The CFTC Is Investigating Polymarket Again

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Founder Summit, a day packed with practical insights from founders, VCs, and marketers on how to build your startup, win funding, and attract attention in a zany market, is coming up next Wednesday, November 4 in Boston. It’s well worth checking out if you’re in the area; past attendees really do rave about this one. Here’s a link to tickets with a 30% discount baked in. Top News The CFTC is again investigating whether Polymarket violated a 2022 settlement requiring it to keep U.S. users off its offshore prediction market, including whether its geolocation controls and U.S. advertising were sufficient. Similar CFTC and Justice Department probes were closed last year without charges. Reuters has more here. Sponsored By … Deploying AI in fund ops? You have 3 problems. 1 - security, 2 - accuracy, and 3 - a context window big enough for 1000s of documents. PortfolioIQ solves all three. It extracts every number from documents, maps it to the source, keeps full audit history, and feeds clean data securely to the AI of your choice. Build on data you can trust → PortfolioIQ. Anduril, Qualcomm Launch BlueChip, a New Kind of US-Made Laptop Image Credits: Kyle Grillot / Bloomberg / Getty Images By Julie Bort Anduril founder Palmer Luckey is vowing to bring computer manufacturing back to the U.S. And by that, he doesn’t just mean assembly but the production of every individual component, some of which are exclusively made in China today. Anduril is partnering with Qualcomm to achieve that mission with a new computer called BlueChip, the companies announced Tuesday. BlueChip will be available for preorder in 2027. While technical details are scant — Anduril hasn’t even finished contracting with all its component suppliers yet, according to Luckey — this first product will be a hardened laptop. It will be designed to withstand the most grueling physical environments and meet the security-conscious needs of the military, government, first responders, and law enforcement. For the first generation, about 90% of its components will be made in the U.S. or in allied countries, Anduril says, most notably its CPU. BlueChip will run on a Snapdragon X Series built at TSMC’s massive new facility in Arizona. The CPU uses the same architecture that powers other laptops, including the Microsoft Surface, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said during the press conference. “As of right now, the laptop’s bill of materials is about 90% U.S. and allied [ally countries], and we have a technical roadmap to get to 100% domestic over time,” Luckey said. “The intent in the long run is to have an option that is made entirely in the United States, 100% domestic. And I mean everything. I mean the displays. I mean the metallics. I mean the magnetics. All of it.” Right now, for instance, Luckey says he’s found an American supplier for the glass that covers the display, but the display itself is one of several components he says are only manufactured in China. Massive Fundings General Compute, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that provides AI companies access to specialized inference chips through managed data centers and a single software layer, raised a $100 million Series A round at an $800 million post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Blackbird and Abstract, with Fuse Venture Partners, Village Global, Bold Capital, QED Fund, and 645 Ventures also taking stakes. It also secured a $400 million debt facility from Upper90. TechCrunch has more here. Hex Technologies, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that develops collaborative tools for data analysis, visualization, and interactive applications, with built-in AI assistance, raised a $100 million round at a $1.2 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Peak XV Partners, with additional participation from previous investors Amplify Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, and Sequoia Capital. More here. Lumaril, a startup that connects to existing plant control systems and continuously adjusts operations to improve throughput and yield, raised a $66 million Series A round at a $400 million valuation. The deal was led by Elad Gil, with Felicis, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Pax Ventures, and previous investors Lux Capital and General Catalyst also chiming in. The company has raised a total of $78 million. The Wall Street Journal has more here. Physical Intelligence, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that develops general-purpose AI software for robots to perform real-world tasks, is reportedly in talks to raise at least $1 billion at roughly a $20 billion valuation, with previous investors Avenir and Lux Capital returning as purported co-leads. Bloomberg has more here. Re:Build, a six-year-old startup based in Framingham, MA, that designs, engineers, and manufactures products for industrial companies and incubates industrial startups, raised a $2.1 billion round co-led by General Catalyst and JPMorganChase. The company has raised a total of $4+ billion. More here. Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings Avante, a three-year-old Seattle startup that uses AI agents to analyze employee benefit programs, evaluate vendors, automate recurring work, and answer employees’ coverage questions, raised a $30 million Series A round led by Frist Cressey Ventures, with Sorenson Capital, Hearst Ventures, and Morgan Stanley as well as previous investor Fuse also opting in. The company has raised a total of $40 million. GeekWire has more here. ClarityCare, a San Francisco startup that automates billing, documentation, and operational data tracking for medical providers, raised a $16.3 million Series A round led by Headline, with Maverick Ventures, Transpose Platform, Firstminute Capital, Top Harvest Capital, Arthur Ventures, and FJ Labs also taking stakes. More here. Clinics on Cloud, a nine-year-old startup based in Pune, India, that develops health kiosks, mobile clinics, and AI diagnostic tools for preventive screening and primary care, raised a $12.6 million Series A round from Model42 at a $63 million valuation. The SaaS News has more here. CureBay, a five-year-old startup based in Bhubaneswar, India, that operates rural clinics offering doctor consultations, diagnostic testing, and surgery coordination, supported by AI-based screening, raised an $11 million round led by IvyCap Ventures, with Trifecta Capital, Alteria Capital, and VentureSoul Partners also taking part. It also secured an unspecified debt financing component. The SaaS News has more here. Hyperbolic, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that aggregates computing capacity from GPU providers and lets AI developers buy, manage, and resell unused capacity, raised a $30 million round led by Walden Catalyst, with additional support from Dell Technologies Capital, General Catalyst, Vista Equity Partners, Cambium Capital, and Salience Capital. More here. Hyphenate, a two-year-old New York startup that develops AI agents that automate routine accounting and financial operations while retaining human oversight, raised a $45 million Series A round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with B Capital as well as previous investors Foundation Capital, BoldCap, and Gaia Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $54 million. Tech Funding News has more here. Machenta, a one-year-old London startup that develops an AI model that teaches robots new physical tasks after a single demonstration, raised a $40 million seed round co-led by Creandum and Union Square Ventures. Tech.eu has more here. North Vector Dynamics, a four-year-old Calgary startup that develops missile interceptors that neutralize drones for NATO members and allied armed forces, raised a $20.7 million Series A round at a $90+ million post-money valuation. The deal was led by previous investor Tech Horizons, with ONE9, Garage Capital, CSG, Ripple Ventures, Feld Ventures, and Conconi Growth Partners also digging in. Tectonic Defense has more here. Simplismart, a four-year-old Bengaluru startup that develops software that deploys, scales, and operates AI models across cloud and on-premises GPU infrastructure, raised a $14 million Series B round at a $100 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Dallas Venture Capital, with Nvidia, Accel, Shastra VC, and Micromax also pitching in. TechCrunch has more here. Smaller Fundings Agora Labs, a four-year-old Rome startup that uses AI to standardize and anonymize hospital clinical data for medical research without moving it outside hospital systems, raised a $4.8 million round led by P101 SGR, with the Mussetto family also investing. More here. EDGE Sound Research, a six-year-old startup based in Riverside, CA, that combines sound with video and other sensor data to help computers interpret physical environments, raised a $2 million round led by Stormbreaker Ventures. The company has raised a total of $9 million. More here. Lette, a one-year-old Dublin startup that uses AI agents to automate leasing, resident support, maintenance, rent arrears, and compliance for residential rental operators, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by Peak, with Heliad, Foreword VC, Pitchdrive, Adeline, and Des Traynor also buying in. The company has raised a total of approximately $7.9 million. Tech Funding News has more here. Loamy, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that builds AI tools to help produce growers, packers, and distributors catch quality problems before food is rejected or wasted, raised a $6 million seed round led by Zeal Capital Partners, with Slauson & Co., Supply Change Capital, and Amplify.LA also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $10 million. More here. Matiks, a two-year-old Bengaluru startup that offers competitive math, logic, memory, and puzzle games that users play against bots or other people, raised a $10 million round led by General Catalyst, with Ronnie Screwvala as well as previous investors InfoEdge Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, and Untitled Ventures also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $13.5+ million. TechCrunch has more here. Predicate, a three-year-old New York startup that embeds compliance controls in digital assets to block high-risk and sanctioned transactions, raised an $8 million Series A round led by Blockchain Capital, with Paxos, 1kx, and Tribe Capital also investing. CryptoRank has more here. Querio, a two-year-old London startup that uses AI agents to keep company reports, data definitions, and answers consistent across business tools, raised a $5 million seed round. Investors included BMW i Ventures, LAUNCH, Haatch Ventures, Araya, Forum Ventures, and Secways. EU-Startups has more here. Volare, a five-year-old Helsinki startup that uses black soldier fly larvae to convert food-industry byproducts into protein, oil, and fertilizer ingredients for animal feed, raised a $7.9 million round at an $82.9 million post-money valuation. Investors included Maki.vc. Tech.eu has more here. Prefer-Not-to-Say Fundings 22one, a 10-month-old London startup that is building AI tools to help police work more efficiently, raised an undisclosed amount at around a $400 million valuation, the Financial Times reported. Investors included Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Creandum. Tech Funding News has more here. Sponsored By … SRS Acquiom. The Smartest Way to Run a Deal™ Gain an edge with our most comprehensive M&A earnouts and claims study to date. The SRS Acquiom 2026 M&A Earnouts and Claims Study provides deep insights from 1,174 private-target acquisitions valued over $1T, with 366 individual indemnification claims, 870 expense funds, and 405 earnout metrics analyzed. The dataset spans two decades of closed deals, the majority of which closed in the last three years. This collection of data isn’t available anywhere else. Access the exclusive insights. New Funds Disruptive, a 14-year-old venture investment firm based in Dallas that backs later-stage AI, defense, and software startups, raised a $10 billion fund that it plans to deploy across just 10 companies, investing roughly $1 billion in each. The vehicle doubles the firm’s assets under management. Bloomberg has more here. Exits This is really interesting: Anthropic has acquired Mithril Medicine, a one-person biotech based in Cambridge, MA, whose founder used Claude to help coordinate contracts, logistics, experiments, and 11 outside labs while advancing a potential muscular-dystrophy treatment from an idea to promising results in mice in under 18 months. Anthropic says the program could reach human trials by late 2028. More here. Going Public Anthropic’s seven cofounders, who collectively control 50.1% of the company’s voting power, can each create a secret ranked list of up to 10 people who could inherit their control if they die or become incapacitated; the names are shared internally but generally kept hidden from shareholders unless disclosure is legally required. Business Insider has more here. People Palmer Luckey says he plans to stay in California despite the proposed billionaire wealth tax, which he estimates could leave him owing roughly $3 billion on his Anduril stake alone. He also says fellow billionaires have urged him to leave the state to demonstrate the policy’s consequences. TechCrunch has more here. Meta AI director Rohit Patel has left after eight years to launch Ndoc, a three-person, unfunded startup building an AI-native alternative to Microsoft Office and Google Workspace that combines documents, spreadsheets, presentations, data analysis, and code in a single workspace. TechCrunch has more here. Felix Rieseberg, an engineering manager at Anthropic, says he has stopped giving traditional coding interviews because Claude is now better at the kinds of programming challenges they test, arguing that AI is shifting the advantage toward engineers who are “hungry.” More here. [Editor’s note: Rieseberg’s website is insane!] Post-Its Essential Reads Organized theft rings are increasingly targeting high-value data center equipment in transit, with one trailer carrying roughly $13 million worth of server gear stolen while headed to a major Georgia data center development. NBC News has more here. AI models can be significantly more expensive and less capable for people using non-English languages because some scripts require far more tokens to process: among the 20 most popular internet languages, the cost gap ranged from 1.5 to five times, while one model showed a 17-fold gap across 200 languages. Rest of World has more here. TechCrunch explains what it means that OpenAI and Anthropic say their models have “refuted the Exponential Time Hypothesis”: some problems computer scientists thought would inevitably take exponentially longer to solve may actually be solvable much faster, a finding that, if confirmed, could force researchers to rethink decades of assumptions about the limits of computing. TechCrunch has more here. Detours A new trailer for Dune: Part Three just dropped. A self-improvement app will pay up to three people $2,000 each to spend 30 days making small talk with strangers at cafés, bookstores, bars, parks, and other public places, then document what happened - a job seemingly designed to test Gen Z’s well-documented aversion to chitchat. But wait, there’s more: a San Francisco startup is paying people $20 an hour to walk robot dogs around the city for four to six hours at a time, collecting training data to help teach the machines to navigate on their own; for now, the company says, AI agents are still “very bad at controlling hardware.” “Namemaxxing” is apparently the latest baby-naming trend: parents are blending two or more familiar names into a new one, producing combinations like Mavery from Maeve and Avery, or Beniel from Benjamin and Daniel. Brain Rot Retail Therapy Image Credits: Evan Joseph A nearly 14-acre Wyoming estate near Jackson Hole is asking $48.5 million and comes with more than 30,000 square feet of buildings, 17 bedrooms, staff housing, a guest cabin, and its own aircraft hangar opening directly onto a runway rated for Gulfstream G5-class jets. Timex’s new $349 tank-shaped steel watch features Art Deco styling, a 27mm case, a Miyota quartz movement, and both a brown leather strap and a steel H-link bracelet. Tips (the non-pecuniary kind) Please send all of your hot gossip to [email protected] or [email protected]. Want to advertise on StrictlyVC? To book ads directly, contact us at [email protected].