📋 Quick Takeaways

• Skild AI secures massive $1.4B Series C to build a “universal brain” for robots, tripling valuation to $14B+.
• Apple officially partners with Google Gemini to power the next generation of Siri and Apple Intelligence features.
• Pentagon announces integration of Elon Musk’s Grok AI into military networks, sparking global controversy.
• Google unveils Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard to enable agentic shopping across the web.
• OpenAI acquires Torch Health for ~$100M to power its new ChatGPT Health vertical.
• Aikido Security hits $1B unicorn status, becoming the fastest-growing European cybersecurity startup.

🤖 Robotics & Physical AI

Skild AI Raises $1.4B at $14B+ Valuation for “Omni-Bodied” Robot Brain

Mega-Round Confirmed: Pittsburgh-based robotics startup Skild AI closed a massive $1.4 billion Series C funding round on January 14, led by SoftBank with participation from Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and Samsung.