💸HEADLINE: AI Startups Strike Investment Gold

This week marked a major win for AI innovators as billions poured into both fresh startups and core infrastructure projects. Here’s what you need to know:

🏆 Top Funding Highlights

🔹 Perplexity AI Soars to $18 Billion Valuation

The AI-driven search engine continues its meteoric rise after raising an additional $100 million. Its valuation has tripled in just a year, with whispers that Apple might be circling.

🔹 Thinking Machines Lab Launches with $2 Billion Backing

Led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, this stealth startup is working on a futuristic multimodal AI platform combining vision, conversation, and collaboration. Backers include Nvidia, AMD, and Andreessen Horowitz. Expect a product launch and open-source release soon.

🔹 Anthropic Eyes a $100 Billion Valuation

The creators of Claude are reportedly in talks for new investment that could nearly double their valuation from earlier this year. That would place them among the most valuable private AI firms on the planet.

🔌 Infrastructure Boom: Building the AI Backbone

AI doesn’t run on dreams—it runs on data centers and megawatts. Here's how the biggest players are laying the foundation:

• Google: Investing $25B into new power and data infrastructure in partnership with Brookfield.

• Blackstone: Matching Google with a $25B commitment focused on energy systems in Pennsylvania.

• CoreWeave: Constructing a $6B AI data facility in Lancaster, PA.

• Meta: Going all-in with “hundreds of billions” planned for its AI data center projects—codenamed Prometheus and Hyperion.

📊 Funding Trends: Sky-High for Startups, Struggles for VCs

• Total U.S. Startup Funding (H1 2025): $162.8B — up 75.6% year-over-year.

• AI Share: 64% of all startup investments.

• OpenAI alone secured $40B this year. Meta's $14.3B went to scaling Scale AI.

But not all is rosy:
New VC fund formation is down 34%, with longer fundraising timelines and fewer new funds being closed. The cash is flowing to proven AI builders—but VCs are tightening their belts when it comes to new fund launches.

🧩 What It Means for You

We’re in the midst of an AI arms race—one powered by massive funding rounds and record-setting infrastructure projects. Expect rapid advancements, fierce competition, and more open-source breakthroughs in the months ahead.

💡 Stay tuned. The future is building itself—one model, one chip, and one billion-dollar check at a time.