OpenAI announced the close of a $122 billion funding round that lifts its post‑money valuation to $852 billion. The round adds $3 billion from retail investors and includes major strategic backers such as Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank and Microsoft. The company reported $2 billion in monthly revenue and 900 million weekly active users, but remains unprofitable and is scaling back experimental projects like the Sora video app. CEO Sam Altman now faces pressure to justify the valuation as the firm pivots toward practical, revenue‑generating AI products. Read more →

Physical Intelligence, a San Francisco robotics startup, is reportedly in early-stage discussions to raise about $1 billion at a valuation exceeding $11 billion. The prospective round could involve Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and existing investors Thrive Capital and Lux Capital. The company, founded two years ago, focuses on building general-purpose AI models that enable robots to perform a wide range of tasks, from laundry folding to vegetable peeling. Co-founders Sergey Levine and Lachy Groom emphasize an unlimited compute approach and have no set commercialization timeline, a stance that appears acceptable to their backers. Read more →