Google says criminal hackers used AI to discover and exploit a previously unknown software flaw in what researchers believe is the first known cyberattack in which AI played a central role in identifying a “zero-day” vulnerability. The New York Times has more here.

OpenAI formally announced a new unit called OpenAI Deployment Company, backed by more than $4 billion from 19 investors including Goldman Sachs and SoftBank, to embed specialized AI engineers directly inside client organizations. The launch came alongside the acquisition of Tomoro, an applied AI consulting firm that brings roughly 150 engineers to the new unit from day one. Reuters has more here.

Standard Metrics introduces AI board deck parsing. 

Hours your team spends extracting data from board decks are hours they can't put toward diligence, portfolio support, or fund strategy. Standard Metrics now parses board decks with AI and human QA so venture teams can focus on driving returns. 

Read More 

By Marina Temkin

Just two months after listing its first venture fund on the stock market, Robinhood is preparing to launch a second. The company has filed a confidential registration for RVII, a standard regulatory step that allows it to work through the approval process before making details public.

Unlike its first fund, which currently holds stakes in 10 late-stage companies — Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Mercor, OpenAI, Oura, Ramp, Revolut, and Stripe — RVII will cast a wider net, investing in growth-stage and early-stage startups. It’s a meaningful distinction, given that early-stage startups are younger and carry more risk but also offer the potential for greater returns.

The fundraising target for RVII has not yet been set, the company said in a blog post. For its inaugural fund, Robinhood sought to raise $1 billion but ultimately fell several hundred million short of that goal.

Despite the shortfall, the first fund has performed strongly. RVI — the ticker for Robinhood’s first fund, which trades on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) — debuted on the NYSE at $21 a share in early March and has since more than doubled, closing on Monday at $43.69. Market enthusiasm for the AI prospects of the fund’s underlying startups has likely fueled the stock’s rise.

The premise behind both funds addresses a long-standing gap in who gets to invest in startups. Under federal rules, only “accredited” investors — those with a net worth exceeding $1 million or annual income above $200,000 — can put money into private companies. That has historically locked ordinary investors out of the earliest and most lucrative stages of a company’s growth. RVI and now RVII are designed to change that, letting anyone invest in a portfolio of private startups through a regular brokerage account.

Cowboy Space, formerly known as Aetherflux, a two-year-old startup based in San Carlos, CA, that develops rockets and orbital data centers designed to provide AI computing capacity in space, raised a $275 million Series B round at a $2 billion post-money valuation. The company was founded by Baiju Bhatt, who previously co-founded Robinhood. The deal was led by previous investor Index Ventures, with Construct Capital, IVP, and SAIC as well as prior backer Breakthrough Energy Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $355+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Frame Security, an Israeli startup founded this year that uses AI to simulate phishing, impersonation, and deepfake attacks to train employees against cyber threats, raised a $50 million round led by Index Ventures, Team8, and Picture Capital, with Elad Gil and Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport also chiming in. CTech has more here.

Grand Games, a two-year-old Istanbul startup that creates mobile puzzle games designed for short play sessions, raised a $70 million Series B round led by Balderton Capital, with previous investors Bek Ventures and Laton Ventures also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $103 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Helsing, a five-year-old Munich startup that develops military drones and AI systems for defense applications, is reportedly raising a $1.2 billion round at an $18 billion valuation. According to the Financial Times, Dragoneer is co-leading the deal with previous investor Lightspeed. TechCrunch has more here.

Algorithmiq, a six-year-old Milan startup that develops quantum computing algorithms for chemistry, materials science, and life sciences applications, raised a $21.2 million round co-led by United Ventures and CDP Venture Capital, with previous investor Inventure VC also participating. The company has raised a total of $42.4 million. EU-Startups has more here.

Eyeo, a three-year-old startup based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, that develops nanophotonic imaging technology that increases the amount of light captured by camera sensors, raised a $47.1 million Series A round led by Innovation Industries, with imec.xpand, Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, QBIC fund, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Brabant Development Agency, and the European Union’s InvestEU Fund also piling on. The company has raised a total of $64.8 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Fifth Dimension, a three-year-old London startup that uses AI to analyze real estate and infrastructure investment data to help firms evaluate deals, monitor portfolios, and identify risks, raised a $26 million Series A round led by HV Capital, with Prudence, Mercia, MMC, and AFG as well as previous investors Speedinvest, Seedcamp, and Anthemis also contributing. The company has raised a total of $39+ million. BeBeez International has more here.

Cake Equity. Cap table software got complicated. Cake didn't.  

Legacy platforms scaled for enterprise and left founders behind. Cake is built differently, with clean, intuitive equity management that grows with your startup from seed to Series A and beyond. Rated 4.8/5 on G2, above legacy platforms in ease of use, support, and implementation. Founders who switch save 48% on average. Free migration in 3–5 days, handled by the Cake team, with your entire equity history preserved. Learn more at cakeequity.com. 

GoAhead Ventures, a 10-year-old San Francisco VC firm that invests in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across sectors including biotech, real estate, media measurement, and nuclear energy, raised $120 million for its third fund. More here.

Refactor Capital, a 10-year-old Burlingame, California-based venture firm where Zal Bilimoria is the sole decision-maker, just closed $50 million for its fifth fund, focused on hard tech including physical AI, critical industries, bio, and health. The firm now has $300 million in assets under management, and the timing of this raise isn't bad: two Refactor portfolio companies had big weeks. Astranis announced $450 million in new capital, including a $300 million Series E, and PathAI sold to Roche for up to $1.05 billion — $750 million upfront with up to $300 million in additional milestone payments — all in the last seven days. Refactor is also an investor in Solugen, a Texas-based chemicals maker currently valued at around $2.2 billion. Stepstone, Knollwood, and Alexandria Real Estate are a few of the firm's limited partners. More here.

Skinos Ventures, a new Tel Aviv VC firm founded by former Cato Networks executive Yishay Yovel and backed by cybersecurity entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer, raised a $26 million debut fund to invest in seed-stage cybersecurity and AI startups. CTech has more here.

AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems raised the price range for its IPO and could now be valued at nearly $49 billion, more than double the $23 billion valuation it announced in February, as investors bet the Nvidia rival can capitalize on booming demand for AI infrastructure. CNBC has more here.

Chinese short-video company Kuaishou is reportedly planning a 2027 IPO for its Kling AI video-generation unit at a potential $20 billion valuation, a figure that would approach the roughly $25 billion market cap of Kuaishou itself. The Information has the scoop here.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified today in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI that Musk never raised concerns with him about Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investments in the AI company, while also dismissing OpenAI’s brief 2023 firing of Sam Altman as “amateur city.” CNBC has more here.

OpenAI quietly changed its bylaws last year to require a two-thirds supermajority of non-employee directors to fire CEO Sam Altman, according to court filings in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against the company. Business Insider has more here.

GitLab said it is cutting jobs and flattening management layers so it can redirect spending toward AI agents and what CEO Bill Staples called the “agentic era” while also automating more internal reviews and approvals with AI. Bloomberg has more here.

General Motors laid off about 600 salaried IT employees – or more than 10% of the department – as the automaker restructures around AI-focused roles including agent development, prompt engineering, and AI-native software workflows. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenAI employees are becoming some of the earliest major financial winners of the AI boom, with more than 600 current and former staffers collectively cashing out $6.6 billion in a recent share sale and roughly 75 employees each selling the maximum allowed $30 million stake. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Nvidia has committed more than $40 billion this year to AI-related investments spanning companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Corning, and CoreWeave as the chip giant aggressively finances the broader AI infrastructure ecosystem that, in turn, buys Nvidia hardware. CNBC has more here.

Mira Murati’s startup Thinking Machines says it is developing real-time “interaction models” designed to let people collaborate with AI more naturally through continuous audio, video, and text input rather than the stop-and-start prompting used by today’s chatbots. The Verge has more here.

Lawyers are increasingly warning that AI meeting note-takers could jeopardize attorney-client privilege by turning sensitive legal discussions into searchable transcripts that may be treated as having been shared with third parties, potentially making them discoverable in lawsuits and government investigations. The New York Times has more here.

Teen boys and young men are increasingly injecting unapproved peptides bought through online gray markets in pursuit of sharper jawlines, bigger muscles, weight loss, and better skin, despite doctors warning that the substances can disrupt growth, cause dangerous side effects, and potentially increase cancer risk.

As restaurant rankings proliferate, members of a growing subculture of “dining completists” are racing to eat at every Michelin-starred restaurant or every spot on major “best restaurants” lists, with one Las Vegas sommelier even setting a Guinness World Record for eating at 28 Michelin-starred restaurants in 24 hours.

The New York Times is turning Wordle into an NBC game show hosted by Savannah Guthrie.

Lamborghini unveiled the Fenomeno Roadster, a 1,065-horsepower hybrid convertible supercar that can hit 211 mph, making it the automaker’s most powerful open-top vehicle ever.

Please send all of your hot gossip to [email protected] or [email protected].

To book ads directly, contact us at [email protected].