Finance
Deutsche Börse is taking a $200 million stake in Kraken’s parent. The deal gives the Frankfurt exchange operator a foothold in one of the oldest crypto venues as it builds trading and settlement services on blockchain rails. The investment buys existing shares in Payward Inc. and equates to a
AI
OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are sharing threat data. The effort targets Chinese competitors extracting results from US frontier models to train cheap replicas and win customers on price. It marks an unusual truce among direct rivals. The coordination runs through the Frontier Model Forum. The nonprofit was founded in 2023
AI
Sarvam AI is nearing a $350 million raise. The round would value the Bengaluru startup at $1.5 billion to $1.55 billion, a fresh signal that India wants its own AI stack. People close to the talks expect a close soon. Bessemer Venture Partners is expected to lead, with
SpaceX has filed confidentially for an IPO in the US. People familiar with the matter said the draft registration went to the Securities and Exchange Commission, putting a June debut on the table. At scale, it would reset the IPO tape. The confidential process lets SpaceX address regulator feedback before
Netflix Inc. agreed to buy Ben Affleck’s artificial intelligence film startup for as much as $600 million. The deal is among Netflix’s largest acquisitions and signals a faster push into AI-assisted post-production. The maximum price includes performance-based upside, people familiar with the terms said. The purchase targets InterPositive,
Finance
Ripple has started a share buyback valuing it at $50 billion. The tender sets a fresh private-market reference point for one of the largest crypto infrastructure firms. It also offers employees liquidity while public token prices are falling. People familiar with the plan said Ripple will repurchase up to $750
AI
Rhoda AI raised $450 million at a $1.7 billion valuation. The round backs a bet that internet video can train robots for factory work when conditions shift, a gap that has limited most industrial automation. Premji Invest led the financing. At $1.7 billion post-money, the raise ranks Rhoda
Underdog acquired a federally regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse, positioning the fantasy-sports firm to list and clear sports event contracts directly under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The deal gives Underdog access to one of the limited exchange-and-clearing stacks that can run these contracts end to end. The Brooklyn-based
Aureus Greenway Holdings surged as much as 24% after it agreed to combine with Powerus, a drone business backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The jump put a market price on a fresh slice of the Trump family’s defense investing as the Pentagon accelerates unmanned procurement. Powerus
Promptfoo tests AI systems for about a quarter of the Fortune 500. OpenAI is buying the startup to put automated security testing inside Frontier, its enterprise platform for AI agents. The deal makes agent safety a product feature. OpenAI plans to announce Monday it will integrate Promptfoo into Frontier, a
KAST raised $80 million in a new funding round. The deal signals venture capital is still backing “digital-dollar account” startups as stablecoins move from trading venues into everyday payments. People familiar with the round said it values KAST at about $600 million. They also said KAST expects its annual revenue
Markets
Brent crude topped $100 a barrel, first since 2022. The spike, tied to the US-Israeli war with Iran and shipping strain, triggered a broad risk-off move and pushed stock futures lower. Asia’s main equity gauge sank as much as 5.4%, its biggest drop since April. South Korea fell