecycle, raised a $4 million round. Investors included White Star Capital, Amiral Ventures, Accelia Capital, and Sorensen Capital. The company has raised a total of $16+ million. SecurityWeek has more here.

Codewords, a three-year-old London startup that builds AI agents that monitor how teams work and automatically create and run task automations, raised a $9 million seed round led by Visionaries, with Sequel and Illusian as well as previous investor Firstminute Capital also participating. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Fazeshift, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that automates accounts receivable workflows including invoicing, collections, and reconciliation, raised a $17 million Series A round led by F-Prime, with Gradient, Y Combinator, Wayfinder, Pioneer Fund, and Ritual Capital also joining in. More here.

InstaSwitch, a two-year-old New York startup that automates the process of switching business bank accounts by updating payroll, payments, and income connections across systems, raised a $4.7 million seed round led by Chicago Ventures, with 8-Bit Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Panache Ventures also contributing. Tech Funding News has more here.

Kohort, an eight-year-old London startup that provides predictive analytics and campaign optimization tools for mobile game developers and marketers, raised a $7 million Series A round. The Raine Group was the deal lead. More here.

Modicus Prime, a six-year-old Austin startup that helps pharmaceutical companies ensure their AI systems meet regulatory compliance requirements, raised an $8 million round led by Frist Cressey Ventures, with Silverton Partners and Oncology Ventures also joining in. More here.

Rosarium Health, a five-year-old Denver startup that connects homeowners, insurers, and service providers to coordinate home modifications that support aging in place, raised a $6 million seed round. Investors included Kalos Ventures, ResilienceVC, Rock Health Capital, Symphonic Capital, American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate, Social Impact, Black Tech Nations Ventures, and The Council. Signalbase has more here.

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Wisdom Ventures, a four-year-old San Francisco-based venture firm focused on AI-driven wellness startups, has raised a $77.7 million second fund and added former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy as a senior venture partner. More here.

Payward, the crypto infrastructure company behind Kraken, is acquiring Reap, a 7-year-old Hong Kong fintech startup that builds stablecoin-native card issuing and cross-border payments infrastructure, in a deal worth up to $600 million in cash and stock. More here.

Roche is acquiring PathAI, a nine-year-old Boston startup that develops AI software for pathology labs and clinical diagnostics, for up to $1.05 billion. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Silex Microsystems, a 26-year-old Swedish semiconductor manufacturer focused on MEMS chips, surged in its Stockholm trading debut after a roughly $220 million IPO, marking one of the strongest openings for a sizable European IPO in nearly five years. Bloomberg has more here.

Elon Musk tweeted that xAI and SpaceX will provide computing power to outside AI companies but reserve the right to reclaim that compute if an AI system (such as Anthropic?) “engages in actions that harm humanity.” (We’d love to see that contract language.) More here.

Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd says Bumble plans to eliminate swiping from its dating app later this year as the company bets that AI-powered matchmaking features can help reverse declining user growth and engagement. TechCrunch has more here.

Jeff Bezos no longer has direct representation on the board of Slate Auto, the low-cost EV startup he backed, after the head of his family office quietly stepped down, raising questions about Bezos’ long-term involvement with the company. TechCrunch has more here.

DeepL, a nine-year-old German startup that builds AI-powered translation software, is cutting roughly 25% of its workforce, with CEO Jarek Kutylowski saying the company must adapt to a “massive structural shift” driven by AI. Bloomberg has more here.

Alphabet and Amazon reported a combined $53 billion in “other income” last quarter — much of it tied to paper gains on their stakes in AI startups like Anthropic — which accounted for nearly 60% of the two companies’ combined quarterly income. The Financial Times has more here.

Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods have reportedly reached an advanced testing stage, with the earbuds designed not to take photos but to use onboard cameras to analyze a user’s surroundings and deliver AI-powered contextual information. Bloomberg has more here.

Researchers say thousands of AI-generated “vibe-coded” web apps built with tools from companies like Replit, Lovable, and Base44 are exposing sensitive corporate and personal data online, often with little or no security protection in place. Wired has more here.

After years of missed promises around self-driving cars, companies behind autonomous vehicle technologies like lidar and ground-penetrating radar are finding new markets in everything from port automation and elder care to traffic systems, robotics, and data center security. The New York Times has more here.

AI translation tools like DeepL and ChatGPT may be improving rapidly, but translators argue they still make devastating mistakes when it comes to nuance, context, dialogue, emotional understanding, and wordplay — shortcomings that many say still make human translators indispensable. The Guardian has more here.

The Atlantic argues that the music industry’s growing use of “trend simulation” — paying influencers and meme accounts to manufacture viral buzz around songs — may trigger a backlash akin to the “Disco sucks” era as listeners grow increasingly distrustful of algorithmically engineered popularity.

A new viral ChatGPT trend has users turning polished photos into deliberately terrible MS Paint-style doodles, with prompts designed to mimic the chaotic look of amateur 1990s mouse drawings.

In case you’re looking for a White Elephant gift, Amazon is selling a book called Infinite Jeffs, a version of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest in which every word has been replaced with “Jeff.” [H/T @jack_whitcomb_]

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