thinking | writing | shipping

ElevenLabs was initially considered an outsider in Hollywood Today the AI startup has become a creative partner Michael Caine, Matthew McConaughey and others are partners ElevenLabs raises $500 million in new funding Sequoia Capital leads the new investment round The AI startup ElevenLabs is now valued at $11 billion Andreessen Horowitz, Iconiq and others participated ElevenLabs develops a platform for conversational AI Brands can now license the voices of actors and others Last year’s ARR reached $330 million ElevenLabs aims to double its ARR by the end of 2026 Clients include Deutsche Telekom, Deliveroo and others

Copilot is a key element of Microsoft’s AI strategy Attempts to replace ChatGPT with it have proven challenging Only a small portion of Office subscribers use Copilot The percentage of those who prefer it over Gemini has only declined Copilot is one of Nadella’s main priorities Microsoft’s large customer base helps Copilot’s development Microsoft offers several versions of the Copilot service All Copilot versions can be divided into three main audiences These are specialists, developers, and regular users Complex positioning also hinders Copilot’s popularity Microsoft sold 15 million corporate Copilot seats within Office By late 2025, Copilot’s MAU was reported at 150+ million Gemini’s MAU is 650+ million, ChatGPT’s MAU is 900 million Recon Analytics surveyed 150+ thousand respondents in the US The share of those for whom Copilot is primary fell by 7.3 percentage points to 11.5% Meanwhile, the share of those choosing Gemini was 15.7% (+2.9 percentage points)

Ricursive Intelligence was founded by two researchers from Google The startup uses specialized chips for modern chatbots The company’s solutions are expected to improve AI chip design More advanced chips will create more capable AIs The process will repeat as technologies improve The startup is creating a recursive cycle of self-improvement Ricursive Intelligence recently raised $335M in funding The 10-person startup is already valued at $4B Investors include Sequoia, Radical Ventures, DST Global, and others

Employees in the US increasingly use AI for work-related tasks Usage rates in the US have been gradually increasing over the past 3 years Those using AI daily increased to 12% (+2 percentage points) Those using AI several times a week now account for 26% (+3 percentage points) Those using AI several times a year remained unchanged 49% still never use AI in their work AI usage depends on industry and job type AI is most commonly used in knowledge-based industries Application is least common in manufacturing and service sectors IT and finance employees use AI the most

Employees say AI is not saving them much time Many employees don’t know how to implement AI in their work Meanwhile, companies are spending huge sums on AI The gap between executives and rank-and-file employees is enormous The issue is about the gap between AI’s theoretical and actual use Two-thirds of rank-and-file employees save up to 2 hours per week More than 40% of executives claim savings of 8 hours per week For rank-and-file employees, AI often causes anxiety and other concerns AI tools are most often used for basic tasks AI is rarely applied to analysis, code generation, and other complex work People still don’t understand what AI does well and what it doesn’t

OpenEvidence startup raised $250 million in new funding New funding provided by Thrive Capital and DST Over the past year, OpenEvidence raised $750 million in investments Among its investors: Google, Nvidia, Kleiner Perkins and others The startup helps doctors make important clinical decisions OpenEvidence is the most popular AI platform for doctors More than 40% of doctors in the US market use the platform Healthcare accounts for nearly 20% of total US GDP Healthcare spending reaches $5 trillion OpenEvidence has collected hundreds of millions of real doctor consultations Last year, the startup’s ARR exceeded $100 million 95% of new users learn about the product from other doctors

– The Clearing Company startup recently raised $15 million – Coinbase Ventures was already one of the investors – Coinbase previously launched predictions market direction – The startup team will become part of Coinbase crypto exchange – Predictions are available for sports, politics, and more – The startup was founded by former Polymarket and Kalshi executive – The deal will help Coinbase scale its new business – The startup had about 10 employees in total – Coinbase did not disclose the amount, calling it “immaterial” – The acquisition became the tenth for the crypto exchange since early 2025 – Coinbase previously acquired Roam, Spindl, Iron Fish, Echo, and others