New Zealand ocean security startup Starboard Maritime Intelligence (SMI) has banked a NZ$23 million (A$20.7m) Series A. The round was co-led by SMI’s first backer, Kiwi VC Altered Capital, with new investors OIF Ventures and King River Capital, supported by Co:Act Capital, Icehouse Ventures, and Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation. The funding is for global expansion into… Read more »
Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM) is acquiring a US AI-powered browser startup in a deal worth US$610 million (A$935m) in cash. Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes has been a fan of The Browser Company (TBC), and its product Dia, which he calls “the knowledge worker’s browser”, since it was released in mid-2025 in beta mode, sending bug feedback… Read more »
Former Finder boss Chris Ellis has a new startup to lead as CEO of back-office automation engine Collabra.ai. Ellis is also cofounder of the Sydney-based enterprise artificial intelligence startup, which is now moving into full commercialisation following two years of product build. Collabra has developed AI agents for mid-market enterprises combine the reliability of robotic process… Read more »
When you ask ChatGPT or other AI assistants to help create misinformation, they typically refuse, with responses like “I cannot assist with creating false information.” But our tests show these safety measures are surprisingly shallow – often just a few words deep – making them alarmingly easy to circumvent. We have been investigating how AI… Read more »
Cybersecurity workers in Australia are losing more hours of productivity to stress and burnout than they were just a year ago, with artificial intelligence both helping and hindering the situation according to a survey commissioned by cybersecurity firm Sophos. Industry professionals have lost 4.8 hours per week to stress and burnout in 2025 — a… Read more »
Last year I attended a panel on generative AI in education. In a memorable moment, one presenter asked: “What’s the big deal? Generative AI is like a calculator. It’s just a tool.” The analogy is an increasingly common one. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman himself has referred to ChatGPT as “a calculator for words” and… Read more »
US artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, is looking to open a base in Sydney by the end of 2025. The company behind ChatGPT, now worth around A$750 billion, has been busy signing local deals over the past 12 months, including with UNSW and most recently, the Commonwealth Bank, as well as ramping up its lobbying efforts… Read more »
Sydney’s Eyes of AI has secured a $2.2m CRC-P grant toward a $6.7m project to build Perio-Detect, an AI-powered, contactless periodontal screening tool with Data61 and the University of Sydney.
Alfred Travel’s AI app generates structured trip itineraries and plans to reward users with tokens, but the bootstrapped startup still faces tough competition from incumbents and giant LLM players.
ResetData has put its $1 million AI innovation competition in the spotlight – paired with its Melbourne AI-F1 supercomputer launch – to drive ideas in health, housing, sustainability, and tech.
Cyber-intelligence startup Apate.ai, a countermeasure to Australia’s $2 billion scam industry, has raised $2.5 million in Seed funding. The round was led by OIF Ventures with participation from Investible. The funds are for product development and international expansion, including hiring engineering and go-to-market teams, as well as expanding its partnerships with financial institutions, telcos, and governments… Read more »
A pioneering collaboration between two medical startups tackling respiratory diseases with artificial intelligences has scored $3 million in federal government funding from Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program. Diag-Nose.io and Human Health are working on RhinoMAP – an AI-enabled platform they hope will transform how respiratory diseases such as asthma, sinusitis, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary… Read more »
Aether, a Kiwi AI startup turning marketing presentations into a live documents, has raised NZ$3.8 million (A$3.4m) in Seed funding. The AI-powered SaaS platform, cofounded by former TikTok NZ country manager Carsten Grueber, has emerged from stealth mode with backing from Icehouse Ventures, and support from Brand Fund 2. The startup has emerged out of New+Improved,… Read more »
Unicorn Day, the annual AWS-led gathering of founders, investors and startup operators, took over Sydney recently – and the message was loud and clear: Australia might be a small market, but our startups are playing on a global stage. From an impressive lineup of speakers spanning AWS heavyweights to big-name customers and VCs, here are… Read more »
DAVOS, Switzerland — A coalition of tech executives, venture capitalists, and innovation self‑describers warned this week that unless governments immediately provide free electricity to the artificial intelligence sector, civilisation’s fragile future could collapse into what one investor called “a really compromised vibe.” “Making AI innovators pay for electricity is legacy thinking,” declared OpenAI CEO Sam… Read more »
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