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SpaceX's long-awaited IPO filing reveals an Elon Musk empire increasingly built around AI — with billions in losses tied to xAI, plans for orbital data centers, and governance structures that leave Musk holding more than 85% of voting power. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenAI is reportedly preparing to confidentially file IPO paperwork within days, potentially setting up a public debut as early as September after clearing a major legal obstacle in Elon Musk’s lawsuit, though the company still faces mounting competition from Anthropic and Google and ongoing concerns about whether its revenues can justify its enormous AI infrastructure spending. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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By Julie Bort

During a Y Combinator event on Tuesday night, Sam Altman had what YC partner Tyler Bosmeny called a “mic drop moment.” Altman offered $2 million worth of OpenAI tokens to every startup in the current class in exchange for equity in the startup.

In other words, he promised that OpenAI would invest in the whole class, not with cash but with an allotment of AI tokens that startups can use to build their products.

Y Combinator has about 169 startups in this cohort, according to its directory.

As for how much equity each startup can expect to give up, that can’t be determined at the time it signs the deal. It will depend on how much the startup is worth when it raises its first priced round — a funding round in which investors assign the company a formal valuation.

Y Combinator managing director Jared Friedman tells TechCrunch that the deal will be offered as an “uncapped SAFE,” meaning, “it will convert in the next priced round, which is typically the Series A,” he said. 

Commure, a nine-year-old startup based in Mountain View, CA, that applies AI to healthcare administration and clinical operations including revenue cycle management, medical documentation, coding, scheduling, and workflow support, raised a $70 million round at a $7 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by General Catalyst, with Sequoia Capital, Morgan Stanley, ⁠and Kirkland & Ellis also participating. The company has raised a total of $750 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Exa, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that develops AI-powered search tools, raised a $250 million round at a $2.2 billion valuation, triple the valuation of a round it raised last September. The deal was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Bloomberg has more here.

Mercury, a nine-year-old San Francisco fintech company that provides banking services to startups, raised a $200 million Series D round at a $5.2 billion post-money valuation led by TCV, with Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coatue also opting in. CNBC has more here.

Primer, a six-year-old London startup that develops payments infrastructure software for e-commerce merchants, raised a $100 million Series C round led by Sofina and including Peak XV Partners as well as previous investors Balderton, Accel, ICONIQ, Tencent, and Speedinvest. Sifted has more here.

Socket, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that develops software supply-chain security tools for open-source dependencies, raised a $60 million Series C round at a $1 billion valuation. Thrive Capital was the deal lead, with Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, and Capital One Ventures also taking stakes. The company has raised a total of $125 million. More here.

Variational, a five-year-old Cayman Islands startup that develops blockchain-based derivatives trading infrastructure, raised a $50 million Series A round led by Dragonfly Capital, with Coinbase Ventures and previous investor Bain Capital Crypto also joining in. Fortune has more here.

Vi, a 10-year-old New York company that uses AI to assist healthcare, life sciences, and wellness organizations with patient engagement, care navigation, clinical workflows, and operational decision-making, raised a $145 million round at a $1.64 billion post-money valuation. Investors included General Atlantic, Revelstoke, 1902 Capital, Square Peg, Savano Capital, and Island Green. More here.

Cagent Vascular, a 12-year-old company based in Wayne, PA, that develops catheter-based vascular treatment systems that combine serration remodeling therapy and intravascular lithotripsy for calcified arterial disease, raised a $41 million Series D round co-led by US Venture Partners and Astoria Health Investors. Medical Device Network has more here.

Catena Labs, a four-year-old Boston startup founded by Circle cofounder Sean Neville that develops tools for AI agents to conduct financial transactions, raised a $30 million Series A round co-led by Acrew Capital and previous investor Andreessen Horowitz, with Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, and QED also participating. Fortune has more here.

CircuitHub, a 14-year-old company based in South Deerfield, MA, that automates electronics manufacturing workflows by turning hardware design files into production-ready circuit boards through software-driven factories and robotic assembly systems, raised a $28 million Series A round. Plural was the deal lead. Tech.eu has more here.

Eisen, a four-year-old New York startup that offers AI-enabled compliance infrastructure for financial institutions, fintechs, and digital asset companies focused on escheatment, tax reporting, and disbursement workflows, raised a $10 million Series A round led by MissionOG and an $8.5 million seed round led by Index Ventures. Additional investors included Cowboy Ventures, First Round Capital, Homebrew, and Restive Ventures. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Findd, a 10-year-old company based in Provo, UT, that manages hiring, scheduling, compliance, payroll preparation, and workforce coordination for frontline labor operations using AI-driven workflow automation, raised a $21 million round. Unbundled Capital provided the financing. More here.

Getquin, a six-year-old Berlin startup that tracks and analyzes investment portfolios across brokers and asset classes for retail investors while offering digital wealth management and investment advisory tools, raised a $13.9 million round co-led by Portage and State Street Investment Management. Dealroom has more here.

NanoCo, a four-month-old Tel Aviv startup that develops NanoClaw, an open-source AI agent platform focused on secure containerized deployments, raised a $12 million seed round led by Valley Capital Partners, with Docker, Vercel, Monday.com, Slow Ventures, and Clem Delangue also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Prelude, a four-year-old Paris startup that develops identity verification and fraud-detection software for online services, raised a $20 million Series A round led by 20VC, with Singular, Seedcamp, Deel, and FDJ Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $27 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

RemotePass, a five-year-old Boston and Abu Dhabi startup that combines employer-of-record services, contractor management, payroll, compliance, and financial services for distributed workforces, raised a $17.4 million Series B round led by EBRD, with 500 Global as well as previous investors Oraseya Capital, 212 VC, Access Bridge Ventures, and Khwarizmi Ventures also joining in. The company has raised a total of $28 million.Tech Funding News has more here.

Stilta, a San Francisco startup founded this year that automates patent research and intellectual property analysis using AI agents that identify conflicting patents, analyze claims, and generate litigation-grade reports, raised a $10.5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Y Combinator also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

Texture, a three-year-old New York startup that gives electric utilities and cooperatives a unified operational layer for monitoring and managing grid infrastructure, distributed energy resources, and real-time network data, raised a $12.5 million Series A round co-led by VoLo Earth Ventures and Equal Ventures, with Lerer Hippeau and Abstract Ventures also contributing. The company has raised a total of approximately $23 million. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

AVIAN, a three-year-old Zurich startup that is developing AI-powered thermal monitoring systems that use infrared cameras and anomaly detection to identify overheating equipment and prevent industrial fires and downtime, raised a $2.6 million pre-seed round. Founderful led the transaction. EU-Startups has more here.

Century Health, a three-year-old New York startup that applies AI to clinical records and electronic health data to generate research-ready real-world evidence datasets for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, raised a $5 million seed round led by Origin Ventures, with InnovateHealth Ventures, 25madison, Next Play Ventures, 2048 Ventures, and Alumni Ventures also digging in. More here.

Clouted, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that develops AI-powered software for creating and distributing short-form social media video clips, raised a $7 million seed round led by Slow Ventures, with Gold House Ventures, Weekend Fund, and Peak XV’s Surge also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Craci, a Helsinki startup founded this year that automates software supply chain compliance by tracking vulnerabilities, generating security documentation, and monitoring software components within development pipelines, raised a $1.6 million pre-seed round led by Lifeline Ventures, with First Fellow Partners and Wave Ventures also joining in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Hardline, a one-year-old Santa Monica startup that develops voice-based software for documenting construction-site communications and workflows, raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by Mucker Capital, with StandUp Ventures, Suffolk Technologies, Nirman Ventures, and Alumni Ventures also anteing up. Tech Funding News has more here.

Imperagen, a five-year-old startup based in Manchester, UK, that develops AI- and quantum physics-based enzyme engineering technology, raised a $6.7 million seed round led by PXN Ventures, with IQ Capital and Northern Gritstone also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $11.4 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Infrawatch, a three-year-old London startup that classifies and analyzes internet infrastructure data such as IP addresses, domains, VPNs, proxies, and command-and-control servers to help security teams detect cyberattacks, fraud, phishing, and online abuse, raised a $3 million pre-seed round co-led by Outward VC and Triple Point Ventures, with Portfolio Ventures also stepping up. Tech Funding News has more here.

IrisGo, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that develops AI-powered desktop automation software that learns and automates repetitive computer workflows, raised a $2.8 million seed round led by Andrew Ng’s AI Fund, with Nvidia and Google also backing the company. TechCrunch has more here.

Novity, a four-year-old startup based in San Carlos, CA, that combines physics-based models, machine learning, and contextual AI to predict equipment failures and recommend maintenance actions for industrial machinery in energy and process industries, raised a $1 million round. Acario Innovation was the deal lead. More here.

Overwatch AI, a two-year-old Barcelona startup that builds AI tools for airline operations teams that consolidate flight, maintenance, weather, and operational data into a natural-language interface for pilots, cabin crews, and operations managers, raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round co-led by United Airlines Ventures and Baobab Ventures, with Pegasus Innovation Lab and Masia also stepping up. PhocusWire has more here.

Qurie, a German startup founded this year that develops electrocaloric cooling systems that use electrically responsive materials instead of compressors or refrigerants for refrigeration and HVAC applications, raised a $2.6 million round. Investors included High-Tech Gründerfonds, Technology Transfer Fund TT49, and Aepikur. EU-Startups has more here.

Tribal, a recently founded Tel Aviv startup that builds AI agents for enterprise platforms such as Salesforce that ingest metadata about workflows, permissions, automations, dependencies, and business rules to automate tasks safely within production environments, raised a $10 million seed round led by Team8, with DYDX Capital also engaging. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Voker, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that analyzes AI agent conversations and usage data to help product teams measure performance, identify user intents, and improve agent behavior in production environments, raised a $2.2 million pre-seed round co-led by Y Combinator and FundersClub. SiliconANGLE has more here.

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CNBC notes that SpaceX’s expected IPO could become the largest in U.S. history, potentially raising around $75 billion and dwarfing previous record-holders including Alibaba’s $22 billion 2014 debut while also helping revive an IPO market that has remained sluggish since 2021. More here.

Jeff Bezos argued in a CNBC interview that Americans in the bottom half of income earners should pay no taxes while also dismissing calls for billionaires like himself to pay more. TechCrunch has more here.

Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow said eliminating the company’s HR team caused “problems that didn’t exist” to disappear, a provocative claim from an executive who has himself faced years of criticism over Bolt’s workplace culture, governance disputes, executive turnover, and management practices. Fast Company has more here.

Jensen Huang says Nvidia has discovered a “brand new” $200 billion market centered on CPUs designed specifically for AI agents, arguing that the company’s new Vera chip opens a massive new business beyond Nvidia’s traditional dominance in GPUs as billions of AI agents eventually come online. TechCrunch has more here.

Intuit is laying off roughly 3,000 employees, or 17% of its workforce, as the maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma restructures to focus more aggressively on AI amid broader fears that traditional software companies could be disrupted by AI-native competitors. TechCrunch has more here.

Meta kicked off one of the largest layoffs in its history today, cutting roughly 8,000 employees — or 10% of its workforce. Business Insider has the letter Mark Zuckerberg sent to impacted employees here.

Nvidia has committed roughly $90 billion to investments, partnerships, and dealmaking across more than 145 AI-related companies over the past 16 months, with much of the activity reportedly driven not by its NVentures VC arm but by Nvidia’s business development group as the company ties customers, suppliers, and startups more closely to its chips and software ecosystem. The Financial Times has more here.

Anthropic has agreed to pay xAI roughly $1.25 billion per month through 2029 for access to compute capacity at xAI’s Colossus data center in Tennessee, a deal that could generate more than $40 billion in revenue for xAI. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenAI says one of its new reasoning models has produced an original proof disproving an unsolved geometry conjecture first posed by mathematician Paul Erdős in 1946. TechCrunch has more here.

Nvidia posted another record quarter with $81.6 billion in revenue and disclosed that its holdings in privately held startups nearly doubled to $43 billion over the past quarter. TechCrunch has more here.

Major League Baseball stadiums are being overtaken by a bizarre new “Tarps Off” trend in which groups of mostly young male fans strip off their shirts, twirl them overhead, and break into soccer-style chants.

“Fibermaxxing” is emerging as the latest nutrition craze to replace “proteinmaxxing.”

Hacky sacks are back.

Ducati — best known for high-performance motorcycles — has unveiled an unexpectedly elaborate espresso machine called the Barista M3 1926, featuring carbon fiber panels, stainless steel construction, a seven-second heating system, PID temperature controls, adjustable flow rates, and an in-cup milk frother.

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