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AI Inference Startup Inferact Raises $150 Million Seed Round at $800 Million Valuation to Commercialize Open-Source vLLM Project
UC Berkeley researchers transition popular AI optimization tool into venture-backed company led by Databricks co-founder Ion Stoica with backing from Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed as industry shifts focus from model training to deployment efficiency. Read more
LiveKit Raises $100 Million Series C at $1 Billion Valuation as Infrastructure Powering ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode and Millions of Daily AI Conversations
Index Ventures leads round for real-time voice and video infrastructure handling over 3 billion annual calls—company powers OpenAI, xAI, Tesla, Salesforce, and emergency operators with ultra-low latency network spanning global data centers. Read more
Industrial Cybersecurity Startup Claroty Raises $150 Million Series F at $3 Billion Valuation as Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure Surge
Golub Growth leads round for Israeli-American company protecting hospitals, manufacturing facilities, and energy grids—valuation increases 80 percent since March 2024 as CEO signals near-term profitability and potential 2027 IPO. Read more
AI Code Security Startup Symbiotic Security Raises $10 Million Seed Round to Launch Symbiotic Code Agent Securing AI-Generated Software
US- and France-based startup launches AI agent embedding security enforcement directly into code generation workflows—research shows 32.8 percent of GitHub Copilot Python snippets contain vulnerabilities as development teams generate code faster than they can validate it. Read more
OpenAI Confirms First Consumer Hardware Device Unveiling in Second Half of 2026 as Company Expands Beyond Software into Physical Products
Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane announces timeline at Davos for devices designed by former Apple chief Jony Ive's team—leaked details suggest AI earbuds codenamed "Sweetpea" and voice-first interfaces replacing screen-based computing with ambient intelligence. Read more
The Future of Tech. One Daily News Briefing.
AI is moving faster than any other technology cycle in history. New models. New tools. New claims. New noise.
Most people feel like they’re behind. But the people that don’t, aren’t smarter. They’re just better informed.
Forward Future is a daily news briefing for people who want clarity, not hype. In one concise newsletter each day, you’ll get the most important AI and tech developments, learn why they matter, and what they signal about what’s coming next.
We cover real product launches, model updates, policy shifts, and industry moves shaping how AI actually gets built, adopted, and regulated. Written for operators, builders, leaders, and anyone who wants to sound sharp when AI comes up in the meeting.
It takes about five minutes to read, but the edge lasts all day.
📢 The Signal Behind the Noise
Inferact raises $150M at seed stage. LiveKit hits unicorn status powering ChatGPT voice. Claroty secures $150M as infrastructure attacks surge. Symbiotic launches agent catching AI code vulnerabilities. OpenAI announces hardware for late 2026.
The pattern isn't model capabilities but deployment infrastructure. Inference optimization, voice processing, infrastructure security, and code validation command billion-dollar valuations as AI's constraint shifts from "can we build it" to "can we run it profitably and securely." Capital rewards operational solutions, not impressive demos.
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