Nvidia is reportedly in talks to guarantee roughly $250 billion of financing for OpenAI to lease a 10-gigawatt Ohio data-center project being developed by SoftBank while separately discussing up to $350 billion to finance the chips inside. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Nvidia, Microsoft, SpaceX, Palantir, and dozens of other tech companies launched the Open Secure AI Alliance to build and share open cybersecurity tools, citing the Chinese model that helped Hugging Face repel rogue OpenAI agents. CNBC has more here.

China warned today that it would take “all necessary measures” if Washington sanctions its AI companies over alleged model distillation, dismissing U.S. accusations of intellectual-property theft as a baseless “smear campaign” and “AI hegemony.” Bloomberg has more here.

An unknown number of publicly shared Claude chats and Artifacts appeared in Google search results, exposing medical records, internal company documents, employee information, and children’s contact details before the pages were removed from search. TechCrunch has more here.

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By Rebecca Bellan

After two years in stealth, Safe Superintelligence, the AI lab founded by former OpenAI co-founder and alignment lead Ilya Sutskever, has announced a long-term partnership with Nvidia as it prepares to scale to its next phase. 

The deal, which includes an undisclosed investment, will give Safe Superintelligence (SSI) access to Nvidia’s Vera Rubin GPU platform, which is expected to increase the startup’s compute resources “by an order of magnitude.” The partnership comes as SSI has achieved significant research milestones, per Nvidia. 

Nvidia’s investment stretches into multiple billions, a source familiar with the deal told TechCrunch. Bloomberg reported that the deal size was $5 billion.

Already an investor in SSI, the chipmaking giant said it signed this compute partnership to “accelerate SSI’s next stage of growth after obtaining rare access into the company’s closely guarded research.”

“We have research that is worthy of scaling up, and having access to a big NVIDIA computer will let us do so,” Sutskever said in a statement. “We are confident that our big bet on the Vera Rubin platform will take us to the next level.”

The partnership news, while sparse in details, brings SSI back into the spotlight after a quiet two years since it was founded. The company is pursuing a “straight shot” research approach to building what it says is a safe, aligned artificial superintelligence, without getting distracted by commercial product releases or short-term revenue cycles. 

Antares, a three-year-old startup based in Torrance, CA, that develops compact nuclear microreactors that provide years of uninterrupted power for military installations and space applications, raised a $470 million Series C round co-led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital, with Point72 Ventures and Industrious Ventures as well as previous investor Shine Capital also participating. The company has raised a total of $600+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Enigma, a one-year-old Israeli startup that trains robotics foundation models and develops interfaces that make robots easier for humans to control, raised a $71 million seed round co-led by Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital, with Conviction Partners also stepping up. TechCrunch has more here.

Multiverse Computing, a seven-year-old startup based in San Sebastián, Spain, that compresses large AI models so they can run on phones, factory equipment, vehicles, and telecom infrastructure without cloud connections, raised a $570 million Series C at a $1.7 billion pre-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Forgepoint Capital International, BNPP SIVF, and Bullhound Capital, with Santander Alternative Investments, Tikehau Capital, HP Inc, Orange Ventures, Scania Invest, NAventures, Qatar Development Bank, Zouk Capital, SETT, EIC Fund, the Basque government’s Hazten Scale-Up Fund, and Kutxa Fundazioa also chipping in. The round is expected to bring the company's total funding to $800 million. Silicon Republic has more here.

Flourish Health, a six-year-old startup based in Richmond, VA, that delivers in-home, psychiatrist-led mental health care for children and young adults with serious, complex needs, raised a $26 million Series A round co-led by B Capital, F-Prime, and Cherryrock Capital. The company has raised a total of $46 million. More here.

Kausable, a one-year-old startup based in Heidelberg, Germany, that develops AI models that learn from minimal data and adapt to unfamiliar problems without repeated retraining, raised a $13.6 million seed round co-led by UVC Partners and Entourage, with previous investors HTGF and Mätch VC also chiming in. EU-Startups has more here.

Nuclear Turbines, a one-year-old startup based in Manchester, UK, that develops compact modular nuclear reactors designed to generate lower-cost electricity for industrial sites, data centers, and manufacturing facilities, raised a $15 million round led by IQ Capital, with Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, and Empirical Ventures also digging in. Tech.eu has more here.

Telli, a two-year-old Berlin startup that deploys AI agents that automate sales and customer service conversations across phone, chat, email, and messaging for consumer-facing businesses, raised a $15 million seed round led by Redalpine, with Mutschler, Cherry Ventures, and Y Combinator also investing. The company has raised a total of $18.5 million. PYMNTS has more here.

Way Security, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that automates integration and policy enforcement for enterprise identity systems across legacy applications, internal tools, and third-party services, raised a $20 million seed round co-led by Insight Partners and Glilot Capital. CTech has more here.

Beelzebub, a one-year-old Milan startup that combines adversary emulation, deception traps, and threat intelligence to detect and contain cyber intrusions, raised a $3.4 million seed round led by United Ventures. SecurityWeek has more here.

Dopl Technologies, a four-year-old startup based in Bothell, WA, that develops hardware-agnostic robotic ultrasound systems that let sonographers remotely perform diagnostic exams across multiple healthcare facilities, raised a $6.3 million seed round led by SpringTide Ventures, with WRF Capital, Tacoma Venture Fund, HeartX, Transform Health Ventures, and Precursor Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $8+ million. More here.

Fincart, a three-year-old Cairo startup that helps e-commerce merchants manage shipping, cash-on-delivery settlement, short-term financing, and customer retention, raised a $2.8 million seed round co-led by Launch Africa and Antler MENAP, with Yango Ventures, Five35 Ventures, Bluestream Capital, Hi2 Global, and Kalahari Venture Labs as well as previous investor Orbit Ventures also engaging. Inc. Arabia has more here.

Freight Hero, a one-year-old startup based in Durham, NC, that uses AI agents and human operators to run freight brokers’ back-office load operations from rate confirmation through proof of delivery, raised a $5 million round led by Field Ventures, with Flybridge Capital, Tip Top VC, and Front Porch Venture Partners also buying in. The company has raised a total of $6+ million. More here.

Pilot Protocol, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that connects AI agents so they can discover one another, exchange messages, install tools, and make payments without human setup, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Version One Ventures, with Precursor Ventures, Night Capital, and Todd & Rahul Capital also engaging. More here.

Ominimo, a two-year-old Serbian-Hungarian startup that develops and distributes motor insurance using highly segmented pricing and proprietary insurance technology, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development at a $1.6 billion valuation, a 7x step-up in valuation since it closed its Series A last year. EU-Startups has more here.

General Compute raised $15 million to build the world's first ASIC cloud. By removing the GPU bottleneck, it runs frontier LLMs up to 16x faster than standard GPU clouds. And because ASIC silicon is far more energy efficient, it deploys in air-cooled data centers, making expansion dramatically easier. Learn more at generalcompute.com. 

CXMT, a 10-year-old Hefei, China-based chipmaker that produces DRAM memory for smartphones, computers, and servers, surged 466% in its Shanghai debut after an $8.6 billion IPO, becoming the country’s most valuable listed company with a roughly $490 billion market capitalization. CNBC has more here.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned that companies relying on a single proprietary AI provider may not survive, arguing they must retain their prompts, metadata, context, and model flexibility or risk outsourcing their thinking and enabling vendors to become competitors. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said humanity has entered the technological singularity — the long-theorized point when AI surpasses human intelligence and advances unpredictably — calling the moment “incredible” while criticizing rival labs’ darker warnings. Business Insider has more here.

A Nantucket craft shop’s “No influencers” sign sparked a backlash from creator Paige Paul and revived arguments over whether social-media exposure helps small businesses or instead brings disruptive filming, crowds, and unwanted commercialization. Mashable has more here.

AI tools are driving an explosion in software bug discovery, with the U.S. National Vulnerabilities Database logging 45,207 flaws so far in 2026 and on track to roughly double 2025’s record total. Bloomberg has more here.

Amazon’s satellite unit Leo proposed launching up to 5,105 satellites beginning in 2028 to deliver voice, messaging, data, and emergency services directly to smartphones beyond cellular coverage, intensifying competition with SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile, and Lynk. Reuters has more here.

A New York Times investigation reveals that Meta used secret negotiations, rewritten tax legislation, and extensive nondisclosure agreements to secure its $50 billion Hyperion data center in Louisiana while shifting much of the financial, insurance, and energy risk to investors, the utility, and potentially ratepayers. More here.

Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Airbus, and other defense giants have participated in a record $4.1 billion of venture rounds this year as they race to gain exposure to drones, autonomous systems, and other technologies reshaping warfare. The Financial Times has more here.

Google’s AI Overviews appeared in 43% of searches in May, up from 15% a year earlier, while AI Mode visits more than doubled, accelerating Google’s shift from a gateway to the web into a destination that keeps users — and traffic — on its own platform. TechCrunch has more here.

A TikTok video of two Wachtell lawyers kissing near Central Park that drew more than two million views has reignited debate over filming, identifying, and judging strangers without their consent. Mashable has more here.

A Danish musician’s viral video argues that a looping four-note “Gen Alpha melody” appears across hundreds of recent pop songs worldwide.

Business Insider visits Traverse City, Michigan — the “Napa of the Midwest” — and reports that it offers a cheaper, less crowded wine getaway with award-winning cool-climate wines, Lake Michigan views, walkable towns, breweries, cideries, and nearby attractions such as Sleeping Bear Dunes.

TechCrunch reviews Autonomous Key, a $9 NFC device that physically locks distracting smartphone apps until users scan it to regain access.

Artist Nicky Davis is selling 3D-printed phone booths that double as MagSafe-compatible wireless charging docks, complete with illuminated “PHONE” signs and either DIY sticker kits or hand-painted graffiti finishes. Prices start at $125.

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