Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, June 8, 2026

📌 Musings and Readings

“The crucial human component in computing and AI” (Link)

“Google to pay SpaceX $920 million a month for compute capacity at xAI data centers” (Link)

“Gemma 4 QAT models: Optimizing model compression for mobile and laptop efficiency” (Link)

“Apple WWDC preview: Apple gets a second shot at its AI rollout” (Link)

“‘World-first' vaccine designed by artificial intelligence” (Link)

“NVIDIA and Doosan Group Collaborate to Advance Physical AI” (Link)

👏 Deals

Gray Swan, a Pittsburgh, PA-based cybersecurity company developing securing AI systems, has raised $40m in series A funding.

Human Archive, a CA-based AI data infrastructure company building datasets of human behavior and physical interactions to train robotics systems, has raised $8.2m in seed funding.

Perceptic, a London, UK-based company focused on AI-enabled drug development, has raised $12m in seed funding.

Sekai, a CA-based startup focused on enabling interactive AI-powered apps development, has raised $26m across seed and series A funding.

Mecka AI, a NYC-based robotics data infrastructure startup building human motion and embodied data systems, has raised $60m in funding.

Endra AI, a Stockholm, Sweden-based software startup building AI agent infrastructure that automates complex enterprise workflows, has raised $50m in series A funding.

StratusGrid, a TN-based company providing an AI-native cloud infrastructure platform, has raised $3m in seed funding.

Kosmos, a Chicago-based company developing an AI-powered operational intelligence platform that connects data across enterprise systems, has raised $5m in seed funding.

ZeroDrift, a NYC-based startup building a compliance platform for enterprise AI that enforces regulations and company policies, has raised $10m in seed funding.

Shifters, a Washington, DC-based robotics startup building a solution that coordinates teams of autonomous robots for hazardous environments, has raised $10.2m in seed funding.

Terra AI, a CA-based company that models subsurface geological uncertainty to help mining and energy operators, has raised $20m in series A funding.

Offroad, a NYC and Tel Aviv Israel-based identity security startup for autonomous identity risk resolution, has raised $7m in seed funding.

Tripo AI, a China-based AI company developing an AI-native 3D content creation platform, has raised nearly $200m in funding.