GenAI Daily - February 12, 2026: Microsoft's Superconductor Push, Winn.AI's Sales Assistant Funding, AI Video Market Heat
Top Story
Microsoft Pioneers Superconducting Data Center Infrastructure
Microsoft wants to explore high-temperature superconductors to reduce the massive energy demands of its AI data centers. Superconductors could help tame AI's massive appetite for power, offering a leaner way to run data centers.
Microsoft is exploring using superconducting power lines in its data centers, which could potentially accelerate its massive U.S. build-out of the server warehouses by making them more energy-efficient. Microsoft said recent tests of high-temperature superconductor cables have shown that the power lines can deliver the same amount of electricity as traditional cables while taking up less space.
According to Microsoft's latest blog post on the subject, the tech giant especially wants to leverage the HTS cables in data centers because they are significantly smaller compared to copper wires, which will redefine how its electrical rooms and hardware are laid out. Because superconductors take up less space to move large amounts of power, they could help us build cleaner, more compact systems.
The company is working with VEIR, a Microsoft-backed startup that successfully demonstrated superconducting cable technology that delivers 3 megawatts through a single low-voltage cable. The demo was conducted in a simulated data center environment near VEIR headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Why it matters: This represents a fundamental infrastructure innovation that could solve the power density crisis facing AI data centers, potentially enabling faster deployment and smaller physical footprints for the next generation of AI compute facilities.
Key Developments
Winn.AI Closes $18M Series A for Real-Time Sales Assistant
Tel Aviv's Winn.AI, builder of an artificial intelligence-powered sales assistant, has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round. The company provides sales reps with a real-time AI assistant that "guides" them during a prospect call while integrating with enterprise CRM and business intelligence systems.
WINN.AI tripled annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2025 alone while growing by 30X over the past two years and maintaining a 0% churn rate among enterprise customers.
Insight Partners, S Capital and Mangusta Capital co-led the Series A raise, which included participation from Moneta VC, HighSage Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Sarona Ventures and OurCrowd. Customers include Deel, Cyera, Intercom, Kaseya, WalkMe, and Snyk.
Impact: Real-time AI coaching fills a critical gap in sales execution, moving beyond post-call analysis to in-the-moment guidance that can directly affect deal outcomes.
Runway Raises $315M Series E at $5.3B Valuation for AI Video and World Models
Runway, an AI research and technology startup, said Tuesday that it has raised $315 million in a Series E round of funding. General Atlantic led the financing, which included participation from Nvidia, Adobe Ventures, AMD Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Felicis Ventures. The capital was raised at a $5.3 billion valuation, up from $3.3 billion at the time of its $308 million Series D round last April.
The fresh funds will allow Runway to "pre-train the next generation of world models and bring them to new products and industries." Best known for its physics-aware AI video-generation models, Runway released its first world model in December and now views the technology as central to tackling major challenges across fields like medicine, climate, energy, and robotics.
Impact: Runway's pivot from video generation to world models positions it beyond entertainment into simulation and robotics markets, significantly expanding its total addressable market.
Andercore Secures $40M Series B for AI-Driven Industrial Supply Platform
Andercore, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of an AI-driven trade platform for industrial supply, raised $40M in Series B funding. Led by Philipp Andernach, Founder and CEO, Andercore is a provider of an AI-driven B2B trade platform that connects global suppliers with local industrial buyers across infrastructure, energy, and building materials, executing cross-border trade and embedded financing through its proprietary AI platform.
Backers included Atomico, Project A, Inven Capital, Commerzbank and KfW.
Impact: B2B trade platforms increasingly use AI to orchestrate complex supply chain decisions, representing a growing enterprise use case for AI beyond content generation.
Product Launches
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Major AI Accelerator Program - European Launch: Major AI players-including Meta, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Mistral-are collaborating on a European accelerator program based at Station F. The goal is straightforward: help startups build on their models and tooling, while ensuring the next wave of applications grows inside their ecosystems. (Source)
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AI MRI Diagnostics Tool: Researchers at the University of Michigan have created an AI system that can interpret brain MRI scans in just seconds, accurately identifying a wide range of neurological conditions and determining which cases need urgent care. (Source)
Funding & Deals
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Gather AI - $40M Series B: Gather AI, a specialist in AI for logistics, has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Smith Point Capital Management. This includes participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, Bling Capital, Dundee Venture Capital, XRC Ventures, and new investor The Hillman Company. - Led by Smith Point Capital (Source)
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Vega Security - $120M Series B: The two-year-old firm just raised a $120 million Series B round to scale that vision. Led by Accel with participation from Cyberstarts, Redpoint, and CRV, the new round nearly doubles Vega's valuation to $700 million, and brings its total funding to $185 million. - AI-native cybersecurity platform (Source)
Tomorrow's Watch List
- Microsoft's broader superconductor deployment timeline announcements
- European AI accelerator program participant announcements
- Continued funding activity in enterprise AI sales and security tools
Related reading: Check out this week's Deep Insights analysis for strategic context on infrastructure innovations shaping the AI compute landscape.
