US venture capital hit a record $412.7 billion in the first half of 2026, but AI companies absorbed 86% of that capital, and deals over $100 million accounted for 91% of total investment, leaving non-…
Andra Keay's June 2026 robotics funding roundup counted 136 rounds totaling $6.57 billion, with defense investments driving large checks. Keay cautioned that 33% of entries lacked reported amounts and…
OpenAI has taken an equity stake in Thrive Holdings, a permanent capital vehicle launched by Thrive Capital, to acquire and rewire accounting and IT firms with AI. The deal embeds OpenAI research team…
Thrive Holdings is raising $2 billion from SoftBank, Altimeter, and D1 Capital Partners to acquire and rebuild services firms with AI, marking its first outside funding round. The roll-up strategy foc…
The Federal Trade Commission fast-tracked Elon Musk's acquisition of Mesh Optical Technologies, granting early termination of an antitrust review, while the same agency spent years investigating his T…
The Federal Trade Commission cleared Elon Musk to acquire Mesh Optical Technologies, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineers that makes optical transceivers for AI data centers. The startup, whic…
Google invests approximately $75 million in independent film studio A24, marking its first direct stake in a film studio. Under the agreement, A24 will collaborate with Google DeepMind to develop and …
Defense tech startups have raised $14.6 billion in venture capital through May 2026, surpassing 2025's full-year record, driven by AI advancements and Pentagon support. Major deals include Anduril's $…
XDOF, a robotics data infrastructure startup founded by Philipp Wu, Fred Shentu, and Nemo Jin, emerged from stealth on June 17 with $70 million in funding from Thrive Capital, Spark Capital, and Andre…
OpenAI plans to relaunch its robotics program, highlighting a race among AI labs to train physical-world machines. Startup XDOF, emerging from stealth with $70 million in funding, aims to solve the da…
SpaceX acquired AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in stock just days after its record-breaking IPO, using its surging share price as a near-costless acquisition currency. The deal, the largest …
Isomorphic Labs, the AI drug discovery startup spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021, raised a new $2.1 billion Series B led by Thrive Capital to scale its computing power and drug development programs.…