Nvidia posted $68 billion in quarterly revenue, up 73% year over year, with $62 billion from data centers, as CEO Jensen Huang defended record AI capex and said the company is close to finalizing a reported $30 billion OpenAI investment. TechCrunch has more here.

Prediction market Kalshi fined and banned MrBeast editor Artem Kaptur after concluding he used non-public information to trade about $4,000 in creator-related markets for a $5,397.58 profit; it also penalized former California gubernatorial candidate Kyle Langford for trading on his own race. TechCrunch has more here.

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By Julie Bort

Salesforce pulled out all the stops to convince investors that the AI revolution won’t be its death when it announced fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Salesforce reported a solid quarter of $10.7 billion in revenue, up 13% year-over-year. For the year, it reported $41.5 billion in revenue, up 10% over the previous year, with both results boosted by its $8 billion acquisition of data management company Informatica last May.

Net income landed at $7.46 billion, and the company offered strong guidance for the year ahead, projecting revenue of $45.8 billion to $46.2 billion — a 10% to 11% increase. It also said its “remaining performance obligation,” or RPO, is over $72 billion. That’s a figure that shows revenue under contact that has not yet been delivered or recognized as earned revenue.

The numbers, though, could only do so much. Software-as-a-service stocks, with Salesforce as their poster child, have been getting hammered lately. Investors fear the rise of AI agents will undermine these companies, making their per-employee-seat business models obsolete. The situation has been dubbed the “SaaSpocalypse.”

The concept hung so heavily in the air during the earnings call that CEO Marc Benioff mentioned the term at least six times.

“You’ve heard about the SaaSpocalypse? And it isn’t our first. We’ve had a few of them,” he said, later adding, “If there is a SaaSpocalypse, it may be eaten by the Sasquatch because there are a lot of companies using a lot of SaaS because it just got better with agents.”

In an attempt to convince the world of its continued health, Salesforce threw everything and the kitchen sink into this earnings report. The company increased its dividend by nearly 6% to $0.44 per share. It launched a new $50 billion share buyback program. That’s always a favorite with shareholders because it both creates a sturdy buyer of shares and reduces the number of shares in circulation (which can boost the stock price).

Gambit Security, a two-year-old startup based in Tel Aviv that provides an AI-based cyber resilience platform that helps businesses stay operational during cyberattacks and system failures, raised a $61 million seed round. Investors included Spark Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Cyberstarts. Reuters has more here.

Guidde, a six-year-old Tel Aviv that creates step-by-step training videos that show employees how to use business software by recording their on-screen actions, raised a $50 million Series B round led by PSG Equity, with Monday.com as well as previous investors Norwest, Entrée Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, and Inkberry Ventures also engaging. More here.

Rowspace, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI-powered system connects and analyzes financial firms’ proprietary data across documents, models, and internal systems, raised a $50 million Series A round co-led by previous investor Sequoia and Emergence Capital, with Stripe, Conviction, Basis Set, and Twine also engaging. More here.

Astelia, a two-year-old New York startup that analyzes software vulnerabilities to show which ones attackers are most likely to exploit so security teams can focus on the most urgent risks, raised a $35 million seed round co-led by Index Ventures and Team8, with additional participation from Holly Ventures. CTech has more here.

Based, a three-year-old Singapore startup that operates a Web3 trading and payments app that integrates trading, wallet functions, on- and off-ramps, and crypto spending in a single interface, raised a $11.5 million Series A round led by Pantera, with Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, and Karatage also participating. The Block has more here.

Dwelly, a two-year-old London startup that uses AI to acquire and modernize independent residential property management firms to streamline rentals, tenant-landlord matching, maintenance, and rent collection, raised a $43.4 million round led by General Catalyst, with Begin Capital and S16VC also investing. The company also raised $50.2 million in debt. Tech Funding News has more here.

Harper, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that operates an AI-powered commercial insurance brokerage, raised a combined $46.8 million seed and Series A round, with Emergence Capital and previous investors Y Combinator and Peak XV Partners also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Koah, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that indexes publishers’ ad inventory and serves targeted ads across apps using AI to increase ad revenue, raised a $20.5 million Series A round led by Theory Ventures, with Forerunner and South Park Commons also joining in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

NationGraph, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose platform uses AI to turn public sector procurement data into actionable signals to help businesses identify and pursue government sales opportunities, raised a $18 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures and joined by Perplexity’s Fund, XYZ Venture Capital, and Reach Capital. The company has raised a total of $22.5 million. More here.

SolveAI, a one-year-old London startup that is building a platform to enable non-technical employees to create production-ready enterprise applications through conversational AI interactions, raised a $45 million Series A round led by GV. It also announced that it raised a $5 million pre-seed led by Accel that also included capital from Northzone and Mantis VC. Tech Funding News has more here.

Union.ai, a five-year-old startup based in Bellevue, WA, that offers a workflow platform that helps engineering teams run and manage complex AI and data workflows, raised a $19 million Series A extension led by NEA, with Nava Ventures and Mozilla Ventures also anteing up. GeekWire has more here.

Circadian Risk, a 10-year-old company based in Ann Arbor, MI, that helps organizations assess and monitor enterprise physical security risks, compliance gaps, and threat exposure with score-based, near-real-time analysis, raised a $6 million Series A round led by Arthur Ventures, with Roll Tack Ventures, 11 Tribes, and Tamiami Angel Funds also taking part. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Dots, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that runs a payouts platform that enables marketplaces and service businesses to send bank transfers, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, and stablecoin payments through a single API, raised an $8.9 million Series A round led by DCM, with Y Combinator also contributing. The company has raised a total of $14.6+ million. More here.

Elly, a four-year-old New York startup based in that is building an AI-powered hiring platform, raised an $8 million seed round led by Sorenson Capital, with Atomic and Next Wave Capital also participating. More here.

Evoke Security, a one-year-old Austin startup that provides security teams with visibility, governance, threat modeling, and real-time control over autonomous AI agents operating across enterprise systems, raised a $4 million pre-seed round led by Crosspoint Capital Partners and including Red Cell Partners also participating. More here.

Jampack AI, a two-year-old New York startup that automates wholesale order creation, pricing, and replenishment for CPG brands and their retail partners using AI-driven workflows, raised a $3.2 million seed round led by Maveron, with Timber Grove Ventures also pitching in. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Kinfolk, a three-year-old London startup that uses AI agents to execute HR and workforce tasks such as drafting documents, updating HRIS records, and handling employee support requests within Slack or Teams, raised a $7.2 million seed round led by AlbionVC, with PROfounders Capital, Ascension, and Emerge also chiming in. The company has raised a total of $8.5 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

MedScout, a five-year-old Austin startup that helps medical technology commercial and marketing teams use AI agents to turn commercial priorities into clear, territory-specific steps for sales teams, raised a $10 million round led by Fulcrum Equity Partners, with Live Oak Venture Partners and Stage 2 Capital also stepping up. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Myrias Optics, a five-year-old startup based in Amherst, MA, that makes ultra-thin optical lenses using printed semiconductor materials for use in AR and VR headsets, cameras, and sensors, raised a $2.1 million seed round led by MassVentures, with Mill Town Capital and TiE Boston Angels as well as previous investors Hoss Investment, Maroon Venture Partners, and Tenon Venture Partners also piling on. More here.

Neural Earth, a four-year-old Miami startup that provides an AI-powered platform that maps geospatial data to identify and assess climate, natural hazard, and environmental risks, raised a $9.3 million seed round. The investors were not disclosed. Refresh Miami has more here.

Sophia Space, a three-year-old startup based in Pasadena, CA, that operates a space-based computing network that processes satellite data in orbit to reduce the need to transmit large volumes of raw data back to Earth, raised a $10 million seed round. Investors included Alpha Funds, KDDI Green Partners Fund, and Unlock Venture Partners. GeekWire has more here.

Swan, a two-year-old Israeli startup that uses AI to help sales and marketing teams plan and carry out revenue-generating work without adding headcount, raised a $6 million round. Link Ventures was the deal lead, with Fresh Fund, Collider, and Gandel Invest also digging in. CTech has more here.

Wootzwork, a three-year-old New Delhi startup that connects equipment manufacturers with vetted factories in India to manage sourcing, production, and quality control, raised a $6.6 million Series A round led by Z47, with Nexus Venture Partners, AdvantEdge Founders, and Stride Ventures also opting in. The Economic Times has more here.

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SparkLabs Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh-based VC firm that invests in AI, deep tech, and enterprise startups, raised a $20 million first fund anchored by Riyadh Valley Company to back pre-seed through Series A companies tied to King Saud University and the broader Saudi ecosystem. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Anthropic is acquiring Vercept, a two-year-old Seattle startup that builds an AI desktop agent called Vy to observe screens and automate repetitive computer tasks. TechCrunch has more here.

International tax accountant Alan Cole wagered his entire $342,000 life savings on Kalshi that Elon Musk’s DOGE would not reduce federal spending in one year, built a 3% stake in a $12 million market, and collected $470,300 after the 2025 year-end report showed spending increased from 2024. TechCrunch has more here.

A King’s College London study found ChatGPT-5.2, Claude Sonnet 4, and Gemini 3 Flash chose nuclear escalation in about 95% of 329 simulated crisis turns, with only ChatGPT sometimes limiting strikes to military targets rather than population centers. The New York Post has more here.

A hacker used Anthropic’s Claude chatbot to help breach Mexican government systems and steal 150 gigabytes of tax, voter, and civil registry data after repeatedly testing and refining prompts to bypass safeguards and “jailbreak” the model. Bloomberg has more here.

Thrive Capital recently bought additional OpenAI shares at a $285 billion valuation through a structure akin to a call option, a fraction of the company’s current valuation. Bloomberg has more here.

General Atlantic is selling ByteDance shares in a secondary deal that values the TikTok parent at $550 billion, up 66% from last year’s $330 billion buyback. Reuters has more here.

Yondr’s $20 to $25 magnetic phone-locking pouches, now used by 3 million students and generating $19 million in 2025 school sales, may sound like a good idea, but kids are increasingly cracking them open with magnets, rocks, and scissors.

A PR firm and Cosmopolitan launched a toll-free hotline, 1-833-SHE-WON1, inviting fans to leave congratulatory voicemails for the U.S. women’s hockey team after its third Olympic gold medal.

On is bringing its robot-sprayed, seamless upper to the $280 Cloudmonster 3 Hyper, delivering a lightweight 7.23oz build with strong breathability, dual foams, and rocker geometry designed to help runners go longer while preserving leg freshness.

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