OpenAI just dropped Sora 2, a slicker video generator, and paired it with a TikTok-style app that enables users to star in AI-made clips of themselves and friends, a bold move that pushes the company into social media territory. TechCrunch has more here.

Speaking of OpenAI , the company apparently generated about $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, 16% more than all of 2024, while burning $2.5 billion largely on R&D. The Information has the scoop here.

a16z’s new AI x Commerce thesis sets the stage for Commerce 2.0, spotlighting AI opportunities across the stack. 

Building on their framework, we mapped 80+ startups defining AI-driven commerce. See their funding, founder, and growth details here. 

By Julie Bort

Periodic Labs came out of stealth on Tuesday with a war chest of $300 million as a seed round, backed by a tech industry who’s who: Andreessen Horowitz, DST, Nvidia, Accel, Elad Gil, Jeff Dean, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos.

Periodic Labs was founded by Ekin Dogus Cubuk and Liam Fedus. Cubuk led the materials and chemistry team at Google Brain and DeepMind, where one of his projects was, for instance, an AI tool called GNoME. That tool discovered over 2 million new crystals in 2023, materials that could one day be used to power new generations of technology, researchers say.

Fedus is a former VP of Research at OpenAI, and one of the researchers who helped create ChatGPT. He also led the team that created the first trillion-parameter neural network.

Its small team is likewise filled with researchers who have worked on other major AI and materials science projects, from building OpenAI’s agent Operator to working on Microsoft’s MatterGen, an LLM materials science discovery AI.

The goal of Periodic Labs is nothing less than to automate scientific discovery, creating AI scientists, the company says. This means building labs where robots conduct physical experiments, collect data, iterate, and try again, learning and improving as they go.

The lab’s first goal is to invent new superconductors that it hopes perform better and possibly require less energy than existing superconducting materials. But the well-funded startup also hopes to find other new materials.

Eve, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that helps plaintiff law firms use AI to manage cases and improve outcomes, raised a $103 million Series B round at a $1+ billion valuation. Spark Capital was the deal lead, with previous investors Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures also anteing up. Reuters has more here.

Rebellions, a five-year-old startup based in Seongnam, South Korea, that develops energy-efficient AI inference chips, raised a $250 million Series C round at a $1.4 billion valuation. The deal was co-led by Arm and Samsung Ventures, with Korea Development Bank and Korelya Capital also chipping in. Data Center Dynamics has more here.

Star Therapeutics, a seven-year-old South San Francisco startup that develops antibody therapies for bleeding disorders and other diseases, raised a $125 million Series D round co-led by Sanofi Ventures and Viking Global Investors, with Janus Henderson Investors, Frazier Life Sciences, GordonMD Global Investments, Sofinnova Investments, Blue Owl Capital, and RA Capital Management also chiming in. The company has raised $300+ million. Fierce Biotech has more here.

Vercel, a 10-year-old San Francisco company that builds AI-focused infrastructure for developers, raised a $300 million Series F round at a $9.3 billion post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Accel and GIC, with BlackRock, StepStone, Khosla Ventures, Schroders, Adams Street Partners, General Catalyst, GV, Notable Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and Tiger Global also engaging. The company also disclosed that it is working on closing a $300 million tender offer by November. More here.

Vibe.co, a three-year-old New York startup that helps performance marketers run hyper-targeted ads on connected TV, raised a $50 million Series B round at a $410 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Hedosophia, with Elaia, Singular, QuantumLight, and Illusian also taking part. More here.

Commcrete, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that develops handheld satellite communication systems for defense, emergency, and security teams, raised a $21 million Series A round led by Greenfield Partners, with Redseed Ventures and Q Fund also investing. More here.

Descope, a three-year-old startup based in Los Altos, CA, that helps businesses handle login and account security for their customers and partners, raised a $35 million seed extension round from Notable Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Unusual Ventures, Cerca Partners, and Triventures. The company has raised a total of $88 million. CTech has more here.

Gelt, a three-year-old Israeli startup that uses artificial intelligence to provide continuous tax planning for high-net-worth individuals and growing businesses, raised a $13 million Series A round led by the Rimon Group and including Vintage Investment Partners and TLV Partners. The company has raised a total of $21.2 million. CTech has more here.

Lexroom, a two-year-old Milan startup that helps law firms and corporate legal teams use AI to research cases, draft documents, and give advice across different jurisdictions, raised a $19 million Series A round led by Base10 Partners, with Acurio Ventures and View Different also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $22 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Mondoo, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that helps companies find and fix vulnerabilities across cloud, SaaS, on-prem, and endpoint systems, raised a $17.5 million Series A extension round led by HV Capital, with T.Capital, Atomico, Firstminute Capital, and System.One also opting in. The company has raised a total of $32.5 million. SecurityWeek has more here.

Neura Health, a five-year-old New York startup that offers virtual neurology care with video visits, symptom tracking, and care coaching, raised an $11.4 million Series A round led by the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Venture Fund, with Norwest Venture Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Esplanade Ventures, Pear VC, Correlation Ventures, and E12 Ventures also piling on. The company has raised a total of $22 million. Femtech Insider has more here.

Polars, a five-year-old Amsterdam startup that has built an open source data-processing tool to help teams analyze large datasets faster, raised a $21.1 million Series A round led by Accel, with additional participation from Bain Capital Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

Scorability, a two-year-old Austin startup that helps college coaches discover, evaluate, and connect with athletes, raised a $40 million round led by Bluestone Equity Partners, with Fanatics, Luther King Capital Management, Silverton Partners, and Next Coast Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $51 million. More here.

Zania, a San Francisco startup that uses AI agents to automate security, risk, and compliance work, raised an $18 million Series A round led by NEA, with Anthology Fund and Palm Drive Capital also contributing. More here.

Arqh, a Zurich startup founded this year that uses AI to help logistics teams make routing and scheduling decisions without relying on spreadsheets or phone calls, raised a $3.8 million pre-seed round led by Founderful, with Merantix Capital also participating. Tech Funding News has more here.

Augmented Industries, a four-year-old Munich startup that uses AI to help industrial technicians create training guides and solve equipment problems more quickly, raised a $5.3 million pre-seed round led by b2venture, with 1st Kind, xdeck, and DnA Ventures also taking part. Tech Funding News has more here.

Confido Health, a three-year-old New York startup that provides AI-powered voice agents to handle and document patient calls, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Blume Ventures, with Schema Ventures, Vicus Ventures, Together Fund, DeVC, and Medmountain Ventures also contributing. The company has raised a total of $13 million. More here.

InOrbit.AI, an eight-year-old startup based in Mountain View, CA, that helps companies manage and coordinate fleets of robots across industries like manufacturing, logistics, retail, and hospitality, raised a $10 million Series A round co-led by L’ATTITUDE Ventures and Globant Ventures. Robotics & Automation News has more here.

Notch.cx, a four-year-old Tel Aviv startup that uses AI to handle customer service requests and cut support costs, raised a $7 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Jibe Ventures, LionTree, Phoenix, and Munich Re Ventures also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $15 million. More here.

Rehuman, a one-year-old London startup that helps insurers and brokers improve customer interactions via an AI-powered digital wallet, raised an undisclosed round from Accenture Ventures. Life Insurance International has more here.

Reveni, a three-year-old Madrid startup that helps e-commerce brands manage returns and international logistics, raised an $8.8 million Series A round led by 13books Capital, with JME Ventures, BSV, and Bynd Venture Capital also investing. The company has raised a total of $19.9 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Supernova, a seven-year-old Prague startup that helps companies use AI to move faster from product design to finished software, raised a $9.2 million Series A round led by Taiwania Capital and including J&T Ventures, Reflex Capital, Kaya, Credo Ventures, EQT Ventures, Wing VC, and Y Combinator. Tech.eu has more here.

Tie, a four-year-old Miami startup that helps e-commerce brands identify and convert anonymous website visitors into customers, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Innovating Capital, with additional support from Stage 2 Capital and Hawke Ventures. More here.

Willo, a seven-year-old Glasgow startup that helps employers screen candidates through structured video interviews and verification tools, raised a $4 million round led by Mimecast co-founder Peter Bauer. The company has raised a total of $7.9 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

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Toyota just set up a $670 million strategic arm called Toyota Invention Partners to back Japan-based startups from the ground up and launched an $800 million second fund called Woven Capital to target growth-stage bets in AI, automation, and climate tech. TechCrunch has more here.

Concept Ventures, a three-year-old London VC firm that backs pre-seed startups across the UK and Europe, raised its second fund in the amount of €75 million. EU-Startups has more here.

Rivos, a startup based in Silicon Valley that develops graphics chips for AI workloads, is reportedly being acquired by Meta as Meta aims to double down on custom silicon and reduce its dependence on Nvidia. Terms have not been disclosed. Bloomberg has the scoop here.

Cerebras Systems, a 10-year-old Silicon Valley company that makes AI chips and hardware systems and offers cloud services, raised a $1.1 billion Series G round at an $8.1 billion post-money valuation in what could be its last round before going public. The deal was co-led by Fidelity and Atreides Management, with Tiger Global, Valor Equity Partners, and 1789 Capital also joining in. TechCrunch has more here.

With a government shutdown set to hit tomorrow, the SEC could go dark and stall IPO approvals, putting the hot IPO market on hold. Axios has more here.

Elon Musk is facing a wave of senior departures across Tesla, xAI, and X as longtime lieutenants and fresh hires alike bail over burnout, strategic pivots, and Musk’s politics. The Financial Times has more here.

Brian Quintenz’s bid to chair the CFTC has been yanked by the White House after pushback from the Winklevoss twins and others. Politico has more here.

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is handing the CEO reins to longtime lieutenants Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström while shifting to executive chairman, ending a nearly 20-year run. TechCrunch has more here.

Christopher Walsh has joined Antler as a San Francisco-based partner after stints at 7GC and Empros. More here.

AI-fueled data center expansion is driving U.S. electricity prices sharply higher, with costs rising as much as 267% in regions near major server farms. Bloomberg has more here.

DoorDash just unveiled Dot, a cartoonish little delivery robot that represents a high-stakes gamble that could either reshape food delivery or saddle the company with the same headaches that have tripped up better-funded AV players. TechCrunch has more here.

Scenes from Milan Fashion Week.

Rolliefest 2025, the “Met Gala of Watches.”

The Superstar is back.

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