However, discussions with investors remain in the early stages, and the final terms could still change, the sources said. They also indicated that investor demand could push the valuation even higher. Previously, the Paris-based AI startup secured funding in September at a valuation of €11.7 billion.

A representative for Mistral declined to comment. Likewise, a spokesperson for ASML Holding NV, the company’s largest shareholder, declined to comment. Notably, ASML invested €1.3 billion in Mistral during the previous funding round and acquired an 11% stake in the company.

Researchers from Google DeepMind and Meta Platforms Inc. founded Mistral AI in 2023. Since then, the startup has positioned itself as Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley’s dominance in artificial intelligence. Moreover, the company has focused on providing AI infrastructure solutions to European governments and enterprises. It is also developing and managing cloud-computing facilities in France and Sweden to strengthen Europe’s technological independence.

Recently, Mistral expanded its enterprise AI strategy by offering specialized artificial intelligence solutions for engineering and manufacturing operations. As a result, the company secured partnerships with major European industrial giants, including Airbus SE and BMW AG.

Despite these advancements, Mistral’s AI models and chatbot products have achieved considerably lower adoption among businesses and consumers than offerings from OpenAI, Anthropic PBC, and several Chinese AI competitors. Meanwhile, competition within the global artificial intelligence sector continues to intensify. OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly preparing for public listings this year following the initial public offering of xAI owner SpaceX. Ahead of its first trading day on Friday, investors valued SpaceX at approximately $1.8 trillion. OpenAI last raised funding at an $852 billion valuation in March, while Anthropic reached a valuation of $965 billion last month.

In addition, Mistral has explored opportunities with European banks and financial institutions by presenting its alternative to Anthropic’s Mythos, an AI model known for identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Mistral Chief Executive Officer Arthur Mensch has highlighted the strategic importance of such technology and its implications for national security. “We must have control over this technology,” he said last month.

Mistral has also attracted support from several high-profile investors. Its early backers include France’s state investment bank, Bpifrance, along with leading American venture capital firms such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Mistral AI’s planned €3 billion fundraising effort underscores Europe’s growing determination to build globally competitive artificial intelligence capabilities. As the AI race accelerates worldwide, the French startup continues to strengthen its infrastructure, enterprise partnerships, and technological offerings. If successful, the funding round could further elevate Mistral’s position as one of the most influential AI companies outside the United States and China, while reinforcing Europe’s ambition to achieve greater technological sovereignty in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

The investment, which includes a combination of primary and secondary transactions, marks a significant milestone for the New Delhi-headquartered company. Moreover, the fresh capital strengthens Innefu Labs’ path toward a potential initial public offering (IPO) while accelerating its plans to expand into international markets.

Panthera Growth Partners deployed the investment through its second fund, which receives backing from institutional investors across India, the European Union, and the United States. Consequently, the funding reinforces growing global confidence in India’s deep-tech and artificial intelligence ecosystem.

Innefu Labs plans to utilize the newly raised capital to fuel global market expansion and intensify research and development efforts in advanced technologies. Specifically, the company will enhance its proprietary agentic AI platform, establish a dedicated physical AI and robotics division, and build sovereign AI infrastructure supported by domain-specific large language models.

Furthermore, the company revealed that it currently manages a growing order book exceeding Rs 100 crore. These contracts span critical sectors such as defence, intelligence, law enforcement, and revenue intelligence, highlighting the increasing demand for AI-powered security and analytics solutions.

Commenting on the development, Innefu Labs Co-Founder and CEO Tarun Wig said, “We now intend to scale our innovations faster, deepen our investments in advanced AI, and further enhance our autonomous decision-support systems. We believe the next wave of technological leadership will belong to nations that own their intelligence capabilities, and Innefu is committed to ensuring that India stands at the forefront of that transformation.”

Founded in 2010, Innefu Labs specializes in data analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and information security solutions designed for national security agencies and enterprise customers. Over the years, the company has developed indigenous technologies that address complex security, intelligence, and risk management challenges.

Explaining the rationale behind the investment, Shilpa Kulkarni, Founder and Managing Partner of Panthera Growth Partners, stated, “Innefu has built native, AI-powered software that solves critical challenges in national defence and enterprise security infrastructure. Our investment decision is based on their proprietary technology, deep domain expertise, and a proven track record in high-stakes, mission-critical environments.”

In addition to attracting investor confidence, Innefu Labs delivered strong financial performance during FY25. The company reported a net profit of Rs 34.2 crore, representing a nearly 90% increase from Rs 18 crore recorded in the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, revenue from operations rose significantly to Rs 103 crore in FY25, compared to Rs 62.7 crore in FY24. This robust growth reflects increasing adoption of the company’s AI-powered security, defence, and intelligence solutions across government and enterprise sectors.

The latest funding round also underscores the growing momentum within India’s artificial intelligence, defence technology, and cybersecurity sectors. As governments and enterprises increasingly prioritize sovereign AI capabilities, national security infrastructure, and autonomous decision-making systems, companies such as Innefu Labs are emerging as key players in shaping the future of strategic technology.

Innefu Labs’ $30 million Series B funding round represents a major boost for India’s rapidly evolving AI and national security technology landscape. With strong financial growth, a healthy order pipeline, and ambitious plans to expand globally, the company is well-positioned to strengthen its leadership in defence AI, cybersecurity, and sovereign intelligence solutions. As it advances toward a potential IPO, Innefu Labs continues to demonstrate how indigenous innovation can drive technological self-reliance and global competitiveness in mission-critical sectors.

The transaction brings Warren Buffett’s diversified holding company on board as a major new investor. Consequently, the investment provides a strong endorsement of Alphabet’s long-term artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital innovation strategy.

Earlier this year, Alphabet increased its annual capital expenditure forecast by $5 billion, raising the projected spending range to between $180 billion and $190 billion. Through this move, the technology giant aims to meet rapidly growing AI-driven computing demand while expanding its portfolio of business AI tools and custom-designed chips.

As part of the agreement, Alphabet will sell $10 billion worth of shares to Berkshire Hathaway through a private placement. The offering includes $5 billion in Class A common stock priced at $351.81 per share and $5 billion in Class C capital stock priced at $348.20 per share. Both offerings come at prices below Monday’s closing levels.

Following the announcement, Alphabet’s shares declined 2% in after-hours trading.

“All companies are thrilled when Berkshire takes positions, because it is the kind of shareholder that companies like to have,” said Steven Check, president and chief investment officer of Check Capital Management, which has investments in Berkshire stock.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway continues to strengthen its position in Alphabet. The investment adds to the stake Berkshire has built since the third quarter of last year. Last month, Berkshire revealed that it had more than tripled its holding in the Google parent. At approximately $16.6 billion, Alphabet now ranks among Berkshire Hathaway’s largest common stock investments.

“This additional purchase underscores that Greg Abel(Berkshire CEO) believes that Alphabet will earn a reasonable return on its AI capex spending with the firm issuing additional shares,” said Bill Stone, chief investment officer at Glenview Trust Company.

In addition to Berkshire’s participation, Alphabet intends to raise another $30 billion through concurrent public offerings supported by major investment banks. The company plans to divide the offering equally between depositary shares linked to mandatory convertible preferred stock and Class A and Class C shares.

Furthermore, Alphabet expects to launch a $40 billion at-the-market offering program during the third quarter. This initiative will provide flexibility to gradually sell Class A and Class C shares over time while efficiently managing capital requirements.

“The company is experiencing strong demand for its AI solutions and services from enterprises and consumers, at levels that are exceeding the company’s available supply,” Alphabet said.

The statement highlights the unprecedented growth in demand for artificial intelligence solutions across both enterprise and consumer markets. As organizations increasingly adopt generative AI, cloud computing, machine learning, and advanced digital services, Alphabet continues to expand its infrastructure to meet market requirements.

Over the past year, Alphabet has also strengthened its balance sheet through debt financing. The company raised more than $85 billion in debt across six currencies and multiple global markets, increasing its total debt balance to more than $100 billion.

Alphabet’s planned $80 billion equity fundraising marks one of the largest capital-raising efforts in the technology sector and underscores the company’s commitment to dominating the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence market. With Berkshire Hathaway deepening its investment, Alphabet gains not only substantial financial backing but also a powerful vote of confidence in its AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and long-term growth strategy. As demand for AI services continues to outpace supply, Alphabet’s aggressive investments position the company to capitalize on the next wave of technological transformation and digital innovation.

The initiative will focus on emerging and strategic technology sectors, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, fintech, and consumer technology. Through this programme, the company aims to strengthen its long-term technology capabilities while accelerating innovation across India’s rapidly evolving digital economy.

Finserv Intelligence will primarily target early-stage startups ranging from seed-stage ventures to Series B companies with strong scalability potential. Investment sizes will vary depending on the specific needs and growth stage of each startup, while a dedicated investment team will manage the funds and oversee deployment strategies.

Additionally, Bajaj Finserv has signed a Master Collaboration Agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The partnership will support joint research projects, technology development initiatives, and efforts to transform academic innovation into commercially viable business solutions.

Speaking about the initiative, Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj Finserv, said the company wanted to move beyond its existing short-term research cycles and focus on long-term technological transformation.

“In the last 15 years, as we have built our own research and the application focus has been with a three- to five-year time frame… What we have realized is that given the advent of how the digital world has grown in the last couple of years with AI, it was timely for us to look at a five- to ten-year window as well,” Bajaj said.

“Medium-term research is what we will do through this initiative because we think that it is very important to build transformational capabilities in the medium-term,” he added.

Finserv Intelligence will combine academic collaborations, startup investments, and internal expertise to create scalable technology solutions tailored for India’s financial services and digital ecosystem.

Furthermore, the company plans to expand collaborations with additional academic institutions while simultaneously building an in-house team to support the initiative’s long-term objectives.

According to Bajaj, Bajaj Finserv is currently hiring specialists for Finserv Intelligence and expects to build an initial team of nearly 40 members over the next year, including both full-time and part-time professionals.

“We have people coming on board in the next one or two months. Over the next year, we will have a team, some full-time and some part-time, about 40 people to start. They will start working with IIT Bombay. But they will also build out the other academia partnerships,” he said.

The chairman also highlighted the company’s growing use of artificial intelligence to communicate with customers in multiple languages, including English and Hindi. According to Bajaj, Finserv Intelligence could help expand these capabilities to support more Indian languages and regional dialects as the company seeks broader nationwide reach.

“India has so many languages and then so many dialects. To make sure that we achieve our ambition to be present in one in three Indian households to every household,” he said.

“If you are looking at Bhojpuri or if you are looking at a dialect of Tamil, the world is not working on that. To get to language 20 and 30, and to get to dialect 70 and dialect 80, that will be taken up as a medium-term project by this initiative,” he added.

Bajaj also stated that the company could eventually explore commercial opportunities by offering some of the technologies developed under Finserv Intelligence to other businesses and enterprises.

The initiative is expected to include research and development labs, centres of excellence, venture-led innovation models, and scholar-in-residence programmes designed to support technological advancement and applied research in India.

The launch of Finserv Intelligence marks a major strategic step for Bajaj Finserv as the company strengthens its focus on artificial intelligence, deep technology, and long-term innovation. By combining startup investments, academic partnerships, and internal research capabilities, Bajaj Finserv aims to position itself at the forefront of India’s next wave of fintech and digital transformation. As demand for AI-driven financial services, regional language technologies, and cybersecurity solutions continues to rise, the initiative could play a significant role in shaping the future of India’s technology ecosystem.

According to reports, the deal, which remains pending closure, will value the combined entity at approximately $20 billion. Furthermore, Schwarz Group, one of Aleph Alpha’s key backers, will invest $600 million in Cohere’s upcoming Series E funding round, which the company expects to close later this year. Consequently, this investment will significantly strengthen the financial foundation of the newly formed AI entity.

Meanwhile, a few major Silicon Valley players continue to dominate the commercial AI market, which is currently witnessing rapid consolidation and intense competition. However, through this merger, both companies aim to challenge that dominance and reshape the global AI innovation ecosystem.

Additionally, a press release announcing the Cohere-Aleph Alpha union stated that one of the primary objectives of the merger is to provide businesses and governments with a viable alternative to these dominant technology players. Specifically, the combined entity will focus on offering greater independence, enhanced data control, and robust enterprise-grade AI solutions. At the same time, the merger aims to integrate talent and expertise from Canada and Germany, thereby creating a “transatlantic AI powerhouse.”

Ultimately, this merger underscores the growing importance of AI sovereignty, data privacy, and enterprise AI solutions in today’s digital economy. As the global AI race intensifies, the Cohere-Aleph Alpha alliance positions itself as a strong contender capable of driving innovation while offering organizations more control over their technological infrastructure.

The Cohere and Aleph Alpha merger marks a pivotal moment in the global artificial intelligence sector, reinforcing the trend of strategic consolidation. Strong financial backing, cross-border collaboration, and a clear focus on independence and data control position the newly formed entity to emerge as a formidable player in the enterprise AI space, challenge established giants, and reshape the future of AI innovation.

If the deal materialises, it will more than double Fluidstack’s valuation within a short span, highlighting the rapid surge in demand for AI-focused data center infrastructure. Previously, in December, the company was reportedly raising around $700 million at a $7.5 billion valuation, although it did not officially confirm the closure of that round.

At that time, sources indicated that Situational Awareness, founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, was leading the round. Additionally, prominent backers included the Collison brothers of Stripe, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and AI investor Daniel Gross.

Subsequently, discussions for the round continued into February, with Google reportedly considering a $100 million investment, as per The Wall Street Journal. These ongoing negotiations underscore the growing competition among investors to back high-potential AI infrastructure providers.

Meanwhile, Fluidstack has attracted significant attention due to its strategic partnerships and large-scale deals. In November, Anthropic announced that it had signed a $50 billion agreement with the startup to build custom-designed data centers in Texas and New York. Unlike hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services, which cater to diverse computing needs, Fluidstack focuses exclusively on AI-specific infrastructure, thereby offering tailored solutions for high-performance workloads.

This landmark deal significantly boosted Fluidstack’s credibility, especially in the U.S. market, where it was previously less well-known. Although Anthropic continues to rely on Google Cloud and AWS to deliver its Claude AI models, it has increasingly sought greater control over its infrastructure. Similar to OpenAI, Anthropic is scaling rapidly, and this partnership enables it to secure additional computing capacity while maintaining operational flexibility.

As a result of this strategic shift, Fluidstack has realigned its global operations. Originally spun out of the University of Oxford and recognised as a rising player in Europe’s AI ecosystem, the company has relocated its headquarters from the United Kingdom to New York to capitalise on expanding opportunities in the U.S. market. Furthermore, the startup recently withdrew from a major €10 billion AI project in France to sharpen its focus on U.S.-based growth initiatives.

In addition to Anthropic, Fluidstack serves a growing roster of high-profile clients, including Meta, Poolside, and Black Forest Labs. Earlier, the company gained recognition for providing infrastructure support to Mistral, further solidifying its position in the global AI infrastructure market.

Fluidstack’s potential $1 billion funding round and soaring valuation reflect the intensifying demand for AI-driven data center solutions worldwide. As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates, the company aims to emerge as a key player in next-generation cloud infrastructure, thereby attracting significant investor interest and shaping the future of AI computing.

Moreover, OpenAI emphasized the broader impact of this capital infusion, stating, “The capital being deployed today is helping build the infrastructure layer for intelligence itself.” The company further added, “Over time, that value will flow back into the economy, to companies, to communities, and increasingly to individuals.”

At the same time, the ChatGPT developer revealed that its revenue run rate has reached $2 billion per month and continues to grow at a fast pace. In addition, the funding round drew participation from a diverse mix of strategic partners, including Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank. Interestingly, around $3 billion of the total funding reportedly came from individual investors, marking an unusual move for a deal of this scale.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT continues to dominate the consumer AI landscape, boasting over 900 million weekly active users and approximately 50 million paid subscribers. Furthermore, OpenAI noted that usage of ChatGPT’s online search capabilities has tripled over the past year, reflecting increasing reliance on AI-powered tools.

Commenting on this growth trajectory, the company stated, “These are not just growth milestones—they show that frontier AI is becoming part of everyday life for people around the world.”

In addition to scaling its core offerings, OpenAI has started diversifying its revenue streams. For instance, the company began rolling out advertising for non-premium users earlier this year to boost monetization. Simultaneously, it is working on building a comprehensive “superapp” that aims to integrate ChatGPT, web browsing, a Codex coding assistant, and advanced agentic capabilities designed to autonomously perform tasks.

Looking ahead, the funding round arrives amid growing speculation that OpenAI is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) later this year. However, competition in the AI sector continues to intensify. Rival firm Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI employees, has been gaining traction with its Claude AI models and recently secured a $30 billion funding round. Likewise, Google’s Gemini AI and Elon Musk’s xAI are emerging as strong contenders, attracting both users and investment.

Ultimately, OpenAI’s latest funding milestone not only cements its leadership position in the global AI race but also signals a broader shift toward AI becoming a foundational layer of the digital economy. As investments accelerate and competition deepens, the coming months will likely determine how effectively these companies can translate technological advancements into sustainable business models.

Meanwhile, prominent investors are lining up to participate in the round. Founders Fund is expected to join the funding, while Lightspeed Venture Partners is also in talks to invest alongside existing backers Thrive Capital and Lux Capital. However, since the deal remains in its early stages, terms may evolve as discussions progress.

Earlier this year, during a visit to the company’s headquarters, co-founder Sergey Levine outlined the startup’s core ambition, stating, “Think of it like ChatGPT, but for robots.” At that time, Physical Intelligence had already raised over $1 billion and built a team of around 80 employees. The company actively develops general-purpose AI models that enable robots to perform a wide range of tasks, including folding laundry and peeling vegetables.

In addition, co-founder Lachy Groom emphasized the company’s unconventional approach to commercialization. He confirmed that Physical Intelligence is not operating on a fixed timeline to bring products to market—an approach that has not deterred investor interest. “There’s no limit to how much money we can really put to work,” Groom said. “There’s always more compute you can throw at the problem.”

As a result, Physical Intelligence continues to position itself at the forefront of next-generation robotics by focusing on scalable AI infrastructure rather than immediate revenue generation. This strategy reflects a broader trend in deep tech, where long-term innovation often takes precedence over short-term commercialization.

The company’s aggressive fundraising efforts and rapidly increasing valuation underscore the growing momentum in the AI-powered robotics sector. If the deal materializes as expected, Physical Intelligence could significantly accelerate the development of general-purpose robotic intelligence, potentially reshaping industries ranging from household automation to manufacturing in the years ahead.

However, the companies did not disclose the financial details of the agreement. Under the partnership, Thinking Machines Lab, which former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati founded last year, will deploy Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin systems starting early next year. The startup will primarily use the computing power to train its artificial intelligence models.

Industry executives have stated that one gigawatt of computing capacity can cost approximately $50 billion. Additionally, this level of computing power can supply electricity to nearly 750,000 homes in the United States.

The agreement will help Thinking Machines Lab strengthen its ability to compete with larger AI companies that are aggressively developing powerful artificial intelligence systems. At the same time, the deal highlights the growing urgency across the AI industry to expand large-scale computing infrastructure.

Thinking Machines Lab quickly emerged as one of Silicon Valley’s most closely monitored AI startups after it raised about $2 billion in seed funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the funding round, which valued the company at approximately $12 billion, while Nvidia also participated as an investor.

Furthermore, the startup has recently explored raising additional capital in a new funding round that could potentially push its valuation into the tens of billions of dollars, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, the company has recently experienced several leadership departures. Co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer Barret Zoph and co-founder Luke Metz both left the startup and returned to their previous employer, OpenAI, amid intense competition for experienced AI talent.

The partnership also emphasizes Nvidia’s expanding role not only as a technology provider but also as a financial supporter of startups that depend on its advanced AI chips.

In recent months, Nvidia has invested heavily in leading AI companies. The chipmaker recently committed $30 billion to OpenAI and invested $10 billion in Anthropic. At the same time, the company supplies the powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) that these startups use to train and operate their artificial intelligence models.

Some industry analysts argue that this dynamic creates a circular flow of capital and computing resources between Nvidia and the AI companies that rely on its technology. Consequently, this ecosystem has prompted comparisons with the late-1990s technology bubble as investment and competition in artificial intelligence accelerate rapidly.

The partnership between Thinking Machines Lab and Nvidia reflects the growing race among AI startups to secure massive computing power and strategic funding. As artificial intelligence development becomes increasingly resource-intensive, collaborations between chip manufacturers and AI innovators will likely shape the next phase of technological advancement. With strong backing and advanced infrastructure, Thinking Machines Lab is positioning itself as a serious contender in the global AI competition.

At the same time, Coatue Management and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, are expected to lead the funding round alongside existing shareholders. Meanwhile, the talks are taking place as speculation grows that Anthropic is preparing for an initial public offering within the next 12 to 18 months, especially as competitors such as OpenAI continue to secure massive capital infusions. However, the financing discussions remain ongoing, and the company could still revise its plans.

More broadly, these talks underscore the intense investment surge sweeping through the AI sector, even as concerns mount about a potential bubble and the long-term sustainability of AI business models. In particular, companies developing AI products such as chatbots face extraordinarily high costs, as they must invest heavily in computing infrastructure, energy, and data to train their systems.

In comparison, OpenAI finalized a funding deal in October that valued the company at $500 billion. Similarly, on Tuesday, Elon Musk’s xAI announced it had raised $20 billion in a funding round that likely pushed its valuation beyond $230 billion.

Anthropic, founded in 2021 by siblings Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, emerged after the pair departed OpenAI following disagreements over how the organization funded and distributed its technology through Microsoft. Subsequently, they launched Anthropic with a focus on developing AI systems built with strong safety guardrails. In addition, they structured the company as a public benefit corporation, emphasizing public and social responsibility alongside commercial goals.

In 2024, Anthropic secured $8 billion from Amazon, which remains its largest investor. Furthermore, Google has invested approximately $3 billion and holds about a 14% stake in the company, according to court documents reviewed by the Times. Altogether, PitchBook data indicates that Anthropic has raised at least $40 billion in total funding to date.

Most recently, Anthropic closed its previous funding round in September at a valuation of $183 billion. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft and Nvidia announced plans to collectively invest roughly $15 billion in the company by the end of the year.

As Anthropic continues to advance its AI capabilities and expand deployment for enterprises and consumers, the company is committing tens of billions of dollars to data center infrastructure. Late last year, Anthropic revealed plans to invest $50 billion in data centers located in Texas and New York in partnership with cloud provider Fluidstack. However, the company has not yet disclosed how it intends to finance the project.

At the same time, Anthropic is spending billions to secure computing capacity from both Google and Amazon. Notably, the company will become the primary tenant of an exceptionally large Amazon data center in New Carlisle, Indiana, which will eventually draw 2.2 gigawatts of electricity—enough power to supply approximately one million homes.