News in 60 Words

Emergent turns unicorn; Groww's net profit soars 94% in Q1

Startups • Your story

The Indian government approved Rs 1.27 lakh crore for the India Semiconductor Mission's second phase. In electric mobility, udaan, E3 Electric.Ai, and Ather Energy secured significant funding. AI startup Emergent reached unicorn status after raising $130 million. Groww reported a 94% profit surge in Q1. Meanwhile, the UK introduced social media curfews for teens, Blackrock exceeded profit estimates, and China's economic growth slowed due to weak domestic demand.

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Startups • Marina Temkin

Greylock Ventures has raised a $1.5 billion 18th fund, intentionally resisting the industry trend of ballooning fund sizes. By limiting capital, the firm aims to provide deeper support to a small number of portfolio companies, targeting roughly 25 new investments. While primarily focused on early-stage incubation and seed rounds, Greylock will allocate approximately 15% of the fund to high-potential, later-stage startups to maximize growth.

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Startups • Lucas Ropek

Microsoft is instructing its sales team to aggressively compete against AI rivals, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Executives are emphasizing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of Microsoft's in-house models over competitors' offerings. This shift follows Microsoft's move to replace external models in flagship apps with its own. The strategy aims to highlight Microsoft's end-to-end systems and reassure investors regarding the company's massive AI infrastructure spending.

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Startups • Sean O'Kane

The NTSB reported that a Tesla driver killed a 76-year-old woman in Texas after overriding Full Self-Driving software by pressing the accelerator to 100%. The vehicle struck a house at over 70 mph in a 30 mph zone. Driver Michael Butler faces manslaughter charges and a negligence lawsuit. While Butler claimed he passed out, search history suggests he found the software too timid, supporting Tesla's claim of driver error.

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Startups • Julie Bort

"Neko Health, founded by Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, has raised $700 million in Series C funding led by Lightspeed and O.G. Venture Partners. The startup uses proprietary body-scanning technology and bloodwork to provide comprehensive health assessments. Currently operating in the UK and Sweden, Neko Health plans to expand into New York. Over 100,000 people have used the service, which integrates with Apple Health data.".

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Startups • Lucas Ropek

OpenAI has entered the hardware market with the Codex Micro, a $230 limited-edition keyboard designed to manage AI coding agents. Additionally, reports indicate the company is developing a portable, screenless smart speaker featuring moving parts. This expansion comes amid a lawsuit from Apple, which accuses OpenAI of stealing confidential information to develop its hardware, a claim that OpenAI has denied as it explores new physical interfaces.

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Startups • Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai

"Microsoft patched a record number of security vulnerabilities this Tuesday, utilizing AI to identify bugs across its product lines. A notable fix addressed a critical flaw in the remastered Age of Empires II, which could have allowed hackers to gain remote control of computers through malicious game invites. While there is no evidence of active exploitation, the vulnerability highlighted risks associated with targeting gamers to install malware.".

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Startups • Sarah Perez

Apple has released guidelines for its upcoming Maps ads in the U.S. and Canada, emphasizing a curated approach. Unlike Google, Apple will prohibit home services, cryptocurrency ATMs, and bail bonds, focusing instead on businesses with physical locations. The system will display a single ad per search result, identified by a blue halo. Additionally, Apple ensures user privacy by keeping ad interaction data stored locally on the device.

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Startups • Sean O'Kane

SpaceX shares have dropped below their $135 IPO price following a peak of over $200. This volatility is attributed to a small trading float and a general decline in tech stocks. As investors monitor the company's valuation, SpaceX's performance may influence upcoming IPOs for OpenAI and Anthropic. The company now faces a critical Starship rocket test launch, which will further test the stock's durability.

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Startups • Connie Loizos

Thinking Machines Lab, founded by Mira Murati, has released Inkling, an open-weight AI model designed for enterprise customization. Unlike closed systems from OpenAI or Google, Inkling allows organizations to fine-tune the model via the Tinker platform. The mixture-of-experts system supports multimodal reasoning across text, image, audio, and video. The company bets that customizable, private AI will outperform general-purpose models by leveraging specific organizational expertise.

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Startups • Ivan Mehta

"OnePlus plans to wind down its operations in the U.S., Europe, and India as part of a corporate restructuring by parent company Oppo. This move follows rising consumer electronics prices and weak demand for new smartphones. Industry forecasts predict a significant decline in shipments by 2026 due to memory chip shortages. While exiting these major markets, OnePlus will maintain its presence in China and continue selling Realme phones abroad.".

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Startups • Tim De Chant

"Google has announced its largest solar and battery storage investment, the Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas. Partnering with Cypress Creek Energy, the project will eventually become the largest solar facility in the U.S., providing 1.8 gigawatts of capacity. This initiative supports Google's goal of hourly clean energy matching for its data centers, contrasting with xAI's reliance on unpermitted natural gas plants in the region.".

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Startups • Amanda Silberling

AI music generator Suno suffered a security breach via a supply chain attack on employee credentials. The hacker accessed customer data, including emails and partial credit card numbers, and source code allegedly revealing the scraping of various audio platforms like YouTube Music and Deezer. While Suno described the November 2025 incident as limited and quickly contained, the company reportedly failed to notify affected customers about the data leak.

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Startups • Lauren Forristal

"Livestream shopping app Whatnot has acquired Shaped, a machine learning company specializing in real-time recommendation and search systems. The acquisition aims to enhance personalization and product discovery within Whatnot's rapidly evolving marketplace. Shaped's founder, Tullie Murrell, and several engineers will join Whatnot to lead a new Applied AI Research group. This move supports Whatnot's growth as it expands categories and scales its AI capabilities.".

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Startups • Zack Whittaker

Microsoft released a record 570 security patches for Windows, Office, and other products during its latest "Patch Tuesday." The company attributed the high volume of fixes to the use of AI in discovering previously hidden vulnerabilities. Among the updates are two zero-day flaws, including a SharePoint bug actively exploited by hackers. Microsoft expects future releases to remain high as AI continues to uncover dormant code issues.

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Startups • Lauren Forristal

Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have reportedly submitted a joint $53.4 billion bid to acquire PayPal, backed by $50 billion in bank financing. The proposal would see both entities hold equal stakes in the payments giant. This potential merger comes as PayPal implements significant cost-cutting measures and workforce reductions under CEO Enrique Lores to stimulate growth. PayPal has not yet publicly responded to the offer.

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Startups • Sarah Perez

"Apple Intelligence is launching in China following approval from the Cyberspace Administration of China. Apple will integrate Alibaba's Qwen AI model into its operating systems, including iOS and macOS, to provide text and image generation capabilities. This partnership follows failed talks with other providers like Baidu. The move supports Apple's growth in a key market where sales recently surged, while Alibaba's shares rose following the announcement.".

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Startups • Aisha Malik

Spotify is expanding its "Managed Accounts" for children to the free tier in several countries, including the U.S. and U.K. This feature allows parents to restrict explicit content, block specific artists, and disable video playback. Kids receive personalized recommendations and playlists without affecting their parents' algorithms. This move follows regulatory pressure for better parental controls and will eventually expand to more global markets.

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Startups • Jagmeet Singh

India has launched a ₹625 billion smartphone manufacturing scheme and added ₹1.28 trillion to its semiconductor push to attract global electronics supply chains away from China. Moving beyond simple assembly, the initiatives focus on R&D, local component sourcing, and fostering domestic brands. While India currently produces 18% of global smartphones, these incentives aim to increase production, create 60,000 jobs, and deepen its role in high-value manufacturing.

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Startups • Zack Whittaker

U.S. prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals and two web hosts, Media Land and ML.Cloud, with hacking, conspiracy, and money laundering. The defendants allegedly provided "bulletproof" infrastructure for cybercriminals and state-backed hackers to launch DDoS and phishing attacks against U.S. businesses. These operations caused tens of millions in damages and generated $62 million in proceeds. While the suspects remain in Russia, the U.S. continues targeting these networks.

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Categories

Emergent turns unicorn; Groww's net profit soars 94% in Q1

Why Greylock capped its new fund at $1.5B when it says it could have raised more

Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic

Tesla driver in fatal Texas crash pressed accelerator 100%, NTSB confirms

Daniel Ek’s body-scanning startup Neko Health raises another $700M

Amid hardware legal battle, OpenAI releases a $230 keyboard for Codex

Microsoft patches bug in video game Age of Empires II

Apple quietly reveals how its Maps ads will differ from Google’s

SpaceX slips below its $135 IPO price ahead of Starship launch

Thinking Machines amps up its bet against one-size-fits-all AI with its first open model, Inkling

Phone maker OnePlus reportedly plans to wind down US and Europe operations

Google’s biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI’s unpermitted gas power plant

Hack suggests AI music generator Suno scraped YouTube for training data

Whatnot acquires Shaped to power real-time live shopping recommendations

Microsoft patches record number of security vulnerabilities, citing its use of AI

Stripe and Advent reportedly offered to buy PayPal for around $53.4B

Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba’s Qwen AI

Spotify expands parent-managed accounts to users on its free tier

India bets billions on breaking China’s grip on smartphone manufacturing

US charges Russian ‘bulletproof’ web hosts over cyberattacks that netted $62M from cybercrime victims