San Francisco is still No. 1

Quick Hits

Camera clarity: Arlo recognizes faces.

Code clash: Kotlin challenges Java.

Developing devs: OpenAI opens academy.

IPO bound: India’s Fractal.

Mars mission: SpaceX's plans 6 launches.

Mea culpa: CrowdStrike apologizes.

Meta misstep: Celebs fall for AI hoax.

Multi-modal: Snapchat adds Google’s AI.

New Threads: Meta snags Threads.com.

Power play: Microsoft eyes nuclear plant.

No phone zone: Schools curb phones.

Recharged: U.S. invests $3B in batteries.

Silent social: TikTok ends streaming.

Sovereign data: GitHub offers EU-only storage.

Spinoff: Siemens sheds EV charging.

Stealth mode: Apple designer builds AI hardware.

Stock picks: Chatbot cleared for financial advice.

Weaponizing chips: India builds U.S. plant.

Worker win: Ex-Xer wins severance suit.

Global health insurance for remote workers, nomads, freelancers & contractors. You're covered in 175+ countries and can see any doctor at any hospital. Includes hospitalization, cancer treatment, maternity, routine care, wellness therapies and more.

San Francisco remains No. 1 with VCs

San Francisco remains the world’s top startup city for venture funding—though NYC is growing faster, according to Pitchbook rankings. China’s Hefei is the world’s fastest-growing VC hub, displacing Dubai.

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GenAI adoption tops PCs, Internet

Generative AI is spreading faster than the PC or Internet did, reaching 30%+ adoption in the U.S. in just 2 years. It’s spreading fast in homes and popular with more than just techies.

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Farmers harvest AI’s benefits

Farmers are leveraging AI-powered equipment to boost efficiency. John Deere uses 60% less herbicide thanks to “See & Spray” tech.

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ActivityPub expands the fediverse

The author and editor of the ActivityPub protocol launched a new nonprofit to expand the open social web beyond its current 200M users. Meta’s adoption for Threads should help.

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Andrew Ng automates mentorship

Workera aims to create an AI agent for mentoring based on lessons the founder learned from his mentor, well-known AI researcher Andrew Ng.

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Cash back on Mortgages?

Fintech Mesa offers 1% cash back on mortgages. “We’ve just taken what everybody loves about travel and dining cards to re-contextualize that,” founder Kelley Halpin says.

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Raising influence

Amazon is doubling payouts to tens of thousands of influencers in India who post about products.

Weekly Pulse

Poll of the week

Startup We Love: Halo

Why we love it: Speeds up R&D with science.

Halo is an AI-powered partnering platform for R&D teams on a mission to bring new innovations to market by connecting companies directly with scientists. They’re raised $2.6M and are actively hiring for engineering, product design, and marketing | Apply now

Recently funded companies

France's Kestra Raises $8M for Open-Source Orchestration

UK's Vsim Raises $24M for Robotics Simulation Tech

San Francisco’s Atomicwork Secures $3M for Workflow Automation

Bay Area’s Reframe Technologies Raises $5M for Digital Collaboration

San Francisco’s Celestia Foundation Nabs $100M for Modular Blockchain Solutions

Sharang Shakti Raises $600k for Defense Robotics Innovation

Bengaluru-based Aarna Networks Raises $1.2M for GPU-as-a-Service

TraqCheck Raises $14M for Employee Background Verification

Nurix AI Raises $27.5M for AI Agents for Enterprises

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Post of the week

What we're reading

State of the product job market, part 2 (Lenny’s Newsletter)

The Intelligence Age (Sam Altman)

Enterprise Philosophy and The First Wave of AI (Stratechery)

That Message From Your Doctor? It May Have Been Drafted by A.I. (NYT)

The Work From Home Free-for-All Is Coming to an End (WSJ)

‘Can AI sit there in a fleece vest?’: John Mulaney’s Salesforce roast was a masterclass in corporate comedy (The Guardian)

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Podcast of the Week

Sean Behr: Fountain CEO: Transforming Hiring for Frontline Workers (The POZCAST: Decoding Success with Adam Posner)

Improving Job Descriptions and Employee Retention with Wendy Sellers (HR Superstars)

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? Startups hiring now

Wonder: Incredible food for every table | 9 open roles

Volley: Voice-controlled games and entertainment for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and smartphones | 10 open roles

Bubble: We’re building the software to build all software | 8 open roles

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