AI Czar David Sacks says China's Kimi K3 model is ‘concerning’ for America: 'This is exactly what I ...', gets response from Elon Musk - The Times of India

• New York City startups saw significant growth for the week ending July 18, 2026, with 14 new deals totaling over $1.13 billion in investments. • Insurtech platform Cover Genius, founded in 2014 by Angus McDonald and Chris Bayley, raised $111 million from seven investors according to a recent SEC filing.

• Former Microsoft AI leaders and the team behind the $160 million Maluuba acquisition have launched Skyfall AI. • The venture plans to spend $1 million to acquire a SaaS company and appoint an AI agent as its CEO to manage operations.

• A total of 28 notable startup funding rounds were reported for the week ending July 18, 2026, totaling $4 billion in new capital. • Key companies securing investment during this period include Flex, Regatta, and Rime, alongside other ventures such as Redwood City-based Fireworks AI.

• Moonshot AI has launched Kimi K3, a new AI model that gained such rapid popularity that the developer was forced to temporarily pause new subscriptions shortly after release. • The model's success highlights the strategic interests of tech giants Alibaba, which acquired a 36% stake in Moonshot during February 2024, and Tencent, another known investor.

• Chinese startup Moonshot AI has released Kimi K3, a powerful new AI model that is gaining significant attention from the global tech community. • Dean Ball, OpenAI's head of strategic futures and a former Trump administration official, described the model as "good" and expressed surprise at its open-source nature.

• China's new AI model, Kimi K3, has suspended new subscriptions after a surge in demand overwhelmed its system capacity within days of launch. • The model's rapid popularity has drawn significant attention from the U.S. tech industry, signaling strong competitive potential.

• A new study indicates that China's leading AI models, including Kimi K3 and Qwen3.8 Max, are rapidly closing the performance gap with top American AI systems. • The surge of these innovative launches is reshaping the global AI landscape, intensifying the technological competition between the U.S. and China.

• Bengaluru-based healthtech startup Plazza has successfully raised $15 million in a Series A funding round. • The investment was co-led by Accel, Elevation Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners, with additional support from All In Capital and Better Capital.

• South Korea’s Kospi index plummeted nearly 5% on Monday as investors sold off stocks linked to artificial intelligence. • In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.1% to 25,105.78 and the Shanghai Composite gained 1.2% to 3,808.39.

• Moonshot AI launched its latest flagship artificial intelligence model, Kimi K3, around mid-July 2026. • The model's impressive capabilities triggered immediate volatility across global tech and digital asset markets.

• Goldman Sachs has released a comprehensive primer analyzing the landscape of Chinese Large Language Models (LLMs), focusing on key players like Kimi K3, DeepSeek, and GLM. • The report highlights a strategic shift in the market, noting DeepSeek's focus on cost efficiency and GLM's advancements in model intelligence.

• A debate has emerged regarding the potential banning of Chinese-made open-weight large language models (LLMs) following the release of Moonshot's Kimi K3. • Kimi K3 is currently recognized as the largest open-weight LLM, showcasing capabilities that challenge the market dominance of closed-source American AI giants.