⛵ OpenAI Secures $110B Round
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OpenAI Secures $110B Round
TL;DR: OpenAI has closed an unprecedented $110 billion private funding round, led by Amazon ($50B) with Nvidia and SoftBank ($30B each), valuing the AI lab at roughly $730 billion pre-money (and ~ $840 billion post-money). The record financing, surpassing its own $40 billion 2025 raise.
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Hyperscaler Capex Nears $500B
TL;DR: Capital spending by Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle has surged about 70% annually since GPT-4’s release, pushing total hyperscaler capex toward $500 billion in 2025. If sustained, collective spending could reach $770 billion in 2026, based on company filings and analyst projections standardizing cash outlays and finance leases.
NASA Reshuffles Moon Plan
TL;DR: NASA new administrator Jared Isaacman announced a major restructuring of the Artemis program to speed up the return to the moon. The agency will cancel the costly Block 1B upgrade and Exploration Upper Stage for the SLS rocket, standardize configurations to boost launch frequency, and shift Artemis III to an Earth-orbit docking test instead of a landing. Artemis IV is now slated as the first lunar landing, with annual missions targeted from 2027 onward.
Pentagon Blacklists Anthropic
TL;DR: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic a “supply-chain risk” after the company refused a Pentagon demand to grant unrestricted access to its Claude AI for all lawful military uses, including autonomous lethal weapons and mass surveillance. The order bars Defense Department contractors from commercial ties with Anthropic within six months. Anthropic denies the secretary’s authority and says it will challenge the unprecedented designation in court.
California Mandates OS Age Checks
TL;DR: California’s Assembly Bill 1043, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, will take effect on January 1, 2027, requiring operating system providers to collect a user’s birth date or age during account setup. Systems must also provide app developers, via API, a real-time digital signal placing users into four age brackets. The mandate applies broadly, including to Linux distributions.
$529M Bet on Iran Strike
TL;DR: After U.S. and Israeli forces bombed Iran, traders on Polymarket wagered $529 million on contracts predicting the attack’s timing, Bloomberg reported, with six newly created accounts reportedly earning $1 million by correctly betting a strike would occur before February 28. Analysts flagged possible insider trading risks, while broader debate intensified over prediction markets potentially incentivizing profit from war and political violence.
Police Leak Crypto Password, Lose Millions
TL;DR: South Korea’s National Tax Service seized about $5.6 million in crypto from 124 tax evaders, then accidentally exposed the wallets’ seed phrases in a public press release. An unknown individual used the published recovery words to access the Ledger wallets and transfer roughly $4.8 million in tokens. With no central authority to reverse blockchain transactions, the funds are unlikely to be recovered.
Aalyria Raises $100M at $1.3B
TL;DR: Google spinout Aalyria has raised $100 million in new funding, reaching a $1.3 billion valuation less than four years after its 2022 separation. Backed by Battery Ventures and others, the company provides software and laser hardware that coordinate satellite networks across land, sea, air, and space, securing contracts with U.S. defense agencies and positioning itself as an alternative to Starlink.
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