Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, November 17, 2025
5-minute weekly must-read on data science and artificial intelligence news, funding, and research, curated by Joyce J. Shen.
📌 Musings and Readings
Japan's Turing partners with Denso on self-driving cars after raising $63m (Link)
Parents Need AI Literacy Lessons, Too. A New Toolkit Aims to Help (Link)
U.S. Hospitals Underfund AI Governance as Adoption Accelerates (Link)
The State of Generative AI Adoption in 2025 (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
Use of generative AI chatbots and wellness applications for mental health.
An APA health advisory (American Psychological Association)
👏 Deals
Lula Commerce, a PA-based company providing a digital commerce and automation platform through AI-powered managed services, has raised $8m in Series A financing.
Vesence, a CA-based legal-tech startup integrating AI agents into Microsoft Word for transactional law workflows, has raised $9m in seed financing.
Polygraf AI, a TX-based cybersecurity and AI governance company providing tools to detect synthetic content, data leaks, and security issues, has raised $9.5m in seed financing.
Uptiq.ai, a TX-based company developing an enterprise AI platform for financial institutions, has raised $12m in financing.
Socratix AI, a CA-based company building autonomous, explainable AI agents that help financial institutions automate and scale fraud and risk, has raised $4.1m in seed financing.
TestSprite, a WA-based company developing tools that autonomously generate, execute, and maintain software tests to improve code quality, has raised $6.7m in seed financing.
Valthos, a CA-based AI biodefense startup developing technology to detect emerging biological threats and design rapid countermeasures, has raised $30 million in seed financing.
Cephia, a CA-based deep-tech startup focused on computational imaging technologies and silicon sensors, has raised $4 million in seed financing.
Evolve, a Dover, CO–based company developing a corporate learning platform, has raised $1m in seed financing.
CampusKnot, a MS–based company providing a classroom engagement platform that helps professors automate tasks, has raised $1.1m in financing.
AI SCORE, a London-based software company developing an AI governance platform that helps organizations monitor and manage compliance, has raised over $1m in Pre-Seed funding.
BITE Data, a VA–based company offering a SaaS platform that uses AI to automate global trade compliance, has raised $2.5m in seed financing.
Quality Means Business, a MA–based startup developing a QualiVerse®, a regulatory intelligence platform helping MedTech companies, has raised $2m in seed financing.
CoRun.ai, a Berkeley, CA–based logistics-tech startup using AI to optimize fleet operations, has raised $3.5m in seed financing.
Deductive AI, a CA–based startup offering an observability and incident-response platform, has raised $7.5m in seed financing.
Theo Ai, a CA–based startup developing a predictive AI platform for the legal industry, has raised $10m in total financing.
Adclear, a London, UK-based RegTech startup providing a solution to automate marketing-compliance reviews for financial services firms, has raised £2.1m in seed financing.
Dealism, a Singapore-based startup offering an AI-powered sales agent to automate and personalize customer conversations, has raised $15m in angel financing.
Obello, a CA-based company building an AI-powered design platform that enables brands to manage on-brand visual and written content, has raised $8.5 million in seed financing.