A group of senators is urging President Biden to delay the enforcement of a law requiring TikTok to divest itself of Chinese ownership. Reuters has more here. 

Google has released a new model that attempts to explain its reasoning as it reaches a conclusion. TechCrunch has more here.

94% of firms plan to integrate AI into their operations in 2025, according to Affinity’s survey of nearly 300 private capital professionals. From automating company research to optimizing deal sourcing, the impact of AI is reshaping how private capital investors approach data. Discover the AI strategies top firms are deploying and how they’re creating a competitive edge in this blog.

By Kyle Wiggers

Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, is launching a new AI startup, TechCrunch has learned.

The startup, called Stem AI, is currently in stealth. But public documents show it was incorporated in June 2023, and filed for a trademark in August 2023. Shear is listed as CEO on an incorporation document filed with the California Secretary of State earlier this year.

According to the trademark application, Stem AI is developing software to create AI that “understands, cooperates with, and aligns with human behavior, human preferences, human biology, human morality, and human ethics.” The startup landed Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as an investor in August, according to Pitchbook.

One of the co-founders of Stem AI is Adam Goldstein, best known for founding travel search and booking site Hipmunk. After selling Hipmunk to Concur in 2016, Goldstein became a visiting partner at Y Combinator, and founded an incubator, Astonishing Labs, to back bio research.

Goldstein also worked at Tufts University’s Levin Labs for a year as a visiting scientist, where he “[developed] new models for biological systems with a focus on cancer,” according to his LinkedIn page.

When contacted for comment, Shear wouldn’t reveal much about Stem AI’s plans. Goldstein did not immediately respond to an email inquiry. Also, a16z’s head of marketing, Margit Wennmachers, and marketing partner, Elizabeth Gunn, didn’t immediately respond to TechCrunch’s email.

More here

Aiwyn, a five-year-old startup based in Charlotte, NC, that streamlines processes such as payments, collections, engagement letters, and billing for accounting professionals, raised a $113 million. KKR and Bessemer Venture Partners were the co-leads. The company has raised a total of $127 million. TechCrunch has more here. 

Anysphere, a three-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI-powered coding assistant is designed to help developers by providing code suggestions, autocompletions, and help with debugging and understanding complex code, raised a $100 million Series B at a post-money valuation of $2.6 billion, according to TechCrunch. Previous investor Thrive Capital took the lead in the financing, while Neo, Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi also invested. TechCrunch has the scoop here. 

Oura Health, a 12-year-old Finnish company that makes the Oura Ring, a smart wearable device that tracks sleep, activity, and overall health metrics, raised a $200 million Series D round at a $5.2 billion valuation, double the valuation of its last round back in 2022. Investors included Fidelity and DexCom. TechCrunch has more here. 

Perplexity, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that has built an AI-powered search engine and answer engine using natural language processing, closed a $500 million round at a $9 billion post-money valuation, according to Bloomberg, an amount that is 3X its last valuation in June. IVP was the deal lead. Bloomberg has more here. 

Ask Sage, a two-year-old startup based in Arlington, VA, that offers government agencies and commercial enterprises secure access to various large language models, assisting users wi