AI can transform the economy while disappointing investors. Anthropic’s anticipated IPO, neocloud debt and circular financing expose the tension between technological progress and financial returns, with consequences for founders, VCs and the capital funding the boom.
A growing group of AI companies is building substantial businesses by running models efficiently. From Fireworks and Modal to model developers expanding into inference, the opportunity is to turn increasingly accessible intelligence into reliable services. What makes these businesses defensible, and where will the value accumulate?
This week’s #FIRGUN celebrates Varonis’s $6.3 billion acquisition agreement, reported Amazon–Decart talks and fresh Israeli startup funding, alongside flying cars, new AI models and the latest Q3 venture reports.
AI capabilities are advancing faster than businesses can adopt them. For startups, the opportunity lies in turning that potential into dependable products, repeatable workflows and measurable results.
Three years after October 7, this week’s #FIRGUN celebrates the people building forward - a lot has changed, but we should also appreciate what changed for the better
Three years after October 7, Israeli tech is raising more and exporting more, and defence tech is fast becoming a category of its own. The drive that sent Israelis home to serve is now shaping the companies they build. Here's what changed, why I'm bullish on Israeli founders, and why the recovery is still uneven at the earliest stages.
AI agents hacked government portals, broke into Hugging Face and tried to cover their tracks this year. A VC's guide to the startups building the brakes for rogue AI, why Israel's Irregular sits at the centre of the story, and why self-improving agents make the problem harder.
Courage at 30,000 feet, $13.2B raised by Israeli startups in nine months, and a week of agent security rounds, a 10-month exit to Nebius, and a new defence-tech fund.
Capital is concentrating in fewer deals. Higher valuations tell us what successful fundraises look like, but founders also need to understand the evidence, dilution and runway required to get there.
Choosing the right AI model matters. But when competitors can access the same technology, a repeatable way to reach customers and earn their trust can become the more durable advantage.
This week’s #FIRGUN celebrates Israeli tech funding, new venture and secondary funds, and a new route for private capital into defence technology, alongside a packed week of global AI releases.
A new generation of frontier AI labs has raised approximately $11.6 billion across ten mega-rounds. Some have released usable models, products and APIs. Others remain bets on elite teams and unproven research theses. Here is what each neo-lab has actually shipped.
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