US startups

The Department of War's Critical Technologies Office has announced a partnership with In-Q-Tel, the intelligence community's nonprofit venture capital firm, aimed at accelerating the development and adoption of emerging technologies. The announcement was published on the department's website. In-Q-Tel typically invests in startups building capabilities of interest to US national security agencies, and the tie-up signals closer integration between defense technology offices and the venture-backed commercial tech sector.

Munich-based robotics startup RobCo has reached a $1 billion valuation, becoming one of Germany's notable unicorn companies in industrial automation. At the same time, its CEO is relocating to the United States, a move drawing attention in the European tech scene. Observers are weighing what the shift means for Germany's robotics sector and whether growth and investment increasingly favor the US market.

The Pentagon is investing in a startup that aims to supply metal used in critical magnets, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The move highlights Washington's push to secure domestic supply chains for rare earth and magnet materials, which are essential for weapons systems, electronics and electric vehicles and currently dominated heavily by China.

Reflection AI has released what it bills as the first open frontier-class AI model from the West designed to compete with leading Chinese open models such as DeepSeek and Qwen. The launch positions the US startup as an alternative in the global contest over who controls openly available, high-performance AI systems.

Amazon Web Services has added Chinese AI startup Zhipu's GLM-5.3 model to its Bedrock platform, available under a revenue-sharing arrangement. The deal means Bedrock customers can now access a frontier Chinese open model through Amazon's managed AI service, with revenue split between the two companies. It marks a notable cross-border collaboration between a major US cloud provider and a leading Chinese AI lab.

Daniel Ek, the Spotify co-founder and billionaire, has expanded his health-tech startup Neko Health to the United States. The company offers full-body scans aimed at early detection of health problems, and its arrival in America marks its first move beyond Europe. The launch is drawing attention as a test of whether preventive scanning can catch on in the US market.

German fusion startup Gauss Fusion is courting US investors for a $150 million funding round, per Axios. The company is working on commercial fusion energy in Germany and is now looking across the Atlantic for capital, a sign that European fusion firms are turning to American backers as private investment in fusion technology accelerates. The funding round's status and lead investors were not disclosed.

Utah has granted startup Nolla Health approval to begin issuing prescriptions for acne treatments generated automatically by artificial intelligence. The move marks one of the first times a US state has allowed an AI system to handle prescribing directly for a common skin condition. Supporters see it as a step toward faster, cheaper access to care, while the decision is likely to fuel debate over safety and oversight of automated medical decisions.

US startup Reflection AI has released Beam, its first open-weight AI model, positioning it as an American counterpart to the open models coming out of China. The company and commentators frame the release as a bid to give the West a credible open-source competitor in the global AI race. Attention is focused on whether Beam can match the capabilities and momentum of Chinese open models.

DW asks whether a new generation of young German startups could become the country's next technology champions. The piece looks at emerging companies and their potential to drive innovation in Europe's largest economy, amid ongoing debate about whether Germany can produce tech giants to rival those from the US and Asia.

Reflection AI, a startup backed by Nvidia, is preparing to release an open-weight AI model intended to compete with leading open models from China. The move positions the US company in the increasingly strategic race over openly available frontier AI systems, where Chinese developers like DeepSeek and Qwen have so far set the pace.

More than 120 researchers and innovators from over 20 countries are calling for reforms to Europe's innovation-financing system. They argue Europe produces strong science but loses too many discoveries to other markets, and want funding rules that make it easier to spin research into startups. The appeal touches on EU policy, innovation and research funding across the bloc.

Circuit Breaker Labs is developing what it calls AI 'crash-test dummies' to identify psychological harms from AI systems before they affect users, including children. The startup argues that while public debate focuses on long-term existential risks from artificial intelligence, AI has already caused psychological harm to some people, and it aims to test these harms proactively.

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution has signed a memorandum of understanding with the US startup Indigotech. Details of the agreement, including its scope and financial terms, have not been disclosed. The deal signals LG's continued interest in partnering with American technology startups as competition in the battery and energy storage sector intensifies.

American investors are pouring record sums into European defense startups in 2026, helping the sector reach its largest funding haul to date. The trend reflects growing transatlantic interest in European rearmament and defense technology as security concerns and rising defense budgets across the continent attract fresh capital from US venture firms.

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup, has reportedly narrowed the performance gap with leading US AI models to just 3 percent, according to Bloomberg. The finding suggests Chinese AI development is closing in on American frontier models far faster than many expected, intensifying debate over the global AI race and US export controls on advanced chips.

Neko Health, the preventive health startup co-founded by Spotify chief Daniel Ek, has expanded to the United States. The company offers full-body scans designed to detect early signs of disease, and it previously launched services in Europe. Its American arrival marks a significant step for the emerging preventive diagnostics sector, drawing attention to Ek's ventures beyond music streaming.

Above Space, a startup developing a space hotel concept, has reached a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission after completing what it described as its final funding raise of $91,100. Details of the terms remain thin, and the small size of the raise has drawn attention given the company's ambitious orbital hospitality plans. Observers are questioning how the regulatory settlement affects its future fundraising.

A new analysis outlines the main obstacles Europe's biotechnology industry must overcome to keep growing, including regulatory complexity, difficulty accessing scale-up funding, and competition from the United States and Asia. Commentators argue that without reform of approval processes and better late-stage capital, promising European research and startups will continue to move abroad rather than mature within the EU.

German AI startup Aleph Alpha has launched Kolibri, a new artificial intelligence model designed specifically for government use and built around data sovereignty principles. The company positions the model as a European alternative to US-based AI providers, allowing public authorities to run sensitive workloads without data leaving German or EU control. The launch underscores growing demand in Europe for independent, domestically controlled AI infrastructure.

A body scan startup backed by Spotify billionaire co-founder Daniel Ek has expanded to the United States, according to TechCrunch. The health technology company is entering the American market, drawing attention in startup and health tech circles as observers weigh the potential of full-body scanning services backed by high-profile tech money.

Aleph Alpha, the German artificial intelligence company, is being discussed as Europe's answer to US AI firms like OpenAI. The Heidelberg-based startup has positioned itself around sovereign, transparent AI for governments and businesses, attracting backing from German industry and politicians keen to reduce dependence on American technology. Commentary is mixed, with supporters praising its European focus while skeptics question whether it can compete with far larger rivals.

An American startup has chosen Changzhou, in China's Jiangsu province, over a planned location in Kentucky, according to a report circulating widely online. The decision, framed as a US company picking a Chinese manufacturing city instead of a domestic site, has drawn attention amid ongoing debates over tariffs, supply chains and the cost of building industrial capacity in the United States versus China.

A US court has trimmed Joby Aviation's trade-secret lawsuit against rival eVTOL developer Archer Aviation, reducing the claims that can proceed. The long-running dispute between the two electric air-taxi companies centres on allegations that Archer misused confidential information from former Joby employees. A partial narrowing of the case is a procedural win for Archer, though the litigation is not over.

The Pentagon has announced a partnership with In-Q-Tel, the CIA's nonprofit venture capital arm, focused on 'technology scouting' — identifying emerging commercial and dual-use technologies for defense use. The collaboration is aimed at giving the Pentagon faster access to startups and innovations the intelligence agency's strategic investor already tracks.

US startup Tavus has unveiled Griffin, a conversational video model designed to power lifelike AI avatars on video calls. In company testing, 48% of participants mistook the AI-generated call partner for a real human, a result being cited as evidence of how quickly synthetic video is approaching human indistinguishability and raising fresh questions about deception and consent in video communication.