In partnership with
Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,
Jack Dorsey just cut nearly half of Block's workforce, 4,000 people, and said most companies will do the same within a year. The stock jumped 25%. Meanwhile, German automakers were asked about autonomous driving and answered with a confident "only maybe". Are there other things in our beloved startupland than AI these days? Send us your thoughts. Follow the Gradient and stay tuned.
PS: Has this e-mail been forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party
OpenAI raises $110bn in largest funding round in history
OpenAI closed a $110bn funding at a $730bn valuation, backed by Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank. The company is targeting $600bn in total compute spend by 2030 and projects $280bn in annual revenue by then. Its previous record round was $40bn just a year ago.
Pentagon blacklists Anthropic over AI safety guardrails
The US Department of War designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk" after the company refused to remove two safety limits: no mass domestic surveillance and no fully autonomous weapons. Anthropic responded: "We cannot in good conscience accede to their request." So good old Sam jumped in. Who would have thought?
Proxima Fusion eyes €1.2bn from the German government
Munich-based Proxima Fusion is building a €2bn fusion test facility. It expects more than half from the federal government, with Bavaria pledging €400m. Alongside RWE and Max Planck Institute, the company aims to build Europe's first commercial stellarator fusion power plant, operational in the 2030s.
What do you meme?
Food for thought
First dark factories, now dark companies?
“In a Dark Company, the AI isn't the copilot; it is the engine.” There is a lot of talk going on how AI will change the structure of a company. We appreciated the views of Henrik Grosse Hokamp of Revent VC on how an entirely new type of organization is about to emerge, inspired by the existing term of “dark factories” which run fully on robots.
Toughness as an underrated skill?
Are we overestimating how fast changes happen?
As a16z points out, it took roughly 100 years from Faraday's first electric current experiments to the industrial productivity wave of the 20th century. The AI economy might need more runway than the hype cycle suggests….
Where will AI companies draw the line?
Will Anthropic allow a version of Claude that can be used for mass surveillance and autonomous killing? These have been red lines for the company. The US government says they should have a model that is entirely unencumbered. As Nicholas Thompson of the Atlantic points out, this is only the beginning of major moral challenges ahead.
Smart hack
From our Partners
Still searching for the right CRM?
Attio is the AI CRM that builds itself and adapts to how you work. With powerful AI automations and research agents, Attio transforms your GTM motion into a data-driven engine, from intelligent pipeline tracking to product-led growth.
Instead of clicking through records and reports manually, simply ask questions in natural language. Powered by Universal Context—a unified intelligence layer native to Attio—Ask Attio searches, updates, and creates with AI across your entire customer ecosystem.
Teams like Granola, Taskrabbit, and Snackpass didn't realize how much they needed a new CRM. Until they tried Attio.
From us
Block just fired 4,000 people because of AI. But before you restructure, ask yourself: is your team actually using AI yet? Lenny Rachitsky compiled 25 tactics from companies that cracked AI adoption. The ones that stood out:
Give a learning budget, not a mandate. Duolingo gave every employee $300 for AI tools and courses. Experimentation beats top-down directives.
Lead by example in real time. Managers who demo AI workflows in meetings create 10x more adoption than company-wide emails.
Embed with teams monthly. Intercom's CTO spends time with individual teams identifying "2x productivity opportunities." The insights compound.
Track adoption by team, not just company-wide. Publishing usage metrics creates accountability and surfaces what actually works.
The biggest barrier to AI adoption is not technology. It is organizational change.
One good read
Join the entrepreneurial journey
Are you ready to take your first steps into the startup ecosystem or seeking an exciting new opportunity? Below is a curated list of startup job openings across Europe for you to explore.
💡💡 Show your future employer that you go the extra mile and let them know directly why you will be the perfect fit! We have added a link to the Hiring Manager’s LinkedIn where we think this helps. Do things differently - message them! 💡💡
Internships
Intern in Quality & Regulatory Affairs [📍Berlin, Germany], Digital Health, Vara [Apply]
Listen to our conversation with Vara cofounder Jonas Muff
Global Events Working Student [📍Munich, Germany], Process Mining, Celonis [Apply]
Business Analyst Intern, London [📍London, UK], Marketplace Tech, Mirakl [Apply]
Customer Success
Customer Success Manager [📍Germany], AI Translation, DeepL [Apply]
Customer Success Manager [📍Germany], API Infrastructure, Kong [Apply]
Technical Support Specialist [📍London, UK], SaaS Procurement, Vertice [Apply]
Senior Account Manager (M/F/D) - Remote (Germany) [📍Cologne, Germany], SaaS Management, Sastrify [Apply]
Director of Customer Success (f/m/d) [📍Munich, Germany], Hybrid Work, Deskbird [Apply]
Customer Success Manager (w/m/d) [📍Hanover, Germany], Construction Tech, Hero Software [Apply]
Marketing & Comms
Growth Hacker [📍London, UK], Energy, Tilt [Apply]
B2B Event Marketing Manager (f/m/d) [📍Berlin, Germany], Marketing Tech, Spread [Apply]
Marketing Manager - UKI Campaigns - Fixed Term Contract [📍London, UK], Food Delivery, Deliveroo [Apply]
Brand Designer [📍Zurich] InsurTech, grape insurance [Apply, Hiring manager]
Sales
Sales Development Representative (m/w/x) [📍Berlin, Germany], Document AI, Workist GmbH [Apply]
Enterprise Account Executive - Spain [📍Spain], AI Voice, Eleven Labs [Apply]
(Junior) CRM Manager DE [📍Berlin, Germany], Green Energy, Green Fusion [Apply]
Enterprise Account Executive [📍Stockholm, Sweden], AI Dev Tools, Lovable [Apply]
Strategic Partnerships (Food & Beverage sector) [📍Paris, France], Health Insurance, Alan [Apply]
Digital Natives Healthcare GTM Leader (US) [📍London, UK], Healthcare AI, Corti [Apply]
Strategy & Ops
Director of Accounting [📍Berlin, Germany], Travel Tech, GetYourGuide [Apply]
Operations Manager [📍Berlin, Germany], Quantum Computing, Project Q [Apply]
Legal Counsel (m/f/d) [📍Berlin, Germany], Consumer Food, Holy [Apply]
Technical Project Manager [📍Munich, Germany], Data & AI, SE3 Labs [Apply]
Product & Tech
Senior Product Analyst (AI tribe) [📍London, UK], Digital Banking, Zopa Bank [Apply]
Product Manager - Mobile Apps - CDI Paris - Theodo [📍Paris, France], Tech Consulting, Theodo [Apply]
Senior Product Manager | Account & Team Experience [📍Berlin, Germany], AI Translation, DeepL [Apply]
ML Ops / Data Engineer - Robotics [📍Berlin, Germany], Data & AI, sensmore [Apply]
Final words — take what you need
Stay connected and spread the word! If you found this newsletter insightful, why not share it with your network? Thanks for reading, and we look forward to bringing you even more insights in the next edition!
Follow the Gradient is a weekly newsletter and podcast by the serial founders Melanie Gabriel & Christian Woese about how to scale a business from Europe while staying sane.
You have full control over what we send to you. We sent a weekly rundown on Tuesdays, and our podcast brief on Thursdays. If you do not want to receive this Tuesday one, you can change this in the email preferences below.
