In the ongoing race to build the best and smartest applications that tap into the advances of artificial intelligence, a startup out of London has raised a large round of funding to double down on solving persistent problems in areas like healthcare and energy. BenevolventAI announced today that it has raised $115 million to continue developing its core "AI brain" as well as different arms of the company that are using it specifically to break new ground in drug development and more. This venture round values the company at $2.1 billion post-money, its founder and executive chairman Ken Mulvaney confirmed to TechCrunch. Investors in this round include previous backer Woodford Investment Management, and while Mulvaney said the company was not disclosing the names of any other investors, he added it was a mix of family offices and some strategic backers, with a majority coming from the U.S., but would not specify any more. Notably, BenevolentAI does not have any backing from more traditional VCs, which more generally have been doubling down on investments in AI startups.

Fortnite, an online game that combines kill-em-all thrill with the whimsy of a cartoon dreamland, has become an obsession for many teenagers. Fortnite, an online game that combines kill-em-all thrill with the whimsy of a cartoon dreamland, has become an obsession among teenagers. Fans gathered on Friday at Gamers Paradise in River Vale to play the post-apocalyptic game together. On one day this winter, more than 3.4 million people around the globe played online video game Fortnite simultaneously. And many of them were teens.

The chances of a government shutdown just went up. After all of the news over the past week -- North Korea, the special congressional election in Georgia, the White House trying to resuscitate health care (again) -- this could be the story that drives the weekend and next week: The chances of a government shutdown just increased. "White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Thursday that he hopes to use negotiations to keep the government open past April 28 in an effort to force Democrats to back some funding for creating a new wall along the U.S.-Mexico border," the Washington Post writes. "Mulvaney said the White House would be open to funding some of the Democrats' priorities -- such as paying insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act -- if Democrats agree to fund some of the more controversial parts of President Trump's agenda, notably the border wall." If this is the White House's position, it could be precarious: Democrats (and even some Republicans) are opposed to spending money for Trump's border wall.

Silicon Valley and Washington are gearing up for an important year on tech policy. President-elect Donald TrumpDonald TrumpScarborough Twitter storm over New Year's Eve party stretches into second day Spicer: 'Zero evidence' Russia influenced election Bolton: Putin needs to change before relations with Russia can improve MORE and a GOP Congress are taking power and could revisit a number of controversial regulations, with net neutrality high on that list. Silicon Valley had high hopes for comprehensive immigration reform in the coming year, with the tech-backed lobbying group FWD.us pushing for action. But those hopes were dashed with Trump's election. The president-elect vowed to build a wall on the Mexican border and floated a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Tech groups have long pushed for policies that would make it easier for companies to attract workers.