AI
Shield AI is discussing a $1 billion raise. People familiar with the talks said the round would value the company at about $11 billion before the capital, or up to $12 billion after it. The size points to heated defense-AI demand still. The San Diego-based startup declined to comment Friday.
Security
The Pentagon briefly named Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and TP-Link as firms aiding China’s military, then removed the update shortly after. Alibaba’s American depositary receipts fell as much as 5% in extended trading, and Baidu’s dropped as much as 4.5%. The whipsaw shows how fast policy risk
AI
Legora is in talks for a $6 billion valuation. The move would triple its last mark in just four months, signaling investors still want concentrated exposure to legal automation. It also lands after a public-market selloff tied to AI disruption fears. The round is not finalized and terms may change.
AI
OpenAI says DeepSeek is distilling US model outputs. In a memo to Congress, it warned the practice is growing harder to detect, raising concerns for paid AI services. That claim places model access at the center of policy. If outputs can be copied at scale, subscription moats shrink even as
Markets
Coinbase Global Inc. posted a $667 million net loss in the fourth quarter. The result shows how fast a cooling market can squeeze even an exchange built beyond spot fees, with policy risk now creeping into the “steady” parts of revenue. Revenue fell about 20% to $1.8 billion, dragged
AI
Taiwan’s exports jumped about 70% in January. The surge is driving expectations that Taipei will raise its 2026 growth outlook, even after 2025 delivered the fastest expansion since 2010. Equity investors have treated the AI supply chain as a macro trade. Crazy export numbers out of Taiwan for January.
Regulation
Russia has tried to fully block WhatsApp in Russia, the company said. The move threatens access for more than 100 million users and raises new questions about how governments can steer encrypted traffic at scale. Crypto and fintech groups run support and transfers over chat. WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms,
Blockchain
The UK picked HSBC to run its digital gilt pilot. The decision brings tokenized sovereign debt into a live test bed, where settlement speed and controls will be measured under UK supervision across front-to-back workflows. Gilt settlement is still measured in days, not minutes. A successful tokenized issuance would offer
Finance
Robinhood Markets Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $605 million, down about 34% from $916 million a year earlier. The drop shows how quickly crypto market drawdowns can translate into weaker brokerage profitability. The Menlo Park, California-based firm reported 66 cents a share, 2 cents above the Bloomberg-compiled analyst average.
Finance
Stripe’s next tender points to at least $140 billion. The valuation matters for crypto rails because Stripe has been buying stablecoin tooling, and private pricing now signals how payments incumbents value that optionality. It also gives employees liquidity without an initial public offering (IPO). Bloomberg reported the company is
Markets
Bitcoin (BTC) hit $60,033 again, reviving FTX-era volatility signals. The move matters because a Federal Reserve official is linking the selloff to institutional risk controls, not just retail sentiment. Still, that framing pulls crypto closer to mainstream macro discussion. Large trading desks are watching that shift closely. Christopher Waller,
AI
Anthropic PBC, a leading rival to OpenAI, is on the verge of closing a massive funding round expected to exceed $20 billion—more than doubling its initial target, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The round, likely to finalize as soon as next week, will value Anthropic at an