Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

PitchBook: European defense tech startups have raised €2.4B since 2022, including €1.4B in 2025's first seven months, up from €30M in 2020 and €150M in 2021 (Financial Times)

Techmeme

Shenzhen-based humanoid startup X Square Robot raised ~$100M led by Alibaba, taking its total funding to ~$280M, and released a foundation model for embodied AI (Evelyn Cheng/CNBC)

Techmeme

OpenAI is providing its tools and computing resources for Critterz, a largely AI-made feature-length animated film that is set to hit theaters globally in 2026 (Jessica Toonkel/Wall Street Journal)

Techmeme

A profile of Zachary Cefaratti, a below-the-radar dealmaker for data centers, crypto mining, and tech groups in the Gulf through his advisory firm Dalma Capital (Chloe Cornish/Financial Times)

Techmeme

TextJam

Daring Fireball

A look at Marc Benioff's pursuit of productivity gains through AI at Salesforce, which has undergone a series of layoffs over the past two years (Caroline O'Donovan/Washington Post)

Techmeme

How Larry Ellison is reshaping Oxford, including relocating his Ellison Institute from LA to Oxford, with plans to invest $1.3B+ into research on AI and more (Jenny Strasburg/Wall Street Journal)

Techmeme

Google finally details Gemini usage limits

The Verge - All Posts

Is Man of Tomorrow "Superman 2" or something else? Here's what James Gunn has revealed

Polygon - All

A look at Ross Ulbricht's return to public life after receiving a pardon in January, including speaking at Bitcoin 2025 and accepting millions in donations (New York Times)

Techmeme

GM slows EV production as tax credit nears expiration

The Verge - All Posts

Boys Go to Jupiter is E.T. meets The Sims

Polygon - All

Sources: ASML is committing €1.3B for Mistral's €1.7B Series C at a €10B pre-money valuation, becoming the top shareholder, and is expected to get a board seat (Reuters)

Techmeme

Mafia: Old Country misses one thing Kingdom Come: Deliverance nailed

Polygon - All

Shift5, which develops cybersecurity tools for the military and critical infrastructure, raised a $75M Series C led by Hedosophia (Chris Metinko/Axios)

Techmeme

TIFF 2025: Frankenstein, Knives Out 3, and all the biggest movies from Toronto

The Verge - All Posts

A profile of Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan, as the gaming hardware giant readies AI tools for game development and to help players sharpen their skills (John Kang/Forbes)

Techmeme

Volkswagen rounds out new lineup of affordable EVs with ID. Cross concept

The Verge - All Posts

Natalie Portman should return to Star Wars. But not as Padmé.

Polygon - All

PitchBook: VCs have invested $5B+ in humanoid robotics startups since the beginning of 2024, as years of steady progress and GenAI triggers an investment frenzy (Washington Post)

Techmeme