IPO / Funding
16 posts
DeepSeek ends its «small team» era — doubles every department, closes first $7.4B external round
DeepSeek announces a company-wide doubling of staff, just as it closes its first external round: ~$7.4B raised at a $50B+ post-money valuation. Tencent reportedly takes ~20%.
Xiaohongshu to file confidential Hong Kong IPO at $70B — 4× valuation in 18 months
Xiaohongshu plans a confidential Hong Kong IPO filing by end of June at a $70B target. The valuation has 4×'d in 18 months. Underwriters: Goldman, CICC.
Anthropic overtakes OpenAI in enterprise share — May 41% vs 39.5%
Per Ramp's expense data, Anthropic's share of enterprise AI subscriptions hit 41% in May, edging past OpenAI's 39.5% — first reversal. Export controls became a tailwind.
42 states jointly subpoena OpenAI — three legal hits in a week as IPO filing lands
42 state attorneys general jointly subpoena OpenAI, asking for ad practices, retention mechanics, child/elderly use, model docs and policies. Three legal hits in a week, just as OpenAI files its IPO.
Musk crosses $1T net worth on SpaceX IPO day — first trillionaire in history
SpaceX IPO opens June 12, ticker SPCX, +20% first day to a $2T valuation. Musk crosses $1.05T net worth — humanity's first trillionaire. 90%+ of it is locked for 366 days.
US orders Anthropic to disable Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — flagship models pulled
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick orders Anthropic to block all foreign users from Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — including its own non-US employees. Anthropic pulls both flagship models globally.
Starlink V3: the 100× isn't marketing — it's two 10×s multiplied
Musk's math on Starlink V3: 10× bandwidth per satellite, 10× more satellites, multiplies to 100×. Orbit drops from 550km to 350km, halving minimum latency.
SpaceX IPO locks out China and Hong Kong — ITAR is the reason, geopolitics is the substance
SpaceX IPO underwriters tell the syndicate not to accept mainland-China or Hong Kong investor orders, citing ITAR compliance. SpaceX.com is blocked in CN/HK from June 5.
Google quietly buys app source code from devs — email never mentions AI
Google emails top Android developers with «confidential content invitations» — offering to buy source-code access, for «improving Google's developer tools». The email never mentions AI. The linked page does.
Former CIA officer stashed 303 gold bars at home — 17 years of fraud uncovered in days
David Rush, a senior CIA admin official with top-secret clearance, was arrested May 19. FBI found 303kg of gold bars (~$40M), $2M cash, 35 Rolexes. He'd faked his Navy and degree records for 17 years.
Claude Opus 4.8 ships — same price, more honest, Fast Mode cost cut 3×
Claude Opus 4.8 ships with Anthropic's H-round announcement. Same API price, beats Opus 4.7 across coding, agents, reasoning. 4× more likely to flag code bugs honestly. Fast Mode unit cost cut 3×.
Anthropic raises $65B at $965B — overtakes OpenAI as world's most-valued AI startup
Anthropic closes a $65B H-round at a $965B post-money — overtaking OpenAI as the highest-valued AI startup. ARR hit $47B this month. Likely the last private round before IPO.
DeepSeek's valuation: $10B → $50B in three weeks, National Big Fund in talks
DeepSeek's valuation jumped four times in three weeks — from ~$10B in early April to potentially ~$50B by May 6. China's National Big Fund is in talks to lead — its first investment in a domestic LLM.
Anthropic in talks with Microsoft for Maia chips — pays SpaceX $1.5B monthly
Anthropic faces severe compute shortage. Q1 demand grew 80× annualized; plans accounted for 10×. Now in talks to rent Microsoft Maia servers, while paying SpaceX $1.25B/month for compute.
SpaceX S-1 published — Musk himself listed as a risk factor
SpaceX's S-1 was made public this week. In the 330-page filing, Musk himself is listed as a risk factor. xAI is mentioned 356 times, Tesla 87, Boring Co. and Neuralink appear too.
OpenAI prepares for IPO — largest AI listing ever, target $850B
OpenAI plans a confidential SEC IPO filing this Friday, targeting September listing at $850B+ valuation. Goldman and Morgan Stanley underwriting. Musk's lawsuit dismissed as too late.