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Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside Israel's Unit 8200: The team of teen tech whizzes who tracked down Iran's uranium enrichment sites
Israel has an equivalent of the United States National Security Agency that carries out cyber warfare and other types of clandestine operations, but with one notable difference: It's staffed largely by teenagers. The soldiers of Israel Defense Forces Unit 8200 - most living with their parents and working for peanuts as part of the country's compulsory military service - located the Iranian uranium enrichment sites Israel has been trying to destroy for the past week. They produced the anti-Ayatollah video with which they interrupted Iran 's state-run news broadcast on Wednesday. And they pinpointed the Iranian leaders and nuclear scientists on Israel's hit list. A unit veteran, now in his early 30s and running an artificial intelligence start-up in Southern California, calls its 18 to 21-year-old active-duty soldiers 'the most nerdy of nerds.' 'These are the hackers, the chess players, the eggheads you knew in high school, but to the Nth degree,' he says, insisting on anonymity for fear, he claims, that 'anyone who's done intelligence in Israel isn't safe' these days, even in the US. It is a mark of the perceived threat that the Iranian missiles that hit southern Israel Thursday morning may have been aimed at a site in the area where Unit 8200 soldiers have been working, not at the civilian hospital on which the Israeli government and Western news outlets have focused. Iranian state media said the primary target of its attack that damaged Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba was a nearby Israeli military intelligence site. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X that Iran's military 'accurately' eliminated that site, as well as 'another vital target,' but didn't identify their locations. Israeli attacks were reported at sites across Tehran as well as in cities and provinces known to host key nuclear facilities and military installations, including Isfahan - the location of the Natanz FEP - Tabriz, Kermanshah, Arak and Shiraz Israel hasn't responded to those claims, or whether Unit 8200 soldiers were hit. Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday pointed to the 71 people injured at the hospital, accusing Iran of deliberately targeting civilians - even though his own military has been bombing civilian hospitals throughout Gaza since the deadly, Hamas-led terror attacks in October 2023. Unit 8200, known in Israel as Shmone Matayim, is IDF's largest unit, believed to have about 5,000 active-duty soldiers ages 18 to 21, with older veterans on reserve. Soldiers in the elite intelligence corps typically are recruited right out of high school based on the speed of their learning and ability to solve complex problems. Many attended after-school feeder programs that trained them in computer coding and hacking, and some had private coaching to prepare for the unit's highly competitive entrance exams and interviews. Sources tell the Daily Mail that families go all out to boost their kids' chances of being among the one percent of all applicants accepted into the unit seen as a pathway to lucrative high-tech jobs. After completing their service, veterans of 8200 have gone on to found and lead information technology, artificial intelligence and cyber security startups in Israel and internationally. Unit 8200 has its roots in codebreaking and intelligence units formed upon Israel's establishment in 1948. Those units were made up largely of native Arabic speakers born in the countries Israel was either at war with or spying on. In the early years, soldiers used primitive listening devices that are now displayed in Glilot, its headquarters north of Tel Aviv. The long hours they spent listening to Israel's enemies preserved not only their language fluency but also their familiarity with the mindsets of their country's enemies. Over the decades, the unit turned into somewhat of a tech incubator. Its culture is said to be relaxed and encourages creativity and independent thought, much like a startup. Some of its soldiers can be recognized by their wrinkled uniforms, disheveled hair or long earrings - things frowned upon in IDF's regular rank and file. Some conservative, rural and religious Jewish Israelis complained that the unit was dominated by highly educated, atheist and liberal Tel Avivians whose views on politics and the military aren't necessarily shared throughout the country. IDF has taken steps to diversify 8200's soldiers under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition, the most far-right in Israel's history. Although its operations are classified, the unit has been reported to have launched the computer virus that disabled Iranian nuclear centrifuges from 2005 to 2010, cyber-attacked Lebanon's state telecom company in 2017, and helped thwart a 2018 ISIS attack on a civilian airline traveling to the United Arab Emirates from Australia. Subunits of 8200 are said to have been involved in the development and testing of the pagers and walkie-talkies that Israel engineered to explode in the hands of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon last September. Closer to home, the unit has been surveilling Palestinians for decades, and in 2014 was denounced by a group of reservists for what they deemed to be unethical breaches of privacy on Palestinians not involved in violence. Such criticisms have grown internationally since Israel has been at war in Gaza, where IDF uses artificial intelligence derived from the unit to target Gazans suspected of involvement with Hamas. News investigations have revealed deadly ways inaccurate data used by the unit and faulty algorithms can go wrong. Within Israel, Unit 8200's reputation for gathering complete and accurate intelligence came under question after it failed to prevent the Hamas-led terror attacks on October 7, 2023. Those attacks killed 1,200 people across southern Israel and led to 251 others being taken hostage. They also prompted the now 20-month-long war in Gaza during which Israel has killed 55,637 Palestinians and injured 129,880, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The unit's commander resigned over criticisms that 8200's researchers had identified signs of the Hamas attack several months before it happened, but that he didn't press hard enough on Israel's most senior military and political leaders to prevent it. Defenders of the unit have countered that it shouldn't be blamed for higher-ups' inaction. The unit is based mainly in a set of nondescript office buildings near the headquarters of Mossad, Israel's spy agency, in Glilot, north of Tel Aviv. Aside from Iran's nuclear enrichment site (pictured), the unit also claims responsibility for destroyed data at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah and for wiping out $90M from Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange The complex was targeted by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah last fall after the notorious pager and walkie-talking attacks. Iran, for its part, has other reasons to target the unit. Its soldiers — or at least its veterans — are believed to have taken some part in two cyberattacks on Iran in the past week, both carried out by a collective of pro-Israel hackers calling itself 'Predatory Sparrow.' On Tuesday, the group claimed to have destroyed data at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah. And on Wednesday, it took credit for wiping out $90 million from one of Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchanges which allegedly helps the Iranian government avoid sanctions and fund its nuclear program and other secret operations. In years past, soldiers with Unit 8200 are also believed to have blocked usage of ATM and gas pumps in Iran and hacked into the nation's digital highway sign system, posting messages critical of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Persian speakers within the unit also are said to have fomented fear and paranoia among Iran's Revolutionary Guard soldiers and nuclear scientists by leveraging compromising personal information against them to squeeze out state secrets. Iran hit the Glilot area with ballistic missiles on Tuesday morning. In a statement, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) wrote that 'Despite the presence of highly advanced defense systems,' it 'struck the Zionist regime's military intelligence center… and the center for planning terror operations and evils of the Zionist regime…' 'This center is currently burning,' the IRGC wrote later that day. It is unclear if the buildings damaged were on or off the base and whether, either before or after Tuesday's missile barrage, IDF relocated Unit 8200 soldiers 75 miles south to Beersheba near the site of Thursday's attack. 'I'm worried about those guys,' says the unit veteran in California, who has a cousin currently serving in 8200. 'They've made a ton of trouble for Iran and probably have serious targets on their backs.'
Entrepreneur
30-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
10 Indian AI Startups Selected for Global Accelerator Programme in Paris
The initiative aims to provide Indian startups with global exposure, access to international markets, and opportunities for cross-border collaboration You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Ten Indian AI startups have been selected to participate in a global acceleration programme in Paris as part of the IndiaAI Startups Global Initiative, an international effort led by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in partnership with Station F and HEC Paris. The initiative aims to provide Indian startups with global exposure, access to international markets, and opportunities for cross-border collaboration. The selected startups, which span diverse domains such as privacy engineering, conversational AI, earth observation, edtech, cybersecurity, and deeptech image editing, were chosen through a rigorous multi-stage process. They will participate in a four-month programme at Station F, the world's largest startup campus. The accelerator includes a one-month virtual onboarding module followed by a three-month in-person residency in Paris. During this period, the startups will engage with European investors, mentors, and innovation networks through programming developed by HEC Paris, one of Europe's leading business schools. Speaking on the announcement, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted the strategic significance of the initiative, calling it a milestone in India's "innovation diplomacy". He noted that the move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the AI Action Summit in February 2024, signalling India's intent to shape global AI standards. "India's AI ecosystem is now on the cusp of a global breakthrough. Through initiatives like this, we are enabling our most promising startups to tap into international markets, form global alliances, and create scalable, impactful solutions," he said. The selected startups include, PrivaSapien Technologies, Staqu Technologies, SatSure Analytics, Storyvord, VolarAlta, Smartail, Secure Blink, and Voicing AI. "The IndiaAI Startups Global Initiative is more than an acceleration program, it is a bridge between India's talent and the world's innovation hubs," said Meity secretary S Krishnan. "These 10 startups exemplify the strength, diversity, and global potential of Indian AI. We are proud to support their next leap as global AI leaders." MeitY Additional Secretary and CEO of the IndiaAI Mission, Abhishek Singh, said the programme is designed as a bridge between Indian talent and international innovation hubs, reflecting India's growing strength and ambition in AI. This initiative is aligned with the broader IndiaAI Mission launched in March 2024, which aims to foster responsible and inclusive AI development across seven strategic pillars including compute infrastructure, innovation, skills development, and startup financing.
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Rise Of Autonomous Businesses How AI Is Redefining Startup Growth
AI-Powered Startups AdobeStock_897511861 AI-powered startups are reaching revenue milestones that were once thought impossible—often with teams a fraction of the size of traditional businesses. Companies like Bolt and Lovable have been labeled "AI miracles," achieving $20 million and $10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) within just two months, each with fewer than 15 employees. While AI is an essential factor, the real story is their radically different approach to business operations, grounded in the principles of human-centric enterprise AI. A new report from Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV), an early-stage global venture capital firm managing over $500M in assets, sheds light on how AI native startups are rewriting the playbook in the AI era. Their recently released AI Native Startup Playbook: A Blueprint for Enterprise 5.0 provides a roadmap for founders to integrate AI into operations without sidelining human talent. Instead, it details how small, agile teams can scale to enterprise levels of efficiency by redefining the synergy between human talent and artificial intelligence - a defining characteristic of human-centric enterprise AI. This human-AI synergy isn't limited to startups, it's becoming a societal norm. According to Prosper Insights & Analytics' 2025 Media Behaviors & Influence survey, over 25% of U.S. adults already use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, or Copilot, with that number rising to more than one in three among Gen-Z. As adoption grows, the familiarity and fluency with AI is filtering into the workplace, accelerating the shift toward AI-augmented teams that are lean, efficient, and high-performing, all hallmarks of the next generation of AI-native startups. Prosper - Heard of Genetrative AI Prosper Insights & Analytics The New Operating Model: AI + Humans at Scale Traditional SaaS businesses generate $150K–$250K in revenue per employee. Autonomous businesses, by contrast, are seeing numbers closer to $2M–$3M per employee. This stark contrast isn't about replacing humans with AI agents; it's about transforming how teams work in an AI-driven landscape, augmenting human capabilities, to enable small teams to achieve extraordinary scale. "There is a paradigm shift in how startups approach AI, I call it Enterprise 5.0" says Anik Bose, Managing Partner at BGV. "We want to provide the community with a proven framework for building companies that balance technological innovation with human empowerment. It's more than a guide—it's a blueprint, backed by over five years of practical research and hard-earned insights from over 50 startups, to understand the future of enterprise AI innovation." Rather than assembling large teams of specialists, AI native businesses structure themselves around small groups of strategic orchestrators who use AI to amplify their impact. The playbook highlights a structured approach beginning with defining the use cases, articulating the ROI value proposition, navigating AI native challenges, building a full stack product, new pricing, and business models and finally novel GTM and distribution strategies. It highlights examples of business model changes in key areas where AI is driving transformation: Several startups exemplify this autonomous model: These companies illustrate that success isn't solely about leveraging AI—it's about redesigning workflows and operations to maximize efficiency and output. The traditional startup playbook—scaling through large teams, heavy R&D spending, and aggressive marketing—is rapidly becoming outdated. The autonomous business model focuses on: BGV's AI Native Startup Playbook provides founders with actionable strategies for navigating data challenges, building scalable AI infrastructure, and fostering trust in AI adoption. The growing ubiquity of ChatGPT as the generative AI tool of choice—used most often by nearly half of U.S. adult users (47.3%), and by nearly two-thirds of Gen Z (63.6%)—further validates the shift, according to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey. These tools are no longer niche; they're now the operating systems behind the next generation of business productivity. Prosper - Generative AI Use Most Often Prosper Insights & Analytics As AI-native companies continue to disrupt industries, one lesson is becoming increasingly clear: businesses must rethink how they operate. The next generation of startups will not just adopt AI—they will build entirely new operational models around it. With a focus on human-AI collaboration, these companies are proving that small teams can achieve massive scale. "AI isn't replacing humans; it's empowering them to do more than ever before," Bose notes. For founders and executives, embracing these principles isn't just an option—it may soon be the only path to staying competitive in an AI-first world.
Miami Herald
06-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
AI Fund Closes Oversubscribed $190 Million Fund II to Co-Found AI Startups
Press Releases AI Fund Closes Oversubscribed $190 Million Fund II to Co-Found AI Startups Venture studio expands its mission to work with entrepreneurs to build AI startups, providing hands-on support and early-stage funding to solve real-world challenges. AI Fund , the venture studio founded by renowned AI pioneer and entrepreneur Andrew Ng, today announced the successful closing of its second fund, raising approximately $190 million in an oversubscribed round. This builds on the success of the studio's first $175 million fund and reflects the growing demand for AI-driven innovation across industries. "AI technology advances over the past few years are creating a golden age for founding startups," said Ng, Managing General Partner. "With AI technology giving us increasingly better building blocks for developing software, plus the cost of prototyping plummeting because of AI assisted coding, we can create new startups faster and more efficiently than was ever possible before." A High-Impact Model for Building AI Startups AI Fund's venture studio model gives entrepreneurs a distinct advantage by combining deep AI expertise, market validation, and hands-on talent acquisition support. From ideation to launch, the studio partners with 0-to-1 entrepreneurs to shape the vision, build products, and assemble top-tier technical and leadership teams. This approach fast-tracks AI-powered solutions to market. Under Ng's leadership, AI Fund works alongside entrepreneurs to build companies focused on the application and software infrastructure layers of the AI stack, leveraging foundation models to develop solutions across multiple sectors. The studio's portfolio includes ventures in financial services, renewable energy, future of work, education, logistics, healthcare, and developer tools. Backing from Global Corporations AI Fund's latest fundraise attracted a number of corporate limited partners (LPs), including The AES Corporation; HP Inc.; Mitsui & Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Corporation; QBE; and TELUS Global Ventures; among other notable venture capital investors such as Sequoia Capital and NEA. These corporate LPs are among the leaders in their industries that span technology, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and real estate. AI Fund's corporate LPs have a global presence, with operations spanning nearly every continent. The participation of these global corporate partners not only signals confidence in AI Fund's approach, but also reflects the collaborative foundation on which many of the fund's most promising ventures are built: "Many of our ideas originate from close collaborations with corporate partners and VCs who identify critical gaps in their industries, allowing us to launch businesses with built-in customers, proprietary data sets, and market traction," said Warren Packard, Partner at AI Fund. "By bringing together corporate insights and entrepreneurial energy, we create companies that are positioned for long-term success." "We believe AI Fund has a clear eye for what's next, and the ability to turn bold ideas into high-impact ventures," said Carmen Chang, Partner and Head of Asia, NEA. "As returning investors, we've seen how their model gives founders an edge in a fast-moving and increasingly competitive AI market. We're excited to continue supporting Andrew Ng and the team as they help shape the future of AI and its real-world impact." "The next wave of AI innovation won't just be about breakthroughs in technology-it will be about how we build, scale, and apply those breakthroughs," said Andrés Gluski, CEO of The AES Corporation, "AI Fund is cultivating the kind of entrepreneurial rigor and technical depth needed to shape solutions that matter. We're excited to partner with AI Fund on a model that pairs visionary thinking with real-world execution." "At HP, we are on a mission to create meaningful AI experiences that drive growth and more fulfilling work experiences for people everywhere," said Enrique Lores, President and CEO, HP Inc. "Our investment in AI Fund reflects our dedication to catalyzing the development of new experiences that allow users to benefit from AI at the edge. By supporting software innovators and startups, we aim to foster the entrepreneurial spirit needed to develop impactful AI solutions that will shape the future of work." Investing in the Future of AI AI Fund has been building AI startups since long before the widespread rise of tools like ChatGPT and the recent AI boom. With its latest fund, it will continue co-founding companies that leverage the latest technologies like agentic AI, reasoning models, and multi-modal AI. "AI Fund is oriented to moving fast in how we build companies," said Ng. "Building startups is hard, and by systematically approaching the many steps of early stage startup building, such as ideation, having customer conversations, prototyping, product and engineering work, recruiting elite talent, acquiring capital, and so on, we minimize bottlenecks and help companies go much faster." For more information, visit . ABOUT AI FUND: AI Fund is a venture studio that strives to move humanity forward by accelerating the adoption of AI. We work with entrepreneurs to build companies rapidly and increase their odds of success. The studio is supported by top-tier VCs and partners including Sequoia Capital, NEA, AES, and Nikkei. Learn more at . MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Gill, MAG PR at E: lauren@ ; P: 978-473-1362 # # # SOURCE: AI Fund
