$20K/month with simple a AI Tool

Perplexity previews IPO-level valuation, and Gradient Labs closes Series A in under a week.

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Latestly AI
September 02, 2025

Top 3 Things in This Edition

  1. AI Business Story: How Dustin Stout solo-built “Magai,” reaching $20K MRR in six months—no ads, no team.

  2. Unicorn Roll‑Call: Track 10 AI unicorns—with up‑to‑date valuations and this week’s key updates.

  3. AI Global Headlines: From Europe’s regulatory push to India’s multi‑lingual models and Perplexity's latest funding.

AI Business Story of the Week

Dustin Stout — $20K revenue/month in 6 Months, Built Solo

Product: Magai, an AI-powered content creation suite.

What he built:
A no-code generative content platform built in two months using AI tools. Magai generates marketing copy, blog posts, and creative content instantly.

How he did it:

  • No marketing splash: Used Twitter and IndieHackers for soft launch and real-time feedback.

  • Built in public: Shared progress openly, building word-of-mouth before the product matured.

  • Rapid iteration: Launched MVP, iterated based on user needs every week.

  • Targeted value: Solved a practical pain point—fast high-quality written content—at $20K MRR within six months.

Lessons for AI entrepreneurs:

  • Build only what users ask for.

  • Share progress publicly to get free early traction.

  • Iterate fast; profitability doesn’t need spending.

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Global AI News Highlights (Aug 26 – Sept 2)

🇺🇸 US & Canada

  • Perplexity secures a $14B valuation after raising $500M, with 780M queries/month and solid user growth.

  • Safe Superintelligence (ex‑OpenAI) is quietly raising $1B—setting the stage for next-gen AGI debate.

🇪🇺 Europe

  • Lovable climbs past $4B valuation after $200M at $1.8B just weeks ago, fueled by 10M+ “vibe code” apps built.

  • Mistral in France eyes a $10B valuation as it scales open-weight models and partnerships like the recent €600M raise.

  • Italy drafts the first national AI regulatory framework—testing, safety, and transparency for deployment.

🇨🇳 China

  • China’s AI policy shifts: domestic startups are prioritized, with domestic chips and LLMs pushing for hardware independence.

🇮🇳 India

  • India's AI push accelerates with a national LLM roadmap: four new models in regional languages and infrastructure expansion.

🌍 Global

  • Base44, a solo-built AI app builder, was acquired by Wix for $80M in cash—after just six months of solo development.

This Week’s Top 5 AI Startup Fundraising Rounds

Company

Sector

Round Size

Thinking Machines Lab

AGI infrastructure (ex-OpenAI CTO)

$2B Seed

Gradient Labs

Compliance AI agents

€11 M Series A

Uma

Robotics “brain” systems

$40 M Seed

Abridge

Voice transcription for healthcare

$300 M Series E

Applied Intuition

Autonomy simulation for AVs

$600 M Series F

Top 10 AI Unicorn Highlights – This Week’s Moves

Unicorn

Valuation

This Week’s Update

OpenAI

$300B

Expands social good initiatives

Anthropic

~$61B

Deepens enterprise integrations

Databricks

~$100B

Continues scaling AI + Lakehouse capabilities

Perplexity AI

~$14B

Prepares for next funding round

Lovable

~$4B

Adds enterprise distribution channels

Mistral

~$10B target

Rolls out new open models

Glean Technologies

~$7B

Gains traction in enterprise search

Anysphere (Cursor)

~$10B

Surpasses $500M ARR

Quantexa

~$2.6B

Expands financial AI offerings

Safe Superintelligence

~$32B

Quietly building AGI infrastructure

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