Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, February 16, 2026

📌 Musings and Readings

“OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joining OpenAI” (Link)

“Google’s Conductor AI added automated code reviews” (Link)

“France AI company Mistral invests $1.4 billion in data centres in Sweden” (Link)

“IBM Introduces Autonomous Storage with New FlashSystem Portfolio Powered by Agentic AI” (Link)

“Amazon may launch a marketplace where media sites can sell their content to AI companies” (Link)

👏 Deals

Uptool, a CA-based company that automates quoting and operational workflows for machine shops and fabrication businesses, has raised $6m in seed funding.

Midas, a NYC–based AI infrastructure company developing mathematical verification to prove the correctness and reliability of AI models, has raised $10m in funding.

Phylo, A CA-based AI biotech company building an AI-native research platform that enables biologists to automate complex tasks, analyze data, and collaborate across experiments, has raised $13.5m in seed funding.

Berget AI, a Sweden-based AI infrastructure startup providing a full-stack, EU-compliant platform for running AI applications on local infrastructure within European jurisdiction, has raised €2.1m in seed funding.

Runeasi, a Belgium-based AI-driven company offering wearable sensors and software for fast, lab-grade running and movement analysis, has raised €1m in funding.

Dono, an Israel-based company providing property records and title intelligence platform that automates the retrieval, extraction, and structuring of fragmented public real estate records, has raised $6.5m in seed funding.

ZeroDrift, a NYC-based company offering a compliance platform for enterprise communications, has raised $2m in pre-seed funding.

Force Equals, A FL-based company creating an enterprise planning platform that uses multi-agent AI to align stakeholders, define goals, generate actionable requirements, and accelerate execution, has raised $2.2m in seed funding.

Simple AI, a CA-based company building voice agents to automate inbound and outbound calls with enterprise-grade security, has raised $14m in seed funding.

Backslash Security, an Israel-based cybersecurity company developing an AI-era security platform to safeguard modern software development has raised $19m in series  A funding.

Cydelphi, a TX-based cybersecurity company providing an AI-native digital forensics and incident response platform, has raised $3m in seed funding.

Smart Bricks, a CA-based startup building an AI-powered real estate investment platform, has raised $5m in pre-seed funding.

Seamflow, a UK-based AI software company that automates workflows and documentation for the global testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) industry, has raised $4.5m in seed funding.

Stanhope AI, a UK-based deep-tech AI company developing neuroscience-inspired AI systems for autonomous perception, learning, and decision-making in real-world environments, has raised $8m in seed funding.

Electric Twin, a UK-based AI company creating synthetic audience models to predict and understand customer and population behavior, has raised $10m in seed funding.

Ando, a CA–based company offering AI to forecast demand and optimize scheduling for hourly workforces, enabling businesses to operate efficiently, has raised $4m in seed funding.

Maestro AI, a FL-based company developing an AI-powered vertical platform that functions as an agentic operating system to automate and orchestrate the mortgage origination, has raised $1.2m in pre-seed funding.