🤖 OpenAI crowned the first $500B startup

OpenAI’s secondary share sale has vaulted its valuation to $500 billion, making it the most valuable private company ever and a symbol of how far the AI boom has run. Unlike a traditional fundraise, the deal let insiders cash out while investors fought for a seat at the table.

🖱 Roughly $6.6B worth of employee and early-backer stock changed hands.
🖱 Heavyweights like SoftBank, Thrive, Dragoneer, MGX, and T. Rowe Price joined the cap table.
🖱 The valuation leap, from $300B just months ago, reflects both AI demand and scarcity of access.
🖱 Still, OpenAI is burning cash, betting scale and distribution will cement its lead over rivals.

The $500B milestone isn’t just about valuation, it’s proof that in AI, investors are willing to pay sovereign-nation prices for a private company.

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🔔 Durov opens Telegram’s AI lab in Kazakhstan

Pavel Durov has just launched a specialized AI laboratory in Kazakhstan, partnering Telegram with the country’s AI supercomputer cluster to extend AI access globally.

🖱 The lab is housed in the Alem.ai building as part of a joint project with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of AI and the national supercomputer cluster.
🖱 Durov says the goal is to let over a billion people use AI tools in a way that’s confidential, transparent, and efficient.
🖱 Telegram’s own mini-apps will be among the first to leverage the new tech.
🖱 The Kazakh supercomputer cluster is expected to be a major provider of compute power for the network.

This move signals Telegram’s pivot from messaging into AI infrastructure, using the state’s compute assets to deepen its technological footprint in Central Asia and beyond.

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🎵 Universal and Warner near historic AI licensing deals

The music industry is on the verge of a major shift as Universal Music and Warner Music prepare to sign AI licensing agreements within weeks, according to the Financial Times.

Talks with Google, Spotify, and AI startups like Klay Vision, ElevenLabs, and Stability AI aim to set a precedent for how copyrighted songs are used to train and generate AI music. Some firms, including Suno and Udio, are already facing lawsuits from these same labels.

🖱 The proposed system would mirror streaming royalties - AI firms would pay micropayments each time a song is used or referenced.
🖱 To enable this, AI companies would need tools to track how and when music data is applied during model training and generation.
🖱 Universal and Warner’s catalogs cover global megastars like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Charli XCX, giving them strong leverage in negotiations.

If finalized, these deals could define the industry’s financial and legal framework for AI-generated music and decide who gets paid when machines start making hits.

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📊 PitchBook found a “founder discount” that never goes away

A new PitchBook study compared startups led by first-time founders vs. repeat founders and the gap is wider than expected.

Even after controlling for growth, revenue, and market stage, companies run by first-time founders remain undervalued. The effect doesn’t fade at later rounds: even at $100M+ in revenue, startups with rookie founders still command lower valuations.

🖱 Experienced founders raise capital faster and on better terms at every stage.
🖱 Investor perception of “execution risk” persists long after traction appears.
🖱 The premium for past success acts almost like a permanent multiplier.

Makes you wonder how much higher Google’s valuation would’ve been if Page and Brin had built something before it.

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💰 Kraken raises $500M at $15B valuation ahead of IPO

Crypto exchange Kraken has secured $500 million in new funding at a $15 billion valuation, as it prepares for a planned IPO in 2026. The round drew multiple institutional backers, including Tribe Capital, led by Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, who also invested personally.

🖱 Funding will fuel global expansion, product development, and compliance upgrades.
🖱 The round had no single lead investor, signaling broad institutional confidence.
🖱 Kraken’s valuation positions it as one of the top private exchanges globally, rivaling Coinbase pre-IPO.
🖱 Comes amid renewed institutional interest in regulated crypto platforms.
🖱 The company aims to differentiate through transparency and licensing strength.

As crypto matures, the next bull run may belong less to token traders, and more to the infrastructure players building trust.

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📊 Crypto Venture Weekly: September 29–October 3, 2025

$312M was raised across 18 projects this week, led by Flying Tulip’s $200M seed round and xMoney’s $21.5M strategic raise. Meanwhile, AlphaTON Capital, Strategy, and VivoPower International allocated a combined $112M into TON, BTC, and XRP treasuries.

Here’s what the top 8 are building 👇

🖱 Flying Tulip ($200M seed, $1B valuation)
Full-stack onchain exchange combining a hybrid AMM and order book model.

🖱 xMoney ($21.5M, Sui Foundation)
European payments company bridging stablecoins with global commerce.

🖱 Lava ($17.5M, Extended Series A)
Platform for bitcoin-backed loans with participation from top fintech angels.

🖱 Ethena ($14M, MEXC Ventures)
DeFi protocol behind USDe, a crypto-native stablecoin backed by delta-hedged collateral.

🖱 KGeN ($13.5M, Jump Crypto, Accel, Prosus Ventures)
Building a Verified Distribution Network across AI, DeFi, gaming, and consumer apps.

🖱 Talus ($10M, Polychain, Foresight, dao5, Inception, Sui Foundation)
Developing infrastructure for AI agents and “Prediction AI.”

🖱 Mesta ($5.5M, Circle Ventures, Paxos, Village Global)
Global fiat and stablecoin payments network connecting banks and crypto rails.

🖱 BaseVol ($6M, Altos Ventures, Neoclassic, Base Ecosystem Fund)
Options trading layer on Base using 0DTE strategies and AI agents.

Investor attention this week centered on hybrid exchanges, AI-integrated infra, and stablecoin payments, while treasury allocations and fund launches underscored rising institutional interest in onchain assets.

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🎬 OpenAI gives content owners control as Sora plans monetization

OpenAI is rolling out new tools for rights holders to manage how their characters and content appear in Sora, its AI video app, and introducing a revenue-sharing model for those who opt in. The update follows rapid user growth and rising copyright scrutiny.

🖱 Studios can now block or approve use of their IP within Sora-generated videos.
🖱 Rights holders who allow usage will receive a share of Sora’s revenue.
🖱 OpenAI says the monetization model will involve “trial and error” before becoming standard.
🖱 The move follows Disney and others opting out of AI content reproduction.
🖱 Sora’s short-form AI videos are already generating more content than expected.

By giving studios both control and upside, OpenAI may be crafting the first sustainable business model for AI-generated media.

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💡 Bezos says AI is in an industrial-bubble but will benefit society

Jeff Bezos argues that AI today is riding a classic industrial bubble full of hype and overvaluation, yet its long-term impact will be transformative for society.

🖱 He sees the current frenzy as speculative excess around AI infrastructure and investment.
🖱 Despite that, Bezos believes AI will boost productivity, transform industries, and improve lives.
🖱 The innovation wave will take years, and many early bets may fail.
🖱 He warns of overinvestment in platforms without real utility.
🖱 The key winners will be those who build fundamental capabilities, not just hype.

In short: don’t mistake the bubble for the future many crashes ahead, but the underlying engine is real.

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🤖 Where startups actually spend their AI budgets, a16z’s top 50 list

Andreessen Horowitz analyzed real transaction data from thousands of startups to find which AI tools are getting the most money, not hype, but actual spend.

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⚙️ OpenAI partners with AMD to build the next generation of AI infrastructure

OpenAI has signed a multi-year deal with AMD to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of GPU compute, marking one of the largest AI hardware partnerships to date.

🖱 The first phase rolls out 1 GW of AMD Instinct MI450 GPUs starting in 2026.
🖱 AMD will issue OpenAI a warrant for up to 160 million shares, tied to hardware deployment milestones.
🖱 The partnership spans hardware, firmware, and software co-design to optimize large-scale AI systems.
🖱 It gives OpenAI a diversified GPU supply beyond NVIDIA, securing long-term compute capacity.
🖱 For AMD, it locks in a flagship AI customer and deepens its position in the AI accelerator race.

OpenAI is locking in the next decade of compute and AMD just became its second engine.

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🍎 Apple quietly preps for life after Tim Cook

Apple is setting the stage for its next era shelving experimental projects like the Vision Air headset and focusing on steady leadership as Tim Cook’s eventual successor comes into view.

🖱 John Ternus, Apple’s hardware chief, is now seen as the frontrunner to succeed Cook.
🖱 Longtime operations head Jeff Williams is reportedly stepping back, while Sabih Khan takes over as COO.
🖱 The transition hints at a generational shift toward product and engineering leadership.
🖱 Apple’s priority is stability, Cook is expected to remain through major launches like the next-gen iPhone and AI rollout.
🖱 The company is also tightening product focus, delaying Vision Air and the M5 iPad amid strategy reshuffles.

Apple is entering its next act, less visionary experiments, more disciplined execution as Cook readies the handover.

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📊 Vanity metrics: numbers that look good but mean nothing

Vanity metrics are flashy stats that make a startup seem successful, but don’t reflect real growth or product health. They impress investors or media, yet offer little help for actual decision-making.

🖱 They create an illusion of traction that’s easy to inflate with ads or PR.
🖱 Common examples: app downloads, registered users, followers, or page views.
🖱 None of these show whether users stay, pay, or engage.
🖱 Founders often misuse them to signal momentum without substance.
🖱 Real progress comes from metrics tied to retention, revenue, or unit economics.

Vanity metrics feed your ego, actionable metrics feed your company.

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🤖 Deloitte doubles down on AI right after refunding a client over AI errors

Deloitte is going all-in on artificial intelligence, announcing a massive partnership with Anthropic to bring Claude to its 500,000 employees just days after refunding the Australian government for an AI-generated report riddled with fake citations.

🖱 Deloitte agreed to repay part of a contract after its AI-assisted report for Australia’s employment department included false academic references.
🖱 The firm quickly corrected the document, then unveiled its new global AI partnership with Anthropic the same day.
🖱 Claude will be deployed across Deloitte’s workforce, powering “AI agent personas” for accountants, developers, and consultants.
🖱 The firms will co-develop compliance and governance tools for finance, healthcare, and public-sector clients.
🖱 Deloitte says the move aligns with its “responsible AI” strategy, even as the refund highlights the risks of overreliance on generative tools.

A telling moment for Big Four consulting: AI is now unavoidable, but accountability will define who leads the next era.

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This represents the number of open job vacancies in the USA against the backdrop of stock prices.

"AI will not take your jobs," yeah-yeah-yeah.

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💸 How much the biggest AI startups cost

It’s wild: Perplexity, already making big waves with its browsable, real-time AI search tool is valued in the tens of billions. But Ilya Sutskever’s new Safe Superintelligence (SSI), despite not having shipped a product, is reportedly worth almost twice as much.

🖱 Perplexity recently fetched $200M in new funding at a $20B valuation.
🖱 Safe Superintelligence raised ~$2B in its most recent round, placing its valuation around $30-32B.
🖱 Perplexity’s ARR is approaching $200 million.
🖱 SSI, by contrast, has no revenue that’s publicly reported, its value is driven by its founders, mission (safe superintelligence), investor faith, and the promise of future potential.

So yes: even with Perplexity building real things and generating revenue, SSI’s valuation nearly doubles Perplexity’s, a bet on what might be more than what is.

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🇺🇸 U.S. plans $100K H-1B visa fee, a major blow to tech talent

The Trump administration has proposed raising the H-1B visa application fee to $100,000, a move that could reshape how U.S. tech companies hire international workers. The rule, still in its comment phase, is part of a wider reform to “prioritize high-value applicants.”

🖱 The H-1B program currently caps at 85,000 slots annually and is the main pathway for global engineers, researchers, and startup talent to work in the U.S.
🖱 Officials claim the steep fee will “weed out” weaker applications and ensure only elite candidates apply.
🖱 Tech giants and universities warn this could devastate hiring pipelines, pricing out startups and smaller firms entirely.
🖱 The proposal also tightens wage requirements and changes how “value” is assessed for each applicant.
🖱 Immigration experts note that the plan may face legal challenges and further revisions before taking effect.

A $100K price tag turns a visa into a luxury good and could push the next wave of tech innovation out of the U.S.

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🤖 OpenAI snaps up an AI investing app in push toward personalized finance

OpenAI has acquired Roi, an AI-powered personal investing app that bundles portfolio oversight and a chatbot for financial advice.

🖱 Roi offers users a unified view of their investment portfolios plus AI-driven guidance and insights.
🖱 The acquisition reinforces a broader OpenAI strategy to deepen personalization and expand into fintech.
🖱 It’s likely Roi’s features will be integrated across OpenAI’s existing products, potentially bringing smart investing tools to ChatGPT or future AI “apps.”
🖱 With this move, OpenAI edges further into finance, signaling that the scope of “AI assistants” is expanding beyond chat, content, and productivity into money management.

A bold step: OpenAI is positioning itself as a central hub for not just conversation, but decisions around our finances too.

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💳 San Francisco’s new hustle: corporate cards now swipe on Saturdays

Ramp analyzed transaction data from its corporate cards and spotted an unusual trend, San Francisco companies are increasingly active on Saturdays, signaling a cultural shift toward a 72-hour workweek in the city’s tech scene.

🖱 Spending activity has expanded to a “9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week” rhythm, according to Ramp’s analytics team.
🖱 The uptick in Saturday transactions is small, measured in tenths of a percent, but statistically new and consistent.
🖱 The shift is unique to San Francisco and wasn’t present in previous years.
🖱 The Saturday surge isn’t limited to AI startups, it’s showing up across sectors.
🖱 Ramp notes this could reflect the city’s post-AI boom intensity, where founders and employees are simply working longer.

A subtle but telling signal: San Francisco’s work culture may be evolving again, from “always online” to “always on.”

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🤖 xAI expands funding round to $20B with Nvidia’s backing

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI is doubling its planned fundraising to $20 billion, with Nvidia joining as a key investor, according to Bloomberg. The deal mixes equity and debt through a special-purpose vehicle designed to buy GPUs for xAI’s massive Colossus 2 data center in Memphis.

🖱 Nvidia is contributing up to $2B to the equity portion, helping finance AI infrastructure while deepening ties with Musk.
🖱 The SPV will purchase Nvidia chips and rent them to xAI for five years, letting Wall Street investors recoup returns backed by the hardware rather than company equity.
🖱 The round includes roughly $7.5B in equity and $12.5B in debt, with Apollo Global Management and Diameter Capital among participants.
🖱 Valor Capital is leading the equity component, while Apollo is also investing.

This structure may set a precedent for GPU-backed financing across the AI sector - offering a new model for firms seeking capital-intensive compute without diluting ownership.

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💼 a16z denies reports of opening an India office, calls it “fake news”

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has publicly dismissed claims that it’s setting up operations in India, calling recent media reports “fake news.” The statement follows speculation that the Silicon Valley VC firm was preparing to launch a local office and hire a team on the ground.

🖱 Reports earlier suggested a16z was hiring for investment and operations roles in India as part of an Asia expansion strategy.
🖱 The firm quickly refuted the story, saying it has no immediate plans to establish a physical presence or team in India.
🖱 a16z remains focused on U.S.-based investments but continues to back startups globally through its existing funds.
🖱 The rumor comes as several U.S. venture firms, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Accel have deepened operations in India amid a rebound in tech deal flow.

While a16z says there’s “nothing to see here,” the timing of the rumor hints at growing interest from global funds eyeing India’s booming AI and fintech ecosystems.

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🛡️ Defence tech funding soars as startups reshape global security

Dealroom’s new State of Defence Tech 2025 report shows an explosive rise in private investment across military and dual-use technologies, from autonomous drones to cybersecurity and satellite intelligence. The charts tell one clear story: defence tech is officially a venture category.

🖱 Global defence tech funding has surged 7x since 2019, with over $120B in cumulative private investment.
🖱 The U.S. and Europe dominate, but Israel and South Korea are emerging as major innovation hubs for AI-enabled military systems.
🖱 Startups in autonomous systems, space, and cybersecurity attract the majority of capital driven by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and renewed NATO spending.
🖱 Corporate and sovereign funds are stepping in, with new specialist investors like Shield Capital, Stellar Ventures, and Narya leading rounds once considered too “sensitive” for traditional VC.

Defence tech has gone mainstream and the next frontier isn’t just AI for peace, but AI for deterrence.

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