Looking forward to seeing some of you Thursday night at our SF event, with Replit CEO Amjad Masad, Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga, Forum AI CEO Campbell Brown, Eclipse founder Lior Susan, and our co-host for the evening, Nicholas Sauvage of TDK Ventures. We love these nights, and we’re also excited to ask a whole bunch of questions alongside our colleagues Marina Temkin and Tim Fernholz. If you miss this one, there are others! Our next stops are in Athens, on May 27, and in El Segundo on June 18 . . .

Anthropic is weighing a new funding round of up to $50 billion that could value the Claude maker at more than $900 billion, more than double its current valuation and potentially surpassing OpenAI as the world’s most valuable AI startup. TechCrunch has more here.

EU regulators have preliminarily found that Meta violated the bloc’s Digital Services Act by failing to adequately prevent children under 13 from accessing Instagram and Facebook, exposing the company to potential fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue. CNBC has more here.

Earlier today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was asked point-blank by a Wall Street analyst how its revised OpenAI partnership would impact Microsoft’s financials. Referring to Microsoft’s royalty-free access to OpenAI’s most advanced AI through 2032, he said, “We have a frontier model, with all the IP rights that we will have access to all the way to ’32, and we fully plan to exploit it.” TechCrunch has more here.

By Tim Fernholz

Elon Musk came to a California federal court on Wednesday to argue that Sam Altman and his co-founders “stole a charity.” He left having admitted, under oath, that Tesla is not currently pursuing artificial general intelligence (AGI) — directly contradicting a tweet he’d posted just weeks earlier.

It was that kind of day for Musk.

The lawsuit he filed challenging the structure of OpenAI alleges Altman and the other co-founders tricked him into backing a non-profit, then launched the frontier lab’s for-profit arm and let it come to dominate the organization. 

After an occasionally testy Musk testified for hours, it appears the case may come down to how much of a distinction jurors and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers make between investors in OpenAI having their potential profit capped or not. 

In Musk’s telling, when he co-founded the lab with Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman and others, he trusted them to build AI for humanity, but over time became suspicious of their motives, and finally concluded that they were “looting the nonprofit.”

OpenAI’s lawyer William Savitt sought to complicate that story during cross-examination, trying to show that Musk had supported a variety of efforts to transition OpenAI toward for-profit status so it could raise the funds necessary to compete with firms like Google, including incorporating the AI lab into Tesla. 

Musk testified that he had discussed converting the company to a for-profit as early as 2016, and that in 2017, he had explored creating a for-profit arm of OpenAI where he would hold the majority of the equity and control the company. When those plans fell apart, he stopped making regular donations to OpenAI, though he continued to pay for its office space until 2020. 

Musk insisted that there was a big difference between investors whose profits are capped and those whose profits are unlimited. The earliest major investments by Microsoft in OpenAI limited the software giant’s profits, but those restrictions have been rolled back over the years. Musk says those changes ultimately led him to bring this lawsuit.

Savitt tried to establish that Musk had been consulted by Altman and Shivon Zillis — his longtime adviser who is also the mother of four of his children — about subsequent efforts to raise money, and did not object. Zillis was also a member of the OpenAI board when it approved some of those transactions. 

Aidoc, a 10-year-old New York and Tel Aviv company that analyzes medical scans to identify abnormalities and prioritize cases for clinicians during diagnosis, raised a $150 million Series E round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with General Catalyst, SoftBank Investment Advisors, and NVentures also participating. The company has raised a total of $500+ million. CTech has more here.

Avoca, a four-year-old New York startup that provides AI agents for home services businesses to handle calls and workflows, has raised $125+ million across seed through Series B rounds at a $1 billion valuation. The Series B was led by Meritech and General Catalyst, with Kleiner Perkins and Y Combinator also participating. Fortune has more here.

Axoft, a five-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA that develops implantable brain-computer interfaces using bio-inspired materials, raised a $55 million Series A round led by C.P. Group Innovation, with Alumni Ventures, Stanford President’s Venture Fund, Hillhouse Investment, and Gaorong Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $60+ million. More here.

Firestorm Labs, a four-year-old San Diego startup that builds containerized manufacturing units that 3D print drones on site for military deployment, raised an $82 million Series B round led by Washington Harbour Partners and including NEA, Ondas Capital, In-Q-Tel, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Geodesic Capital, and Motley Fool Ventures. The company has raised a total of $153 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Hightouch, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup that provides AI-powered marketing software, raised a $150 million round at a $2.75 billion post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Bain Capital Ventures, with TD7 also participating. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Manifest OS, a two-year-old New York startup that uses AI agents to manage legal workflows including client communication, research, document drafting, and billing, raised a $60 million Series A funding at a $750 million post-money valuation. Investors included Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital, and Quiet Capital. PYMNTS has more here.

Rogo, a four-year-old New York startup that provides an AI platform for financial services workflows, raised a $160 million Series D round led by Kleiner Perkins, with Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, BoxGroup, Mantis VC, Jack Altman, Evantic, and Positive Sum also opting in. The company has raised a total of $300+ million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Scout AI, a one-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that trains AI models to control autonomous vehicles and drones for military logistics, reconnaissance, and command-and-control tasks, raised a $100 million Series A round co-led by Align Ventures and Draper Associates. The company has raised a total of $115 million. TechCrunch has more here.

All3, a three-year-old Berlin startup that builds robots and software to automate building design, component manufacturing, and on-site assembly in construction, raised a $25 million seed round led by RTP Global, with SuperSeed, Begin Capital, s16vc, and VNV Global also taking part. Tech Funding News has more here.

CleanDesign, a 13-year-old Toronto and Nashville company that optimizes power usage across diesel-based industrial systems by combining battery storage with software to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, raised a $20 million round. Edison Partners was the deal lead. More here.

Fence, a three-year-old Madrid startup that automates loan tracking, reporting, and payments in structured credit deals using software and smart contracts, raised a $20 million round led by Galaxy Ventures, with previous investors ParaFi Capital and Crane Venture Partners also stepping up. CoinDesk has more here.

Hypervision, a six-year-old London startup that captures and analyzes hyperspectral images during surgery to assess tissue viability in real-time and support intraoperative decisions, raised a $22.9 million Series A round led by Heal Capital, with Angelini Ventures, IP Group, and Daycrest as well as previous investors Heran Partners, Redalpine, LifeX Ventures, and Zeiss Ventures also digging in. MassDevice has more here.

Liquid, a one-year-old New York startup that provides a non-custodial trading platform that lets users trade crypto and traditional assets and access leveraged positions and prediction markets, raised a $5.3 million seed round co-led by Left Lane Capital and Neo, with additional support from Paradigm, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital. The company has raised a total of $25.6 million. The Block has more here.

OpenLight, a four-year-old startup based in Goleta, CA, that designs and manufactures silicon photonics chips that integrate optical components on a single chip for high-bandwidth data transfer in AI and data center systems, raised a $50 million Series A round led by Matter Venture Partners, with Acclimate Ventures, and Catapult Ventures as well as previous investors Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, Mayfield, and New Legacy also piling on. The company has raised a total of $84 million. More here.

Pursuit, a two-year-old startup based in Ann Arbor, MI, that provides software to help companies find and win government contracts, raised a $22 million Series A round led by Builders VC, with Alt Capital, Hidden Capital, Basis Set, Teamworthy Ventures, and NFDG also participating. The company has raised a total of $25.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Sahi, a three-year-old Bengaluru startup that provides a stock trading platform for retail investors offering real-time market data, analytics tools, and social features, raised a $33 million round co-led by Accel and Elevation Capital. The Economic Times has more here.

Spread AI, a six-year-old Berlin startup that aggregates engineering data from multiple systems so manufacturers can trace issues, compare design trade-offs, and diagnose production problems, raised a $30 million Series B round. Investors included DTCP Growth, IQT, OTB Ventures, Salesforce, and Thesiger Capital as well as previous investors HV Capital and Nauta Capital. EU-Startups has more here.

Tacalyx, a seven-year-old Berlin startup that develops antibody-based cancer therapies targeting tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens, raised a $14.8 million seed extension from previous investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Kurma Partners, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Eurazeo, Creathor Ventures, and Thuja Capital. More here.

Betterness, a two-year-old Miami startup that runs a voice-based system that schedules tests, interprets results, and adjusts health and fitness plans based on user data, raised a $2.5 million seed round from a group of angels. More here.

Certifyde, a four-year-old Miami startup that provides a platform to help organizations adopt AI through in-workflow guidance and training, raised a $2 million seed round from K5 Global, Flamingo Capital, George Ruan, Brad Garlinghouse, Roland Peralta, Taylor Fritz, Diplo, and Kygo. More here.

Cleo Labs, a three-year-old Paris startup that uses AI to map regulatory requirements, monitor rule changes, and automate product compliance workflows across international markets, raised a $1.8 million round led by Larry Berger, with Kima Ventures and Financière Saint-James also contributing. EU-Startups has more here.

Dex, a one-year-old London startup that matches software engineers with job opportunities by assessing skills, experience, and preferences and facilitating introductions to hiring teams, raised a $5.3 million seed round led by Notion Capital, with Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun, and Concept Ventures 2100 also pitching in. Tech.eu has more here.

General Analysis, a one-year-old startup that tests AI agents with adversarial scenarios and measures failure modes to identify vulnerabilities and guide security configurations, raised a $10 million seed round led by Altos Ventures, with 645 Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Y Combinator also engaging. More here.

OpenObserve, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that ingests and analyzes logs, metrics, and traces to monitor systems and detect issues and automate incident response, raised a $10 million Series A round co-led by Nexus Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital. More here.

Tapaya, a one-year-old Prague startup that provides a software development kit that enables developers to accept in-person card payments on phones, tablets, kiosks, and other devices without dedicated hardware, raised a $1.2 million round co-led by Passion Capital and Depo Ventures, with BADideas.fund also joining in. Tech Funding News has more here.

BMW i Ventures has launched a new $300 million fund with a timely thesis: AI will reshape how the automotive industry operates. The fund will invest in early-stage through Series B startups in North America and Europe working on agentic AI, physical AI (which includes robotics and autonomous vehicles), industrial software, advanced materials, and manufacturing and supply chain technologies. It brings the firm's total capital under management to $1.1 billion. TechCrunch has more here.

MoonPay, a seven-year-old New York-based crypto payments startup, has acquired Sodot, a two-year-old Israeli crypto security startup, as part of a $100 million push to expand into institutional services connecting large financial firms to digital asset infrastructure. Bloomberg has more here.

SpaceX has told investors in its IPO filing that only Elon Musk can remove himself as CEO or chairman, since he will control a majority of the company’s super-voting Class B shares, effectively giving him veto power over board decisions. Reuters has more here.

Japanese multinational SoftBank reportedly plans to create a new company designed to automate the creation of data center infrastructure. According to the FT, SoftBank is putting together a new business called Roze AI that would seek to make data center construction in the U.S. more efficient; it would do that by — among other things — deploying autonomous robots to help build server farms. In a twist, the conglomerate is already prepping Roze for an IPO. TechCrunch has more here.

A federal judge has denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a new trial, likely closing off his last realistic path to avoid a 25-year prison sentence aside from an appeal that is widely expected to fail. The legal blog Citation Needed has more here.

Tuesday’s White House dinner for King Charles included tech royalty, too. Notable Silicon Valley attendees included Marc Andreessen, Marc Benioff, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, David Ellison, and Ruth Porat. Vanity Fair has more here.

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX mission commander who now leads NASA, said Tuesday during a Senate hearing that he wants the agency to revisit Pluto’s planetary status and make the case for reclassifying it as a planet nearly two decades after its demotion. Futurism has more here.

AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic are fueling a London office boom, leasing more than 1 million square feet since early 2025, or about 7% of all new leases. Meanwhile, AI startups in New York have leased more than 845,000 square feet in 2025 and another 414,000 square feet in the first quarter of 2026, often taking spaces roughly 60% larger than their current headcount. The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal have more here and here.

OpenAI is reworking parts of its $500 billion Stargate data center venture and abandoning others as it shifts from owning infrastructure to leasing capacity through partners like Oracle, a more flexible approach that has unsettled backers but helped it secure massive computing power. The Financial Times has more here.

OpenAI has included instructions in several different places telling its Codex coding agent to avoid mentioning “goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other creatures” unless directly relevant after users reported the model occasionally fixating on them during tasks. WIRED has more here.

When technical issues prevented Cami Clune from singing the Canadian national anthem at an NHL game between the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres, the largely American audience pitched in.

A short film about a man who lets his AI assistant’s affirmations lead him into madness. [H/T The Awesomer]

See the best-selling album from the year you were born.

Belmond has reopened its 600-year-old Villa San Michele hotel in Florence after an 18-month renovation, restoring Renaissance-era details while adding modern touches like a Guerlain spa and a new fine-dining restaurant.

Schiit Audio has launched a $99 tube buffer designed to add the warm sound of vacuum tubes to existing stereo systems, positioning it as a low-cost way for audiophiles to tweak and experiment with their setup.

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