AI continues its breakneck pace in 2025 — every week delivers new tools, startups raising capital, integrations, and strategic moves. At AIToolBank, our goal is to help you stay ahead without drowning in noise.
In this edition, you’ll find:
- 🚀 New AI tools and product launches
- 💸 Major funding rounds in AI
- 🔄 Strategic partnerships and acquisitions
- 📈 Trend analysis + what to watch next
Let’s jump in.
Quick Highlights (TL;DR)
- 🔹 xAI raises $10B at $200B valuation — one of the largest AI financings this year.
- 🔹 Modular secures $250M to build cross-hardware AI infrastructure.
- 🔹 Google launches “Mixboard”, an AI-powered mood board app now in public beta.
- 🔹 Perplexity debuts the Comet browser with built-in AI features.
New AI Tool Launches
Mixboard (by Google)
- Tagline: AI-powered mood board / ideation tool
- Key Features: Visual idea aggregation, AI-assisted layout suggestions, image + style blending
- Pricing / Availability: Public beta in U.S. (invite / waitlist)
- Best For: Designers, creatives, content strategists
- Our Take: A strong move from Google into the “creative AI tools” space. If they get collaboration and sharing right, Mixboard could become a go-to ideation canvas.
Comet Browser (by Perplexity)
- Tagline: “AI-native browser reimagined”
- Key Features: Context-aware summarization, task automation sidebar, personal recommendations, built on Chromium so supports existing extensions
- Pricing / Availability: Released (general availability)
- Best For: Researchers, professionals, content creators
- Our Take: The web browser is finally becoming AI-native. Comet blends browsing + tool access in one experience — clever move.
AI Funding & Investments
xAI — $10 B Round
- Round / Valuation: Raised $10 billion, valuation now ~$200B
- Sector / Focus: Next-gen AI / infrastructure & model development
- Why It Matters: This is a marquee funding round, showing investor confidence in large-scale AI ambitions. It also intensifies the arms race among big AI players.
Modular — $250 M
- Round / Valuation: $250M raise to expand infrastructure & cross-hardware tooling
- Sector: AI interoperability / cross-hardware adaptation
- Why It Matters: As AI hardware diversifies, having software that works seamlessly across chips is a key enabler.
Emergent AI — $23 M
- Round / Investors: Led by Lightspeed, plus Together Fund, YC, Prosus Ventures
- Sector / Focus: Vibe coding / creative AI tooling
- Why It Matters: Continued investor interest in “low-code / no-code / vibe coding” solutions suggests this remains a strong frontier.
Distyl AI — $175 M (Series B)
- Valuation: $1.8B after round
- Sector: AI model / inference / infrastructure
- Why It Matters: Large follow-on round affirming growth and scaling of AI infrastructure players.
Swiss AI Lab Giotto.ai — Seeking $200 M+ at >$1B Valuation
- Status: In active fundraising at “unicorn+” valuation
- Sector: AGI / AI research lab
- Why It Matters: Europe continues to try to stake its claim in high-end AI labs, especially as regulation and geopolitics shift.
Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships
- Nvidia invests up to $100B in OpenAI: A landmark tie-up combining compute + AI model development.
- CoreWeave acquires W&B + OpenPipe: Strengthening its AI tooling and agent infrastructure holdings.
Trends & Insights (Editorial)
- Mega Rounds & Concentration: Big-ticket funding (e.g. xAI, Modular) shows capital is concentrating among fewer but more ambitious players.
- Infrastructure & Interoperability as Battlegrounds: Tools that help AI run across different hardware or unify ecosystems are seeing massive investment (Modular, Distyl, CoreWeave moves).
- Creative AI & Vibe Coding Resurgence: Investments in Emergent AI, plus launches like Mixboard, underscore ongoing momentum in creative / no-code layers of AI.
- Browser as AI Hub: With Comet and browser assistants gaining features, the browser is rivaling dedicated apps for access to AI tools.
- Global Shifts: Europe (Giotto.ai) and Asia (Chinese AI startups) are trying to scale big AI labs to rival U.S. dominance.
That’s a wrap for this week’s AI Tools Roundup! 🚀
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See you next week — more launches, more funding, more AI action.
FAQs
What are the newest AI tools launched this week?
Mixboard by Google and Comet Browser by Perplexity are two of the standout tool launches this week.
Which startups raised funding this week in AI?
xAI ($10B), Modular ($250M), Emergent AI ($23M), Distyl AI ($175M), and Giotto.ai (fundraising >$200M) are among the key stories.
What trends are shaping AI funding this week?
We’re seeing larger rounds, concentration in infrastructure, and growth in creative / vibe-coding tooling.