Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, July 27, 2026

📌 Musings and Readings

“Silicon Valley Is Completely Divided Over Chinese AI” (Link)

“Obernolte-Trahan artificial intelligence bill introduced in House” (Link)

“In-House LLM Serving at Netflix” (Link)

“MCP is Dead” (Link)

“What Is The Best Hardware for Running Local LLMs in 2026: Mac vs 5090 vs Cloud” (Link)

👏 Deals

Sonata, a NYC-based company building an AI-powered precision health solution, has raised $7m in seed funding.

Sightera Biosciences, an Antwerp, Belgium-based company developing an AI-native drug discovery solution, has raised €3m in pre-seed funding.

American Growth Insurance, an Atlanta, GA-based company providing an AI-enabled insurance brokerage, has raised $70m in funding.

Sereact, a Stuttgart, Germany-based company developing autonomous robotics solutions, has raised $6m in funding.

Cascade, a NYC-based company providing an AI-enabled business development solution for architecture, engineering, and construction firms, has raised $3.5m in funding.

Vikk AI, a CA-based company offering an AI-powered legal assistant, has raised $4.2m in funding.

SkyPilot, a CA-based company developing an AI infrastructure platform, has raised $20m in seed funding.

Velocity, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI infrastructure company developing monetization and distribution tools for AI applications, has raised $27m in seed funding.

Robopoet, a Shanghai, China-based AI robotics startup developing AI companions that blend large language models with smart hardware, has raised new funding.

StrongestLayer, a CA-based cybersecurity company building an AI-powered email security solution, has raised $4.1m in new financing.

1872, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based advanced manufacturing company building an autonomous steel fabrication platform, has raised $15m in seed funding.

ChatFeatured, a Toronto, Canada-based company providing an AI search optimization platform, has raised $2m in pre-seed funding.

Humanoid, a London, UK-based robotics company building a humanoid robotics platform, has raised $152M in series A funding. 

Coverwatch, a CA-based insurtech startup developing an AI-native commercial insurance and risk management platform, has raised $4.5m in pre-seed funding.

Elio, a CA-based startup developing an adaptive sensing solution, has raised $21m in funding.

Ropedia, a Singapore-based AI infrastructure startup building data infrastructure for physical AI, has raised $30m in pre-series A funding.