Good Morning from San Francisco,
Anthropic just closed a $3.5B funding round, making it Silicon Valley's newest unicorn factory. Their AI assistant Claude is apparently so good at coding, it's putting caffeine-fueled developers to shame. The $61.5B valuation suggests investors think they're onto something bigger than free pizza at tech meetups.
Meanwhile, TSMC is doubling down on America's chip dreams with another $100B investment. They're building three new plants that'll make chips so tiny, you'd need a quantum microscope to spot them. The semiconductor race is heating up faster than a gaming laptop running Crysis.
Stay curious,
Marcus Schuler
Anthropic's $3.5B Raise Makes It One of World's Most Valuable Startups
Anthropic just secured a whopping $3.5 billion in funding. The AI company behind Claude now stands tall with a $61.5 billion valuation.
Lightspeed Venture Partners led the massive Series E round. They weren't alone. Heavy hitters like Bessemer, Cisco, and Salesforce joined the party. Even Wall Street titan Jane Street wanted in.
The timing couldn't be better. Anthropic just rolled out Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Claude Code. Their new coding abilities have techies buzzing. Companies are taking notice too. Replit saw 10X revenue growth after integrating Claude. Novo Nordisk slashed report writing time from 12 weeks to 10 minutes.
The cash influx follows recent billion-dollar bets from tech giants. Amazon dropped $4 billion in November. Google chipped in another billion in January. Clearly, the big players see something special here.
Anthropic plans to pour the money into next-gen AI development. They're beefing up compute capacity and diving deeper into AI safety research. Global expansion is also on the menu.
Why this matters:
- The AI arms race just got spicier. With a $61.5B valuation, Anthropic emerges as OpenAI's most formidable rival
- Silicon Valley's still throwing mountains of cash at AI, proving that even in a tight market, frontier tech commands premium prices
Read on, my dear:
- Antrhopic Website: Anthropic raises Series E at $61.5B post-money valuation
Better Prompting: Video Scripts
“Please create a detailed script for a [X-minute] video about [topic]. The script should include a brief yet engaging introduction that captures the audience’s attention, a well-organized body that thoroughly covers [specific focus areas], and a conclusion that effectively encourages viewers to [state desired action]. Aim for a clear, conversational tone that makes the information accessible and engaging to a wide audience.”
Chip Giant TSMC Commits Another $100B to American Manufacturing
The world's leading chipmaker will pour an additional $100 billion into US manufacturing. This massive commitment doubles their existing $65 billion Arizona investment.
The expansion includes three new chip plants, two packaging facilities, and a research center. TSMC's CEO C.C. Wei announced the plans alongside President Trump at the White House. The move will bring cutting-edge 2-nanometer chip production to American soil.
This investment follows TSMC's recent milestone in Phoenix. Their first facility began churning out sophisticated 4-nanometer chips late last year. It marked the first time chips this advanced were manufactured in the US. Two more factories are already under construction.
The timing is significant. Recent supply chain disruptions and growing tensions between China and Taiwan have highlighted the risks of concentrated chip production. The US government is backing the expansion with billions in CHIPS Act grants and tax incentives.
TSMC's commitment aligns with other tech giants' recent US manufacturing pushes. Apple pledged $500 billion in domestic investment, while a coalition including OpenAI and Oracle announced similar plans through the Stargate project.
Why this matters:
- America's chip independence gets a turbo boost: This $165 billion total investment could reshape the global semiconductor landscape, shifting advanced manufacturing away from its historic Asian base
- The AI arms race just got more interesting: These new facilities will produce the cutting-edge chips needed to power the next generation of artificial intelligence
Read on my dear:
AI Photo of the Day
Prompt:
A stunning female Sage Sorcerer of Cloud Giant ancestry, standing tall and powerful in a grand Dungeons & Dragons cityscape. She has pale grey to light blue skin, adorned with intricate blue wind tattoos flowing across her arms and face. Her eyes shimmer with arcane wisdom, reflecting her scholarly nature. Despite her schoolgirl-like demeanor, she is a battle-hardened warrior--strong, fit, and armored. She wields a mystical quarterstaff and a finely crafted spear, exuding both elegance and power. The background showcases a vast, magical metropolis filled with towering spires, arcane lights, and ancient libraries. The atmosphere is a blend of fantasy realism and epic storytelling, with soft, magical lighting and a sense of adventure
From Crypto Miner to AI Giant: CoreWeave's $1.9B Revenue Rocket Ride
CoreWeave just pulled back the curtain on its financials. The cloud computing powerhouse saw revenue explode to $1.92 billion in 2024 - a staggering 700% jump. But rapid growth comes at a cost: the company posted an $863.4 million net loss.
Microsoft emerges as the heavyweight customer, driving 62% of CoreWeave's revenue. The tech giant turned to CoreWeave in 2023 to help meet surging demand for OpenAI's computing needs. Now CoreWeave sits on over $15 billion in unfulfilled contracts.
The company's journey reads like a Silicon Valley fairy tale. Founded in 2017 as a crypto mining operation called Atlantic Crypto, CoreWeave pivoted when digital currency prices tanked. They scooped up Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and transformed into an AI infrastructure powerhouse.
👉 Today, CoreWeave's empire spans 32 data centers housing over 250,000 Nvidia GPUs. But maintaining this artificial intelligence arsenal isn't cheap - the company's debt approaches $8 billion. Interest expenses pushed CoreWeave into the red despite healthy 76% gross margins.
👉 CEO Michael Intrator, who controls 38% of voting power, aims to list on Nasdaq under "CRWV." Morgan Stanley leads the IPO charge, with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs backing them up.
Why this matters:
- The AI gold rush has a new poster child: CoreWeave's transformation from crypto miner to essential AI infrastructure provider shows how quickly fortunes can turn in tech
- The numbers tell a fascinating story: 700% revenue growth suggests explosive AI demand, while $8 billion in debt reveals the steep cost of staying competitive in the AI arms race
Read on, my dear:
AI & Tech News
Beijing Blocks AI and Defense Companies in Latest Trade Clash
China just threw a wrench into U.S. tech companies' plans. The country added 15 American firms including drone maker Skydio and AI startup Shield AI to its export control list, while slapping 10 more companies including biotech giant Illumina with investment and trade restrictions in apparent retaliation for Trump's February tariffs.
Nvidia Sheds $265B as Trump Tariffs Spook Investors
Nvidia's stock plunged 9% on Monday, wiping out $265 billion in market value, after Trump announced new tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The world's most valuable chipmaker stumbled despite just posting stellar earnings with 78% revenue growth, as investors fretted about how the 25% import duties might impact its complex global manufacturing network.
Trump's Chips Office Cuts Put $52B Program at Risk
The U.S. office managing $52 billion in semiconductor subsidies is losing about two-fifths of its workforce. Around 60 employees are leaving the Chips Program Office through voluntary resignations and terminations, potentially threatening the rollout of critical funding for domestic chip manufacturing that has already attracted over $400 billion in private investment commitments.
Deutsche Telekom Announces AI Phone with Perplexity
Deutsche Telekom is diving into the AI hardware race. The German telecom giant announced plans to launch a sub-$1,000 "AI Phone" in 2026, developed with AI startup Perplexity and featuring an always-on AI assistant called Magenta AI. The device aims to be what Nokia never quite managed - a European answer to Apple and Google's smartphone dominance.
AI-Powered Massage Company Expands to Luxury Gyms
An AI-powered massage robot that looks like a futuristic dentist's chair just raised $83 million in funding. Aescape Inc will install its $60 mechanical massage service in 60 Equinox gym locations, marking a significant expansion from its current fleet of 40 tables that have already generated $23 million in revenue.
Mozilla Revises Firefox Terms After Privacy Backlash
Mozilla just backtracked on controversial new browser terms that sparked privacy concerns. The Firefox maker rewrote its policy to explicitly state it won't claim ownership of user data, clarifying that data collection is strictly for browser operations after users worried their information would be sold to advertisers and AI companies.
AI Decoded 🔓: Presentation Tools
Your guide to mastering AI tools - no tech degree required.
Top 10 AI tools for creating cool presentations fast
- Gamma - Create stunning presentations, documents, and websites without any design or programming skills. Gamma
- SlidesAI - AI-powered presentations in seconds. SlidesAI
- Tome - The leading AI-based sales and marketing research and presentation platform. Tome
- AutoSlide - From idea to finished presentation in seconds. AutoSlide
- MagicSlides - PowerPoint presentations can be made by simply entering a topic, YouTube link, PDF, or text. MagicSlides
- DesignerBot - It helps you brainstorm with text and images. DesignerBot
- MotionIt AI - AI-generated elegant slides from keywords or documents - including automatic formatting and image selection. MotionIt AI
- SendSteps AI - It takes care of copywriting, design, and storytelling so you can focus on presenting. Sendsteps AI
- Storytelling - Business presentations with compelling storytelling - powered by AI. Storyd
- PitchBob - A tool for creating pitch decks, business plans, and landing pages specifically for startups. PitchBob
