Startups on the moon

Quick Hits

Access denied: Google considers paywall.

AI ambitions: South Korea, Italy invest big.

Animated debate: Pink Floyd picks AI artwork.

August arrival: Tesla talks robotaxi plans.

Cloud control: Governments eye 'sovereign' AI.

Custom curation: Spotify launches AI playlists.

Digital Darwin: Researchers digitize library.

Fueling tech: Toyota pledges $300M.

Human copilots: GM adds robotaxi drivers.

London lab: Microsoft's hub debuts

Message merger: Automattic expands reach.

Photo contest: TikTok takes on Insta.

Premium perks: X expands Grok access.

Ripple's reach: Dollar-pegged stablecoin coming.

Spanish spark: EU backs $1B VC fund.

Tech twosomes: US-Taiwan matchmaking debuts.

Tree-free TP: Startups ditch wood for bamboo.

India tech economy revs

With a booming SaaS sector and major investments from Apple and Tesla, India is rapidly emerging as a contender for tech dominance in Asia. Investors put up $160M+ across 21 deals in the past week alone.

U.S. splashes the green

The U.S. invests nearly $1T to support emissions-reducing green tech deployment. Startups can access loans, and consumers benefit from tax credits for EVs and heat pumps.

Dimon: AI transforms workforce

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon calls AI as transformative as the printing press, with the potential to "augment virtually every job."

Startups on the moon

NASA picks three companies – Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab – to design a next-generation lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) fit for moon travel and autonomous robotic exploration.

The loneliness app

Los Angeles-based Buffet tackles the loneliness epidemic with an app that's like Tinder + OpenTable with sites set on the Big Apple.

Poll of the week

Recently funded companies

NYC's Adro Closes $2M for Financial Services

Indianapolis' Neurava Nets $2M Seed for Wearable Tech

Los Angeles' Storiaverse Raises $3M for Mobile Entertainment

Athens, Ga.-based Lockchain.ai Locks in $5M for Blockchain Risk Management

San Francisco's Ivo Secures $5M for AI-Powered Legal Tech

San Francisco's Juicer Raises $5M for Restaurant Tech

Thai HD Clinches $6M Series A for Health Care Chatbots

Israeli Spines Collects $7M for AI Publishing

NYC's Summer Secures $9M for Student Loan Solutions

TerraClear Optimizes Ag-Tech with $15M

Turkish ikas Attracts $20M for E-Commerce Platform

Post of the week

What we're reading 

• Reimagining hiring and learning with the power of AI (LinkedIn)
• Billie Jean King Wants to Change the Playbook for Female Founders (Inc.)
• Why ‘Tokenizing’ Assets Is Turning Banks On to Crypto (Bloomberg)
• Meta’s AI chief: LLMs will never reach human-level intelligence (TheNextWeb)
• AI Can Pretend to Be Stupider Than It Really Is, Scientists Find (The_Byte)

Podcasts of the Week

HR Works Podcast: How AI Will Transform the Recruitment Sector (HR Works)

Investor Extraordinaire Arlan Hamilton Explores Her New Book “Your First Million” (Startup of the Year)

✓ Startups hiring now

PitchLabs: Building each other. Building the world | 5 open roles

CourseCareers: Replacing the college system | 22 open roles

Maximus: Consumer telemedicine startup | 4 open roles

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