Lordy, there were a lot of fundings today. We took a breather on the treadmill with “Wahl Street,” the docuseries about Mark Wahlberg’s business dealings, as homework for our sit-down with him at Disrupt next week. We’re only a couple of episodes in, and it’s early 2020. He’s just locked up a master franchisee deal with F45 and plans to blanket the country with gyms, but, spoiler alert, there’s a pandemic taking shape! Perhaps you all know this already, but we’d somehow missed this series entirely, and it’s really good.

The Trump administration froze new and pending permanent labor certification applications involving Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini, citing alleged abuse of skilled-worker immigration programs and potentially disrupting a common route to green cards for foreign tech workers. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenAI told investors that its annualized revenue reached roughly $50 billion at the end of September, well below the $68 billion widely reported last month, the Financial Times first reported. The news sent Nvidia down 3%, Oracle 6%, CoreWeave 8%, and several other AI stocks sharply lower. CNBC has more here.

New York alleges that TikTok secretly gave thousands of users – including teens and children – placebo versions of safety features they believed were protecting them from unwanted or harmful content, while the company studied effects on engagement and ad revenue. Reuters has more here.

SpaceX has agreed to acquire nationwide low-band spectrum that it says will help turn Starlink into a major U.S. mobile carrier, sending shares of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon down more than 5% in after-hours trading. Bloomberg has more here.

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Zach Yadegari, the teen co-founder of calorie tracking app Cal AI, has launched Persona, a new AI agent startup, and already raised $10 million. Vine Ventures led the round, with Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global participating.

In March, MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI for an undisclosed sum after it zoomed ahead of the older calorie app in the app store rankings. The deal was big enough to convince Yadegari and his co-founders to sell the company after it had pulled in over $30 million in annual revenue in under two years, MyFitnessPal told TechCrunch at the time.

Yadegari and his co-founders originally went to work for their new owner, continuing development on Cal AI, but he left the bigger company in June, he tells TechCrunch. He then went right to work on his next idea. (He is working with another co-founder who has yet to be announced.)

That idea is Persona, a personal AI assistant similar to Instinct or Meta’s Muse but with a hardware component that will soon be available: a $179 wearable band.

That makes Persona somewhat more like Bee, the wearable AI device that Amazon acquired in 2025, but Persona’s device differs in several ways, Yadegari tells TechCrunch. For one, it won’t be ambient AI, meaning it won’t always be listening and recording. The band will have a button that activates the assistant, or it can be set up to activate with the flick of one’s wrist.

Yadegari also says that Persona is designed with user privacy in mind. Persona doesn’t run its AI model or store user data on the device. Instead, the model runs in Persona’s cloud, and user data is sent there. The assistant protects privacy by encrypting data in transit and at rest. Users can also delete their data, the company says.

Arena, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that runs crowdsourced AI model leaderboards and sells performance analytics to model makers and enterprises, raised a $200 million Series B round at a $3.1 billion valuation, up from $1.7 billion in January. The deal was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures, with Salesforce Ventures, 01 Advisors, Dell Technologies Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and Felicis also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

Gallatin AI, a two-year-old startup based in El Segundo, CA, that uses AI to connect military logistics data and automate vehicle readiness, supply, medical, and mission-support workflows, raised a $50 million Series A round. Investors included 8VC and Silent Ventures. The company has raised a total of $70 million. More here.

Hone, a five-month-old San Francisco startup that builds AI agents to handle long-running business tasks over weeks or months, raised a $60 million seed round at a $285 million post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Benchmark and Index Ventures, with Elad Gil, Hanabi, Definition, and Diffusion also investing. Bloomberg has more here.

Isomorphic Labs, a five-year-old London startup that applies AI to drug discovery and designs medicines in-house, is reportedly in early talks to raise a new round at a valuation of at least $40 billion, potentially as high as $50 billion. Bloomberg has more here.

Manus, a four-year-old Singapore startup that builds tools for making apps, websites, presentations, and video, just raised more than $500 million, co-led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with Tencent, HSG, and ZhenFund also putting in money. It’s the company’s first raise since Meta’s $2 billion deal to buy it, announced last December, blew up. Chinese authorities ordered the deal unwound in April, reportedly over fears of losing AI talent to the West. Manus has been operating independently again since August. TechCrunch has more here.

Matchpoint Therapeutics, a five-year-old startup based in Watertown, MA, that develops oral medicines targeting disease-related proteins involved in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, raised a $150 million Series B round co-led by Nextech Invest and Norwest, with Invus, BB Biotech, T1D Fund, and BOLD Longevity Growth as well as previous investors Access Biotechnology, Atlas Venture, Sanofi Ventures, and Digitalis Ventures also piling on. Dealroom has more here.

Oratomic, a startup founded this year based in Pasadena, CA, that develops quantum computers using laser-trapped neutral atoms and error correction to reduce computational failures, raised a $475 million Series B round at a $5.5 billion post-money valuation. Investors included ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Khosla Ventures, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, and Bezos Expeditions. The company has raised a total of $775 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Universal Quantum, an eight-year-old startup based in Brighton, UK, that develops modular quantum computers by linking trapped-ion chips for scientific and government institutions, raised a $100+ million Series A round co-led by DCVC and Firgun Ventures, with additional support from EDBI, Artal, Integral GlobalTech, Main Sequence, Hostplus, NGS Super, IAG Capital, EdenBase, Eigenstate.holdings, Dave Baszucki, Nauta Capital, and The Venture Collective. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Veir, a seven-year-old startup based in Woburn, MA, that designs and manufactures superconducting systems that deliver electricity within AI data centers, raised a $110 million Series C round co-led by Matter Venture Partners and Tyche Partners, with LG Technology Ventures, Gates Frontier, Sabanci Climate Ventures, and Hui Capital as well as previous investors Engine Ventures, Galvanize Climate Solutions, Piva Capital, Congruent Ventures, and VXI Capital also participating. The company has raised a total of $225 million. More here.

Yazen, a five-year-old startup based in Malmö, Sweden, that provides obesity treatment combining weight-loss medication with ongoing digital care from doctors, dietitians, psychologists, and physiotherapists, raised a $56.1 million round led by Verdane, with Evli Growth Partners also buying in. More here.

Catalyst, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that builds AI agents that turn investment ideas into trading strategies and execute them, raised a $30 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital, with Jump Trading, Peak XV Partners, Lux Capital, AntiFund, Coinbase, and Premji Invest also anteing up. Fortune has more here.

Fortastra, a one-year-old startup based in Torrance, CA, that designs and operates maneuverable spacecraft that monitor critical space assets and respond to potential orbital threats, raised a $30 million Series A round led by First In, with Upfront Ventures, Space Capital, Rsquared, Side Door Ventures, and ATX Ventures also anteing up. Payload has more here.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old startup based in Hamilton, Bermuda, that offers Bitcoin-denominated life insurance and digital-asset underwriting infrastructure, raised a $37.5 million round at a $350 million valuation. The deal was led by Bain Capital Crypto, with Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Apollo, and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures also digging in. More here.

Rein Security, a two-year-old New York startup that secures enterprise AI agents by monitoring their actions and blocking harmful activity as they operate, raised a $25 million Series A round co-led by Glilot Capital and Sienna Venture Capital, with Corner Ventures, Atlacle, and RNP Capital Advisors also taking part. The company has raised a total of $35 million. SecurityWeek has more here.

TrueLayer, a 10-year-old London company that operates a payment network that lets consumers pay businesses directly from their bank accounts, raised a $27 million round led by CDP Venture Capital. The company has raised a total of around $350 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Vesta, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that automates mortgage origination with AI agents, raised a $30 million round led by Conversion Capital, with Pennymac, New American Funding, Citi Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $85 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Wiremind, a 12-year-old Paris company that develops revenue management, inventory, distribution, and ticketing software for passenger transport operators and event organizers, raised a $39.3 million round. Investors included IronWave, Bpifrance Investissement, and Seaya Andromeda. Dealroom has more here.

Agentiq Sports, a one-year-old New York startup that allows fans to invest indirectly in professional athletes in exchange for a share of their future on-field brand income, raised a $4 million round led by Defy VC. More here.

ByteXL, a six-year-old Hyderabad startup that partners with engineering colleges to integrate practical technology and AI training into their curricula, raised a $9 million round led by Elevar Equity, with additional support from previous investors Kalaari Capital and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. More here.

Egoist Machines, a San Francisco startup founded this year that lets users control and transfer personal data and preferences among AI assistants and other apps, raised a $3 million seed round. Investors included Y Combinator and Goodwater Capital. The SaaS News has more here.

Golbriak Space, an eight-year-old startup based in Tallinn, Estonia, that builds laser communications systems for satellites, drones, and other non-terrestrial networks, raised a $4.5 million seed round co-led by Join Capital and PhotonVentures, with Takeoff also opting in. Resilience Media has more here.

Iridium Credit, a one-year-old New York startup that verifies invoices for lenders by checking source documents, confirming them with debtors, and tracking collections, raised a $3 million round co-led by Field Ventures and MGV. FinTech Global has more here.

Myca, a one-year-old Bangalore startup that uses AI agents to structure agribusiness field teams’ messages, calls, and photos and automate supervisory follow-up, raised a $1.3 million pre-seed round co-led by Kriscore Capital and Eximius Ventures, with Indigram Labs Foundation also engaging. AgFunderNews has more here.

Netsec, a one-year-old Paris startup that manages IT and cybersecurity operations for mid-market companies through a unified service delivered via Slack and Microsoft Teams, raised a $10+ million round led by Partech, with Primo Capital and View Different as well as previous investors Riccardo Zacconi, Kima Ventures, Ithaca Investments, Vento, Vito Lomele, and Everywhere Ventures also investing. The SaaS News has more here.

Onyx, a one-year-old Berkeley startup that builds longitudinal immune-system datasets and models to help researchers study disease and treatment response, raised an $8 million seed round led by Dimension Capital, with Haystack, Refactor Capital, Standard, and Robot Ventures also buying in. More here.

Phantom GI, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that develops a device that creates ostomies through a needle puncture under local anesthesia for patients unable to undergo conventional surgery, raised a $5 million seed round led by Pitango Healthcare, with RAD Biomed and RUNI Ventures also stepping up. CTech has more here.

Trmeric, a three-year-old startup based in San Ramon, CA, that uses AI agents to help enterprises plan, execute, govern, and measure technology transformation programs, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by Hitachi Ventures, with Schema Ventures, CerraCap Impact Venture Capital, FalconX Ventures, Executive Venture Fund, and Gokul Rajaram also taking stakes. The SaaS News has more here.

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Union Square Ventures has raised $900 million across a $500 million early-stage fund and a $400 million opportunity fund, nearly doubling its core fund size while shrinking its general partnership to four investors as it adapts to larger, more expensive AI deals. Bloomberg has more here.

Amplify Partners, a 14-year-old Menlo Park VC firm that backs early-stage technical founders building AI, developer tools, data, and cybersecurity startups, has raised $71.8 million for its fourth opportunity fund, an SEC filing indicates. More here.

Naples Technology Ventures, an eight-year-old VC firm based in Naples, FL, that backs early-stage technology companies at the intersection of healthcare and AI, is raising $100 million for its fourth fund, with $20 million sold so far. More here.

NVP Capital, a six-year-old New York VC firm that backs seed-stage enterprise software and vertical AI startups transforming under-digitized industries, is raising $100 million for its third fund, the firm disclosed in a new filing. More here.

Eliyan, a five-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that builds optical interconnect technology for AI chips, has reportedly received a takeover bid and is likely to seek a valuation of about $3 billion, up from $1 billion in July. Investor Arm held early talks but did not bid. The Information has more here.

Nvidia-backed Australian data center company Firmus Grid is set to postpone an IPO that had sought to raise as much as $5.5 billion at a roughly $30.4 billion valuation and is weighing a private funding round instead after investor demand weakened over pricing and concerns about a potential shareholder overhang. Bloomberg has more here.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is warning that rapid advances in AI-driven mathematics could eventually undermine the cryptography protecting crypto wallets even before quantum computers do, endorsing a gradual shift toward fresh addresses whose public keys have not yet been exposed. Cointelegraph has more here.

Apple has named longtime corporate-development executive Steve Smith as its new M&A chief, replacing Adrian Perica and moving the dealmaking group back under CFO Kevan Parekh. Bloomberg has more here.

Christian Kroll, CEO of German search engine Ecosia, says the company is dropping Mistral in favor of open-source models including China’s Qwen, GLM, and Kimi because Mistral is “a year behind” rivals; he says the switch has roughly halved costs while improving quality and performance. POLITICO has more here.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Trump just hours after Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of abusing a major skilled-worker visa program and the administration froze some of the company’s green-card filings. Business Insider has more here.

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the White House now considers anyone who uses the term “artificial intelligence” instead of his preferred “super intelligence” an “enemy,” extending a broader administration push to rebrand AI terminology. More here.

OpenAI has nearly erased Anthropic’s lead among 120,000 companies tracked by OpenRouter, with spending roughly evenly split in September versus Anthropic commanding three-quarters at the start of the year, as OpenAI’s cheaper GPT-5.6 models gain traction. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Anthropic updated its usage policy to explicitly ban election interference, weapons software, surveillance, and prolonged verbal abuse of Claude, barring users from repeatedly treating the model cruelly in extreme cases with no discernible purpose. TechCrunch has more here.

Three recently fired OpenAI safety researchers are urging the company to preserve visibility into models’ chain-of-thought reasoning and work with outside safety auditors, warning that the industry does not yet know how to safely develop systems it cannot monitor. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

The Association for Human Mathematics, a recently formed group of more than 800 mathematicians, criticized OpenAI’s release of more than 700 files purporting to solve high-profile math problems, arguing that the company disregarded scientific norms and urging mathematicians to stop working with OpenAI. More here.

Netflix just released the trailer for The Altruists – a dramatized series about Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and the collapse of FTX – ahead of the show’s Nov. 19 debut.

Extend engineer Bo Lau has built an interactive recreation of Elizabeth Holmes’ Theranos-era desk, letting visitors browse more than 1,000 real emails, texts, slides, and court documents on simulated devices and even operate a virtual Edison machine.

Factory software engineer Alvin Sng went viral after proposing an AI clone of his voice to read to his newborn, arguing he’d rather “automate” tasks he didn’t need to be around for; after 4.5 million views and a fierce backlash, he deleted the post and said he’d return to bedtime stories.

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