Unconventional AI has raised $475 million at a $4.5 billion valuation in what's framed as the largest seed round ever, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed and Sequoia Capital. The company, founded by Naveen Rao, is developing oscillator-based chips that could reduce AI inference power consumption by up to 1,000 times. The pre-revenue startup released Un-0, an image generation model running on a simulation of its architecture, as proof the approach can replicate conventional AI workloads. Unconventional plans to release chip schematics soon, targeting a system-on-chip tape-in in 2026 and mass delivery in 2027. Rao previously co-founded Nervana Systems, acquired by Intel for $400 million, and MosaicML, acquired by Databricks for $1.3 billion. The funding addresses growing concerns about AI's energy consumption, with data centres projected to exceed 1,000 TWh by late 2026.

The US Army has awarded Rune Technologies a five-year, $99 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for its TyrOS logistics platform, which addresses a critical weakness in military supply chains: the ability to function when satellite communications are jammed. TyrOS is designed to operate offline on laptops in forward positions under electronic attack, synchronising data when connectivity returns via radio, satellite or cellular networks. The platform integrates fuel, ammunition, food and spare parts inventory with vehicle status, transport routes, terrain threats and weather data, generating automated resupply recommendations. The system is already deployed with the 25th Infantry Division, 4th Infantry Division, XVIII Airborne Corps and Marine Corps units. Rune previously raised $24 million in Series A funding led by Human Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Point72 Ventures.

Prosper AI has raised $30 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Base10 and existing investors Emergence Capital, Y Combinator and Company Ventures. The funding will be used to expand Prosper AI's engineering and customer-facing teams, deepen integrations across major electronic health record platforms, and accelerate adoption of its AI platform.