Sakana AI Completes $1.35 Billion Series B Valuation of $26.5 Billion

Sakana AI, a Japanese generative AI startup, has announced a $135 million Series B funding round, amounting to 20 billion yen, bringing its post-money valuation to $2.65 billion. The round was led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), with additional participation from new investors such as Khosla Ventures, Macquarie Capital, NEA, Lux Capital, and IQT.

The company was founded in 2023 by Llion Jones, Ren Ito, and CEO David Ha, former Google researchers. It focuses on lightweight models that are data-efficient, native to the Japanese language, and culturally appropriate for Japan. The funding will be used for R&D, expansion of engineering and sales teams, and plans to extend its enterprise business from finance to industrial, manufacturing, and government sectors by 2026, while actively seeking mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships.

Sakana has already launched joint solutions with local giants such as Daiwa and MUFG this year, and claims its "sovereign AI" approach can efficiently build advanced models aligned with national values without engaging in large-scale pre-training competitions. To date, the company has raised approximately $379 million in total funding.

Cyberspace Administration: 73 New Generative AI Services Have Completed Filing

The Cyberspace Administration continues to promote the filing of generative AI services, with 73 new services having completed the filing. Local cyberspace administration departments are strengthening regulation over API calls of already filed models, aiming to promote innovation and standardized application.

Gamma, a Leader in Draft Generation, Secures $680 Million New Funding, Valuation Surges to $2.1 Billion

AI startup Gamma completes $680 million in funding, led by a16z, with a valuation of $2.1 billion. The company initially focused on simplifying presentation processes when it was founded in 2020, and in March 2023, it shifted to generative AI business, successfully achieving a strategic transformation.

Kaltura Acquires eSelf for $27 Million to Create Smarter Enterprise Video Solutions

New York-based Kaltura acquired Israeli startup eSelf.ai for approximately $27 million. eSelf focuses on developing AI-powered digital human technology that can engage in conversations. Its products will be integrated into Kaltura's enterprise video and learning tools. The company was founded in 2023, and its founding team previously successfully sold a previous startup to Snap.

Alexa+ Enters the Music Scene! Amazon Boosts User Listening Time by Three Times with AI Conversational Assistant, Targeting Spotify's Core

Amazon launched an upgraded AI assistant, Alexa+, which is now available in the Amazon Music app for early users. The new version supports conversational music discovery, increasing song exploration rate to three times that of the previous version, and boosting recommended playback by nearly 70%, showcasing the potential of generative AI to reshape music consumption and breaking past limitations of only performing basic commands.

Co-founder of Zhiyuan Robots: After GPT-6, the Initial AGI Will Emerge; AI Is Entering the Era of Physical Intelligence

At the Midea Group Visionaries Conference, Steve Zhou, co-founder of Zhiyuan Robots, predicted that artificial intelligence is rapidly moving toward general intelligence (AGI), which may be initially achieved after GPT-6. He reviewed the development of AI over the past decade, from the application of computer vision in 2015 to the emergence of an AGI prototype in 2025, highlighting the rapid progress.