Celanese and Vigor Precision have formed a strategic partnership to develop lightweight plastic joint components for humanoid robots, with the companies targeting a reduction in joint-module weight of more than 30% compared with traditional metal designs. According to the companies, the Texas-based Celanese will supply high-performance engineering plastics and technical support, while the Hong Kong-based…

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Wispr, the AI dictation startup behind Wispr Flow, has raised $280 million in a Series B round led by Menlo Ventures, valuing the company at $2 billion. The funding will support expansion into new product areas, including the company’s recently launched meeting note-taker tool, and brings Wispr’s total funding to $361 million since its previous…

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Insider Brief Serve Robotics is adding Grubhub to its autonomous delivery network, with robot delivery available from more than 100 merchants in Chicago and nearly 200 in Los Angeles, along with service in Alexandria, Va. The expansion comes as Serve launches DoorDash deliveries in Washington, D.C., and San Jose, Calif., and prepares its first Miami…

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WindBorne Systems, a startup that uses long-flying weather balloons and AI forecasting models to generate weather data, has raised a $37 million Series B round co-led by Khosla Ventures and Galvanize, with additional investment from Translink Capital, Lux Capital, and existing backers, valuing the company at $250 million. Founded in 2019, WindBorne originally focused on…

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SpaceX has officially closed its acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor, according to an announcement on Cursor’s blog. The deal follows an agreement first announced in April, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX partnered with Cursor and secured an option to acquire the company for $60 billion. The companies confirmed plans to move forward with the acquisition two months…

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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pushed back against criticism that his warnings about AI risks have fueled public backlash against the industry, responding to investor Gavin Baker, who argued on the All-In podcast and social media that Amodei’s cautionary messaging has contributed to growing opposition toward data centers and AI regulation. Amodei disputed the characterization that…

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Stripe has reportedly reached a deal to acquire AI model marketplace OpenRouter for more than $7 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. OpenRouter provides customers with a platform to select and switch between hundreds of different AI models based on specific needs and budget, positioning itself as a way to avoid vendor lock-in. The acquisition…

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Insider Brief Versatile RobotX secured more than £1 million in investment and grant funding, including backing from British Design Fund, Innovate UK and Defra, to move its agricultural robots toward commercial deployment. The University of Essex spinout plans to use the funding for product development, manufacturing readiness, customer engagement and commercial expansion. Versatile RobotX develops…

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Read Online | Sign Up | Advertise Good morning, {{ first_name | AI enthusiasts }}, and welcome to our 10,253 new readers. AI has a trust problem, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei doesn’t think a marketing campaign can fix it. Amodei just made a rare X appearance to answer claims that his AI safety talk…

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The people who build and study AI did most of the editing this week. The most-shared document among the experts we track was Mark Zuckerberg’s 6,500-word case for giving every person superintelligence, and almost none of them shared it kindly. The same experts were passing around an AI agent that hacked a gym’s booking system,…

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