startup

Amazon-founder-Jeff-Bezos

Jeff Bezos Steps Back Into Leadership as Co-CEO of New AI Startup, Project Prometheus

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly returning to a hands-on leadership role for the first time since stepping down from Amazon in 2021. According to The New York Times, Bezos is taking on the role of co-CEO at a new artificial intelligence startup called Project Prometheus, a company he is also helping fund. The startup has already secured a massive $6.2 billion in backing, signaling its ambition to become a major force in the next era of AI. Bezos Joins Forces With Veteran AI and Biotech Leader Vik Bajaj Bezos will share the top role with Vik Bajaj, a seasoned tech and biotech executive. Bajaj previously led Google’s life sciences division, co-founded Alphabet’s health-focused company Verily, and helped launch Foresite Labs, an AI-driven research affiliate. The report notes Bajaj recently left Foresite Labs specifically to focus on building Prometheus. For Bezos, this marks a significant return to operations after years of focusing on space exploration, philanthropy, and higher-level strategic roles. Building AI for the Physical World Project Prometheus is positioning itself as an AI powerhouse focused on advancing the physical economy—industries like aerospace, automotive, energy, and advanced computer engineering. The company’s LinkedIn page highlights its mission as creating AI systems capable of understanding and simulating real-world physics. According to the report, its work is expected to resemble companies like Periodic Labs, which develop AI models capable of accelerating scientific discovery by mimicking real-world environments. A Team Stacked With AI Talent The startup has already assembled a team of nearly 100 specialists, including researchers and engineers with experience from top AI labs such as OpenAI, Meta, and Google DeepMind. With such a lineup — and billions in funding — Prometheus is signaling its intent to compete at the highest level of the AI industry. A New Chapter in the AI Arms Race Bezos’ involvement adds significant weight to the rapidly expanding AI race, especially as major players like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI push toward new frontiers. His return also suggests a growing belief that AI’s next breakthroughs will happen at the intersection of software, hardware, and the physical sciences. As Project Prometheus accelerates development, the tech world will be watching closely to see how Bezos’ leadership shapes this ambitious new venture.

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Cloudflare

Cloudflare Outage Disrupts Major Platforms, Company Blames ‘Latent Bug

A large portion of the internet went dark on Tuesday morning as a widespread Cloudflare outage impacted major platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, Spotify, X, and several other online services. The internet infrastructure giant quickly identified the issue, but the incident underscored just how dependent the modern web is on a handful of critical providers. Cloudflare Identifies the Cause and Issues a Fix At around 8 a.m. ET, Cloudflare updated its status page confirming that it had detected the problem and was deploying a fix. By mid-morning, the company reported that the situation had been stabilized, though it continued monitoring its systems to ensure a full recovery. Cloudflare’s CTO Dane Knecht later explained the root cause in a candid post on X, stating that the outage was triggered by a latent bug that went unnoticed during testing. According to Knecht, “a latent bug in a service underpinning our bot mitigation capability started to crash after a routine configuration change.” The malfunction cascaded across Cloudflare’s network, disrupting multiple services worldwide. He clarified that the outage was not the result of an attack. Cloudflare Apologizes and Promises Improvements Knecht apologized to users, saying the company had “failed its customers and the broader internet”, acknowledging the real-world impact of the disruption. Cloudflare confirmed that it would release a detailed post-incident report and strengthen safeguards to prevent a similar failure in the future. Despite the fix, Cloudflare noted ongoing issues for some users, particularly with logging into the Cloudflare dashboard. Engineers are actively working on resolving these lingering problems. A Reminder of the Internet’s Structural Fragility The outage comes less than a month after a significant AWS service disruption, highlighting a recurring concern: the internet relies heavily on a small number of infrastructure companies. When one experiences a failure, the ripple effect is immediate and widespread. Cloudflare alone powers an estimated 20% of all websites, operates data centers in 330 cities, and connects directly to 13,000 networks, including major ISPs and cloud providers. Given that one of its core services is defense against DDoS attacks, the irony of Tuesday’s downtime was not lost on many observers.

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Emm-smart-menstrual-solution

Emm Secures $9M to Launch One of the World’s First Smart Menstrual Cups

In a major step forward for femtech innovation, UK-based startup Emm has raised $9 million in seed funding to bring its “smart” menstrual cup to market. The idea originated during the COVID lockdown, when founder Jenny Button realized that while wearables like the Oura Ring and Whoop band offered deep wellness insights, nothing provided meaningful data about menstrual and reproductive health. Turning a Simple Cup Into a Smart Health Tool After thousands of prototypes and years of testing, Emm revealed what Button describes as the world’s first smart menstrual cup. It functions like a traditional menstrual cup but is built from medical-grade silicone embedded with ultra-thin sensor technology. These sensors track cycle data and patterns that are often impossible to capture through conventional health tools. Button believes the device could significantly improve the way reproductive conditions are detected and treated. Menstrual blood, she notes, is an untapped health resource, capable of providing insights beyond what circulatory blood tests can offer. A New Path for Diagnosing Reproductive Health Issues One of Emm’s biggest potential impacts is in diagnosing conditions such as endometriosis, which affects one in ten women and can take 7 to 10 years to identify. Button says this delay stems from a lack of reliable, objective menstrual health data — something Emm aims to solve. Beyond endometriosis, she highlights that one in three women will face serious reproductive health challenges during their lifetime. Emm’s technology could help speed up diagnoses and empower users with clearer information about their bodies. Privacy-First Technology With Strong Backing All data collected through the Emm app is encrypted, anonymized or pseudonymized, and protected by two-factor authentication. Only essential team members can access it, ensuring user privacy remains a core priority. Emm’s $9M seed round was led by Lunar Ventures, with participation from Alumni Ventures (an early Oura backer), The Labcorp Venture Fund, and BlueLion Global. The product is slated to launch in the UK next year, and the waitlist has already exceeded 30,000 sign-ups. Button expects a U.S. rollout by early 2027. Building the Future of Women’s Health Button says menstrual health is only the beginning. Emm plans to expand into diagnostics, digital tools, and potentially therapeutics. Her mission is clear: give people the data they need to take control of their health and advocate for themselves.

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European-tech-gets political

European Tech Steps Into Politics as Lobbying Efforts Grow

European technology is entering a new era — one where startups and investors aren’t just building products but also pushing for political influence. Atomico’s newly released State of European Tech 2025 report highlights a clear trend: lobbying is becoming a defining feature of Europe’s tech landscape. From Ecosystem Insights to Policy Advocacy This year’s report goes beyond investment numbers and ecosystem growth. According to Tom Wehmeier, Atomico partner and head of intelligence, the goal is no longer just to show progress but to shape the future. Atomico’s recommendations — Fix the friction, Fund the future, Empower talent, and Champion risk — reflect the industry’s growing desire for a more supportive environment. Founded by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, Atomico carries weight in European tech. Its portfolio includes major names such as Klarna, DeepL, Stripe, Supercell, and Aiven. With companies of this scale behind it, Atomico’s voice represents more than just a single firm; it echoes a broader shift among European startups. A Push for Unified Rules and Global Competitiveness European tech companies, much like their U.S. peers, are hiring public-affairs teams and joining collective efforts to influence policy. Many of these recommendations align with ongoing debates in Brussels — including the call for a “28th regime” that would simplify company formation across Europe. Currently, businesses must navigate 27 different national structures, an obstacle that slows cross-border growth. Atomico warns that the success of this new regime will depend heavily on whether it becomes a regulation instead of a directive. Regulations apply uniformly across all member states, which tech founders say is crucial for scaling. The report also features, for the first time, a message from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who says she wants “the future of AI to be made in Europe,” underscoring the political importance of the region’s tech ambitions. New Voices, Growing Risks European tech advocacy is expanding, with groups like France Digitale, ESNA, and major startups taking more assertive positions. But challenges remain. Some proposals, such as boosting Europe’s chances of producing trillion-dollar companies, may feel disconnected from everyday citizens. Experts like Alexandru Voica of Synthesia say this gap is exactly why startups are increasing their communication efforts. With public trust in tech still fragile, companies now view policy and reputation management as essential. A Crucial Turning Point As Atomico puts it, Europe stands at a crossroads. Whether the continent strengthens its competitiveness — or falls behind global rivals — may depend on how effectively its tech leaders navigate both innovation and political influence.

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TikTok-now-lets-you-choose-how-much-AI-generated-content-you-want-to-see

TikTok Introduces New Controls to Personalize AI-Generated Content in the For You Feed

TikTok is giving users more power over what appears on their For You feed — specifically when it comes to AI-generated content. The platform has introduced a new setting that allows users to choose how much AI-generated content (AIGC) they want to see, marking a major step toward transparency and personalization on the app. A Smarter Way to Curate Your Feed The new AIGC control lives inside TikTok’s “Manage Topics” tool, which already lets users adjust how often they see categories such as Food, Dance, Sports, and several others. TikTok says the feature is designed to help users fine-tune their experience, not completely eliminate AI-created videos from their feed. This update arrives as major tech companies continue to lean into AI-driven content experiences. Meta recently launched Vibes, a feed dedicated entirely to AI-generated short videos. Soon after, OpenAI introduced Sora, its own platform for creating and sharing AI-powered visuals — many of which quickly made their way onto TikTok. As AI videos become more realistic and widespread, TikTok’s new filter helps users choose whether they want more of this content or prefer to dial it back. How the New Setting Works Users can try the feature by opening Settings → Content Preferences → Manage Topics. A dedicated slider lets you increase or decrease the amount of AI-generated content in your For You feed. TikTok says this update will roll out across the app over the next few weeks. Invisible Watermarking for Better AI Labeling To keep AI content clearly identified, TikTok is testing invisible watermarking, a technology only the platform can detect. While TikTok already supports C2PA’s Content Credentials — metadata that signals AI involvement — those labels can be lost when videos are edited or reuploaded elsewhere. The new invisible watermarks will appear on AI-generated videos created with TikTok’s tools like AI Editor Pro, as well as on content uploaded with C2PA tags. This adds an extra layer of security and helps the platform label AI content more reliably. TikTok’s Investment in AI Literacy Alongside these updates, TikTok announced a $2 million AI literacy fund. The initiative will support experts and organizations such as Girls Who Code in producing content that educates users about AI safety, ethics, and digital understanding.

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Tech-Ces

Paid, the AI Billing Startup by Manny Medina, Raises $21.6M Seed Round

Paid, the innovative AI billing startup founded by Manny Medina, has made headlines by closing an oversubscribed $21.6 million seed funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. With a €10 million pre-seed secured earlier this year, the London-based company has raised a total of $33.3 million. According to insiders, the startup’s valuation has already surpassed $100 million, a remarkable milestone for a company still pre-Series A. What Makes Paid Different? – Results-Based Billing for AI Unlike traditional SaaS companies or AI platforms, Paid doesn’t create AI agents itself. Instead, it provides the infrastructure for “results-based billing”—a new model where AI agents are billed according to the value they deliver, not just their usage. This approach is designed for the AI era, where per-user fees or unlimited subscriptions no longer work. Many AI startups pay significant costs to cloud and model providers, making flat pricing models unprofitable. Results-based billing allows companies to charge for measurable outcomes, such as savings or efficiency gains, ensuring customers only pay for real, value-driven results. Founder Manny Medina, best known for creating Outreach (valued at $4.4 billion), explained it this way: “If you’re a quiet agent, you don’t get paid. You need an infrastructure that charges for the actual work the agent is doing.” Why Traditional AI Pricing Models Fail The demand for a new billing model is clear. Most enterprise AI projects fail to prove their worth—MIT research shows that 95% of corporate AI pilots generate no real value, with only 5% moving to production. Businesses don’t want to spend on AI that produces “slop,” such as endless low-quality emails or outputs that bring no tangible benefit. Paid solves this by ensuring AI providers can prove ROI and tie billing directly to performance-based results. Early Customers and Adoption Despite being in its early stages, Paid has already attracted strong interest. Its customers include: This shows Paid’s potential to scale across both fast-growing startups and established enterprise players in the SaaS ecosystem. Investor Confidence in Paid’s Vision The seed round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from FUSE and existing investor EQT Ventures. Alexander Schmitt, a partner at Lightspeed, said the firm has invested over $2.5 billion in AI infrastructure and applications in the past three years but noted that most AI pilots fail. He believes Paid’s unique results-based billing model could unlock large-scale adoption: “The core of the problem is that no one can really attach value to what agents are doing today. Paid is solving that.” A Shift in How AI Gets Paid With strong funding, early customers, and a proven founder, Paid is poised to set a new standard in AI billing models. As businesses demand accountability and real ROI from their AI tools, results-based billing could replace outdated SaaS-style subscriptions. For Manny Medina, the message is clear:The future of AI isn’t just about building smarter agents—it’s about proving their value.

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