Weekly AI Recap: "How We've Protected $1.2 Billion from Smart Contract Hacks"

Good morning! ☕

Welcome to Homebase Edition #13 - A weekly newsletter bringing you stories & insights from scrappy teams and solo founders building the AI unicorns of tomorrow

What’s on tap today:

• Weekly Founder Story

• Weekly AI Headline Recap

• Emerging AI Trend

AI FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT
1 Founder story

The Startup That's Saved $1.2 Billion from Hackers
(So Far)

Abhishek Singh didn't plan on becoming Web3's security chief. But after 15 years in India's dot-com and media scene, he couldn't ignore the $16 billion problem of smart contract hacks. Now, his Bengaluru-based startup SecureDApp is shielding DApps from million-dollar heists.

With co-founder Himanshu Gautam, Singh is turning blockchain security from a pain point into a strength. Their edge: AI tools that spot vulnerabilities before hackers can exploit them.

They've achieved:

🛡️ Built Solidity Shield, an AI-powered vulnerability detector
🕵️ Built SecureWatch, a real-time contract monitoring system
🔍 Built SecureTrace, transaction-level security microscope (coming soon)
🔢 100+ projects audited
🐛 2100+ vulnerabilities detected
💰 $1.2 billion+ in digital assets protected


With the average smart contract hack costing $18.8 million, Singh and Gautam saw a critical opportunity to bolster blockchain security.


How they did it: 

💰 Bootstrapping with customer cash, founder funds, and grants
🧠 Product strategy informed by 30+ founder interviews
🔄 Pivoted from services to scalable products
🔬 Constant innovation to stay ahead of crypto baddies
🤝 Leveraging startup cred to land initial clients
📊 Keeping it lean and mean on spending
🎯 Consistent comms over crypto hype



Key Highlights:

• Addressing critical Web3 security needs

• Developed AI-based vulnerability detection tool (Solidity Shield)

• Created real-time contract monitoring system (SecureWatch)

• Offering security solutions from pre-deployment to runtime

• Pivoted based on market research and founder interviews

• Bootstrapped using customer capital, founder capital, and grants

• Maintaining lean operations and frugal spending

• Focusing on consistent communication over hype in marketing

Read more about their journey here 🔥🔥🔥

HEADLINE ROUNDUP
Headline recap

• Week of nonstop breaking political news exposes AI chatbots' limitations in real-time updates. (TWP)

• Nvidia quietly develops a new AI chip version for the Chinese market to navigate U.S. export controls. (R)

• Open-source programmers dismissed the case against OpenAI, lawsuit continues against GitHub and Microsoft over AI copyright issues. (BLN)

• UK hospitals launch a live trial of AI for prostate cancer detection. (AN)

• CIA AI Director Lakshmi Raman claims the agency is taking a ‘thoughtful approach’ to AI. (TC)

• Capgemini predicts the arrival of autonomous AI workers communicating with each other by 2025. (CNBC)

• Japan’s copyright rules draw AI groups — and alarm from creators. (FT)

• Musk announces Tesla's plan to deploy humanoid robots next year. (BBC)

• Cohere raises $500M from Cisco, AMD, and Fujitsu, reaching a $5.5B valuation. (TC)

• The Monetary Authority of Singapore commits $74.3M to boost quantum computing and AI in financial institutions. (X)

TRENDS
1 AI Trend of the week

Luma AI

• Location: Palo Alto, United States

• Total Funding: $68.5M

• Latest Round: Series B

• Employees: 51

Luma AI's "Dream Machine" is pushing the boundaries of AI-generated video, turning text prompts into surprisingly realistic footage. It's part of a bigger wave that's making video creation easy for anyone and shaking up how videos are usually made.

Why it matters: As AI makes it cheaper and easier to create good-looking videos, we could see a flood of new content in marketing, entertainment, and education. It also raises questions about the future of human creativity and the film industry.

The big picture: AI video tools like Luma's are still new but improving fast. And as they improve, they could and will change how we make and watch videos. From indie creators to major studios, everyone's scrambling to figure out if AI is their new best friend or their stiffest competition.