Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, April 7, 2025

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📌 Musings and Readings
The Llama 4 (Meta)
OpenAI Has Discussed Buying Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s AI Device Startup (Link)
DeepSeek unveils new AI reasoning method as anticipation for its next-gen model rises (Link)
Man Employs A.I. Avatar in Legal Appeal, and Judge Isn’t Amused (Link)
Cyberattacks by AI agents are coming (Link)
Genspark’s Super Agent ups the ante in the general AI agent race (Link)
👏 Deals
Sourcetable, a CA-based startup using AI to automate data analysis, formula generation, and visualization through natural language interactions, has raised $4.3m in seed financing.
BetterFleet, an Ann Arbor-based company leveraging AI to optimize electric vehicle fleet management by providing data-driven insights for planning, charging, and operations, helping organizations transition to zero-emission fleets more efficiently, has raised $15m in financing.
Marit Health, a CA-based startup offering an anonymous platform for medical professionals to share salary data, promoting transparency and helping physicians and advanced practice providers assess fair compensation across specialties and locations, has raised $3.2m in seed financing.
OpenTug, a Seattle-based company developing software that simplifies marine logistics by optimizing the booking, quoting, and tracking of inland and coastal freight for transport companies and shippers, has raised $2.2m in financing.
Sturdy, an OR-based startup using AI to analyze customer communications, helping businesses turn customer conversations into actionable insights and proactively manage risks and improve customer retention and revenue, has raised $6m in seed financing.
voize, a Berlin-based startup offering an AI-driven voice documentation solution for healthcare, enabling speech-based recording, report generation, and seamless integration to reduce administrative tasks, has raised $9m in seed financing.
Cambrian, a CA-based AI infrastructure provider that trains AI agents to analyze financial data, predict market trends and enable fast, automated decision-making within a decentralized framework, has raised $5.9m in seed financing.
heyLibby, a WA-based startup leveraging AI to automate customer interactions for fitness, wellness, and recreation businesses to improve operational efficiency and enhancing customer experience, has raised $4.5m in seed financing.
Vallor, a Miami-based company building an AI-powered platform to automate contract management by extracting data, streamlining processing and providing real-time responses and risk monitoring to enhance efficiency, has raised $4m in seed financing.
Northwind Climate, an MA-based climate tech startup specializing in data-driven marketing through its SaaS platform to help companies communicate climate initiatives with consumer research, predictive modeling and market insights to engage environmentally conscious consumers, has raised $1m in pre-seed financing.
AutonomyAI, a New York-based startup leveraging AI-driven agents to streamline frontend development by generating production-ready code, has raised $4m in pre-seed financing.
Daymark Health, a PA-based health tech startup delivering continuous cancer care through virtual and in-home services including symptom management, care coordination and patient support throughout treatment, has raised $11.5m in seed financing.
Phonic, a CA-based company developing a Voice AI platform that enables dynamic AI agents capable of learning from past interactions, has raised $4M in financing.
Grid Edge, a UK-based climate tech startup focused on using AI and data-driven solutions to optimize energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions in commercial buildings, has raised £2.8M in financing.
Parallel, a French-based health tech startup applying AI to optimize administrative processes in hospitals with a focus on improving medical coding accuracy and efficiency by analyzing unstructured data while ensuring compliance with security standards, has raised $3.5m in seed financing.