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Elon Musk is clearly enjoying the prospect of a proposed cage match Mark Zuckerberg more than keen to actually get in a ring with him for a head-to-head fight. In the meantime, he's losing the battle on social media.
After posting yesterday on his platform (๐) that "Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on ๐. All proceeds will go to charity for veterans," Zuckerberg wrote on Threads, Meta's rival platform: "Shouldn't we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?"
It was a solid burn, and when Musk added yesterday that he has been lifting weights to prep for the fight, Zuckerberg posted another snappy comeback: "I suggested Aug 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn't confirmed. Not holding my breath."
Still, Musk isn't facing a total loss, even if the fight never takes place. He seems very much in Zuckerberg's head; he's also actively wasting the valuable time of Zuckerberg, who could wind up training indefinitely for a showdown that only takes place on the internet.
Meanwhile, Musk's own training regimen right now appears relegated to bicep curls at the office. Musk further claimed last night that he might not be in fighting condition any time soon for reasons beyond his control. "I'm getting an MRI of my neck & upper back tomorrow. May require surgery before the fight can happen. Will know this week." โ
๐
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Neuralink, Elon Musk's controversial company that makes battery-powered brain chips, has raised $280 million in Series D funding round led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, it announced on Musk's social media platform, ๐. The company -- which received the FDA's approval in May to launch its first, in-human clinical study -- did not reveal the valuation at which the funds were raised, but Reuters reported in June that Neuralink was valued at about $5 billion based on secondary sales at the time. Musk and Thiel have a love-hate relationship that dates back at least 20 years. Reuters has more here.
Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions, a San Francisco startup that underwrites insurance for clients based on an AI analysis of its policyholdersโ systems, raised a $100 million Series D round led by Intact Ventures, with additional participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners as well as General Catalyst and Founders Fund. The company has raised a total of $225 million. The WSJ has more here.
Tenstorrent, a seven-year-old Toronto startup that sells AI processors and software, raised a $100 million convertible note financing at a $2+ billion valuation. Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Catalyst Fund were the co-leads, with Fidelity, Eclipse Ventures, Epiq Capital, and Maverick Capital also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $334.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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IVIX, a New York-based first AI-powered platform designed to help governments address pervasive financial crimes and tax evasion at scale, says it has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Team8, Citi Ventures and Cardumen Capital. CTech has more here.
Meatable, a five-year-old, Netherlands-based company that makes cultivated pork products (i.e. made from animal cells), has raised $35 million in fresh funding led by Agronomics. Invest-NL also joined the round, along with earlier backers BlueYard, Bridford, MilkyWay, DSM Venturing and Wise chairman and founder Taavet Hinrikus. Meatable has now raised $95 million altogether, even as many investors lose their appetite for food tech -- at least for now. TechCrunch has more here.
One Model, a nine-year-old Austin startup whose platform uses AI to help employers make decisions about recruiting, hiring, promotions, layoffs, and general workplace planning, raised a $41 million round led by Riverwood Capital. The company has raised a total of $44.8 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Tractian, a four-year-old industrial asset monitoring company that uses AI to predict mechanical failures, has announced a $45 million Series B funding round co-led by General Catalyst and Next47. VentureBeat has more here.
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D8X, a Swiss startup that aims to launch a white-labeled decentralized derivatives trading platform, raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round led by Polygon Ventures, with participation from Axelar Network, Swissborg Ventures, Cogitent Ventures, Veris Ventures, G1 Ventures, Pragma Ventures, and CryptoDiscover. TokenInsight has more here.
Knot, a four-year-old New York startup whose API allows card issuers to instantly update card-on-file information at almost any merchant with just a few lines of code, easing the onboarding experience for consumers and increasing revenue and retention for the bank, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Nava Ventures, with Amex Ventures and Plaid also contributing. The company has raised a total of $13 million. PYMNTS has more here.
Tromzo, a startup that searches a client's security tools, source code systems, and cloud platforms for security vulnerabilities, raised an $8 million seed extension led by Venture Guides, with Alumni Ventures, and Uncorrelated Ventures also participating. The two-year-old, Mountain View, Ca., company has raised a total of $11.1 million. VentureBeat has more here.
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Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming venture capital. VCs are using AI to automate tasks, improve decision-making, and identify new investment opportunities. This webinar brings together Peregrine Badger, Instigator at Fifty Years and Adam Perelman, Engineering Manager of ChatGPT at OpenAI to discuss three key ways AI impacts VC: Identifying and researching potential investment opportunities, assessing the financial and operational health of potential investments, and
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Draper Associates, a San Mateo-based venture capital firm started in 1985 by renowned VC Tim Draper, has garnered $152.3 million in capital commitments for its seventh fund, according to an SEC filing first flagged by Fortune. More here.
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Prince Harry is becoming a target for former employees of the online mental health startup BetterUp, where more than two years ago, he announced his role as "chief impact officer." With 16% of BetterUp's workforce recently laid off and contractors who've seen their pay modified, a growing number of people are wondering if his association has helped or hurt the brand. โEvery article mentions his role at BetterUp, then goes on to roast [him and Meghan Markle],โ a recent employee told the Daily Beast, adding:
โThe juice isnโt worth the squeeze.โ Another former employee told the outlet that the princeโs day-to-day responsibilities included โzero things.โ Vanity Fair has more here.
Zachary Kirkorn, a 13-year veteran of Tesla who has spent the last four as the company's CFO, is leaving the company, Tesla announced today. Chief Accounting Officer Vaibhav Taneja is being promoted to the role. This is more than yet another CFO departure; earlier this year, the WSJ reported that Kirkhorn could be the next CEO of Tesla. TechCrunch has more here.
Paulo Passoni, a former SoftBank Group executive, joined venture capital firm Valor Capital Group as a managing partner. Passoni will manage Valorโs growth equity business. Bloomberg has more here.
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Adobe's $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma could reduce competition in global markets for interactive product design tools and also shut out rivals, EU antitrust regulators said today. It's the latest setback for the companies. Adobe confirmed to employees back in June that the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of the transaction is ongoing, and it asked staff not to delete anything related to the transaction. Adobe is required to pay Figma $1 billion if the
transaction fails to get regulatory clearance, or if the deal fails to close within 18 months from September 15, 2022, which is March of next year. The European Commission said it opened a full-scale investigation into the deal after a preliminary review triggered concerns, it said today. Reuters has more here.
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A group founded by conservative activist Edward Blum -- who played a key role in the recent rejection of affirmative action in college admissions -- is suing the up-and-coming venture firm Fearless Fund, claiming that its grant program, which awards Black female small business owners $20,000, is discriminatory. Fearless Fund was founded in 2019 by three Black women; actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, entrepreneur Arian Simone and corporate executive Ayana Parsons. In an interview with Reuters, Blum, who is white, said the lawsuit was the first of many he hopes to pursue to broadly challenge race-based policies used by private corporations. TechCrunch has more here.
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PayPal just rolled out a new stablecoin that PayPal says is backed by U.S. dollars, short-term U.S. Treasuries and similar cash equivalents. PayPal's strength in a challenging stablecoin market is it can offer product breadth and a large user base, notes American Banker.
MIT researchers have devised a tool called PhotoGuard that works like a protective shield by altering photos in tiny ways that are invisible to the human eye but prevent them from being manipulated.
Why ChatGPT is getting dumber at math.
AI-generated books are creating a dumpster fire on Goodreads and Amazon. More here.
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