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Small language models. $100M+ deals. Autonomous driving.   View in browser December 20, 2025 Hi there,   Startups can get access to the same market intelligence and research trusted by the top Fortune 500 companies — at a price designed for you.    Check it out.   And now, here are this week's top research briefs. ICYMI   Our top AI market maps of 2025 From autonomous agents to humanoid robots, here's a visual guide to the companies reshaping enterprise AI, infrastructure, and industry applications. Regulated industries and sovereign AI fuel small language model momentum Small, open models are gaining ground in compliance-sensitive industries like government, finance, healthcare, and law, while nations deploy them to build sovereign AI capabilities. Using CB Insights data, we identify why the market is forging ahead. AI meets the physical economy: November mega-rounds pivot to industrial AI We look into the tech companies that raised $100M+ rounds in November to uncover signals on market momentum, strategic plays, and industrial AI. The Future of Professional Services: How firms will capture value in the AI agent era Using CB Insights predictive intelligence and insights from senior AI and data executives at top professional services firms, we developed a roadmap for staying competitive in an AI-first world. Four priorities emerge: orchestrating the AI agent tech stack, activating proprietary data for smarter agents, turning services into scalable AI products, and leading the buildout of a human-AI workforce. Customer-Exclusive Research   The autonomous driving market map: Mapping the companies shaping self-driving at scale We used CB Insights data to identify 90+ private companies and leading subsidiaries as autonomous driving hits an inflection point. The military-startup complex: How Silicon Valley is reshaping the defense industry We analyzed CB Insights data to examine record defense tech funding, understand global investment trends, and identify how companies can navigate the new military-startup complex. 140+ companies rewriting the legal industry We mapped 140+ startups across 11 legal tech markets to discover which markets are gaining momentum, identify investment opportunities, and find potential partners in the legal tech space. Have a great weekend.   I love you.    Anand @asanwal Co-Founder & Exec Chair   P.S. Want to predict the birth of unicorns before they happen? Learn how using CB Insights Mosaic Score. Exclusive Startup Access: 75% Off CB Insights Learn More CB Insights' emerging technology insights platform provides all the analysis and data from this newsletter. Our data is the easiest way to discover and respond to emerging tech.  Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here Copyright © 2025 CB Insights, All rights reserved. 498 7th Avenue, NY, CB Insights, New York,10018 About Us | Update Preferences | Research | Newsletter