Giant thanks again to everyone who came out to StrictlyVC’s New York event last night. Here are some pictures, and here, you’ll find news from the event that Khosla Ventures is officially opening a New York office this fall (its first ever beyond Sand Hill Road) — which could be a leading indicator, especially as prices soar to unprecedented heights in the Bay Area. More from the night coming soon — have a great weekend. 🏁

Anthropic says a group in northern Yemen used Claude to help develop guidance, navigation, and control software for rockets and missiles, including a ballistic missile with a claimed range above 2,000 kilometers. The group also used the model to diagnose an apparently failed live rocket test. Bloomberg has more here.

OpenAI has reportedly asked Congress whether an industry-wide slowdown in frontier AI development would violate antitrust law, as its chief scientist pushes for coordinated pauses until AI labs establish shared safety standards. Wired has more here.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 13 online child-safety bills, including a first-in-the-nation ban on addictive social-media features for users under 16 and new rules requiring stronger safeguards for minors interacting with AI chatbots. The New York Times has more here.

The CFTC launched at least three previously unreported investigations into potential insider trading on Polymarket, targeting bets tied to Biden pardons, the Iran war, and Google search rankings, documents obtained through FOIA show. The agency has separately brought an insider-trading case involving Google-related Polymarket contracts. Wired has more here.

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Matt Mullenweg has posted a message to Automattic’s Slack, claiming he is back in control as CEO of the WordPress.com parent company, according to a screenshot of the message seen by TechCrunch, which was confirmed by multiple employee sources. The post arrives only days after Automattic’s board voted to oust Mullenweg as CEO for unknown reasons.

Automattic has been asked to confirm if Mullenweg’s statement is true, but has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment. Mullenweg responded to our inquiry, saying a blog post is forthcoming. When it dropped, it was about him buying a houseboat.

Friday afternoon, Mary Hubbard, the Executive Director of WordPress.org, wrote on X that she was “relieved and pleased to see Matt Mullenweg return as CEO of Automattic.”

This story is still developing.

On Wednesday, the WordPress founder and a key advocate for the open source community told his team via Slack that Automattic’s board members had “conspired” behind his back by voting to put him on a paid leave of absence. The company’s chief financial officer, Mark Davies, was made interim CEO in the process, Mullenweg said.

At the time, a spokesperson from Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch that Mullenweg was on leave and Davies was interim CEO.

Archy, a five-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that automates scheduling, insurance verification, claims collection, charting, and patient communications for dental practices, raised a $50 million Series C round led by JMI Equity, with TCV, Entrée Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, and Alven also participating. The company has raised a total of $97 million. More here.

Discovery Loop, the roughly one-month-old AI startup founded by former Google chief scientist Jeff Dean and three longtime Google researchers, is reportedly raising again at around a $50 billion valuation, just weeks after seeking $1 billion at roughly $10 billion. Business Insider has more here.

Instinct, a five-month-old San Francisco startup that develops a personal AI assistant for completing tasks across users’ apps and devices, is reportedly seeking to raise $1 billion in new funding after raising a $250 million Series B in August at a $2.5 billion valuation. The Information has more here.

Xapien, an eight-year-old London startup that automates third-party due diligence for compliance, legal, and procurement teams assessing counterparties and monitoring business relationship risk, raised a $56 million Series B round led by Spectrum Equity, with YFM Equity Partners also chiming in. Legal IT Insider has more here.

Graph AI, a two-year-old startup based in Pleasanton, CA, that automates adverse-event intake, case processing, and regulatory reporting for pharmaceutical and biotech patient safety teams, raised a $13.3 million Series A round led by Insight Partners, with previous investor Bessemer Venture Partners also buying in. More here.

CONNECTA Therapeutics, a seven-year-old Barcelona startup that develops small-molecule drugs that modulate neuroplasticity to treat central nervous system disorders, starting with Fragile X syndrome, raised a $3.6 million round led by Clave Capital, with previous investors Inveready, CDTI Innvierte, and Prous Institute for Biomedical Research also anteing up. More here.

Enflame Technology, the eight-year-old Shanghai AI-chip maker backed by Tencent, surged 179% in its trading debut, giving it a $25.5 billion market cap after raising $861 million in one of mainland China’s largest tech listings this year. The South China Morning Post has more here.

Former OpenAI executive Fidji Simo has joined the board of AI data-center startup Nscale as the company prepares for a potential IPO as soon as this month. She will remain a part-time OpenAI adviser and recuse herself from Nscale matters involving OpenAI. TechCrunch has more here.

President Trump said he has no concerns that AI could cause human extinction, arguing instead that the greater risk is falling behind China, even as researchers at OpenAI and Anthropic intensify calls to slow development and lawmakers pursue greater oversight. CNBC has more here.

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan says regulators should “do nothing” about Chinese AI companies distilling U.S. frontier models, arguing that policymakers should instead preserve a balance between open-weight models and proprietary systems while focusing on more immediate AI risks such as cybersecurity. TechCrunch has more here.

Balderton appointed Luca Bocchio as a partner focused on early-stage investments. Bocchio joins from Accel, where he spent more than a decade investing across fintech, consumer, AI, defense, and energy, including in Trade Republic, SumUp, Vinted, and Fuse Energy. More here.

Kalshi plans to seek regulatory approval to offer the first U.S.-regulated perpetual futures tied to individual stocks, including Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia, expanding into 24/7 leveraged contracts with no expiration date after launching similar products for crypto and precious metals. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

OpenAI pulled out of sponsoring Caltech’s AI “mathathon” after current and former mathematicians warned the event would promote “slop mathematics,” arguing AI companies increasingly claim breakthroughs while leaving researchers to verify, correct, or discredit the results. Business Insider has more here.

SFGATE columnist Drew Magary visits San Francisco’s AI-run Andon Market, where Claude-powered manager Luna has burned through $40,000 of its $100,000 starting budget, still needs humans to approve decisions, and struggles with basic retail tasks. More here.

Family location-sharing has flipped direction, with teens now checking their parents’ whereabouts even more often than adults do and “fambushing” them at restaurants or texting requests for Starbucks and fast food when they see them nearby.

Wealthy West Village buyers are pushing beyond townhouse “Frankenmansions” and into “tenemansions,” converting entire tenement buildings into single-family homes.

The New York Times profiles pop artist Jeff Koons, 71, who still runs his studio like an industrial operation: assistants can spend years executing his tightly specified works, while Koons may contribute only a few finishing brushstrokes that take seconds to apply.

The RealReal founder Julie Wainwright has listed her 3,200-square-foot Tribeca condo in the Woolworth Tower for $7.885 million. The three-bedroom residence features 10-foot-plus ceilings, a 35-foot-wide great room, sweeping city and river views, and access to a pool, fitness studio, wine cellar, and parking.

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