Major Anthropic investors including Lightspeed, Iconiq, and Amazon are urging the startup to defuse its clash with the Pentagon over AI safeguards amid fears the government could officially label its technology a supply-chain risk and bar contractors from using it. According to the FT, CEO Dario Amodei is doing his best on this front, including continuing talks with Emil Michael, the former Uber operative who is now Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. Reuters has more here.

Speaking of Anthropic, the U.S. military is still using Claude for targeting decisions in the Iran conflict even as defense contractors and startups rush to replace the system amid the company’s dispute with the Pentagon over AI safeguards. TechCrunch has more here.

At a White House meeting with President Trump, tech executives from companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Oracle, OpenAI, and xAI made a non-binding pledge to fund or build their own power generation for AI data centers to prevent rising electricity costs for consumers. Business Insider has more here.

Kraken has become the first crypto firm to gain access to the Federal Reserve’s core payment system after its Wyoming-chartered banking unit secured a “master account,” allowing it to move funds directly on the same rails used by banks. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei is not happy — perhaps predictably so — with OpenAI chief Sam Altman. In a memo to staff, reported by The Information, Amodei referred to OpenAI’s dealings with the Department of Defense as “safety theater.”

“The main reason [OpenAI] accepted [the DoD’s deal] and we did not is that they cared about placating employees, and we actually cared about preventing abuses,” Amodei wrote.

Last week, Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) failed to come to an agreement over the military’s request for unrestricted access to the AI company’s technology. Anthropic, which already had a $200 million contract with the military, insisted the DoD affirm that it would not use the company’s AI to enable domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry.

Instead, the DoD — known under the Trump administration as the Department of War — struck a deal with OpenAI. Altman stated that his company’s new defense contract would include protections against the same red lines that Anthropic had asserted.

In a letter to staff, Amodei refers to OpenAI’s messaging as “straight up lies,” stating that Altman is falsely “presenting himself as a peacemaker and dealmaker.”

Amodei might not be speaking solely from a position of bitterness, here. Anthropic specifically took issue with the DoD’s insistence on the company’s AI being available for “any lawful use.” OpenAI said in a blog post that its contract allows use of its AI systems for “all lawful purposes.”

“It was clear in our interaction that the DoW considers mass domestic surveillance illegal and was not planning to use it for this purpose,” OpenAI’s blog post stated. “We ensured that the fact that it is not covered under lawful use was made explicit in our contract.”

Arda, a newly founded Pittsburgh startup that builds AI software to automate manufacturing and coordinate robots and human workers on factory floors, is reportedly in the market to raise a $70 million round at a $700 million valuation, with Founders Fund and Accel expected to co-lead and Khosla Ventures and XYZ Venture Capital also contributing. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Decagon, a less-than-three-year-old San Francisco startup that provides AI agents that handle customer support inquiries across chat, email, and voice, completed a tender offer at a $4.5 billion valuation co-led by Coatue, Index, Andreessen Horowitz, Definition, Forerunner, and Ribbit. TechCrunch has more here.

Cart.com, a five-year-old Houston startup that provides software and services for e-commerce operations, including order management, fulfillment, and customer support, raised a $180 million round led by Springcoast Capital Partners, with previous investors PayPal Ventures, Arsenal Growth Equity, Mercury Fund, and Oak HC/FT also participating. More here.

Eight Sleep, an 11-year-old New York company that sells smart mattress accessories that track sleep patterns and adjust temperature during sleep, raised a $50 million Series D round at a $1.5 billion valuation. Tether Investments was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $310+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Neura Robotics, a seven-year-old German startup that develops AI-powered humanoid robots for industrial and home applications, is in the market raising a round of approximately $1.2 billion at a $4.7 billion post-money valuation. Tether is the purported lead. Bloomberg has more here.

Oxa, a 12-year-old company based in Oxford, UK, that develops software that enables vehicles to perform autonomous driving tasks in industrial environments, raised a $103 million round. Investors included National Wealth Fund, NVentures, and bp Ventures. Just Auto has more here.

PLD Space, a 14-year-old company based in Elche, Spain, that is developing rockets and launch systems for sending small satellites into orbit, raised a $209.4 million Series C round led by Mitsubishi Electric, with the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities as well as COFIDES and Nazca Capital also taking stakes. The company has raised a total of $407.2 million. EU-Startups has more here.

Prolium Bioscience, a one-year-old New York startup that develops bispecific antibody therapies targeting B-cells for the treatment of severe autoimmune diseases, raised a $50 million Series A round. Previous investor RTW Investments was the deal lead. More here.

Rift, a six-year-old Dutch startup that develops iron-fuel systems that generate high-temperature heat for industrial processes without direct CO₂ emissions, raised a $96.7 million Series B round led by PGGM, with Invest-NL, Oost NL, Rubio Impact Ventures, BOM, and the Energietransitiefonds Rotterdam also participating. Renewable Energy Magazine has more here.

ArmorCode, a five-year-old Palo Alto startup that unifies and prioritizes security risks across applications, cloud, infrastructure, and AI systems, raised a $16 million round led by Cheyenne Ventures, with Ballistic Ventures, Highland Capital, Sierra Ventures, NGP Capital, Harmonic Growth Partners, Tau Ventures, and Cervin also piling on. The company has raised a total of $81 million. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Crossover Markets, a four-year-old London startup that operates a trading platform that provides institutional investors with spot cryptocurrency trading and liquidity, raised a $31 million Series B round led by Tradeweb Markets, with DRW Venture Capital, Ripple, Virtu Financial, Wintermute Ventures, XTX Markets, and Illuminate Financial also taking part. More here.

Photoncycle, a six-year-old Oslo startup that builds home energy systems that convert surplus solar power into hydrogen for seasonal energy storage, raised a $15 million Series A round co-led by NordicNinja and Voima Ventures and including previous investors Lifeline Ventures, Eviny Ventures, Luminar Ventures, and Momentum. Tech Funding News has more here.

Poplar Therapeutics, a two-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that is working on therapies that target IgE antibodies to treat food allergy and other atopic diseases, raised a $45 million Series A round led by Janus Henderson Investors and including RA Capital, SR One, Vida Ventures, and ArrowMark Partners. More here.

Reclaim Security, a two-year-old Tel Aviv startup that aims to automate the remediation of cybersecurity vulnerabilities across enterprise systems, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Acrew Capital, with QP Ventures and Ibex Investors also joining in. The company has raised a total of $26 million. CTech has more here.

RenoFi, an eight-year-old Philadelphia startup that enables homeowners to finance home renovations through loans based on a property’s after-renovation value, raised a $22 million Series B round led by Fifth Wall, with Progressive Insurance, HighSage Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Flintlock Capital, and Gaingels as well as previous investors Canaan, First Round Capital, Curql, and TruStage Ventures also stepping up. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Shellworks, a six-year-old London startup that develops biodegradable packaging materials made from microbes as an alternative to conventional plastics, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Alter Equity, with NFDG, JamJar, Founder Collective, LocalGlobe, and Third Sphere also chiming in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Zeno, a four-year-old startup that provides electric motorcycles and charging infrastructure for two- and three-wheel vehicles, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Congruent Ventures, with Active Impact and Lowercarbon also engaging. More here.

Confido, a 22-year-old Seattle company that supplies payments and financial infrastructure for law firms and legal technology platforms to accept payments, route funds, and send digital disbursements, raised $9 million across two rounds. The latest financing was led by Aquiline Capital Partners, with additional support from The LegalTech Fund, Breakwater Ventures, and Live Oak Bank as well as previous investor Context Ventures. More here.

EGI Battery, a one-year-old startup based in Ann Arbor, MI, that develops and manufactures high-performance lithium-ion batteries for aerospace, unmanned systems, robotics, and critical infrastructure applications, raised a $10 million seed round led by TSV Capital. More here.

Multitude Insights, a five-year-old startup based in Watertown, MA, that enables law enforcement agencies to share, analyze, and search intelligence across jurisdictions in real-time, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Primary Venture Partners, with Commonweal Ventures, Counterview Capital, VSC Ventures, NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, Alumni Ventures, and E62 Ventures also pitching in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

NextWork, a three-year-old Austin and New Zealand startup whose platform enables users to learn AI skills by building hands-on projects and publishing proof-of-work portfolios, raised a $4.45 million seed round. Shakti VC was the deal lead, with Cake Ventures, GD1 VC, Blackbird Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, and Phase One Ventures also investing. More here.

UnityAI, a three-year-old Nashville startup that offers AI agents that help healthcare teams manage tasks such as patient scheduling, intake, insurance verification, and patient outreach, raised an $8.5 million Series A round led by Third Prime, with previous investors Nashville Capital Network, Whistler Capital Partners, Max Ventures, and Company Ventures also digging in. The company has raised a total of $15 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

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Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, a16z crypto, is raising a fifth fund targeting about $2 billion, less than half its $4.5 billion 2022 vehicle, as the firm returns to fundraising during a downturn in blockchain markets. Fortune has more here.

Luckin Coffee, a nine-year-old Beijing-based coffee chain with more than 16,000 stores in China, acquired Blue Bottle Coffee, a 24-year-old specialty coffee roaster and café operator based in Oakland, CA, from Nestlé for a price rumored to be under $400 million. Nestlé paid $425 million for a 68% stake in Blue Bottle back in 2017 after the company raised $100+ million from Index Ventures, Slow Ventures, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, True Ventures, and others. Seoul Economic Daily has more here.

OpenAI has hired two law firms — Cooley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz — to begin preparing for an IPO that could come as soon as this year, according to The Information, which calls it the first concrete step toward a public listing that could rank among the largest in history.

PhonePe, a Bengaluru fintech company that runs India’s most widely used digital payments platform, is targeting a $9 billion to $10.5 billion valuation in an IPO expected to raise $900+ million. Walmart plans to trim its stake, while Microsoft and Tiger Global are set to exit. Reuters has more here.

Whoop, a 14-year-old Boston company that makes screenless fitness trackers and a subscription health platform, plans to expand its workforce by 75% and add more than 600 employees as it pushes growth ahead of a potential IPO in the next two years. Bloomberg has more here.

At a Morgan Stanley conference, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the chip giant’s recent investments in OpenAI and Anthropic are likely its last, citing their expected IPOs. The move comes amid rising tensions between the two AI firms and scrutiny of Nvidia’s role in the ecosystem. TechCrunch has more here.

It turns out that President Trump privately met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shortly before publicly backing the crypto industry in its lobbying fight with banks over stablecoin rewards, an issue that has stalled a major digital asset bill in the Senate. POLITICO has more here.

An entity tied to Google cofounder Sergey Brin purchased a $51 million waterfront mansion on Miami’s Allison Island, the latest in a wave of recent South Florida real estate buys by tech billionaires including Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg. Business Insider has more here.

Naoko Takeda, a data scientist at Block, quit a day after surviving the company’s 40% layoffs, rejecting a retention package with a roughly 90% pay increase. “So 40% of employees had no choice but to take the severance and leave,” she posted. “The remaining 60% of us were offered fat paychecks to stick around and clean up the mess our ‘leadership’ created, all so we can continue contributing to a future where AI leaves us all unemployed. No thanks, I’m out!” Fast Company has more here.

A wrongful-death lawsuit claims Google’s Gemini chatbot convinced a 36-year-old Florida man it was his wife, sent him on missions to secure a robotic body, and later urged him to commit suicide so they could reunite digitally. TechCrunch has more here.

Polymarket has removed markets letting users bet on whether a nuclear weapon would detonate after criticism that traders could profit from advance knowledge of military actions, as regulators consider banning prediction contracts tied to war and terrorism. CoinDesk has more here.

According to a report in The Information, OpenAI is developing an internal alternative to GitHub that could reduce its reliance on Microsoft and potentially expand into a commercial code repository integrated with its coding tools. PYMNTS has more here.

A 22-year-old Staples print specialist known online as the “Staples Baddie” has gained hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers with ASMR-style videos about office supplies, with the company saying the viral posts are driving measurable increases in store traffic and product sales.

A viral video of McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski awkwardly taking a bite of the chain’s new Big Arch burger drew millions of views and online mockery, prompting Burger King to post a 13-second clip of its president eating a Whopper.

Jon Hamm gives Esquire a preview of Your Friends and Neighbors’ second season, which debuts on April 3rd.

The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park is offering a “Curtain Call” package that brings two Broadway performers into guests’ suites for a private 60-minute concert of songs from shows like Hamilton and Wicked, followed by a meet-and-greet.

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