🕶️ VCs love AI—but hate saving the planet?

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Six bullets of updates

1. 🏭 U.S. tech firms shift production from China to Southeast Asia and India, driven by geopolitical tensions and supply chain risks.

2. 🤖 New AI models flood the market, from OpenAI’s o3-mini to DeepSeek’s R1—part of a wave surpassing 900k models.

3. 📄 OpenAI updates ChatGPT with a 187-page Model Spec promoting “intellectual freedom” and refining AI behavior.

4. 🚗 Uber eyes a Tesla partnership to integrate robotaxis, leveraging 33 million daily trips to boost profits.

5. 🇨🇳 Xi Jinping pledges support for private enterprises in China, seeking to restore business confidence amid economic concerns.

6. 🐾 Researchers train AI to interpret animal emotions, aiming to better understand animal behavior and improve welfare.

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VCs are ghosting climate tech – and it’s a problem

Sustainability tech has been hyped as the future, with a projected $75 trillion in investment needed by 2050 to reach net zero. Yet, behind the buzz, VC funding for climate and sustainability startups has quietly plummeted since 2021. Unlike AI startups that secure millions in weeks, climate innovators often face years of fundraising struggles. The reason? Venture capital’s obsession with rapid growth and massive returns clashes with the slower, complex reality of scaling sustainability solutions—especially those requiring hardware or buy-in from multiple stakeholders.

To fix this disconnect, investors need to rethink their approach. Forward-thinking VCs are blending traditional funds with impact capital, offering revenue-based financing, or creating longer-term evergreen funds better suited for climate tech’s development cycles. Hands-on support—like securing pilot programs with corporates—can fast-track adoption. Most importantly, success metrics must evolve beyond SaaS-style growth charts to reflect both financial returns and environmental impact. If VCs fail to adapt, they risk not only missing the next wave of transformative innovation—but also delaying the solutions we need to fight the climate crisis.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Conscious Connection for founders, leaders, & curious people | Feb 19 | Austin

2. NYC B2B: Pre-Seed + Seed Founders & Investors Meetup | Feb 24 | NYC

3. Techstars Columbus | Deadline: April 1 | USA

4. Entrepreneur First London - Summer | Deadline: July 1 | UK

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These companies just raised money

1. 🚀 Elon Musk’s xAI is in talks to raise $10B at a $75B valuation, planning $5B on Dell servers for Grok models.

2. 🤖 Figure AI seeks $1.5B at a $39.5B valuation—15x its last round—driven by humanoid robot hype.

3. 💊 Healthcare AI startup Abridge raises $250M to expand its AI-powered medical transcription and clinical documentation platform.

4. 🏢 Saudi Aramco invests in UK AI startup Ori after a £140M round led by Telefónica, boosting Saudi-UK tech ties.

5. 🛡️ AI security startup Dream raises $100M at a $1.1B valuation, as AI investment heats up.

6. 🧮 Polymath raises $1M for its educational sandbox game making math fun, attracting thousands of users globally.

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Ban, buy, repeat: TikTok’s wild ride isn’t over

TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains uncertain as regulatory pressure and acquisition talks intensify. Concerns over user data security and potential influence from the Chinese government have fueled tensions since 2020, when former President Donald Trump first attempted to ban the app. After years of legal battles, the Biden administration continued the push, with Congress passing legislation that could force ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell its U.S. operations or face a ban. Though TikTok briefly shut down in January following a Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban, it was swiftly restored after Trump intervened, granting a 75-day extension for a potential sale.

Amid this backdrop, several investor groups are competing to acquire TikTok’s U.S. unit, estimated to be worth over $60 billion. The People’s Bid, led by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, emphasizes privacy and data control, with notable supporters like Kevin O’Leary and Tim Berners-Lee. Another consortium, headed by Employer.com CEO Jesse Tinsley, includes Roblox’s David Baszucki and YouTuber MrBeast, offering $30 billion in cash. Meanwhile, tech giants like Oracle, Microsoft, and Walmart have reemerged as contenders, alongside figures like ex-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. As negotiations progress, TikTok’s fate remains a pivotal issue at the intersection of tech, politics, and global business.

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What NOBODY Tells You About Selling a Startup

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