Ike Swetlitz / Bloomberg:
Brain tech startup Science Corp. raised $230M, a source says at a $1.5B valuation, taking its total funding to $489M, to commercialize its implant for blindness  —  Neurotechnology company Science Corp. raised $230 million from investors to commercialize its implant for blindness and develop even more advanced brain devices.

Aging Pokémon fans have spent years wishing the series would grow up with them. What does that look like for a game series that's aimed at kids?

Apple is asking artists and record labels on its music streaming platform to voluntarily label songs that were made using AI. The new "Transparency Tags" metadata system for Apple Music was announced in a newsletter to industry partners yesterday, according to Music Business Worldwide, and covers four categories, including track, composition, artwork, and music videos. […]

Dominic-Madori Davis / TechCrunch:
Lio, which uses AI agents to automate enterprise procurement, including document reading and supplier evaluation, raised a $30M Series A led by a16z  —  Lio's co-founders know firsthand that procurement — the process enterprises use to purchase services from vendors — is often a bottleneck.

Reuters:
China's new five-year blueprint introduces an “AI+ action plan”, mentions AI 50+ times, and outlines investments in quantum computing, 6G, embodied AI, and more  —  China's new five-year policy blueprint laid out its ambitions to aggressively adopt artificial intelligence throughout …