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# Tech 24 - August 4, 2026
- URL: https://tech-24.ghost.io/tech-24-august-4-2026/
- Published: 2026-08-04T11:22:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-04T11:26:26.000Z
- Description: Venture money floods AI's power supply, Europe makes chatbots confess, and Microsoft's new voice talks back.
- Author: Tech 24
- Tags: Tech News, News

| Good morning. Here is what happened in tech over the last 24 hours. Venture money flooded AI's power supply. Europe made chatbots confess. And Microsoft taught a new voice to talk back. ![Steam rising from power plant cooling towers](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1466611653911-95081537e5b7?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) Featured Energy • Yesterday Valar Atomics raises $1 billion to power AI with nuclear Valar Atomics just raised $1 billion. Sequoia led the round. The deal values the startup at $6 billion. Valar builds small nuclear reactors inside a factory. It ships them like equipment. Each one can feed a data center without straining the local grid. The timing matters. AI data centers are starving for power. Last month Valar's Ward 250 reactor powered an Nvidia chip live on stage. That was a first for an American advanced reactor. Now Valar and Nvidia are planning a 30-megawatt plant in the desert. It would use zero local water. If it works, nuclear stops being AI's problem and starts being its answer. [Read the story →](https://techstartups.com/2026/08/03/valar-atomics-raises-1-billion-series-b-led-by-sequoia-to-mass-produce-nuclear-reactors-for-ai-data-centers/) Latest Stories ![Abstract glowing artificial intelligence visualization](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1677442136019-21780ecad995?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) Artificial Intelligence • Yesterday Microsoft's new voice model talks and listens at once Microsoft is testing a new voice model called MAI-Realtime. It surfaced in the company's internal playground this week. Most assistants take turns. You talk, then they talk. MAI-Realtime does both at once. It listens while it speaks, so the chat feels human. The model runs web search mid-conversation. Two voices are live so far, Victoria and Grant. Microsoft hasn't set a date, but it clearly wants its own voice, not OpenAI's. [Read the story →](https://www.testingcatalog.com/exclusive-microsoft-tests-new-mai-realtime-voice-model/) ![European Union flags outside a government building](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1519677100203-a0e668c92439?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) AI & Law • 2 days ago Europe now forces chatbots to admit they're bots New rules took effect across Europe on Sunday. Chatbots must now tell you they are AI. Deepfakes must be labeled. This is Article 50 of the EU AI Act. It reaches any company that serves EU users. Most large US firms have to comply too. The penalties bite. Fines can hit 15 million euros or 3 percent of global revenue. For anyone building AI products, disclosure is now the price of doing business in Europe. [Read the story →](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-starts-enforcing-ai-act-rules-and-new-transparency-requirements-2-august) ![Rows of servers in a data center](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1558494949-ef010cbdcc31?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) Semiconductors • Yesterday A London startup raised $312 million to move data with light OLIX Computing raised about $312 million. Arm and Reed Hastings joined the round. It values the chip startup near $3.3 billion. OLIX builds inference chips that move data with light instead of copper. Light is faster and burns less power. That could ease the memory bottleneck choking big AI models. The company aims to ship chips by late 2027\. If photonics works at scale, Nvidia gets a real rival, and AI compute gets cheaper to run. [Read the story →](https://techstartups.com/2026/08/03/venture-capital-startup-funding-roundup-august-3-2026-atreides-battery-ventures-nea-sequoia-point72-more/) ![Red-lit screen showing security code](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1550751827-4bd374c3f58b?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) Cybersecurity • Yesterday Horizon3 raised $250 million to hack you before hackers do Horizon3.ai raised $250 million. NEA led the round. The deal more than tripled the company's value, past $2 billion. Horizon3 runs autonomous penetration tests. Its software attacks your network the way a hacker would, then shows you the holes. No waiting for a yearly audit. The demand is real. Horizon3 has 7,200 customers. About half of US federal agencies use it. As AI makes attacks cheaper, constant testing stops being optional. [Read the story →](https://techstartups.com/2026/08/03/horizon3-raises-250m-at-2b-valuation-as-ai-cyberattacks-fuel-cybersecurity-demand/) ![Scientist working with laboratory glassware](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1532187863486-abf9dbad1b69?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) Biotech • Yesterday China's biggest brain-interface seed round just closed Shanghai's Active Technology raised about $46 million. It's the largest angel round ever for a Chinese brain-computer startup. Lenovo's fund joined in. Active builds non-invasive devices that read brain activity. The goal is to let people control software with thought alone. No surgery required. Neuralink gets the headlines, but it drills into skulls. Active is betting the mass market wants something you can wear. The money says investors agree. [Read the story →](https://techstartups.com/2026/08/03/venture-capital-startup-funding-roundup-august-3-2026-atreides-battery-ventures-nea-sequoia-point72-more/) ![A glowing view of Earth from orbit](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1451187580459-43490279c0fa?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=70) Watch This Space • This week A two-armed robot is chasing down old satellites Watch a Falcon 9 carry a repair robot into orbit. Northrop Grumman's Mission Robotic Vehicle has two arms and one job. It grabs aging satellites and gives them fresh jetpacks. Dead satellites become space junk. This robot keeps them alive instead. It's a step toward fixing hardware in orbit rather than replacing it. [Watch the launch →](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ptEbxlWH4) Quick Hits **Freehand** raised $75 million for AI agents that run corporate procurement. Battery Ventures co-led. Fortune 500 buyers are already on board. **Ellis AI** came out of stealth with $10 million. Its agents close the books for private credit funds, work that still runs on spreadsheets. **FAST Metals** raised $4.3 million to pull rare earths from red mud, the toxic waste left by aluminum mining. Its first plant deal is in Florida. Stat of the Day Venture money committed to AI infrastructure and applications on August 3, led by Valar's $1 billion reactor round. $1.77B across nine disclosed rounds Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.Tech 24 |
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