Federato fixes insurance risk analysis with AI, raises $40M

Insurance has been fertile ground for artificial intelligence innovation, working as it does at the nexus of giant datasets, risk assessment, predictive analytics, fintech, and customer service. Federato, a startup riding that momentum, has now raised $40 million to expand its business: an AI-power

Converge Bio’s ‘everything store’ for biotech LLMs brings in $5.5M seed

AI is finding its way into every corner of biotech and pharmaceutical research, but like other industries, it’s never quite as straightforward to implement as one would like. Converge Bio has built a tool for companies to make their biology-focused LLMs actually work, from “enriching

LogicMonitor’s massive $800M raise shows AI is driving the demand for data center monitoring

As companies’ server infrastructure grows, they often run into challenges keeping tabs on the health of their various assets, like cloud instances and local data centers. Monitoring tools, also known as observability tools, can help — but lots of tools quickly becomes overwhelming. Accordin

Current AI scaling laws are showing diminishing returns, forcing AI labs to change course

AI labs traveling the road to super-intelligent systems are realizing they might have to take a detour. “AI scaling laws,” the methods and expectations that labs have used to increase the capabilities of their models for the last five years, are now showing signs of diminishing returns

Fintech giant Finastra confirms it’s investigating a data breach

Finastra, a London-based financial software company that serves most of the world's top banks, has confirmed it's investigating a data breach after a hacker claimed a compromise of the company’s internal file-transfer platform.  In a statement given to technewss, Finastra spokesper

Portugal’s Tekever raises $74M for dual-use drone platform deployed to Ukraine

Dual-use drone startup Tekever has raised €70 million ($74 million) to develop its product and expand into new markets, specifically the U.S. The news is part of a trend of smaller tech-driven startups moving into markets normally dominated by large “defense primes.” It also shows th

UK open to social media ban for kids as government kicks off feasibility study

The U.K. government is not ruling out further beefing up of existing online safety rules by adding an Australian-style ban on social media for kids under 16 technology secretary Peter Kyle has said. Back in the summer, the government warned it may toughen laws for tech platforms in the wake of rio

OpenAI releases a teacher’s guide to ChatGPT, but some educators are skeptical

OpenAI envisions teachers using its AI-powered tools to create lesson plans and interactive tutorials for students. But some educators are wary of the technology — and its potential to go awry. Today, OpenAI released a free online course designed to help K-12 teachers learn how to bring ChatGP

Ben Ling's Bling Capital has already nabbed another $270M for fourth fund

Bling Capital, one of the more prolific and well-connected seed VC firms, has nabbed another $270 million for a new flagship fourth fund. About half of those fresh millions are earmarked for its opportunity fund, money set aside to make follow-on investments into winners, Bling general partner Kyle

SpaceX launches Starship for the sixth time — with Trump on site to watch

SpaceX conducted the sixth flight test of its massive Starship rocket on Tuesday afternoon, and although the company did not replicate the history-making booster catch, the company did welcome a very special guest: President-elect Donald Trump.  Trump, who will soon be sworn into office for h

Apple says Mac users targeted in zero-day cyberattacks

Apple released security updates on Tuesday that it says are “recommended for all users,” after fixing a pair of security bugs used in active cyberattacks targeting Mac users. In a security advisory on its website, Apple said it was aware of two vulnerabilities that “may have been

PayPal revives its money-pooling feature

Welcome to technewss Fintech! This week, we're diving into PayPal's new holiday shopping-friendly feature, Klarna's 2025 IPO ambitions, and sales tax automation startup Kintsugi doubling its valuation in less than a year. If you’d like to receive the Fintech newsletter in your

PSA: You shouldn’t upload your medical images to AI chatbots

Here’s a quick reminder before you get on with your day: Think twice before you upload your private medical data to an AI chatbot. Folks are frequently turning to generative AI chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, to ask questions about their medical concerns and

Chroma, backed by Pinterest and Twitter co-founders, sells to AI audio company Bronze

Chroma, a startup building a new type of audiovisual entertainment for mobile devices, has been sold. The company, which had financial backing from Twitter and Medium co-founder Biz Stone as well as Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, is headed to London-based audio technology company Bronze, an AI m