Top Stories | The Trump administration is weighing sweeping semiconductor tariffs that could extend to data-center servers and other chip-powered goods, alarming tech companies already facing high-end chip shortages and potentially undercutting US ambitions to lead in AI. — Politico Nvidia reportedly agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, bringing a leading open-source AI platform under the chipmaker’s control and extending its reach from infrastructure into models and developer software. — CNBC Meta agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion to settle claims from 29 states that it concealed child mental health harms. In response, the company has now added teen usage limits, nighttime blocks, stricter age checks, and parental controls. — CNBC Anthropic will reportedly spend $45 billion renting AI computing capacity from Nscale, a deal that would give the infrastructure startup a major anchor customer while underscoring frontier AI’s soaring capital demands. — Reuters Kioxia and Sandisk plan to invest $31B+ in Japan through 2032, including $11.3B for a Kitakami plant, expanding production capacity and advancing memory-chip technology. — Reuters
| Top Funding Announcements | Transfyr — Emerged from stealth with a $25M seed to capture labs’ tacit knowledge using sensors and AI, helping researchers reproduce experiments more reliably. — The New York Times Instinct — The year-old viral AI assistant startup raised $350M at a $2.5B valuation to fuel growth despite mounting privacy concerns. — TechCrunch Capital F — Closed a $17M debut fund to back startups serving women-driven markets, including women’s health, digital commerce, and AI tools. — TechCrunch Minapharm — The Egyptian drugmaker secured up to $16.5M from CEPI to advance development of its experimental Ebola vaccine. — Reuters
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| | | This Week in Startups |  | Bill Gates foresees massive AI job loss: these VCs disagree | E2330 |
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| Timestamps: 0:00 It's Hussein's first time on the VC Roundtable! 1:25 Gates says "turbulent era" for AI is here 8:12 Microloans, Kiva, and "universal basic income" 8:39 Thanks to our partner, Lightfield, the AI-native CRM that updates itself, so you never have to! Try it for free at https://lightfield.app 12:16 Why sole proprietorships may be AI's biggest beneficiary 19:45 Got a new business idea? Northwest helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more, with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.... 20:16 Should the gov't take a stake in AI labs? 29:40 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist to get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. 32:00 Meta's $17.1B settlement 44:30 Is anything still fundable outside of AI? 45:45 Stripe and SpaceX deals 55:10 Skild AI's pancake flipping demo 59:05 Sheel's Hottest Takes 1:03:53 Dave's Charts 1:08:23 Who loses money when there are no IPOs? 1:16:05 The Agent Wars heat up 1:24:12 Everyone's favorite investments |
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| Today’s Fascinating Fact from Harmonic | Nscale rents out massive clusters of GPUs, allowing their partners to train and run AI models without having to build data centers of their own. Essentially, it’s a specialized cloud provider JUST for AI workloads, and they place their data centers in spots like Norway and Iceland, where clean energy and cold climates help to keep costs and temperatures down. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has dubbed them a “national champion for AI infrastructure,” and they’re a key partner in the OpenAI “Stargate Norway” gigafactory project that’s powered entirely by renewable energy. | Try it yourself at harmonic.ai | Subscribe to Us On Your Favorite Podcast Platforms | | | SF Live-Work Space Now Available | Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details. | The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker. | | |
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