Artificial Intelligence

Valarian Raises $50 Million Series A To Build Sovereign Infrastructure For AI-Driven Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 14, 2026

Valarian announced that it raised $50 million in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates, bringing the company’s total funding raised to $70 million.

Waze Rolls Out Motorcycle Mode, Personalized Navigation And More Gemini Updates

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 13, 2026

Waze announced several new customization and AI-powered navigation updates designed to give drivers and riders more control over their trips. The updates include a new motorcycle mode, personalized navigation, a “less chatty” voice guidance option, expanded Conversational Reporting for map updates, and new Gemini-powered search capabilities for finding destinations.

Meta Reportedly Plans September Production For Iris AI Chip To Expand Computing Capacity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 13, 2026

Meta reportedly plans to begin manufacturing an artificial intelligence chip in September as part of a broader effort to expand its computing infrastructure and reduce dependence on outside chip suppliers. According to Reuters, the company’s data center chip is code-named Iris and is part of Meta’s multi-generation Meta Training and Inference Accelerator initiative. The chip is being designed in-house to support AI workloads across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

Samsung Reportedly Developing Dedicated AI Chip For PCs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 13, 2026

Samsung is reportedly developing a dedicated AI accelerator for PCs as demand grows for local generative AI workloads on laptops and desktops. The chip is reportedly being developed by Samsung’s LSI division under the codename GAIA.

Robinhood Plans To Let AI Agents Trade Crypto For U.S. Customers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Robinhood plans to let eligible U.S. customers connect an AI agent to a dedicated account and trade crypto on their behalf. The company announced the upcoming expansion during a recent presentation, extending its Agentic Trading product beyond equities. Robinhood first launched Agentic Trading in beta on May 27 with support for equities only, while saying crypto, event contracts, and futures would follow.

Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Trade Secret Misappropriation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two former Apple employees, alleging that the ChatGPT maker misappropriated Apple trade secrets to support its push into consumer hardware. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Birdsview Raises €2.5 Million Seed To Scale Avys AI Retention Agent For Retailers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Birdsview announced a €2.5 million seed round to support Avys, its AI-powered digital worker designed to help retailers grow repeat purchases. The round was backed by Fortino Ventures and Newion. Fortino Ventures has backed Billy Grace, an AI marketing platform in the Benelux, while Newion was an early investor in Parloa, an AI agent company that reached unicorn status.

Demoboost: Interview With CEO Anna Decroix About The Demo Automation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Demoboost is an all-in-one demo automation platform that allows B2B tech and software companies to create, personalize, and track interactive product demos for their sales processes. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Demoboost CEO Anna Decroix to learn more.

Beyond Capital Ventures Invests In BimaKavach To Advance AI-Native Commercial Insurance In India

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Beyond Capital Ventures announced an investment in BimaKavach, a technology-first commercial insurance company focused on helping India’s micro, small, and medium enterprises access, manage, and benefit from insurance.

OpenAI Introduces ChatGPT Work And Deprecates Atlas Browser

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

OpenAI announced ChatGPT Work, an agent in ChatGPT designed to take action across apps and files, stay with complex projects for extended periods, and turn user goals into finished work. The new experience is intended to move ChatGPT beyond answering questions and toward completing multi-step workflows across web, mobile, and desktop.

Anthropic Reportedly Reaches $1.2 Trillion Valuation On Secondary Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Anthropic has reportedly reached a $1.2 trillion valuation on secondary markets as investor demand for shares in the private AI company continues to surge.

Encube: Interview With Founder & CEO Hugo Nordell About The Visual Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Encube is a deep-tech company that provides an AI-powered visual platform to help hardware manufacturers simulate production steps in real time and catch design flaws early. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Encube founder and CEO Hugo Nordell to learn more.

AIsa Raises $6.5 Million To Build The Transaction Network For AI Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

AIsa, a San Francisco–based company building what it describes as the transaction network for the AI agent economy, has raised $6.5 million in total funding to date, including a new seed round co-led by Alibaba and Tribe Capital, with participation from Draper Associates, Sumitomo Corporation, Saison Capital and other investors. The capital will be used to expand AIsa's engineering team, scale its payment infrastructure, onboard additional models, data, and API providers, and accelerate stablecoin settlement capabilities for AI agents and businesses worldwide.