thenextweb.com / .thenextweb-com / Page 9

Pickmybrain raises $2.1M pre-seed for its AI expert platform, where 1,000+ professionals monetise knowledge via AI and async video.

Metafuels wins 1.92M Dutch grant for its Rotterdam methanol-to-jet e-SAF plant. Production is targeted from 2030.

Audicin raises $1.9M backed by Oura co-founders to expand its brainwave-based nervous system regulation tech into defence, healthcare, and enterprise.

Decentraland launches on the Epic Games Store and Google Play, betting that distribution through mainstream storefronts can succeed where Meta's $70 billion metaverse push failed.

Multi-hop blockchain transactions make indirect crypto exposure harder to detect, raising major compliance, sanctions, and regulatory challenges.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards declared 18 US tech companies 'legitimate targets,' alleging their AI and cloud platforms enabled assassinations of senior Iranian commanders.

ByteDance relaunches Seedance 2.0 with C2PA watermarking, face-blocking, and copyright filters after Hollywood backlash, rolling out through CapCut in seven markets.

OpenAI closes its record $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion valuation, with $3 billion from retail investors signalling groundwork for a potential IPO.

South Korea imports 27,000 tonnes of Russian naphtha as the Strait of Hormuz closure disrupts petrochemical supplies critical to semiconductor manufacturing across Asia.

Apple Intelligence briefly appeared on Chinese iPhones before being pulled, risking penalties under China's AI security evaluation and algorithm filing rules.