4273207
A hub for startup news, trends, and insights, covering the global startup ecosystem for founders, investors, and innovators. Community: @startupdis Buy Ads: @strategy (this is our only account).
🎥 Luma AI unveils Ray3 for smarter video generation
Luma AI has released Ray3, a next-gen model that reasons through stories, respects physics, and keeps scene details consistent, while being the first to generate video in 16-bit HDR.
🔸 Generates from text prompts, images, or video inputs.
🔸 Ensures coherent narratives with stable objects and lighting.
🔸 Available across all plans, with quality caps on the free tier.
A step toward AI video that doesn’t just create clips, but tells stories.
👓 Meta unveils Ray-Ban Display AR glasses
Meta has revealed Ray-Ban Display, its first AR glasses with a built-in 600×600 pixel lens display that stays nearly invisible to others.
🔸 Classic Wayfarer design, but right lens doubles as a private screen.
🔸 Functions: messages, social feeds, calls, music, maps, Meta AI assistant.
🔸 Gesture bracelet reads muscle signals, finger bend to select, double move to hide.
🔸 Battery: 6h glasses (30h with case), 18h bracelet.
🔸 Price: $799, US launch late September; Canada, France, Italy & UK in early 2026.
Meta is betting on stylish, everyday AR, but the question is whether a single-eye micro-display can win mass adoption.
🔺 Reve launches AI-powered image editor
Reve has rolled out a new AI image editor that lets users modify uploaded or generated images through a chatbot-style dialogue.
🔸 Each request produces three image variations for users to choose from.
🔸 Editing works on both uploaded photos and AI-generated images.
🔸 Compared to mainstream editors, Reve currently enforces fewer content restrictions.
By blending conversational editing with lighter guardrails, Reve is positioning itself as a flexible alternative in the crowded AI image editing space.
🤖 Figure hits a $39B valuation in latest funding round
Figure, the humanoid robotics startup, raised over $1B in its Series C round, placing its valuation at $39 billion.
🔸 Funding led by Parkway Venture Capital, with participation from Nvidia, Intel Capital, Brookfield and others.
🔸 Capital will be used to scale up its humanoid robot fleet, build infrastructure for training robots, and kick off advanced data collection.
🔸 Since its founding in 2022, Figure has raised nearly $2B in total.
Robotics is continuing its push into real-world deployment, not just lab demos. With massive funding and backing from big hardware players, humanoid robots working alongside humans in factories and warehouses are looking less sci-fi and more imminent.
🔍 AI-guided cameras enable solo surgery, a step toward surgical automation
Surgeons in Chile have used an AI-guided camera (part of the MARS robot) to perform a gallbladder removal alone, without a human assistant. The camera tracks the surgeon’s tools and adjusts angles automatically.
🔸 Combines magnetic surgical instruments with software that dynamically adjusts angles and views no external camera operator needed.
🔸 First time this has been done on a real patient, not just in animals or simulations.
🔸 Part of broader efforts: Johns Hopkins and others have already done complicated surgeries on pigs using AI-guided systems.
🔸 The global surgical robot market is large and growing: ~$15.6B in 2024, projected to reach ~$64.4B by 2034.
We’re seeing tangible moves toward surgical automation with AI not just assisting but taking a more autonomous role. But questions remain: how reliably can these systems perform in diverse, high-risk settings, and how fast will regulatory, safety, and adoption hurdles be overcome?
🎯 OpenAI launches jobs platform + certifications for the AI workforce
OpenAI rolled out a new Jobs Platform and AI Certifications program, aiming to both disrupt hiring and prepare workers for an economy reshaped by AI.
🔸 Jobs Platform uses AI to match companies with AI-skilled talent
🔸 Special focus on helping small businesses and governments access workers
🔸 Certifications span from basic AI use to prompt engineering and advanced skills
🔸 Target: certify 10M Americans by 2030, starting with a Walmart partnership
🔸 Training integrated into ChatGPT “Study mode” for easy upskilling
By fusing credentials with a hiring marketplace, OpenAI is positioning itself not just as a toolmaker — but as an infrastructure layer for the future of work.
💻 Claude quietly gains a full code interpreter
Anthropic has rolled out a sandboxed code execution environment for Claude, framed as a tool for presentations, spreadsheets, and office automation, but its capabilities go much further.
🔸 Supports Python and Node.js, with the ability to install libraries from PyPI and npm
🔸 GitHub integration available for pulling and working with repos
🔸 Limitation: file uploads/downloads capped at 30 MB
🔸 Access: already live for Max, Team, and Enterprise subscribers (enable in settings)
🔸 Pro users will gain access soon
With coding and library support built-in, Claude is edging closer to a true developer co-pilot, not just a productivity assistant.
🎼 Mozart AI debuts as a “Cursor for music”
New AI-powered music editor Mozart AI launched in beta, resembling FL Studio but with neural networks under the hood. The tool is free to use for now.
🔸 Full track editor — edit audio with AI, generate new samples on demand
🔸 Upload & process — bring your own samples and enhance them with neural models
🔸 Instant remixing — choose genre, style, or mood and get real-time variations
🔸 All-in-one DAW — traditional workflows fused with generative AI
🔸 Beta access — free during testing, available via open link
Mozart AI points to the future of DAWs: faster, more experimental, and powered by generative AI.
📼 China unveils DNA cassette tape with 36PB storage
Researchers in China have created a “DNA cassette tape” that can store 36 petabytes of data - enough to hold every song ever recorded. The innovation embeds synthetic DNA into plastic and protects it with a crystal-like armor for durability.
🔸 Developed by Xingyu Jiang’s team at Southern University of Science and Technology
🔸 Uses DNA bases (A, T, C, G) to encode data, similar to binary code
🔸 Crystal armor coating prevents degradation, enabling storage for thousands of years
🔸 Cassette design allows fast data access, mimicking rewind/fast-forward mechanics
🔸 Potential use cases: music archiving, video preservation, cultural heritage, genomic data
Though costs and read speeds remain challenges, the DNA cassette blends retro aesthetics with cutting-edge biotech, hinting at a future of ultra-dense, sustainable data storage.
🤖 Albania appoints world’s first AI-made minister
Albania has introduced Diella, an artificial intelligence–powered virtual minister, tasked with overseeing all public procurement. Prime Minister Edi Rama presented her as part of his new cabinet reshuffle.
🔸 Diella’s name means “sunshine” in Albanian, and she appears as a digital avatar in traditional clothing
🔸 She will manage tenders, evaluate bids, and even “hire talent globally”
🔸 Rama says the goal is to make public procurement “100% incorruptible and legible”
🔸 Diella already powers the government’s e-Albania platform, which offers digital services to citizens
🔸 The EU has long flagged corruption in Albania’s public procurement system
By shifting procurement decisions to an AI minister, Albania is betting on technology to combat corruption and accelerate its path toward EU membership.
🎞 YouTube rolls out AI dubbing for all creators
In the coming weeks, all YouTube creators will be able to add automatically generated audio tracks in different languages to their videos. Until now, this feature was limited to a small group of testers.
🔸 Expands access to multilingual dubbing beyond pilot participants
🔸 Aims to help creators reach larger global audiences with minimal effort
🔸 Part of YouTube’s wider integration of AI tools into the platform
This move could reshape content distribution on YouTube, lowering language barriers and boosting international reach for creators of all sizes.
🔥 Code visualizer for vibe-coders
A slick AI tool that turns raw code into clean, readable maps.
🔸 Upload code → get visualizations of functions, variables, and dependencies
🔸 Built-in chat explains logic and algorithms in plain language
🔸 Killer feature: auto-generates prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor with full context or targeted edits
👉 Test it here 👈
📱 Scientists turn Wi-Fi into a camera
Researchers unveiled LatentCSI, an AI method that reconstructs images of rooms using only Wi-Fi signals.
🔸 It converts radio-wave data into a latent space and feeds it to a diffusion model
🔸 Produces sharper, faster results than previous Wi-Fi imaging methods
🔸 Can be guided by text prompts to refine what the final image should look like
Your router might not just connect devices - it could also double as a surveillance tool.
🎬 OpenAI brings AI-made film to Cannes 2026
OpenAI will premiere Critterz, a fully AI-generated animated movie, at next year’s Cannes Film Festival.
🔸 Budget under $30M — far below traditional animation costs
🔸 Most spending goes to human artists for character design and to voice actors
🔸 Theatrical release is planned right after Cannes in May 2026
A milestone moment: the first big-screen animated feature born from generative AI.
💻 Turn any repo into an AI prompt
GitIngest lets you feed an entire GitHub repo into an LLM in seconds.
🔸 Drop in a repo link and wait a moment
🔸 Get back a clean, structured prompt with the code and files
🔸 Edit it to trim noise and keep only what matters
A neat shortcut for devs who want their AI to grok a codebase fast.
📚 OpenAI shares 100 best student prompts
OpenAI just released a curated list of the top 100 chats and prompts for students, covering everything from essay help to interview prep.
🔸 Compiled and tested by real students for real use cases.
🔸 Organized into 3 clear categories: Study, Career, Life.
🔸 Covers essays, research, exam prep, job applications, and daily productivity.
A ready-made playbook that turns ChatGPT into a must-have study partner.
💻 Slimmed-down Windows 11 build released at just 2.3 GB
A stripped version of Windows 11 is making waves: it weighs only 2.3 GB and is designed to run smoothly even on older PCs.
🔸 Removed: Xbox Hub, Windows Update Center, and Windows Defender.
🔸 Gone: Weather, Office, Solitaire, and other bundled apps.
🔸 Streamlined: non-essential drivers stripped out, only core ones remain.
🔸 Browsers cut: both Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer removed.
This ultra-light build trades Microsoft’s ecosystem for raw speed and simplicity, appealing to power users, but with major trade-offs in security and official support.
🎬 YouTube adds Veo 3 Fast for AI-powered Shorts
YouTube has launched Veo 3 Fast, a text-to-video generator that creates short clips with sound for its Shorts section.
🔸 Converts text prompts into videos; animation, style selection, and editing tools are on the way.
🔸 Free access now available to creators in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
🔸 Alongside, YouTube rolled out Lyria 2, a model that can generate songs from phrases and dialogue in videos.
By embedding AI video and music tools directly into its platform, YouTube is arming creators with new ways to produce content and keeping the pressure on TikTok and emerging AI-native rivals.
🎨 Meshy 6: a breakthrough in 3D model generation
Meshy has released Meshy 6, a next-gen tool for generating high-quality 3D assets directly from images raising the bar for 3D creation.
🔸 Delivers unmatched detail across geometry, textures, and overall fidelity.
🔸 Simplifies workflow with one-click export to game engines and modeling tools.
🔸 Requires only a single input image to produce ready-to-use 3D models.
🔸 Outperforms existing 3D generators in both quality and ease of use.
The launch sets a new standard: 3D model generation is no longer a niche experiment? it’s becoming a mainstream creative tool.
🚀 Apex raises $200M to scale satellite bus production capacity
Apex, the LA-based spacecraft company, just closed a $200 million Series D round led by Interlagos, pushing its valuation past $1 billion. The raise will supercharge its manufacturing, tech, and global reach.
🔸 Will use funds to expand production throughput and deepen technical capabilities
🔸 Also building out engineering teams, mission services, and new global sales channels
🔸 Co-founders Ian Cinnamon & Max Benassi bring experience from Synapse, SpaceX, and Astra; mission: reliable, standard satellite platforms for constellation scale
🔸 Apex claims a record: clean-sheet design to flight-ready satellite in under a year
🔸 Growth includes vertical integration (e.g. avionic, power, propulsion), expanding real estate (100,000+ ft²) to boost output ~50% plus room for R&D and payload integration.
If Apex delivers, it could help shift the bottleneck in space from launches to spacecraft platforms — enabling more rapid and reliable constellation deployment worldwide.
🔸 60 prompts for Nano Banana
Many interesting ways to use Nano Banana have been collected on GitHub. A few examples:
🔸 Place on the map
draw what the red arrow sees
/
draw the real world view from the red circle in the direction of the arrow.
Help me turn the character into a white outline sticker similar to Figure 2. The character needs to be transformed into a web illustration style, and add a playful white outline short phrase describing Figure 1.
Change the pose of the person in Figure 1 to that of Figure 2, and shoot in a professional studio
Apply the design from Image 1 to the can in Image 2, and place it in a minimalist design setting, professional photography
🧠 Thinking Machines Lab takes aim at randomness in AI answers
Mira Murati’s new startup, Thinking Machines Lab, has raised $2B and built a team of ex-OpenAI researchers. For the first time, it revealed its mission: making large language model outputs stable and predictable, not random.
🔸 Problem: today’s LLMs often give different answers to the same question
🔸 Hypothesis: unpredictability stems from how Nvidia GPU cores interact during inference
🔸 Approach: controlling that GPU-level process to reduce variability in outputs
🔸 First product: expected in the coming months, aimed at researchers and startups
🔸 Strategic goal: establish reliability as a core differentiator in model development
If successful, Thinking Machines could shift the baseline for AI — from “creative randomness” to trustworthy consistency.
📚 Ex-Spotify exec launches Oboe - an AI that can teach you anything
Former Spotify VP has released Oboe, a free AI platform that builds fully personalized study programs — positioned as a serious alternative to online courses.
🔸 One prompt gives you an hour of structured learning on any topic, from physics to nutrition
🔸 Generates summaries, podcasts, illustrated articles, flashcards, and quizzes
🔸 Designed to adapt content to your learning style, not just dump information
🔸 Already drawing comparisons as a stronger rival to Google’s NotebookLM
Oboe turns self-education into a tailored experience, hinting at a future where AI tutors could replace traditional e-learning.
🕹 Google launches free AI quest game
Google has rolled out a full-fledged interactive game designed to teach the basics of AI. The project comes with cutscenes, tasks, and real-world case studies straight from the tech giant.
A clever move: learning neural networks feels less like study and more like an adventure.
🚀 ByteDance rolls out Seedream v4 - their answer to NanoBanana
🔸 Up to 6 reference images in a single prompt
🔸 Generations up to full 4K
🔸 Already live on Replicate
and Freepik AI
Multi-ref, high-res image gen is heating up. The Seedream vs NanoBanana race just went next level.
🧠 MIT’s AlterEgo lets you “speak” without making a sound
MIT spinout AlterEgo has unveiled a device that captures neural signals sent to the speech apparatus and turns them into text or commands — no audible words required.
🔸 The system detects what you silently say to yourself and translates it in real time
🔸 Enables typing at “thought speed,” hands-free app control, and even silent conversations
🔸 Still no launch date or pricing announced
If it works at scale, AlterEgo could blur the line between thinking and communicating.
🚀 Framer secures $100M at $2B valuation
Website builders feel like a dead genre - Webflow, Wix, Squarespace, Tilda, and the looming shift toward agents and APIs instead of “sites.” Yet investors clearly see something else.
🔸 Framer already generates $50M ARR, targeting $100M soon
🔸 Clients include Miro, Perplexity, Scale AI, and 40% of the latest YC batch
🔸 Founded by ex-Facebook designers, pitched as the “Figma for websites”
🔸 Design-focused, clean interface, AI built-in but not revolutionary
The question remains: is this the future or just a temporary bubble? Investors are betting on growth and for now, businesses are still willing to pay for polished digital storefronts.
🤖 500+ AI projects in one repo
Enthusiasts compiled a giant GitHub collection of AI agents ready to plug into your workflow.
From finance bots and crypto traders to pocket doctors and more - just grab the repo and run the code.
👉 Link 👈
📱 Apple unveils iPhone 17 lineup and more
Apple’s 2025 event brought a wave of new devices, headlined by the iPhone 17 series.
🔸 iPhone 17 — A19 chip with on-device LLMs, 6.3" 120Hz Always-On Display, 48MP main + improved selfie cam, +8 hours battery vs iPhone 16. From $799.
🔸 iPhone Air — ultra-thin (5.6mm), A19 Pro chip with MacBook Pro–level AI, 6.5" 120Hz display, Wi-Fi 7, eSIM-only, all-day battery. From $999.
🔸 iPhone 17 Pro / Pro Max — A19 Pro chip, triple 48MP cameras with 8x optical zoom, longest iPhone battery life yet, new orange color, from $1099 / $1199.
🔸 AirPods Pro 3 — live speech translation, top-tier ANC, heart-rate sensor, step counter. $249.
🔸 Apple Watch 11 — now with 5G, hypertension detector, 24h continuous battery. From $399. SE 3 and Ultra 3 also revealed.
AI-first chips, thinner designs, and health features show Apple doubling down on performance and wellness.
🛒Waitrose tests AI-powered smart carts
Waitrose is trialling AI trolleys in its Bracknell store that automatically scan items as shoppers put them in, aiming to cut checkout times.
🔸 Built by Israeli firm Shopic, the carts use cameras and a screen to track products and prices in real time
🔸 Payments are handled in-app, letting customers walk out without scanning barcodes
🔸 Shopic claims the tech saves up to 8 minutes compared with manned tills and reduces errors at self-checkouts
🔸 Trials follow Amazon’s cashierless Fresh stores and other supermarket automation pushes
If successful, “smart-carts” could make the self-checkout queue a thing of the past.