A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in a closely watched lawsuit brought by a young woman who said she became addicted to their apps as a child, awarding her $6 million in damages. TechCrunch has more here.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that internet providers like Cox Communications are not liable for users’ copyright infringement unless they actively encourage it, rejecting claims from music labels seeking damages that could have topped $1 billion. The New York Times has more here.

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By Connie Loizos

Okay, so the U.S. and China are locked in an all-out race to build the most powerful AI on the planet. Beijing is throwing billions at homegrown models, tightening its grip on the tech sector, and watching nervously as its best AI talent gravitates to U.S. companies. Yet Manus — one of China’s most buzzed-about AI startups — quietly relocated to Singapore and sold itself to Meta for $2 billion.

Did anyone think there would not be a reckoning over this tie-up?

As industry watchers know, Manus burst onto the scene in the spring of last year with a demo video showing an AI agent screening job candidates, planning vacations, and analyzing stock portfolios, and it cheekily claimed it outperformed OpenAI’s Deep Research. Within weeks, Benchmark — the consummate Silicon Valley venture firm — led a $75 million funding round at a $500 million valuation. That was surprising. (Senator John Cornyn had thoughts, tweeting at the time, “Who thinks it is a good idea for American investors to subsidize our biggest adversary in AI, only to have the CCP use that technology to challenge us economically and militarily? Not me.”)

By December, Manus had millions of users and was pulling in over $100 million in annual recurring revenue. Then Meta came calling, and Mark Zuckerberg, who has staked the company’s future on AI, snapped it up for $2 billion. That, too, was surprising.

It’s worth noting that Manus didn’t just sell itself to an American buyer; it spent the better part of last year actively trying to operate outside China’s orbit. The company relocated its headquarters and core team from Beijing to Singapore, restructured its ownership, and after the Meta deal was announced, Meta pledged to cut all ties with Manus’s Chinese investors and shut down its operations in China entirely. By every measure, Manus was trying to make itself a Singapore company.

But if that string of events raised eyebrows in Washington, you can only imagine that in Beijing, they were apoplectic.

China has a phrase for all of this: “selling young crops” — homegrown AI companies that move abroad and sell themselves to foreign buyers before they’ve fully matured, taking their intellectual property and talent with them.

Granola, a three-year-old startup that transcribes conversations and turns rough meeting notes into summaries, raised a $125 million round at a $1.5 billion valuation. The deal was led by Index Ventures, with additional support from Kleiner Perkins as well as previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Spark Capital. Bloomberg has more here.

Halter, an Auckland company that provides GPS-enabled cattle collars and software for virtual fencing and herd management, raised a $220 million Series E round at a $2 billion valuation. The deal was led by Founders Fund, with Blackbird, DCVC, Bond, Bessemer, NewView, Ubiquity, Promus, and Icehouse Ventures also participating. More here.

Harvey, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that helps lawyers draft, review, and analyze legal documents, confirmed earlier reports that it has raised a $200 million round at an $11 billion post-money valuation, a 3.5x increase in valuation in just over a year. The deal was co-led by previous investors GIC and Sequoia, with prior backers Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Conviction Partners, Elad Gil, Evantic, and Kleiner Perkins also reupping. The company has raised a total of $1+ billion. TechCrunch has more here.

Immutrin, a seven-year-old startup based in Cambridge, UK, that is developing an antibody drug designed to clear amyloid deposits in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, raised an $87 million Series A round led by Frazier Life Sciences, with F-Prime, Qiming Venture Partners, and SR Onem as well as previous investors Cambridge Innovation Capital and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures also taking part. BioPharma Dive has more here.

Normal Computing, a four-year-old New York startup that has built an AI-native chip design platform and develops hardware IP aimed at making semiconductor design faster and AI infrastructure more energy efficient, raised a $50 million round led by Samsung Catalyst Fund. Other backers in the round included Galvanize, Brevan Howard Macro Venture Fund, ArcTern Ventures as well as previous investors Celesta Capital, Drive Capital, Eric Schmidt’s First Spark Ventures, and Micron Ventures. The company has raised a total of $85+ million. More here.

Periodic Labs, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is using AI and autonomous robotic labs to discover new materials, is reportedly raising hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation of approximately $7 billion. Bloomberg has more here.

Qualified Health, a three-year-old startup based in San Carlos, CA, that helps health systems deploy and govern generative AI across clinical care and administrative workflows, raised a $125 million Series B round led by New Enterprise Associates, with Transformation Capital, GreatPoint Ventures, Cathay Innovation, Anthropic and Menlo Ventures' Anthology fund as well as previous investors SignalFire, Frist Cressey Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures, and Intermountain Ventures also piling on. The company has raised a total of $155 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Rocketlane, a six-year-old startup based in Wilmington, DE, whose AI platform helps professional services teams manage project delivery, resourcing, finances, and customer onboarding, raised a $60 million Series C round. Insight Partners was the deal lead. More here.

Startale Group, a three-year-old Singapore startup that builds blockchain infrastructure for tokenized securities, stablecoins, and consumer finance apps, raised a $63 million Series A round co-led by SBI Group and Sony Innovation Fund. CoinDesk has more here.

Steadi, a nine-year-old New York startup that runs a healthcare clearinghouse that lets providers and payers process insurance transactions through APIs, web tools, and EDI workflows, raised a $50 million Series C round led by Addition and including Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital, and Bloomberg Beta. The company has raised a total of $142 million. More here.

Cauldron Ferm, a three-year-old Australian startup that runs a continuous fermentation platform that helps synthetic biology companies scale microbial production of fats, proteins, and other biologically derived products, raised a $13.3 million round led by Main Sequence Ventures, with Horizons Ventures, SOSV, and NGS Super also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

EPIC Microsystems, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that develops power delivery systems for AI infrastructure and vertical power delivery technology for AI data centers, raised a $21 million Series A round led by Seligman Ventures, with Intel Capital and AICONIC Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $26 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Epoch Biodesign, a seven-year-old London startup that designs enzymes that recycle end-of-life plastic and textile waste into virgin-quality materials at commercial scale, raised a $12 million round. Investors included Lululemon, KOMPAS VC, Happiness Capital, Extantia, and Leitmotif. The company has raised a total of $50+ million. EU-Startups has more here.

Glimpse, a six-year-old New York startup that uses AI to automate tracking and resolution of retail chargebacks and deductions for CPG brands, raised a $35 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with previous investors 8VC and Y Combinator also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $52 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Jaaq, a five-year-old London startup that embeds clinically governed mental health content into employee and member user journeys across employer, insurer, and healthcare platforms, raised a $17 million round. Investors included Meridian Health Ventures, Fuel Ventures, Bolt Angels, and Guinness Ventures. EU-Startups has more here.

Keynes, an eight-year-old Austin startup that has built a performance advertising platform for connected TV, raised a $40 million round. Volition Capital provided the funding. Advanced Television has more here.

Lucid Bots, an eight-year-old startup based in Charlotte, NC, that designs, manufactures, and sells drones and robotic cleaning systems for window washing and pressure washing, raised a $20 million Series B round co-led by Cubit Capital and Idea Fund Partners. The company has raised a total of $34 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Notch, a five-year-old New York startup that uses AI to automate back-office workflows and compliance tasks for banks, insurers, and healthcare organizations, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Headline, with Lightspeed, Jibe Ventures, Illuminate Financial, and Phoenix Insurance also engaging. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Origin, a two-year-old startup based in Kent, UK, that turns fragmented global employee benefits data from PDFs, insurance contracts, and vendor portals into a centralized intelligence layer for HR and benefits teams, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Notion Capital, with Acadian Ventures as well as previous investor Felix Capital also joining in. The Next Web has more here.

PAVE Space, a two-year-old startup based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that develops orbital transfer vehicles to move satellites between orbits, raised a $40 million seed round co-led by Visionaries Club and Creandum, with Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Atlantic Labs, Sistafund, b2venture, ACE Investment Partners, Ilavaska Vuillermoz Capital, Pareto Ventures, and Motier Ventures also participating. Payload has more here.

Renasens, a four-year-old Stockholm startup that is developing a CO2-based process that separates blended textile waste into intact reusable fibers for manufacturing, raised an $11.6 million seed round led by Extantia, with Course Corrected VC and Norrsken Launcher also pitching in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Sift, a four-year-old startup based in Marina del Rey, CA, that has created a data infrastructure platform that organizes telemetry and sensor data from complex machines so manufacturers can use it for testing, operations, and AI analysis, raised a previously undisclosed $42 million Series B round in 2025 at a $274 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by StepStone, with GV, Riot Ventures, Fika Ventures, and CIV also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

VITL, an 18-month-old Nashville startup that provides e-prescribing software for cash-pay clinics, raised a $7.5 million Series A round led by SignalFire. TechCrunch has more here.

Worth, a three-year-old startup based in Orlando, FL, whose platform helps financial institutions, fintechs, and payment providers onboard and underwrite small businesses using business identity, compliance, credit, banking, and fraud data, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Fulcrum Equity Partners, with Amex Ventures and TTV Capital also digging in. The company has raised a total of $55 million. PYMNTS has more here.

Airbase, a nine-year-old San Francisco startup that automates spectrum allocation and coordination across operators to prevent interference and manage radio frequency usage, raised a $5 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Squadra Ventures and Founders You Should Know also taking stakes. Payload has more here.

BrainGrid, a one-year-old startup that is building an AI product planning platform designed to turn rough ideas into structured product plans for non-technical founders and builders, raised a $1 million pre-seed round. Menlo Ventures was the deal lead, with Next Tier Ventures and Brainstorm Ventures also joining in. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Cellbricks, a five-year-old London startup that creates biofabricated tissue implants for soft tissue reconstruction and organ replacement, raised an $8.1 million seed round led by Silicon Roundabout Ventures, with SPRIND and ACT Venture Partners also participating. Tech Funding News has more here.

Eunice, a four-year-old London startup that runs a crypto compliance and due diligence platform for digital asset businesses, raised an $8 million seed round co-led by Moonfire Ventures and Speedinvest, with Openspace Ventures also opting in. Sifted has more here.

Galtea, a two-year-old Barcelona startup that runs AI evaluation infrastructure that generates test scenarios and performance metrics for generative AI agents before deployment, raised a $3.2 million seed round led by 42CAP, with Mozilla Ventures as well as previous investors JME Ventures, Masia, and ABAC Nest Ventures also taking part. Tech.eu has more here.

Payy Network, a four-year-old New York startup that provides infrastructure for private stablecoin transactions, raised a $6 million seed round led by FirstMark Capital, with Robot Ventures and DBA Crypto also participating. Crypto.news has more here.

Zevero, a five-year-old Singapore startup that operates a carbon accounting platform that helps companies measure, manage, and reduce their emissions, raised a $7 million round. Investors included Gazelle Capital and Deep 30 as well as previous investor Spiral Capital. The company has raised a total of $14 million. ESG Today has more here.

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Futurepresent, a one-year-old German-American VC firm that backs AI startups across infrastructure, industrial applications, and the physical world, raised a $300 million first fund. Tech.eu has more here.

Speculation that SpaceX could file for an IPO as soon as this week, potentially raising up to $75 billion, sent publicly traded space stocks like Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines sharply higher. Business Insider has more here.

President Trump has named Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen Huang – among other tech heavyweights – to a White House advisory council co-chaired by David Sacks that will weigh in on AI policy and other emerging technology issues. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are proposing a ban on new large-scale data centers until Congress passes broader AI rules. TechCrunch has more here.

The White House rejected an offer from Elon Musk to cover TSA workers’ pay during the partial government shutdown, citing legal issues tied to his federal contracts. Business Insider has more here.

Meta laid off about 700 employees, mostly in its Reality Labs division, even as it rolled out a new stock package that could make some top executives far richer if the company hits aggressive growth targets. The New York Times has more here.

Anthropic says its latest research shows AI hasn’t yet caused broad job losses, but early adopters and power users are already pulling ahead, hinting at a widening workplace skills gap. TechCrunch has more here.

Police, firefighters, and other first responders have repeatedly had to move stranded Waymos during emergencies, raising questions about the public cost and safety trade-offs of robotaxis. TechCrunch has the scoop here.

Google unveiled TurboQuant, an AI memory-compression technique that has prompted “Pied Piper” comparisons because it could cut inference memory use by at least 6x, though it remains a lab result for now. TechCrunch has more here.

According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, big companies aren’t ripping out software from vendors like Salesforce, SAP, and Workday, but they are increasingly using AI to build small internal apps and pressure vendors on price. More here.

Google has set 2029 as its new deadline to ensure all of its systems can survive decryption attacks by quantum computers, a more aggressive timeline than much of the industry has been operating under. Ars Technica has more here.

“Boy kibble,” a Gen Z social-media term for cheap, repetitive meals like ground beef and rice, is having a moment as gym-focused young men embrace stripped-down eating in the name of convenience and protein.

A fast-growing Reddit community is encouraging balding men to shave their heads, turning what can feel like a stigma into a choice through before-and-after posts and overwhelmingly positive feedback.

In case you were worried about what Stephen Colbert is going to do when The Late Show with Stephen Colbert shutters this May, it turns out that he and his son are developing a new Lord of the Rings movie for Warner Bros.

An original Ferrari 308 GTS driven by Tom Selleck in the first season of Magnum, P.I. is heading to auction.

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