Austin-based Circuit, an AI startup co-founded by former Silicon Labs CEO Tyson Tuttle, raised $30 million from angel investors to build AI software for manufacturing and service operations.

Why it matters: It's one of Texas' largest angel rounds — an early-stage phase where individual investors pitch in — and a bet that AI can help manufacturers capture and scale institutional knowledge.

The big picture: Manufacturers and service companies rely heavily on know-how that often lives in scattered manuals — or in the heads of veteran employees.

• A Deloitte study from 2024 estimates that as many as 1.9 million open manufacturing jobs could be left unfilled by 2033.
• Andrew Peters, Circuit co-founder and chief product and revenue officer, points to recent comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley, who said his company has 5,000 factory-floor roles paying more than six figures that it cannot fill.

What they're saying: "You've got leaders in this space ringing the bell," Peters tells Axios.

• "If we don't figure this out, it's going to be really hard for these sectors of the economy that are crucial to us as a nation."

How it works: Circuit's AI software turns technical manuals and other documentation into step-by-step workflows to guide a team through troubleshooting, quoting and field work, Peters says.

• Circuit customers include Austin-based wholesale furniture maker Four Hands and water treatment company Culligan.

Zoom in: Tuttle, Peters and other co-founders have been building Circuit over the past 18 months, growing the team to roughly 30 employees who work out of a house in Clarksville.

Follow the money: Circuit's $30 million raise stands out in a market where angel group investments often top out in the low millions.

What's next: The company plans to use the angel round to expand its product roadmap and scale its go-to-market operations, including regional sales hires, according to Peters.

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Austin-area children detained with their parents at a South Texas immigration facility describe missing basic comforts and feeling trapped, per letters published this month by ProPublica.

The big picture: The letters give a window into life inside the immigration detention center in Dilley — and how some of the hundreds of children there are faring.

Zoom in: Mia Valentina Paz Faria, a 7-year-old Venezuelan child who was living in Austin before being detained for 70 days, wrote: "I don't want to be in this place."

• "I want to go to my school, I miss my grandparents, I miss my friends, I don't like the food here, I miss my school, I don't like being here."

A 12-year-old Venezuelan child, who signed their name as Ender, wrote that they've been in the center for two months. Ender was living in Austin before they were detained.

• "I arrived here for an immigration appointment and I don't think they should grab immigrants who are innocent, like instead of grabbing criminals ..." Ender wrote.

CoreCivic, the private company that runs the detention center, tells ProPublica the center is "subject to multiple layers of oversight to ensure full compliance with policies and procedures, including any applicable detention standards."

Context: ICE's Dilley facility is designed to hold families together while immigration cases move forward — sometimes for weeks or months.

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🎬 A new documentary, "Lone Star Three," highlights how University of Texas students contributed to the Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationally until it was overturned. (KUT)

🍽️ L'Oca d'Oro is hosting a dinner series to support displaced immigrants in the community. (CultureMap Austin)

⭐️ Leander is moving forward with an application to become an International Dark Sky Place to protect the area's night skies. (Community Impact)

🛑 Austin-based longevity doctor Peter Attia has resigned as a CBS News contributor following the publication of his correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein. (Austin American-Statesman)

As lab-grown diamonds make large, bright white stones more accessible, consumers are finding appeal in stones once considered imperfect.

What they're saying: "When everyone can have a big rock, people start looking for other ways to stand out," says Kegan Fisher, CEO of jeweler Frank Darling, which opened a store in Austin last summer.

State of play: The Clear Cut, an online natural diamond jeweler, has seen a 115% jump in sales of faint- to very-light yellow stones over the past year, CEO Olivia Landau tells Axios.

• That's a big shift. "Historically and typically, we've only sold diamonds in the … colorless to near-colorless range."

Follow the money: In natural stones especially, warmer diamonds offer a "bolder look at a much lower price point than their icy-white counterparts," Fisher tells Axios.

Yes, but: Price isn't the only factor. Buyers are also drawn to the "charm" and aesthetic of warmer diamonds, Landau says.

• Landau points to the popularity of antique stones, like Taylor Swift's, which tend to fall in the lower color range.

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To mark the Lunar New Year, we asked you last week about your favorite Chinese restaurants — and your go-to dishes.

Liz P. recommends Chen's Noodle House ("the best sesame bun"), in northwest Austin, and Julie's Noodles ("amazing soup dumplings"), on Research Boulevard.

• "Both are holes in the wall which makes it all the more charming," she writes.

Choice K. suggests Twin Lion on Braker Lane.

• "I usually do a take-out of the large wonton soup, an order of veggie fried rice and two veggie eggrolls. My wife, Trudy, loves the General Tso's chicken. Excellent food. Friendly staff."

Nancy K. suggests "any of Chef Ling's restaurants, but especially Ling Kitchen" — also on Research Boulevard — "for her tasting menu."

• "It's always changing, so no one favorite, but the dim sum menu is ... the best we've had in the U.S. outside of San Francisco."

Tracie Tracey — yes, we checked, that's a real name, ("I married it, then unmarried it, but the name is such a great icebreaker," Tracie tells us) — writes with this tidbit: "While Facebook is old school, there's a fabulous, very active group 'ATX Asian Food.'"

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