Qodo raises $70M for code verification as AI coding scales

As AI floods software development with code, Qodo is betting the real challenge is making sure it actually works.

Elon Musk’s last co-founder reportedly leaves xAI

All but two of Musk’s 11 xAI co-founders departed before this week.

From Moon hotels to cattle herding: 8 startups investors chased at YC Demo Day

We polled nearly a dozen VCs to find out which W26 startups are the sought after in the batch.

OpenAI shuts down Sora while Meta gets shut out in court

When an 82-year-old Kentucky woman was offered $26 million from an AI company that wanted to build a data center on her land, she said no. Sure, that same company can try to rezone 2,000 acres nearby anyway, but as AI infrastructure…

16 of the most interesting startups from YC W’26 Demo Day

From redirecting doomscrolling to training humanoid robots, these 16 startups stood out as the most interesting ones from an overflowing YC cohort.

Defense startup Shield AI lands $12.7B valuation, up 140%, after US Air Force deal

In one year, Shield AI’s value has leaped 140%. This after it won a contract to be the software provider to Anduril’s Fury fighter jet for the U.S. Air Force.

Why hiring the weirdos works

When you’re building at breakneck speed, hiring a trusted team is crucial for an early-stage startup. Bland CEO and co-founder Isaiah Granet has tactical advice on how the company managed to find hidden talent in unlikely places. 

Conntour raises $7M from General Catalyst, YC to build an AI search engine for security video systems

Conntour uses AI models to let security teams query camera feeds using natural language to find any object, person, or situation.

Mercor competitor Deccan AI raises $25M, sources experts from India

Deccan AI concentrates its workforce in India to manage quality in a fast-growing but fragmented AI training market.

Silicon Valley’s two biggest dramas have intersected: LiteLLM and Delve

LiteLLM offers an AI open source project used by millions that was infected by credential harvesting malware.