Kevin Hartz’s A* just closed its third fund with $450M

The firm takes a generalist approach, backing companies across categories such as AI applications, fintech, healthcare, and security. The average check size for this fund will be between $3 million and $5 million, with the aim to back at least 30 startups.

Former Tesla exec and Heron Power CEO Drew Baglino has founded a heat pump startup

Sadi Thermal Machines is Drew Baglino’s second startup since leaving Tesla in 2024.

Medicare’s new payment model is built for AI, and most of the tech world has no idea

There is no governmental mechanism to pay for an AI agent that monitors a patient between visits, calls to check in, coordinates a housing referral, or makes sure someone picks up their medication. ACCESS creates that mechanism for the first time.

Poppy debuts a proactive AI assistant to help organize your digital life

Poppy is an AI-powered app that connects your calendar, email, messages, and other services to surface reminders, suggestions, and tasks based on what’s happening in your life.

Adaption aims big with AutoScientist, an AI tool that helps models train themselves

Adaption’s new AutoScientist tool is designed to let models adapt to specific capabilities quickly through an automated approach to conventional fine-tuning.

Musk mulled handing OpenAI to his children, Altman testifies

Altman said that Musk’s focus on controlling the initial for-profit gave him pause because OpenAI was dedicated to keeping advanced AI out of the hands of a single person, and Altman, with his experience running the prominent startup accelerator Y Combinator, knew “founders who had control usually did not give it up.”

Anthropic warns investors against secondary platforms offering access to its shares

“Any sale or transfer of Anthropic stock, or any interest in Anthropic stock, offered by these firms is void and will not be recognized on our books and records,” the company’s support page reads.

Google launches new Android security feature to help uncover spyware attacks

Intrusion Logging is a new part of Android’s Advanced Protection Mode, which aims to help protect human rights activists, journalists, and dissidents from government spyware attack and law enforcement forensic devices.

US bank discloses security lapse after sharing customer data with AI app

Community Bank, which operates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, disclosed a cybersecurity incident that exposed customers’ names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers.

Exaforce raises $125M Series B to build AI for catching and stopping cyberattacks as they happen

As bad actors weaponize AI to exploit software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed, companies are increasingly recognizing the need to bolster their cybersecurity defenses. The round valued the three-year-old startup at $725 million.