Snap has agreed to settle a social media addiction lawsuit days before a first-of-its-kind trial that could open new personal injury liability for platforms over teen mental health harms tied to infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic feeds. Meta, YouTube, and TIkTok are still defendants in the case. The New York Times has more here.

The FTC is taking another shot at Meta, appealing a 2024 court decision that rejected the agency's argument that buying Instagram and WhatsApp created an illegal monopoly. Reuters has more here.

The Trump administration disclosed in court filings that two members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency may have accessed and shared Social Security numbers with a political advocacy group seeking to overturn 2024 election results. TechCrunch has more here.

Affinity’s 7 Modern Workflows to Win Deals Faster in 2026

Most private capital firms are sitting on networks worth millions in deal flow. The firms pulling ahead have built systems to actually activate those relationships. In this new guide, Affinity breaks down 7 real workflows used by firms like BlackRock ($13T AUM), Bessemer Venture Partners, SpeedInvest (€1.2B), and Notable Capital to win proprietary deals faster, prevent critical relationships from going cold, and reclaim hundreds of hours per year. The guide goes beyond theory, showing exactly what worked, what didn’t, and why these systems matter heading into 2026. 

By Connie Loizos

Last week, after reversing an earlier ban, the U.S. administration officially approved the sale of Nvidia’s H200 chips, along with a chip line by AMD, to approved Chinese customers. Maybe they aren’t these chipmakers’ shiniest, most advanced chips, but they’re high-performance processors used for AI, making the export controversial. And at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei unloaded on both the administration and the chip companies over the decision.

The criticism was particularly notable because one of those chipmakers, Nvidia, is a major partner and $10 billion investor in Anthropic.

“The CEOs of these companies say, ‘It’s the embargo on chips that’s holding us back,’” Amodei said, incredulous, in response to a question about the new rules. The decision is going to come back to bite the U.S., he warned.

“We are many years ahead of China in terms of our ability to make chips,” he told Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, who was interviewing him. “So I think it would be a big mistake to ship these chips.” Amodei then painted an alarming picture of what’s at stake. He talked about the “incredible national security implications” of AI models that represent “essentially cognition, that are essentially intelligence.” He likened future AI to a “country of geniuses in a data center,” saying to imagine “100 million people smarter than any Nobel Prize winner,” all under the control of one country or another.

The image underscored why he thinks chip exports matter so much. But then came the biggest blow. “I think this is crazy,” Amodei said of the administration’s latest move. “It’s a bit like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea and [bragging that] Boeing made the casings.”

That sound you hear? The team at Nvidia, screaming into their phones.

Baseten, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that helps businesses deploy and run large AI models in production for applications such as code generation, search, and automation, raised a $300 million Series D at a $5 billion valuation. The deal was co-led by IVP and CapitalG, with Nvidia as well as previous investors Bond, Greylock, and Spark Capital also taking stakes. The company has raised a total of $585 million. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

DealHub.io, an 11-year-old Austin company that helps companies manage pricing, contracts, billing, and revenue workflows, raised a $100 million round. Riverwood Capital was the deal lead. More here.

Emergent, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that builds software that helps people design, build, test, and deploy web and mobile apps using AI, raised a $70 million Series B round at a $300 million post-money valuation, triple the valuation it received less than four months ago. The deal was co-led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Khosla Ventures, with additional participation from Prosus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Together, and Y Combinator. The company has raised a total of $100 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Ethernovia, an eight-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that builds Ethernet-based packet processors for real-time sensor, AI, and control data in autonomous vehicles and robots, raised a $90+ million Series B led by Maverick Silicon, with participation from Socratic Partners, Conduit Capital, and CDIB-TEN Capital as well as previous investors Porsche SE, Qualcomm Ventures, and Fall Line Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Exciva, an 11-year-old company based in Heidelberg, Germany, that develops treatments for agitation and other neuropsychiatric symptoms linked to Alzheimer’s disease, raised a $59.8 million Series B. The deal was co-led by EQT Life Sciences and Gimv, with Fountain Healthcare Partners, LifeArc, Carma Fund, Modi Ventures, Andera Partners, and LBBW also investing. Tech Funding News has more here.

FuriosaAI, a nine-year-old Seoul startup that designs chips for running artificial intelligence models in data centers, is reportedly in talks to raise a $300 million to $500 million Series D, according to Bloomberg. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Humans&, a newly founded San Francisco startup that builds software to help people work together using AI, raised a $480 million seed round at a $4.48 billion post-money valuation. The deal's investors include Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, SV Angel, GV, and Emerson Collective. TechCrunch has more here.

Ivo, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that builds software to help businesses review and analyze contracts, raised a $55 million Series B at a $355 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by previous investor Blackbird, with Costanoa Ventures, Uncork Capital, Fika Ventures, GD1, and Icehouse Ventures also stepping up. Reuters has more here.

Pennylane, a six-year-old Paris startup that builds accounting and financial management software for small and midsize businesses and their accountants, raised a $205 million round led by TCV, with Blackstone as well as previous investors Sequoia Capital, DST Global, CapitalG, and Meritech Capital also digging in. EU-Startups has more here.

Pomelo, a five-year-old Buenos Aires startup that builds card-issuing and payment-processing systems for banks and fintechs, raised a $55 million Series C co-led by Kaszek and Insight Partners, with Index Ventures, Adams Street Partners, S32, Endeavor Catalyst, Monashees, and TQ Ventures also engaging. The company has raised a total of $160 million. Bloomberg has more here.

Terralayr, a three-year-old startup based in Zug, Switzerland, that develops and operates grid-scale battery energy storage systems and runs a digital marketplace for trading flexible power capacity, raised a $225.1 million round led by Eurazeo, with RIVE Private Investment also opting in. Renewables Now has more here.

Zipline, a 12-year-old South San Francisco company that operates autonomous drones that deliver medical supplies, groceries, and other essential goods quickly to hospitals, clinics, and homes, raised a $600+ million round at a $7.6 billion post-money valuation. Investors included Valor Equity Partners, Tiger Global, Fidelity, and Baillie Gifford. Reuters has more here.

Ditto, a six-year-old San Francisco startup whose platform helps teams write, review, update, and publish product text in one place and then push the final wording directly into their apps and websites, raised a $12.2 million Series A round. Craft Ventures led the transaction, with previous investor Y Combinator also taking part. More here.

Dominion Dynamics, a one-year-old Ottawa startup that builds interoperable autonomous systems for Arctic and allied defense operations, raised a $15.2 million seed round led by Georgian, with Bessemer Venture Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation also contributing. The company has raised a total of $18.8 million. More here.

Fracttal, an 11-year-old Madrid company that builds maintenance management software for physical assets and equipment, raised a $35 million round led by Riverwood Capital, with Seaya Ventures, Kayyak, GoHub, and Amador also investing. More here.

one.five, a six-year-old Hamburg startup that builds software to help packaging manufacturers design and test new products before launch, raised a $16.4 million Series A led by Dr. Hans Riegel Holding, with 212 NexT, Symbia VC, Btomorrow Ventures, KIMPA Impact, Zubi Capital, Speedinvest, Planet A, Green Generation Fund, Climentum Capital, Revent, and WEPA also piling on. EU-Startups has more here.

TitanX, a five-year-old startup based in Knoxville, TN, that predicts which sales prospects are most likely to answer cold calls before reps dial, raised a $27 million Series A. Updata Partners was the deal lead. More here.

XBuild, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that is building AI-powered estimating and proposal software for residential construction contractors, raised a $19 million Series A led by N47, with Rackhouse Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz also anteing up. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Another, a two-year-old New York startup that helps retailers manage excess inventory across warehouses and decide when and where to sell it off-channel, raised a $2.5 million seed round co-led by Anthemis FIL and Westbound. TechCrunch has more here.

Anzen Industries, a two-year-old London startup that develops cell-free biomanufacturing systems to produce high-value chemicals using reusable enzyme reactors, raised a $2.2 million pre-seed round co-led by LocalGlobe and Creator Fund. Tech.eu has more here.

Brickeye, an 11-year-old Toronto company that provides IoT monitoring and risk mitigation services for construction sites, raised a $10 million Series B from GreenSky Ventures, Brightspark Ventures, Graphite Ventures, Export Development Canada, Beauchamp Construction, and an unnamed strategic investor. More here.

Formulary, a one-year-old New York startup that builds software to help private fund managers track investments, performance, and reporting in one system, raised a $4.6 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures and including Human Ventures and Serena Ventures. Fortune has more here.

NEOintralogistics, a five-year-old Düsseldorf startup that builds robotic picking systems for warehouses, raised a $3.5 million seed round co-led by Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and Cetus Holding. Tech Funding News has more here.

Phoebe, a one-year-old New York startup that is developing AI-powered "teammates" to automate home healthcare agency operations and scheduling, raised a $9.5 million seed round led by Quiet Capital, with Slow Ventures, Roar Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, Consonant Capital, and Gokul Rajaram also joining in. More here.

Stilla, a one-year-old Stockholm startup whose platform is designed to keep product teams aligned by sharing real-time context from tools like Slack, GitHub, Linear, and Notion, raised a $5 million pre-seed round led by General Catalyst. Tech.eu has more here.

TeamFeePay, an eight-year-old Belfast startup that builds software to help grassroots sports clubs manage fees, schedules, attendance, and admin tasks, raised a $12.1 million round led by YFM Equity Partners, with Investment Fund for Northern Ireland and Techstart also stepping up. UKTN has more here.

The next platform shift: Physical and edge AI, powered by Arm.

As AI moves beyond the cloud and into the real world, a new platform shift is underway. From robots and vehicles to XR and edge systems, AI now must act in real time, under real-world constraints. At CES 2026, Arm-powered platforms are enabling this next phase - delivering efficient, secure, and scalable intelligence across cloud, edge, and physical systems. Read how Arm is powering the future AI 

Fifth Wall, an L.A. and New York-based venture firm with $3 billion in assets under management that's been among the highest-profile investors in climate and real estate tech, has cut staff and paused fundraising amid high interest rates and the Trump administration's climate policies, CEO Brendan Wallace confirmed to Axios. More here.

Serve Robotics is acquiring Diligent Robotics, a nine-year-old Austin startup that builds a hospital assistant robot called Moxi to handle tasks like delivering lab samples and medical supplies inside hospitals. A press release described the deal as $29 million for the company’s common stock and $5.3 million in possible earn-out funds, a total sum far below the $100+ million Diligent raised from investors like Canaan, Tiger Global Management, and True Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Ethos Technologies, a 10-year-old San Francisco company that sells term life insurance online using automated underwriting software, has priced its IPO and is expected to go public on Thursday at a valuation up to $1.26 billion. Ethos’s VC investors include Sequoia, Accel, GV, SoftBank, General Catalyst, and Heroic Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei issued a stark warning about the potential impact of AI. “I don’t think there’s an awareness at all of what is coming here and the magnitude of it,” he said. More here.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp echoed these sentiments at the Davos conference, opining that AI will displace so many jobs that it will make large-scale immigration “hard to imagine.” SiliconANGLE has more here.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says President Donald Trump’s tariffs are starting to show up in prices as sellers run out of pre-tariff inventory, with some passing higher costs to consumers while others absorb them or split the difference. TechCrunch has more here.

Sam Altman and Elon Musk reignited their feud with dueling X posts today over safety and alleged deaths tied to ChatGPT and Tesla Autopilot. Business Insider has more here.

Apparently, one of the main Davos storylines is how much Big Tech and AI are dominating the conference and displacing conversations about topics like climate change. The New York Times has more here.

Internal court filings reveal that Microsoft went from being blindsided by OpenAI’s 2015 launch on AWS to wielding effective veto power over its biggest decisions, steering board reshuffles by text, blocking rivals, pushing monetization of ChatGPT, and ultimately locking in a 27% stake tied to a $250 billion Azure commitment. GeekWire has more here.

The Wall Street Journal digs into how a co-founder romance, internal power struggle, and talent war with OpenAI led Mira Murati to fire Thinking Machines Lab CTO Barret Zoph only months after raising $2 billion at a $12 billion valuation. More here.

Portugal’s gambling regulator has shut down crypto prediction market Polymarket and blocked it nationwide after more than $4.7 million poured into presidential election bets just hours before results were announced, raising concerns about leaked exit polls and illegal political wagering. The Block has more here.

The New York Times uncovers the secretive, casino-style VIP programs that Zynga and other mobile game publishers use to satiate a tiny group of high-spending players, who can drive as much as 90% of total revenue. The New York Times has more here.

According to the CEO of dating app Coffee Meets Bagel, Gen Z daters are now prioritizing financial stability and ambition over hookups. Business Insider has more here.

No shortage of snow in Kamchatka!

Shot Scope’s new LM1 launch monitor aims to bring pro-style swing data to everyday golfers with a tablet-sized device that tracks ball and clubhead speed, “Smash Factor,” and carry distance; works indoors and out; and costs less than a premium wedge, with no subscription required.

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