Joyce’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, March 17, 2025
5-minute weekly must-read on data science and artificial intelligence news, funding, and research, curated by Joyce Shen.
📌 Musings and Readings
Powerful A.I. Is Coming. We’re Not Ready. (NYT)
Microsoft developing AI reasoning models to compete with OpenAI (Reuters)
French publishers and authors sue Meta over copyright works used in AI training (AP)
Suki AI Is Everywhere—and Aims to Be Invisible (Newsweek)
Gemini Robotics brings AI into the physical world (DeepMind)
👏 Deals
Tetrous, a CA-based startup developing regenerative medicine products through demineralized bone fiber technology to improve healing in sports injuries, especially tendon-to-bone repairs, has raised $6.5m in series A financing.
LiquidTrust, a CA-based fintech startup focused on enhancing payment security, has raised $4m in seed financing.
Capture6, a CA-based climate tech company developing direct air capture (DAC) technology that removes CO₂ from the atmosphere and generates clean water, has raised $27.5m in series A financing.
Synctera, a CA-based fintech startup that is building a platform that enables companies to build and scale banking products through APIs, facilitating collaboration between FinTechs and banks while ensuring compliance, has raised $15m in financing.
Noctal, CA-based startup leveraging AI to analyze video content and suggest sound effects, streamlining the audio design process to help creators enhance storytelling, has raised $1.8m in seed financing.
Synvect, a CA-based biotech company providing a biological mosquito control solution using its technology to sterilize mosquito eggs, has raised $3m in seed financing.
Hawcx, a CA-based startup specializing in passwordless authentication, while integrating seamlessly into login systems with just a few lines of company, has raised $3m in pre-seed financing.
Motivity, a Honolulu-based health tech company building a data collection platform for applied behavior analysis to enhance clinical efficiency and outcomes, has raised $27m in financing.
Onyx, a CA-based startup developing an AI-driven platform that helps organizations enhance their workflows through search and customized AI assistants, has raised $10m in seed financing.
Aura, an MA-based company that creates, showcases, and improves AI agents within decentralized ecosystems, has raised $5.5m in seed financing.
Darwin, a New York-based company that helps organizations manage and govern AI tools by automating policy enforcement, monitoring risks, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, has raised $5m in seed financing.
Montara Therapeutics, a CA-based biotech startup developing targeted therapies for neurological diseases, ensuring brain-specific drug delivery to reduce side effects and address previously untreatable conditions, has raised $20m in seed financing.
Optimhire, a CA-based company using AI to optimize the hiring process by automating job matching and candidate screening, helping employers quickly find the most relevant applicants, has raised $5m in financing.
Disputed.ai, an OR-based startup focusing on chargeback analysis, risk assessment and automated dispute resolution to help businesses recover revenue and prevent fraud, has raised seed financing.
Anyware Robotics, a CA-based company utilizing mobile robots to automate container and truck unloading in logistics, leveraging machine learning for precise handling, adaptability and safety to improve efficiency and reduce labor strain, has raised $12m in seed financing.