☕ OpenAI burned $3.7 billion in Q1 & SpaceX buys Cursor in $60B stocks deal.
ChatGPT’s market share slips below 50% for first time & Nvidia is raising at least $20 billion through bonds.
Breaking News
SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60B in stock just days after its IPO, giving the company a major foothold in AI software as it expands beyond rockets, satellites, and infrastructure. The deal highlights how valuable AI coding tools have become, with Cursor previously preparing a new funding round at a $50B valuation and attracting backing from top investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, and Nvidia.
OpenAI reportedly burned $3.7B in Q1 2026 despite generating $5.7B in revenue, underscoring the enormous cost of competing in the AI race. The figures show that even the fastest-growing AI companies are spending billions on compute, data centers, talent, and model development, raising questions about how quickly AI leaders can turn massive adoption into sustainable profitability.
FROM OUR PARTNER - VENTURE CURATOR
Most AI companies are building on rented intelligence
Many AI products look impressive today.
But if switching from OpenAI to another model would break your product, you may not actually own your AI advantage.
That’s the idea behind what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls token capital - the proprietary data, workflows, feedback loops, and institutional knowledge your company owns and compounds over time.
The companies creating lasting value aren’t just using AI. They’re building systems that get smarter with every customer interaction and can survive any model change underneath.
If you’re building an AI startup, this is one of the most important strategic questions you can ask yourself:
Do you own the intelligence, or are you just renting it?
PARTNERSHIP WITH US
🤝 Get your startup in front of 120,000+ audience.
Our newsletter is read by 120,000+ of tech professionals, founders, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and managers around the world. Get in touch today.
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Optiak, a Madrid-based modular operating system for enterprise AI, raised €4M ($4.7M) in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Market One Capital, Next Tier Ventures, EA Ventures, Plug and Play EMEA Fund, and Mission.
Crest, a Mumbai-based AI-native fractional family office and wealth management platform, raised $3.1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by BEENEXT, with participation from Sparrow, Shastra VC, DeVC, Warmup Ventures, Atrium Ventures, 91ventures, and over 40 angel investors from India and the UAE.
SEED
Mantle Energy, a Dallas-based activated geothermal and enhanced energy recovery platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by 17Shoals, Inc.
Ent, a San Francisco-based intent-aware workspace security company, raised $100M in Seed funding. The round was led by Decibel, with participation from Sequoia, Crosspoint Capital Partners, Craft Ventures, Shield Capital, Felicis, and In-Q-Tel (IQT).
Magnitude, a San Francisco-based autonomous governance and defense platform for third- and Nth-party risk management, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ballistic Ventures.
Cortea, a Berlin-based AI quality layer platform for audit firms, raised €12M in Seed funding. The round was led by Dawn Capital, with participation from Cherry Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, and angel investors including Larry Bradley.
Rainbow Crops, a Ghent-based agtech company engineering complex crop traits, raised €9.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by LIFTT, with participation from Agri Investment Fund (AIF), PINC, VIB, Corteva Catalyst, and Maia Ventures.
GROWTH
AttoTude, a Menlo Park-based AI infrastructure interconnect technology company, raised $52M in Series C funding. The round was led by The Westly Group, with participation from Keysight, Allegis Capital, DNX, Sutter Hill Ventures, Mayfield, Canaan, and Wing Venture Capital.
Sarvam, a Bengaluru-based sovereign AI and frontier model company, raised $234M in the first close of its Series B round at a $1.5B valuation. The round was led by HCLTech, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Peak XV Partners.
Aston Power, a Raleigh-based power delivery and energy infrastructure platform for data centers, raised $20M in equity funding. The round was led by TDK Ventures and Building Ventures, with participation from JLL Spark Global Ventures.
Copia Automation, a NYC-based industrial code management and resiliency company, raised $26M in additional funding, bringing total funding to $55M. The round was led by AE Ventures and Squadra Ventures, with participation from KAS Venture Partners, Construct Capital, Lux Capital, Ironspring Ventures, and Renegade Partners.
SpliSense, a Jerusalem-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, raised up to $13M in funding. The round was led by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Bland, a San Francisco-based voice AI platform for production-grade AI agents, raised $50M in Series C funding. The round was led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from HubSpot Ventures, Archerman Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, Emergence Capital, Upfront Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Max Levchin, Piotr Dąbkowski, and Jeff Lawson.
Limitless Labs, a Tel Aviv-based Agentic Physical AI platform for CAD/CAM, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Dell Technologies Capital and Square Peg, with participation from Grove Ventures, Meron Capital, and Kinetica.
Atom Computing, a Berkeley-based quantum computing company, raised $100M in Series C funding. The round was led by Third Point Ventures, with participation from DCVC, Cisco Investments, and others.
Kimba, a NYC-based sleep technology company, raised $6.5M in funding. The round was led by Selva Ventures.
Rejoni, a Bedford-based uterine health company, raised $25M in funding. Backers included Clavyst Bio, Amed Ventures, Ascension Ventures, Catalyst Health Ventures, Delos Capital, FemHealth Ventures, Iyengar Capital, and Sparta Group.
HeyMilo AI, a NYC-based agentic recruiting platform, raised $6M in funding. Backers included Category Ventures, with participation from Canaan Partners, Alumni Ventures, and ERA.
Foundation Alloy, a Boston-based metallurgical technology company, raised $22M in Series A funding. The round was led by Voyager Ventures, with participation from Trust Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, America’s Frontier Fund, Overlap Holdings, Material Impact, Engine Ventures, and El Cap.
Lightbringer, a Malmö-based AI-powered patent platform, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by 6 Degrees Capital and Newion, alongside existing investors Luminar Ventures and Alliance VC.
Power.Win, a crypto-native gaming and entertainment platform, emerged from stealth with $5M in funding. The round was led by Polychain Capital.
eMabler, a Helsinki-based EV charging platform, raised €5.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Greencode Ventures, with participation from Swiss Post Ventures, Rethink Ventures, and Helkama Kiinteistöt.
Respond.io, a Kuala Lumpur-based social-to-conversational commerce platform, raised $62M in Series B funding. The round was led by Camber Partners, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and existing investors.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Animal Capital, a NYC-based early-stage venture capital firm, closed Animal Capital Fund III, at $33m. The closing represents an increase from the firm’s $13m Fund I and $16m Fund II. LPs include Paris Hilton, Kevin Mayer, Justin Kan, Gary Cohn, Rich Miner, Jason Karp, Pete Davidson, Mark Wahlberg, Christina Aguilera, James Corden, Taylor Fritz and Mr. Beast.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
SpaceX buys Cursor in $60B deal to supercharge AI ambitions
SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in stock, just days after its record-breaking IPO, as it looks to strengthen its AI division and compete more aggressively with leading AI labs.
Cursor was one of the fastest-growing AI coding startups, reportedly preparing a new funding round at a $50 billion valuation, with strong backing from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, and Nvidia.
The acquisition gives SpaceX a major foothold in AI software as it pursues a massive AI opportunity it outlined during its IPO, where the company claimed AI could represent more than $26 trillion of its long-term market potential.
ChatGPT loses majority market share as AI competition heats up
ChatGPT’s share of the AI assistant market has fallen below 50% for the first time, dropping to 46.4% as rivals like Gemini (27.7%) and Claude (10.3%) continue gaining users.
While ChatGPT remains the largest AI assistant with more than 1.1 billion monthly users, users are increasingly switching between platforms, with factors such as ecosystem integration, productivity performance, and brand perception influencing adoption.
The broader AI app market continues to grow rapidly, with users projected to spend over $4.2 billion on AI apps in the first half of 2026, while Anthropic stands out for converting 13% of users into paying subscribers - the highest rate among major AI assistants.
Anthropic’s clash with Washington may be boosting demand
Anthropic overtook OpenAI in business AI subscription share during May, capturing 41% of tracked enterprise spending compared to OpenAI’s 39.5%, according to Ramp data.
Despite being forced to suspend access to its newest Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models following a U.S. government directive, Anthropic continues to see strong business adoption, particularly for its Claude Opus models and coding-focused tools.
Some analysts believe the government dispute may actually strengthen Anthropic’s reputation among customers, reinforcing the perception that its most advanced models are uniquely powerful and valuable for enterprise use cases.
Nvidia joins the AI debt boom
Nvidia is raising at least $20 billion through bonds, its first such sale since 2021, joining other tech companies that have taken on debt to fund the AI buildout, Bloomberg reports.
The chipmaker is offering the bonds in seven tranches with maturities running from two to 30 years, and the longest tranche carries a spread of about 0.9 percentage points above U.S. Treasuries.
Nvidia plans to use the money for general corporate purposes, including refinancing existing debt, with JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs among the banks managing the sale.
Robinhood layoffs signal AI-era efficiency without saying AI
Robinhood is cutting 10% of its workforce, or about 290 employees, but notably avoided explicitly blaming AI, instead describing the move as a broader organizational restructuring.
CEO Vlad Tenev emphasized the need for leaner teams, flatter structures, and greater individual impact, echoing a growing trend among tech companies that are reducing management layers and operating with smaller teams.
The layoffs come despite strong business performance, with Robinhood reporting revenue growth, rising subscription income, and stronger trading activity, highlighting how many profitable tech firms are prioritizing efficiency as AI-related costs and investments continue to rise.
SpaceX briefly overtakes Amazon as valuation surges
SpaceX’s market value briefly climbed to $2.9 trillion, surpassing Amazon and nearly catching Microsoft, fueled by strong post-IPO momentum and its announced acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor.
The rally comes despite SpaceX reporting a $4.9 billion loss on $18.7 billion in revenue last year, as investors bet heavily on its future AI ambitions, compute leasing deals, and expanding business lines.
Since its IPO, SpaceX has added roughly $1 trillion in value, with limited public float and heavy trading activity contributing to significant stock price volatility.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Facebook’s new AI knows more about you than you think
Facebook is rolling out “AI Mode,” a new way to search the platform using Meta AI, which pulls answers from public posts across Facebook, including Groups and Reels, instead of showing a list of results.
Rather than scrolling through search results, users can ask a question in plain language and get a synthesized answer based on what people are actively discussing across the platform.
Because the AI summarizes content from everyday users instead of vetted sources, there’s a real risk of outdated or misleading information slipping through, a concern already raised about Google’s own AI Mode on Reddit.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities
Most aspiring VCs struggle with interviews, unclear expectations, no structured prep, and generic advice that doesn’t actually help. So we partnered with a leading investor group to build an all-in-one VC Interview Preparation Guide that gives you real clarity and frameworks. (Access Here)
Investment Team - Antler | Germany - Apply Here
Chief of Staff - AlpenGlow Venture | USA - Apply Here
Associate, Venture Capital - Artha Venture Partner | USA - Apply Here
Investor (Senior Associate/Principal) - Square Peg | USA - Apply Here
Head of Entegris Ventures - Entegris Venture | USA - Apply Here
Founding Investor - Discipulus Ventures | USA - Apply Here
Investor - Starfire Venture | USA - Apply Here
Senior Analyst - ICONIQUE Capital | USA - Apply Here
Venture AI & Operations Specialist - Blum Venture | Austria - Apply Here
WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:
💁 You might need our help!
Reach 120,000+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.
Build Your Pitch Deck: We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days.
Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund? Please email us.
We’ll be back in your inbox on Tomorrow.