AI startups expand globally with new funding and specialized applications

The artificial intelligence startup landscape is seeing diverse developments across different sectors and regions. In India, Google and Accel have launched a program for pre-seed startups, providing early access to Google DeepMind frontier models and engineering support to accelerate the development of next-generation AI applications.

In the United States, San Francisco-based startups are targeting specific industry challenges. Epsilon Health has emerged from stealth mode with a $28 million funding round to launch an ‘AI-native’ radiology practice designed to speed up medical findings and address radiologist shortages. Meanwhile, a San Francisco startup experiment involving an AI managing a business and a $100,000 budget resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in losses and labor law violations after four months, highlighting the risks of delegating operational responsibility to automated systems.

In Israel, June AI has secured a $20 million pre-seed round led by Marc Benioff’s investment arm. Founded by former Salesforce R&D head Efrat Rapoport, the company focuses on developing AI agents designed to integrate AI more effectively into complex enterprise environments by triggering organizational and technical changes rather than just providing recommendations.