AI companies are starting to spend like infrastructure giants.
Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1B to back the physical systems behind AI. Anthropic reportedly signed a $35B cloud deal. SpaceX is bringing turbine production in-house. And OpenAI’s ad business has already reached a $1B annual run rate.
The 5 things worth knowing today:
Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1B to bet on AI infrastructure
ChatGPT’s advertising business has reached a $1B annual run rate
Apple enters a new era under CEO John Ternus
Anthropic reportedly signed a $35B cloud deal with Lambda
The AI infrastructure race is now spreading into energy, hardware and defense
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
At least $693.5M + €19.8M + CHF 300K disclosed across today’s startup rounds
The three biggest rounds:
Ajaib: $270M Series C
Owner: $240M
Adaptyv Biosystems: $40M Series A
Together, those three companies accounted for nearly 80% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.
PRE-SEED
Raff: Riyadh-based retail technology platform connecting consumer brands with retailers raised $1.7M led by Vision Ventures, with participation from 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group, Salman Butt, and others.
S-Transistors: Espoo-based developer of superconducting transistors for scalable and energy-efficient classical and quantum computing raised €2.6M led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from an angel investor.
Azonic: Auckland-based digital intelligence and law enforcement technology startup raised an undisclosed amount from Blackbird Ventures, Antler, Jamie Beaton, Eliot Crowther, and Jovan Pavlicevic.
Diffraqtion: Somerville-based quantum camera platform for defense and space sensing closed a pre-seed round, bringing its total funding to more than $10M. Backers included Lockheed Martin Ventures, Presidio Ventures, SBI US Gateway Fund with Plug and Play, Collaborative Fund, TekVentures, Ground State Ventures, Aether VC, milemark•capital, and ADIN.
SEED
Convergen: Suzhou-based biotechnology company developing targeted protein degradation therapies raised $15M in Seed+ funding led by MPCi, with participation from LAV, BioTrack Capital, and a biotech fund.
Atorie: Los Angeles-based AI-powered luxury fashion and consumer marketplace raised $9.5M in seed funding from a16z speedrun, Night Capital, and Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Molten Salt Solutions: Santa Fe-based provider of enriched stable isotopes for fusion and advanced nuclear markets raised $7M led by Dolby Family Ventures, with participation from Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures, and Future Ventures.
Aila: Riyadh-based AI-powered personalized learning platform for schools and education systems raised $3M in Pre-Series A funding led by Rua Growth Fund, with participation from Jo Academy, 500 Global, Bunat VC, and Fikr Ventures.
Be Clinical: New Delhi-based science-backed D2C skincare startup raised approximately $2.2M in a seed extension led by Sauce, with participation from V3 Ventures, Sangeet Agrawal, Navin Parwal, Arjun Purkayastha, and Shaunak Chirayu Amin.
Leanwatts: Hyderabad-based power electronics and EV charging infrastructure startup raised approximately $2M led by Trivest Partners, with participation from automotive and clean-tech angel investors.
GROWTH
Ajaib: Jakarta-based digital wealth management platform raised $270M in Series C funding from SBI Holdings, which acquired a 20% equity stake in the company.
Owner: San Francisco-based AI-powered technology and marketing platform for local businesses raised $240M led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, and Jack Altman.
Adaptyv Biosystems: Lausanne-based automated wet lab and synthetic biology infrastructure platform raised $40M Series A led by Highland Europe, with participation from Ace Ventures, ByFounders, and Y Combinator.
EIT Pharma: Kirkland-based biotechnology company developing therapies for infectious diseases raised $35M Series A led by Propel Bio Partners, with participation from Good Ventures, Arrowtown, and others.
Lone Palm Labs: San Francisco-based company behind private photo-sharing platform Retro raised more than $21M Series A from Thrive Capital, Scribble Ventures, BoxGroup, Imaginary Ventures, Coalition, Conviction, Copper, Positive Sum, Uncommon Projects, and Figma CEO Dylan Field.
Easy Aerial: New York-based autonomous tethered aerial intelligence and defense systems company raised $20M Series B from Insight Partners, Entrée Capital, and private U.S. investors.
VitalFluid: Eindhoven-based agricultural clean-tech startup spun out from Eindhoven University of Technology raised €17.2M co-led by Invest-NL and Alder Tree Investments, with participation from Horticoop, BOM, Future Food Fund, Graduate Ventures, Innovation Industries, VDL Groep, and Goeie Grutten Impact Fonds.
VIJO Optoelectronics Technology: Suzhou-based Micro LED optical chip and micro-display manufacturer raised approximately $14.1M from Xinhe Capital, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area Seed Investment Fund, Appotronics, Peng Qian, Fibonacci VC, Lanchi Ventures, and iFLYTEK Ventures.
Swvl: Dubai-based technology-driven mobility platform for enterprises and governments raised $13M led by Coefficient LP, with participation from an existing shareholder.
Healf: London-based personalized wellbeing platform raised an undisclosed amount led by SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness, with participation from Pentland Ventures, Ami Capital, IRIS, Active Partners, Sequel, Dara5, Claudia Schiffer, Natalia Vodianova Arnault, Reece James, and Trevoh Chalobah.
📍 Funding Signal
Capital is concentrating at both ends of the market.
Two companies, Ajaib and Owner, absorbed more than $500M of today’s disclosed dollar funding, while the rest of the board spans smaller bets across biotech, quantum computing, nuclear infrastructure, defense, education, clean tech, and consumer AI.
What stands out is the diversity beneath the headline numbers. Investors are not only backing software applications. Capital is moving into wet labs, superconductors, isotopes, Micro LED chips, autonomous aerial systems, and agricultural infrastructure.
The venture market is increasingly splitting into two tracks: large checks for proven platforms with clear scale, and highly specialized early-stage bets on technologies that could create entirely new markets.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
$1.1B closed, with another $200M fund in the works
Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1B for its new Machine Age Fund.
The Menlo Park-based firm plans to invest across the physical infrastructure powering AI, including chips, memory, networking, storage, data centers, robotics, and home AI appliances.
Javelin Venture Partners is raising up to $200M for its sixth fund.
The San Francisco-based early-stage venture firm, which manages more than $600M, backs technology startups built around scalable innovations and high-growth business models.
📍 Capital signal
AI infrastructure is becoming a dedicated venture category of its own. The opportunity is moving beyond models and applications into the physical systems required to run AI at scale, from semiconductors and networking to robotics and data centers.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
ChatGPT ads business reach a $1B annual run rate
OpenAI’s advertising business inside ChatGPT has reached roughly a $1B annual run rate less than 200 days after launch, based on current monthly revenue of about $83M.
OpenAI is now expanding monetization by opening its self-serve Ads Manager across 31 European markets, allowing businesses to launch campaigns directly.
Despite the rapid growth, OpenAI would still need a significant acceleration in ad revenue to reach its reported $2.5B advertising target for 2026.
Why it matters: Advertising could become one of OpenAI’s biggest businesses beyond subscriptions and enterprise software. If ChatGPT develops into a major discovery and commerce platform, it could increasingly compete with Google and Meta for digital ad budgets.
Apple enters a new era under John Ternus
Tim Cook has stepped down as Apple CEO, with longtime hardware chief John Ternus taking over after leading engineering across products including the iPhone, Mac, and AirPods.
Ternus’ appointment signals a stronger focus on product execution and hardware as Apple prepares for an AI era where chips, devices, and on-device computing could become increasingly important.
Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman and continue handling key political and government relationships, including those involving the U.S. and China.
Why it matters: Apple’s leadership transition could redefine its next product cycle. With a hardware veteran now running the company, investors will be watching whether Apple can turn its strengths in devices and silicon into a stronger position in AI.
Pentagon gives 3M personnel access to ChatGPT and Grok
The Pentagon has added ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government to GenAI.mil, its secure AI portal for roughly 3 million civilian and military personnel.
More than 1.7 million people have already used the platform, which also includes Google Gemini and is designed to keep sensitive government data out of ordinary consumer AI systems.
ChatGPT will support tasks like documents, logistics, planning and policy work, while Grok is being positioned for broader operational and supply-chain use.
Why it matters: AI adoption is moving from experimentation to core government infrastructure. The Pentagon is now putting multiple frontier models directly into military workflows, turning defense into one of the biggest institutional markets for AI.
Apple escalates trade secrets fight with OpenAI
Apple says new evidence shows former employee Chang Liu used confidential Apple circuit designs while working at OpenAI and allegedly helped destroy evidence after learning he was under investigation.
Apple claims OpenAI knew Liu had access to sensitive company data and is seeking a preliminary injunction that could restrict OpenAI from developing hardware based on Apple technology while the case continues.
More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, raising the possibility that the dispute could expand beyond a single employee.
Why it matters: If Apple wins an injunction or proves its trade secrets were used, OpenAI’s push into hardware could face delays, legal restrictions, and deeper scrutiny over how aggressively it recruits talent from major technology companies.
AI labs are buying tens of thousands of Macs to train agents
AI companies including OpenAI are reportedly buying tens of thousands of Mac minis and Mac Studios to train and test computer-use agents through reinforcement learning.
Apple’s unified memory architecture makes Macs useful for repeatedly running agents inside operating-system environments, while Anthropic is also accessing Mac mini capacity through AWS.
Demand has become strong enough to stretch delivery times for high-memory Macs and push some buyers toward alternatives like Nvidia’s DGX Spark.
Why it matters: The AI infrastructure boom is expanding beyond traditional data-center GPUs. As computer-use agents grow, Apple could become an unexpected beneficiary by supplying the hardware needed to train and test them.
SpaceX moves turbine blade production in-house for AI data centers
SpaceX plans to manufacture its own turbine blades and vanes, critical components used in gas turbine generators that power large data centers.
Elon Musk says bringing production in-house could cut delivery times by around 18 months and help xAI avoid generator queues that reportedly stretch into 2030.
Turbine blades have become a major bottleneck, with production cycles of 60 to 90 weeks as AI data centers increasingly turn to gas turbines when grid connections are too slow.
Why it matters: The AI race is increasingly constrained by power, not just chips. By controlling more of the energy supply chain, Musk’s companies could build data center capacity faster and reduce dependence on outside infrastructure providers.
Sony and Warner sue Anthropic over copyrighted music
Sony Music Publishing and Warner Music sued Anthropic, alleging it pirated song lyrics and sheet music from artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson to train Claude.
The publishers are seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringed copyright and want a court order preventing Anthropic from using their works.
Anthropic rejected the allegations as recycled claims and says AI training constitutes fair use.
Why it matters: The case adds to mounting legal pressure over how AI companies source training data. A major loss could push frontier labs toward broader licensing agreements with music publishers and other rights holders.
LAST COFFEE SIP
🌎 Around The Ecosystem
OpenAI + EU: The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine under the Digital Services Act, putting it under stricter rules on audits, risk assessments, data sharing, and potential fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue.
Anthropic + Lambda: Anthropic reportedly signed a $35B cloud-computing deal with Nvidia-backed Lambda for a 350MW Texas data center, adding major new compute capacity to support growing demand for Claude.
Zhipu AI: First-half revenue jumped 400% to $142M while its net loss narrowed, as the Chinese AI company expanded lower-cost models, increased R&D spending, and shifted more of its stack toward domestically made chips.
MUST READ
📚 Worth Your Time
Build AI agents without coding: A practical guide for founders on turning Claude from a blank chatbot into a useful personal or business assistant. The piece shows how to use Projects, instructions, files, connectors, and reusable prompts to build agents for daily work, support, sales prep, and content.
The YC seed deck structure: Most founders build decks from random templates. This piece breaks down the repeatable structure used by YC startups that raised $450M+. It also covers the simple design rules that make a deck clear, readable, and easy for investors to understand quickly.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities
Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here
Portfolio Manager | GCO Ventures | Spain | Apply Here
Financial Management Analyst | Duke Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here
Investment Principal | Contrarian Thinking Capital | USA | Apply Here
Incubation Associate, Compute | Primary | USA | Apply Here
Investment Analyst | Mela Ventures | India | Apply Here
Associate, Healthcare | B Capital Group | USA | Apply Here
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