The week in San Francisco technology, read and picked by hand. No algorithm, nothing in here because someone paid for it.
Tuesday · · 4 minute read
Cognition raises $2 billion at $48 billion valuation
Cognition, the developer of coding assistant Devin, announced a $2 billion fundraise at a $48 billion valuation. This financing round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Avenir. It follows a previous fundraise in May, which valued the company at $26 billion. Since May, Cognition’s annualised run-rate
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-09
Automattic board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence
Automattic’s board placed CEO Matt Mullenweg on a leave of absence on September 9, 2026. The decision was made against his will. Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies, along with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker, voted for the leave. Mr Davies has been appointed interim CEO. Automattic confirmed the change, stating, "Matt
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-10
Harvey secures $550 million for AI legal and professional tools
Harvey, the legal AI startup, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $550 million in new funding. This round values the company at $15.5 billion. Diffusion and Lightspeed Venture Partners co-led the investment. This follows a previous $200 million round announced in March, which valued Harvey at $11 billion. The company has now raised more than $1.55 billion in total.
The latest capital infusion comes weeks after Harvey announced its first in-house model, Harvey Tenet. This model was built from the open-weight model Kimi K3 and post-trained with legal data. Harvey also encourages its customers to adopt and post-train their own open-weight models. This approach demonstrates how the legal industry can use AI without relying on proprietary frontier AI labs. The company has nearly doubled its valuation in about nine months.
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-10
Microsoft plans to triple data center capacity by 2032
Sources indicate Microsoft intends to significantly expand its data centre capacity. The company reportedly plans to triple its current infrastructure to over 38 gigawatts. This substantial increase is projected to be completed by 2032.
Reported by Bay Area Times, 2026-09-11
Apple unveils $1,999 iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone
Apple introduced its first foldable device, the iPhone Duo, on September 9, 2026. The phone costs $1,999 with 256GB storage. Preorders open on October 16, and the device will be available on October 23. It is the first marquee device launched under new CEO John Ternus.
The iPhone Duo has a 7.6-inch Retina inner display and a 5.4-inch outer display. Apple said the new device was "inspired by the versatility of iPad". It uses a custom nanotexture finish to hide the crease. The hinge is made from grade 5 aluminium. Rivals such as Samsung and Xiaomi have already launched wide foldables. Analytics firm Counterpoint reports that foldables contribute less than 2% of overall smartphone shipments. The firm predicts the Duo could achieve up to 25% market share by the end of the year.
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-10
Northern Yemen group used Claude to build weapons systems
Bloomberg detected unusual activity from a computer network, leading to a security prompt for users. This system requires individuals to click a box to confirm they are not a robot. The process is designed to ensure that the user’s browser supports JavaScript and cookies, and that these functionalities are not being blocked.
Users who encounter this message are advised to verify their browser settings. For further assistance, support can be
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-12
California establishes AI verification framework and auditor registry
California has established an AI verification framework, the first of its kind, to allow independent organisations to assess AI models and systems for compliance with state law. This framework also includes a state registry for AI auditors, integrating third-party evaluation and auditing into California’s AI oversight system.
Reported by MTS, 2026-09-10
Oakland’s Mama’s Boy pizza to open new Inner Sunset location
Oakland-based Mama’s Boy, an award-winning NY-style pizza shop, is opening a new location in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset. It will occupy the vacant storefront at Ninth and Irving. This site previously housed an independent pharmacy, which closed in early 2025.
Reported by Mission Local, 2026-09-10
Google DeepMind releases AlphaGenome Atlas for DNA predictions
The AlphaGenome Atlas has been released by Google DeepMind. It provides predictions for approximately 9 billion DNA changes. The atlas is available through the AlphaGenome site, its API, and as a skill in Google Antigravity. It uses a 1-petabyte dataset, over 30 times larger than the AlphaFold Database.
Reported by Bay Area Times, 2026-09-09
Athyna shares its core remote work software stack
Athyna and Open Source CEO shared the essential software tools that underpin their remote work operations. Their primary stack consists of Slack, Notion, Loom, Zoom, and Lattice. These platforms are crucial for maintaining effective remote work practices within their organisations.
Reported by Bay Area Times, 2026-09-14
Editor’s note
Matt Mullenweg let me know if you fancy a round of golf or a coffee sounds like you have some time on your hands.
