Weekly Startups: Enjoying the Breather.

This week, the startup landscape showed a certain disconnect from general news, creating space for a funding round focused on planetary and societal health. Among the highlights in the sector were a significant exit, a legal demand, a disappointing sale, and a scientific controversy.

Mira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI, has secured the advisory of two prominent figures with experience at the company for her new venture, Thinking Machines Lab, an artificial intelligence startup. Meanwhile, Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, has chosen to use Google Cloud's TPU chips to drive the research at his new AI startup, Safe Superintelligence.

In a more tense turn, OpenAI is considering a $500 million acquisition of io Products, the AI hardware startup being developed by Jony Ive alongside Sam Altman; however, a partnership could emerge instead of a purchase. Additionally, the dispute between OpenAI and Elon Musk continues, with OpenAI launching a counterattack against its former ally.

In other developments, the communications director at Deel has left the company, which is at the center of accusations for having infiltrated a spy into the rival startup Rippling. Colossal Biosciences, which claims to have resurrected the thylacine, faces skepticism from outside scientists questioning the validity of that assertion and the accompanying $10.2 billion valuation.

Lyst, the British fashion marketplace that was once valued at around $700 million, has been acquired by Zozo, a Japanese company, for just $154 million in cash. Furthermore, Solid, a banking-as-a-service startup, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing costly litigation that impacted them after raising nearly $81 million.

In the realm of financing and venture capital, several startups continued to capture attention. Nuro, working on autonomous driving, closed a $106 million round at a valuation of $6 billion, down from $8.6 billion in 2021, reflecting both market trends and a shift in its focus towards licensing its technology.

Base Power, a home battery provider in Texas, raised $200 million in a Series B round, backed by several venture capital firms. Sipay, a fintech startup based in Istanbul, raised $78 million to expand beyond Turkey, while Rain, a startup providing access to earned wages, secured $75 million in capital.

Brinc Drones, founded by a 25-year-old, attracted $75 million in new funding for its police drones. Krea also managed to raise $83 million across several rounds to help designers utilize tools of multiple AI models. Artisan, an AI sales agent startup, raised $25 million to expand its team.

SignalFire secured over $1 billion in new capital, bringing its total assets to approximately $3 billion. Lerer Hippeau closed its ninth fund at $200 million, surpassing the $140 million of its previous fund.

Finally, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has been personally reaching out to tech CEOs to inquire how the city can be more welcoming and support them in their permanence.