Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, January 12, 2026

📌 Musings and Readings

“Caterpillar Teams With NVIDIA to Revolutionize Heavy Industry with Physical AI and Robotics” (Link)

“Meta signs deals with three nuclear companies for 6-plus GW of power” (Link)

“Japan Eyes Easing Personal Info Rules to Facilitate AI Development” (Link)

“OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to connect user medical records, wellness apps” (Link)”

“AI robots and plastic made from peas - science to watch in 2026” (Link)

👏 Deals

Lucidean, a CA-based company developing optical interconnect technology for AI and hyperscale data centers, has raised $18m in seed funding.

Moto Finance, a NYC-based fintech company building a blockchain-powered consumer finance platform through integrated digital asset infrastructure, has raised $1.8m in pre-seed funding.

HabitTrade, an Australia-based company providing an multi-asset trading solution that enables users to trade traditional securities and digital assets from a single global account, has raised nearly $10m in series A funding.

Lyte, a CA-based company building a hardware-and-software perception platform that gives robots and autonomous systems unified visual and spatial understanding of the physical world, has raised $107m in funding.

Tesoro XP, a TX-based startup developing a rewards platform that lets gamers earn in-game currency from real-world purchases, has raised $5.4m in seed funding.

Array Labs, a CA-based space-technology company developing advanced radar satellites and systems that generate high-resolution, real-time 3D maps of the Earth, has raised $20m in series A funding.

I10x., a Singapore-based company offering an AI solution that gives users access to multiple language models and hundreds of AI agents through a single subscription, has raised $1m in pre-seed funding.

Linker Vision, a Taipei, Taiwan-based company providing an AI software solution that transforms visual data into real-time actionable insights using vision AI, reasoning, and digital twins, has raised $35m in series A funding.

Filtrabit, a Finland-based cleantech company offering modular industrial dust extraction systems to capture fine particles, improve air quality, and recover reusable materials, has raised €2M in funding.

Oasys Health, a NYC-based health-tech company building an AI-native operating system for behavioral health, has raised $4.6m in funding.

Autonomous Technologies Group, a NYC and CA-based applied AI research company building advanced reasoning systems, starting with financial and wealth-management, has raised $15m in pre-seed funding.