This Week in AI

From OpenAI's recent IMO gold in math to Mira Murati's successful $2 b fundraising for her new Thinking Machines Lab, alongside AI-created music putting a dent in the definitions of art and authenticity, it was surely a fun week!

AI RADAR – What the World Missed This Week

• Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, heads to Washington D.C. to promote the economic democratization of AI, emphasizing adoption by all and productivity for everybody.
• Thinking Machines Lab raises a $2 billion seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz to develop multimodal AI tools, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.
• Tesla Q2 earnings: Elon Musk sleeps at the office again with Wall Street waiting for his big reveal on Robotaxis, AI & sales recovery
• AI-generated band "The Velvet Sundown" unveils its synthetic identity and raises ethical questions about AI in creative industries
• U.S. AI startup funding skyrockets 75.6%, exceeding $162.8 billion in H1 2025, while VCs dip on fundraising

AI SPOTLIGHT – Tool Stack Reboot

Two standout tools worth exploring this week:

• Comet AI (by Perplexity) – a mobile pre-installed AI web-browser that has conversational search capabilities.
• Hyper – an AI voice assistant that was developed to triage non-emergency 911 calls, freeing up first responders.

AI TRENDS AND INSIGHTS

• $162.8 b was invested in AI-associated startups in H1 2025—a rise of 75.6% year over year.
• AI accounted for 64.1% of total deal value and 35.6% of all VC deals—evidence of a sector leading global tech investment.
• In just the last three months alone, $69.9 b flowed into startup deals.

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VC HEAT INDEX – Where the Money’s Flowing

• QpiAI (Bengaluru) – $32 m to advance AI + quantum computing solutions.
• Everlab (Melbourne) – $15 m raised for AI-enabled health diagnostics.
• Perplexity AI – $100 m round fueling an $18 b valuation.
• Hyper – $6.3 m seed to scale its 911 triaging AI service.

LEARN AND LEVEL UP

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EXPERT's CORNER

Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI): Supports a "third path" which is realistically optimistic with caution, to make economic benefits of AI widely available.