In this article, we discuss 10 AI news and ratings you should not miss.
AI Expansion Continues as Startups Receive Major Funding Rounds
On February 19, CNBC reported significant funding rounds for multiple AI-focused startups, highlighting the quick expansion of AI innovations across industries like healthcare, cloud computing, and model deployment. Baseten, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2019, raised $75 million at an $825 million valuation to improve its AI model deployment services. Using cloud infrastructure from Amazon and Google, Baseten helps clients access GPUs for AI inference, reducing costs by over 40% while supporting the cost-effective DeepSeek-R1 reasoning model. Its revenue increased sixfold in the last fiscal year, and its clients include over 100 enterprises and companies such as Descript, Patreon, and Writer.
OpenEvidence, an AI health-tech startup in Cambridge founded by Daniel Nadler, raised $75 million from Sequoia, bringing its valuation to $1 billion, as per CNBC. The company’s AI chatbot, trained on data from The New England Journal of Medicine and peer-reviewed journals, assists doctors with clinical decisions and is already used by a quarter of U.S. physicians. The chatbot avoids inaccuracies through tailored training and has grown rapidly due to word-of-mouth recommendations among doctors. OpenEvidence will also use its new funding to establish partnerships, including one with NEJM Group, and Nadler views the company as a solution to doctor burnout and the projected physician shortfall.
Lambda, a cloud computing firm specializing in AI development, raised $480 million in a Series D round co-led by Andra Capital and SGW, reaching a $2.5 billion valuation and total funding of $863 million. Lambda rents out Nvidia GPU-powered servers and offers software to train and deploy AI models, including open-source ones like DeepSeek-R1. CEO Stephen Balaban highlighted Lambda’s ability to repurpose its 25,000 GPUs for open-source AI models, which has fueled demand for H200 chips. The company will use the funding to expand its GPU inventory and further develop its software, including its Model Inference API and Chat AI Assistant. Lambda is positioned to meet the surging demand for AI infrastructure and is serving over 5,000 customers across industries such as manufacturing and finance.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by reviewing news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 database of over 1000 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
10. ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZENA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A
ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZENA) develops cloud-based enterprise software for various industries and manufactures and distributes drones.
On February 19, ZenaTech reported promising results from the initial testing of its Quantum Computing Sky Traffic project, which uses AI and quantum computing for weather prediction. The test, based on 2016 data, showed high accuracy in temperature predictions. In response, ZenaTech is expanding its team over the next two months, recruiting AI, quantum, and aerospace engineers, along with researchers from international universities.
CEO Shaun Passley explained that the Sky Traffic project aims to improve weather forecasting and drone applications for traffic management, wildfire monitoring, and defense. By combining AI with quantum computing, the company seeks to optimize drone navigation, decision-making, and real-time data analysis. The integration could improve defense drone capabilities in areas like surveillance and reconnaissance by enabling faster data processing and decision-making.
9. Lantern Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:LTRN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 4
Lantern Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:LTRN) uses AI and genomic data to develop cancer therapies, with a pipeline including treatments for lung, pancreatic, and central nervous system cancers.
On February 19, Lantern Pharma published a PCT patent application for its AI-driven machine learning solution designed to predict blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. The technology, capable of analyzing up to 100,000 molecules per hour with high accuracy, holds multiple top rankings on the Therapeutic Data Commons Leaderboard. By quickly identifying compounds that can cross the BBB, it aims to accelerate the development of treatments for CNS disorders and brain cancers. The system is integrated with Lantern’s RADR AI platform and it improves drug candidate evaluation. Lantern’s subsidiary, Starlight Therapeutics, will use this technology to advance its STAR-001 program. The company has initiated an expedited U.S. review and plans to secure global patent protection.
