Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, April 14, 2025
5-minute weekly must-read on data science and artificial intelligence news, funding, and research, curated by Joyce J. Shen.

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📌 Musings and Readings
Why AI Is Better than Doctors at the Most Human Part of Medicine (Bloomberg)
New method efficiently safeguards sensitive AI training data (MIT)
Will AI improve your life? Here’s what 4,000 researchers think (Nature)
OpenAI slashes AI model safety testing time (Financial Times)
Amazon CEO sets out AI investment mission in annual shareholder letter (Reuters)
Bank of England says AI software could create market crisis for profit (The Guardian)
AI models still struggle to debug software, Microsoft study shows (TechCrunch)
👏 Deals
SigIQ.ai, a Berkeley-based startup focused on affordable, scalable one-on-one tutoring that replicates the benefits of personalized instruction, aiming to make high-quality education globally accessible through computational efficiency, has raised $9.5m in seed financing.
Zero Industrial, a SC-based company developing thermal energy storage systems that use clean electricity to decarbonize industrial heat, has raised $10m in financing.
HoneyHive, a New York-based startup helping developers in monitoring, testing and optimizing AI agents through tools for tracing, evaluation and artifact management, has raised $7.4m in financing.
Gallatin AI, a DC-based defense tech startup utilizing AI to optimize defense logistics, enhancing resupply planning, secure logistics, in-transit visibility, and asset management to improve efficiency and decision-making, has raised $15m in seed financing.
Tracera, a New York-based company building a platform to automate ESG data extraction, standardization, and reporting, streamlining sustainability efforts and ensuring regulatory compliance, has raised $12m in series A financing.
Spektion, a TX-based startup that specializes in software security by analyzing runtime applications to detect embedded risks and providing real-time insights into software behavior to help organizations manage third-party risks and prevent vulnerabilities, has raised $5m in seed financing.
Rondah AI, a New York-based startup delivering an AI-based receptionist solution for dental practices to automate tasks while integrating with practice systems, supporting multiple languages and ensuring patient data privacy and security, has raised $1.8m in pre-seed financing.
Luzern Risk, a New York-based company helping businesses establish and manage captive insurance solutions and take control of their risk management strategies and evaluate insurance needs to secure regulatory approval for their captive entities, has raised $12m in series A financing.
Auxilium Health, an OH-based biotech startup focused on developing advanced biomaterials that combine therapeutic and diagnostic functions to provide effective wound healing solutions tailored to individual patient needs, has raised $1.5m in pre-seed financing.
Springtail, a CA-based startup offering a cloud-native distributed database that boosts PostgreSQL scalability on Amazon RDS, enabling on-demand read replica scaling and reducing replication costs without application changes, has raised $2.5m in pre-seed financing.
Remedy Scientific, a CA-based climate tech company specializing in advanced environmental remediation by utilizing AI-driven systems and chemistry to efficiently detect and neutralize pollutants to restore contaminated land, has raised $11m in seed financing.
Dealstack, a London-based fintech startup developing a SaaS platform to streamline private equity dealmaking by automating workflows, ownership tracking and valuation processes to enhance efficiency and collaboration, has raised $5.5m in seed financing.
ConductorAI, a Maine-based software company building an AI platform that streamlines document approvals for government agencies by turning complex, manual processes into efficient, AI-assisted workflows, has raised $15m in series A financing.
Alinea Invest, a New York- based fintech company developing a platform that simplifies investing for Gen Z and beginners by offering personalized strategies, educational tools, and social features for building portfolios in stocks, crypto, and other assets , has raised $10.4m in series A financing.
Okeiro, a Paris-based health tech startup applying AI to interpret complex medical data, helping healthcare providers anticipate complications, tailor treatments and enhance care for transplant and chronic illness patients, has raised €10m in financing.