SoftBank secures an upsized $11.87 billion two-year loan from roughly 20 banks for its OpenAI investment, while its shares plunge as much as 13% amid plans to repay $25.9 billion in September and potentially sell up to $20 billion in U.S. junk bonds.
Index Ventures says FOMO-driven AI investing can be viable as startups across models, chips, healthcare, legal and defense command $1 billion-plus valuations, provided founders are solving real customer problems.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company will not pursue an IPO in 2026, calling a listing now “ill-advised” until both its business and society are ready for the technology, despite reported preparations for a late-2026 debut.
Z.AI raises fresh capital by offering 21.97 million shares at HK$714—10% below the prior close—and selling 20.14 billion yuan of zero-coupon bonds due in September 2027, some carrying yields as low as minus 0.5%.
Mach Industries raises a $600 million Series C extension after paying $50 million in cash and equity for Exquadrum, outbidding at least eight suitors and expanding into solid rocket motors through its new Mach Energetics unit.
Alibaba is in talks to lead a $300 million funding round for AI training and benchmarking startup UniPat AI, with Tencent and HSG joining as terms remain subject to change.
Listen Labs stuns the venture world by walking away from a signed $125M Series C term sheet, reportedly driven by Salesforce's ongoing talks to acquire the voice AI startup for approximately $2 billion.
Harvey secures a massive $550M funding round at a $15.5B valuation, now powering 80% of top U.S. law firms as it aggressively expands its AI-driven legal platform globally.
Qualcomm and Amazon ink a landmark $4 billion AI chip deal, with AWS gaining warrants to purchase 25 million Qualcomm shares as part of a multi-generational partnership targeting Nvidia's dominance in the data center market, potentially unlocking up to $60 billion in chip purchases.
French AI startup Mistral secures a record-breaking €3B Series D funding round, valuing the company at over €21B in the largest European tech fundraise ever, just three years after its founding, with Samsung Electronics leading the round to fuel global expansion and sovereign AI development.