Anthropic has retained law firm Wilson Sonsini to begin preparations for an initial public offering that could occur as early as 2026. The AI startup is running an internal checklist and exploring a new funding round that might value the company at over $300 billion. While no underwriter has been selected, the firm is in talks with investment banks and continues to build on its recent $13 billion raise that set its valuation at $183 billion. The move comes as peers such as OpenAI are also testing IPO waters. Read more →

Databricks is reportedly in early-stage discussions to secure new capital that would place the data intelligence firm at a valuation of at least $130 billion, according to The Information. The company has not signed a term sheet yet. This potential round would represent a valuation increase of roughly 30% compared with its $100 billion valuation from the recent $1 billion Series J round. CEO Ali Ghodsi previously said the funds would support a database for AI agents and an AI agent platform. Databricks also recently acquired open‑source database startup Neon for $1 billion, reflecting its aggressive push into the $105 billion database market and the growing share of AI‑generated databases. Read more →

Gamma, the AI‑powered platform that creates presentations, websites and social media posts, announced a $68 million Series B round that lifts its valuation to $2.1 billion. Led by Andreessen Horowitz, the round also includes participation from Accel, Uncork Capital and other existing investors. Co‑founder and CEO Grant Lee said the company has reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue on a profitable basis and now serves roughly 70 million users. The funding will support further product development and global expansion. Read more →

The Bank of England has cautioned that AI‑related stock valuations have reached their highest levels since the dot‑com surge of the late 1990s. While current price‑to‑earnings ratios appear less extreme when based on future profit expectations, the central bank notes that increasing concentration within market indices leaves equity markets especially vulnerable if enthusiasm for AI wanes. The BoE draws parallels to the 2000 dot‑com peak, highlighting the rapid rise and steep fall of the Nasdaq during that era and warning that similar dynamics could unfold for AI‑focused equities. Read more →

OpenAI sold $6.6 billion worth of shares held by current and former employees, a transaction that lifted its valuation to $500 billion, the highest ever for a privately held firm. The sale, which involved investors such as SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, MGX and T. Rowe Price, was not a traditional funding round because the proceeds went directly to shareholders. The move comes amid heightened competition with Meta’s AI lab, recent large‑scale funding rounds, and strategic partnerships with Oracle, Nvidia and Microsoft, while the company continues to roll out new products like the Sora 2 video model. Read more →

Enterprise AI model maker Cohere announced a $100 million extension to its recent financing, pushing its valuation to $7 billion. The company also unveiled a partnership with AMD, enabling its Command-family models to run on AMD Instinct GPUs while maintaining support for Nvidia hardware. Co‑founder Aidan Gomez, noted for his role in the original transformer paper, highlighted the focus on enterprise customers seeking AI sovereignty. New investors include the Business Development Bank of Canada and Nexxus Capital Management. The announcement was made at a TechCrunch event in San Francisco. Read more →

Anthropic, the AI startup behind Claude, announced a completed funding round of $13 billion that lifts its post‑money valuation to $183 billion. The company reported that its run‑word revenue surged from about $1 billion to more than $5 billion in less than nine months and that it now serves over 300,000 business customers. Large‑account customers increased sevenfold, and the Claude Code product generated over $500 million in run‑rate revenue, with usage growing more than tenfold since its full launch. The round was led by ICONIQ, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Qatar Investment Authority, TPG, Altimeter, Blackstone, Coatue and General Catalyst. Read more →

French AI startup Mistral AI is finalizing a €2 billion investment that places the company at a post‑money valuation of $14 billion. The two‑year‑old OpenAI rival, founded by former DeepMind and Meta researchers, builds open‑source language models and the Le Chat chatbot for European users. While the firm declined to comment, the round marks its first major raise since a June 2024 financing that valued it at €5.8 billion. Mistral has previously secured over €1 billion from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, amid a surge in European AI funding. Read more →

Tesla’s board has unveiled a compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk's pay that could reach $1 trillion if a series of ambitious targets are met. The plan hinges on delivering 20 million vehicles in total, operating 1 million robotaxis, producing 1 million Optimus robots, and signing up 10 million Full Self‑Driving subscriptions. It also requires the company to achieve an $8.5 trillion market valuation and outlines succession and political‑involvement safeguards. Shareholders will decide on the package at a forthcoming meeting. Read more →

Replit announced a $250 million financing round that lifts its valuation to $3 billion. The round was led by Prysm Capital with participation from Amex Ventures and Google’s AI Futures Fund, while earlier backers such as Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coatue also took part. The company reports an annualized revenue surge from $2.8 million to $150 million in less than a year, surpassing the $100 million ARR reported in June. Replit’s deep ties to Google Cloud and its recent inclusion on Microsoft Azure highlight its expanding platform ecosystem. Read more →

AI chip startup Groq announced a $750 million financing that lifts its post‑money valuation to $6.9 billion. The round, led by Disruptive with participation from BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners and existing backers such as Samsung, Cisco and Altimeter, more than doubles the company’s valuation from a year ago. Groq’s LPUs – marketed as inference engines – are positioned as a non‑GPU alternative for AI workloads, and the firm now claims to power the AI applications of over two million developers. Read more →

Anthropic, the AI startup behind Claude, announced a completed funding round of $13 billion that lifts its post‑money valuation to $183 billion. The company reported that its run‑word revenue surged from about $1 billion to more than $5 billion in less than nine months and that it now serves over 300,000 business customers. Large‑account customers increased sevenfold, and the Claude Code product generated over $500 million in run‑rate revenue, with usage growing more than tenfold since its full launch. The round was led by ICONIQ, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Qatar Investment Authority, TPG, Altimeter, Blackstone, Coatue and General Catalyst. Read more →

Anthropic, the AI startup behind Claude, announced a completed funding round of $13 billion that lifts its post‑money valuation to $183 billion. The company reported that its run‑word revenue surged from about $1 billion to more than $5 billion in less than nine months and that it now serves over 300,000 business customers. Large‑account customers increased sevenfold, and the Claude Code product generated over $500 million in run‑rate revenue, with usage growing more than tenfold since its full launch. The round was led by ICONIQ, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Qatar Investment Authority, TPG, Altimeter, Blackstone, Coatue and General Catalyst. Read more →

French AI startup Mistral AI is finalizing a €2 billion investment that places the company at a post‑money valuation of $14 billion. The two‑year‑old OpenAI rival, founded by former DeepMind and Meta researchers, builds open‑source language models and the Le Chat chatbot for European users. While the firm declined to comment, the round marks its first major raise since a June 2024 financing that valued it at €5.8 billion. Mistral has previously secured over €1 billion from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, amid a surge in European AI funding. Read more →

French AI startup Mistral AI is finalizing a €2 billion investment that places the company at a post‑money valuation of $14 billion. The two‑year‑old OpenAI rival, founded by former DeepMind and Meta researchers, builds open‑source language models and the Le Chat chatbot for European users. While the firm declined to comment, the round marks its first major raise since a June 2024 financing that valued it at €5.8 billion. Mistral has previously secured over €1 billion from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, amid a surge in European AI funding. Read more →

Tesla’s board has unveiled a compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk's pay that could reach $1 trillion if a series of ambitious targets are met. The plan hinges on delivering 20 million vehicles in total, operating 1 million robotaxis, producing 1 million Optimus robots, and signing up 10 million Full Self‑Driving subscriptions. It also requires the company to achieve an $8.5 trillion market valuation and outlines succession and political‑involvement safeguards. Shareholders will decide on the package at a forthcoming meeting. Read more →

Tesla’s board has unveiled a compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk's pay that could reach $1 trillion if a series of ambitious targets are met. The plan hinges on delivering 20 million vehicles in total, operating 1 million robotaxis, producing 1 million Optimus robots, and signing up 10 million Full Self‑Driving subscriptions. It also requires the company to achieve an $8.5 trillion market valuation and outlines succession and political‑involvement safeguards. Shareholders will decide on the package at a forthcoming meeting. Read more →

Replit announced a $250 million financing round that lifts its valuation to $3 billion. The round was led by Prysm Capital with participation from Amex Ventures and Google’s AI Futures Fund, while earlier backers such as Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coatue also took part. The company reports an annualized revenue surge from $2.8 million to $150 million in less than a year, surpassing the $100 million ARR reported in June. Replit’s deep ties to Google Cloud and its recent inclusion on Microsoft Azure highlight its expanding platform ecosystem. Read more →

Replit announced a $250 million financing round that lifts its valuation to $3 billion. The round was led by Prysm Capital with participation from Amex Ventures and Google’s AI Futures Fund, while earlier backers such as Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coatue also took part. The company reports an annualized revenue surge from $2.8 million to $150 million in less than a year, surpassing the $100 million ARR reported in June. Replit’s deep ties to Google Cloud and its recent inclusion on Microsoft Azure highlight its expanding platform ecosystem. Read more →

AI chip startup Groq announced a $750 million financing that lifts its post‑money valuation to $6.9 billion. The round, led by Disruptive with participation from BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners and existing backers such as Samsung, Cisco and Altimeter, more than doubles the company’s valuation from a year ago. Groq’s LPUs – marketed as inference engines – are positioned as a non‑GPU alternative for AI workloads, and the firm now claims to power the AI applications of over two million developers. Read more →