Decart2026-08-10 06:36:43Israeli AI Startup Decart in Advanced Sale Talks at $6B-$7B; SpaceX Eyed as BuyerIsraeli AI startup Decart is in advanced talks to sell itself to an international tech giant at a $6 billion-$7 billion valuation, with a deal possible next week, according to an exclusive report from CTech (Calcalist) cited by ChainCatcher. Decart, founded in 2023, develops real-time video generation models and has roughly 100 employees. Total funding stands at around $450 million, including a $300 million round in May that valued the company at $4 billion. Negotiations began with Nvidia but changed course after another tech giant stepped in near the finish line. The likely buyer is believed to be SpaceX, while Amazon and Nebius have also been linked to the deal. Decart's edge is generating video at far lower cost than rivals. Musk tested Oasis, a game based on Decart's tech, in 2024 and has since stayed in touch with co-founder Dean Leitersdorf. Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire, who organized Musk's post-war Israel trip, has backed Decart since seed. If SpaceX buys the company, it would open SpaceX's first R&D center in Israel. SpaceX previously acquired Cursor for $60 billion after its IPO, and absorbing Decart would strengthen its AI infrastructure ambitions.3370
Yanyu Technol2026-08-05 07:21:00Lovart developer Yanyu Technology said to be weighing Hong Kong IPO at $3 billion valuationChinese AI startup Yanyu Technology, the company behind the AI design agent Lovart, is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to a report by JRJ citing people familiar with the matter. The company is also close to raising new funding in a deal that would value it at $3 billion, the report said. People familiar with the discussions said Yanyu Technology has begun early talks with advisers about a possible share sale, though the deliberations remain preliminary and no final IPO decision has been made. The report placed the company among a new group of AI firms seeking fresh capital as investor demand for AI tools continues to rise, following the breakout success of Manus. A spokesperson for Yanyu Technology did not respond to a request for comment, according to the report.1630
AI startup2026-07-24 04:00:16Mythos Shutdown Warns AI Startups: Renting vs Owning, Control Decides SurvivalMythos shutting down this week exposes a core risk for AI startups: reliance on external models. Beyond cost debates, the real variable is control. Companies must turn data and workflows into owned assets to build defensible moats.150
Cluely2026-07-23 13:35:14Cluely CEO Roy Lee Admits Lying About $7M ARR in Public ConfessionRoy Lee, CEO of AI startup Cluely, publicly admitted fabricating $7 million in annual recurring revenue to TechCrunch. The startup, known for its interview cheating tool, had raised $15M from a16z.390
Tian Keyu2026-07-15 01:44:00Tian Keyu returns to AI with a world-model startup reportedly valued at $200 million after ByteDance lawsuitTian Keyu, the former ByteDance intern who was dismissed and later sued for 8 million yuan over an alleged attack on the company’s large-model training project, has resurfaced in the AI sector with a new startup, according to media reports citing people familiar with the matter. The venture is focused on world models, a field tied to AI systems that aim to understand space, motion and causal relationships in the physical world. The project was reportedly incubated and led by FiveY Capital partner Meng Xing, has raised tens of millions of U.S. dollars, and is valued at about $200 million. Tian’s profile has remained unusually polarizing. He is a PhD student at Peking University and a graduate of Beihang University’s School of Software. In 2024, he helped produce the VAR image-generation paper that won the NeurIPS best paper award, with the related GitHub project attracting more than 4,400 stars. But his public notoriety came from a dispute at ByteDance. The company said in November 2024 that a former intern had maliciously interfered with model training tasks by writing and modifying code, causing heavy resource losses. Tian later denied carrying out the attack, said another intern was responsible, and said he had reported the matter to police after being defamed.1830
