Joyce Shen’s picks: musings and readings in AI/ML, October 20, 2025

📌 Musings and Readings

Amid the A.I. Deluge, What Counts as Art? Ask the Curators. (Link)

Lockheed Martin advances PAC-3 MSE interceptor using artificial intelligence and machine learning (Link)

Equipping agents for the real world with Agent Skills (Anthropic)

Grounding with Google Maps in Gemini (Google)

Blackstone says Wall Street is complacent about AI disruption (FT)

Bringing AI to the next generation of fusion energy (Link)

👏 Deals

IRYS, a FL-based company developing an insurance operating system that streamlines and modernizes workflows for agencies and brokers, has raised $12.5 million in seed financing.

Chainsight, a Chicago-based company providing supply chain consulting and advanced planning solutions to help enterprises, has raised $1m in funding.

Alleviate Health, a NC-based company offering AI-powered, human-assisted conversational workflows to engage and recruit participants for clinical trials, has raised $4.3m in seed financing.

HOOTL, a VA-based company providing AI-driven healthcare automation that streamlines insurance claims and ensures compliance, has raised $16.5m in Series A financing.

Renew, a NYC-based company offering a software platform for residential property managers that uses AI and data automation to streamline lease renewals and boost resident retention, has raised $12m in Series A financing.

Planyear, a CA-based company developing an AI-powered platform that automates benefits consulting administrative tasks, has raised $12m in seed financing.

Viven, a CA-based company building AI-powered “Digital Twins” for enterprise employees, enabling personalized and context-aware assistants, has raised $35m in seed financing.

Aragorn AI, a TX-based company using AI to unify HR data and streamline operations for HR and IT teams, has raised $4.3m in seed financing.

Ego AI, a CA-based company building persistent, human-like AI characters with memory, personality, and emotional intelligence that can interact across games, apps, and digital platforms, has raised $6.7m in seed financing.

Jack & Jill AI, a London, UK-based company providing a recruitment platform that uses conversational AI agents, has raised $20m in seed financing.

Aboon, a NYC-based company offering financial advisors to design, launch, and manage 401(k) retirement plans using AI-driven automation, has raised $17.5m in seed financing.

Vega Health, a NC-based health tech startup helping health systems adopt, monitor, and scale validated AI solutions through a curated marketplace, has raised $4m in seed financing.

Class 3 Technologies, a CA-based startup providing climate risk and resilience modeling for the built environment, has raised $3.5m seed financing.

Smartlens, a technology company focusing on glaucoma management devices, closed a $5.2m bridge funding round. 

OutcomesAI, MA-based company building agents to scale nursing, has raised $10m in seed financing.

Sonic Fire Tech, a Cleveland, OH-based startup focused on wildfire surveillance and suppression, has raised $3.5m in seed funding.

Strella, a NYC-based customer research platform provider, raised $14m in Series A funding.

Bees & Bears, a Berlin, Germany-based renewable energy financing company, has raised seed funding.

ClaimSorted, a London, UK-based company focused on insurance claims, has raised $13.3M in Seed funding.