Technology June 19: Europe boosts AI investment in defense

American AI startups explode with many rounds of funding worth hundreds of millions of dollars

In 2025, AI startups in the US continued to attract strong investment flows, with 24 companies raising $100 million or more. Glean, a startup specializing in enterprise search, just raised $150 million in Series F funding, bringing its valuation to $7.25 billion. Anysphere, the company behind programmable AI Cursor, raised $900 million in Series C funding and is valued at nearly $10 billion.

Additionally, Snorkel AI, which specializes in AI data labeling, raised $100 million in Series D funding at a $1.3 billion valuation. Runway, a startup developing AI models for media production, raised $308 million in Series D funding at a $3 billion valuation. Most notably, OpenAI closed a record $40 billion funding round at a $300 billion valuation, with SoftBank as the lead investor.

Helsing becomes one of Europe's five most valuable tech companies

Munich-based defense tech startup Helsing has raised €600 million amid rising investment in military AI. With a valuation of €12 billion, Helsing is one of the five most valuable private tech companies in Europe. The company is developing attack drones and autonomous submarines for the military. Helsing joins a number of other defense startups that have raised large sums, reflecting the strong shift in the defense industry toward advanced AI solutions.

AI is being developed in defense in Europe.

According to a new McKinsey report, investment in European defense startups is expected to increase by more than 500% between 2021 and 2024 compared to the previous three years. In addition to Helsing, other companies that have received significant attention include Germany’s Quantum Systems (which raised €160 million) and Portugal’s Tekever, both of which have reached valuations above €1 billion. Another Munich-based company, ARX Robotics, has just raised €31 million to expand its fleet of ground drones and announced plans to invest £45 million in a new factory in the UK.

YouTube Shorts will integrate Google's AI Veo 3 this summer

Google is set to integrate its AI video creation tool Veo 3 into the YouTube Shorts platform this summer. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said Shorts is growing rapidly, with views increasing 186% over the past year, reaching an average of 200 billion views per day.

YouTube heavily promotes Shorts on the homepage.

Veo 3, which creates video and audio from text at incredible quality, will be adapted to Shorts' vertical format. Currently, Veo 3 only creates 8-second, 720p horizontal videos, but Google may develop a special version for Shorts. The service may come with its own pricing model, as Veo 3 currently costs $250 a month for Google's AI Ultra plan.

The combination of Shorts and Veo 3 promises to open up new creative opportunities, helping users create content faster and more engaging. However, many questions remain about the cost and optimization of this AI for short video formats.

Minh Hoan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cong-nghe-19-6-chau-au-day-manh-dau-tu-ai-trong-quoc-phong-ar949707.html