Startups

OpenAI's Sam Altman Is Reportedly Backing A Little-Known Startup That Wants To Bring AI Into The Physical World

Namrata Sen — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:30:47 +0000

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly backing an AI startup named Alfred.

The startup, led by former employees of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), is also receiving financial backing from Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, and Chapter One, among others, reported Business Insider on Monday.

Alfred is aiming to raise funds at a $40 million valuation. The startup, co-founded by Ankit Ukil, a former Tesla designer, and Dömötör Gulyas, an ex-engineer at Meta Reality Labs, is focusing on the development of physical AI. This innovative field aims to integrate AI into machines that navigate the real world, such as robots.

The sector of physical AI has been attracting investors, with startups in the field raising approximately $5.3 billion in venture capital funding in April alone. Alfred’s team includes designers and engineers from Tesla, Ford Motors (NYSE:F), and Honda Motors. The startup, ...

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Bernie Sanders Wants Americans To Own 50% Of OpenAI, xAI And Anthropic In Sweeping New Bill— Here's What That Means

Namrata Sen — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:14:11 +0000

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) has proposed a bill aimed at granting the American public ownership in the nation’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies.

Sanders, on Monday, has put forth the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act proposal. This proposed legislation would establish a federal fund, not filled with cash, but with stock, procured through a one-time equity transfer of 50% from AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI to the government.

The fund would hold voting shares and have equal board representation in each company, thereby having the power to veto decisions considered detrimental to the public.

He contends that AI, trained on the collective knowledge and labor of Americans, often without consent or compensation, should share its financial rewards with the public instead of concentrating wealth among AI leaders such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and others.

The fund’s revenue would be directly distributed to Americans as cash payments. As ...

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Deal Dispatch: Fertitta Entertainment Buys Caesars For $17.6 Billion, Arsenal Capital Buys Velcro Brands, Teaneck Surgical Center Bankruptcy

Caroline Ryan — Fri, 29 May 2026 18:15:15 +0000

New On The Block

Largo Inc. (NASDAQ:LGO) plans to evaluate strategic alternatives for its 100%-owned tungsten assets. The evaluation process is expected to include joint ventures, asset-level financing, minority investments, sale or spin-out opportunities to unlock value for Largo shareholders while preserving the company’s focus on its core vanadium and ilmenite operations in Brazil.

Monro, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNRO), a provider of automotive repair and tire services, is in consultation with financial and legal advisors to review strategic alternatives, including asset sales, refinancing, or a sale of the entire company.

Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. (NYSE:FBIN), a home, security, and digital products company, has initiated a formal strategic review of its Fiberon composite decking business. The process will "explore a range of strategic alternatives while Fiberon continues to execute against its near-term commercial priorities and support and service customers," the company said.

CollPlant Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:CLGN) is initiating discussions with “several leading strategic players to explore potential collaborations, primarily in the medical aesthetics field,” CEO Yehiel Tal said. “These discussions are focused on the potential joint development and commercialization of next-generation dermal filler product candidates incorporating CollPlant’s rhCollagen technology in combination with hyaluronic acid and additional components. We are actively advancing these discussions and, while no assurance can be provided, remain encouraged by the level of interest and the progress achieved to date.”

Updates From The Block

Fertitta Entertainment is buying Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) in an all-cash deal valued at about $17.6 billion, which includes roughly $11.9 billion of assumed debt. Caesars shareholders will receive $31 per share. Fertitta is financing the deal with a mix of equity, assumed debt, and new debt financing arranged by a group of 10 banks. Shareholders must still approve the transaction. The Carano family, which owns about 5% of Caesars, will roll part of their stake into the new company. Once completed, Caesars’ shares will be delisted from NASDAQ. The deal includes a "go-shop" period through July 11, allowing Caesars to seek and evaluate alternative offers.

DigitalBridge (NYSE:DBRG) has agreed to acquire energy and infrastructure private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners for $1.05 billion, including $650 million upfront. The deal is also contingent on Softbank completing its acquisition of DigitalBridge. The combined valuation of ...

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SpaceX IPO Valuation Trimmed To $1.8 Trillion As Elon Musk Prepares For Blockbuster Debut: Report

Namrata Sen — Fri, 29 May 2026 07:32:26 +0000

SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has reportedly adjusted its IPO valuation target to at least $1.8 trillion, from a previously estimated $2 trillion valuation.

The firm is lowering its valuation based on consultations with advisors, investors and feedback from other stakeholders, as per a Bloomberg report on Friday.

Discussions are underway, and the firm could decide to increase its valuation target later, the report stated.

SpaceX is likely to begin formal marketing of the IPO on June 4, and the final IPO price is expected to be set on June 11. However, the timeline can be subject to delays, according to Bloomberg.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.

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Anthropic Hits $965 Billion Valuation In Latest Funding Round, Surpassing OpenAI

Caroline Ryan — Thu, 28 May 2026 20:48:39 +0000

Anthropic overtook OpenAI as the world's most valuable startup after raising $65 billion in Series H, valuing the company at $965 billion.

Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital led the funding round.

"This funding will help us serve the historic demand we are experiencing, stay at the research frontier, and bring Claude to more of the places where work happens,” said Krishna Rao, Chief Financial Officer of Anthropic.

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Capital Group, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, GIC, ICONIQ, and XN co-led the effort.

Significant investors in this round include AMP PBC, Baillie Gifford, Blackstone, Brookfield, D.E. Shaw Ventures, DST Global, Fidelity Management & Research Company, General Catalyst, Insight Partners, Jane Street, Lightspeed Venture Partners, MGX, ...

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AI Coding Trade Showing Cracks? Claude Code, Codex Growth Suddenly Slows As Budgets May Be Running Dry, Researcher Says: 'It's Clear That Growth...'

radhikanadig@benzinga.com — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:00:02 +0000

Artificial intelligence coding tools such as Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI Codex showed signs of slowing after surging earlier this year, with independent AI researcher Rihard Jarc citing infrastructure limitations and softer enterprise spending.

“It’s clear that growth for coding tools such as Claude Code has decelerated from the pace it was since the start of the year. It might be compute- constrain related or due to many clients blowing their full-year AI budgets,” Jarc said in a post on X Wednesday.

It's clear that growth for coding tools such as Claude Code has decelerated from the pace it was since the start of the year.

It might be compute- constrain related or due to many clients blowing their full-year AI budgets.

Monitoring this trend very closely with all the alt… pic.twitter.com/cufZ3PUXqr

— Rihard Jarc (@RihardJarc) May 26, 2026

Claude Code, OpenAI Codex Growth Appears To Plateau

Daily installs of AI coding tools showed that ...

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Why Ramp And Rippling Suddenly Trade Like Pre-IPO Companies

Caroline Ryan — Wed, 27 May 2026 20:40:59 +0000

Secondary investors are beginning to treat shares of fintech Ramp and workforce management firm Rippling less like speculative startup bets and more like future IPO stocks.

Forge Global said Q1 2026 was a "defining quarter" for the late-stage VC-backed private market, as capital became increasingly concentrated in top-tier names despite volatility in public equities. Forge's fintech basket gained 0.68%, primarily driven by Ramp, which gained 2.14%, the report stated.

Secondary-market investors and research notes from platforms such as Forge often point to a cluster of "pre-IPO" trading signals, including tighter pricing spreads, repeat institutional participation, lower employee selling pressure, and more stable demand in secondary transactions.

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Investors aren't just betting on growth anymore — they're betting on which private companies could realistically become durable public-market winners. Ramp ...

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Elon Musk's SpaceX Just Landed A Massive $2 Billion Space Force Deal To Build America's Military Satellite Backbone

Namrata Sen — Wed, 27 May 2026 10:48:24 +0000

SpaceX has secured a $2.29 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force entailing the construction of a high-speed satellite communications network, the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone.

The SDN Backbone is a resilient network architecture built to deliver high-capacity, low-latency data transport for the military, with the vendor expected to provide a fully operational prototype by the end of 2027.

The SDN will play a key role in enabling near real-time data transfer between missile warning and tracking sensors and interceptors, forming a critical part of the Trump administration's Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

“The SDN Backbone leverages the best of commercial innovation and delivers a strong foundation for the SDN mission set — a huge benefit and enabler for our warfighters,” said Space Force Colonel Ryan Frazier, the acting portfolio acquisition executive overseeing the program.

The SDN Backbone will integrate with the Space Development Agency's Transport Layer to support secure data transport for current and future Department of Defense ...

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Stord Scores $250 Million In Backing From Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Strike Capital And Others

Caroline Ryan — Tue, 26 May 2026 18:41:34 +0000

Stord has closed a $250 million Series F at a $3 billion valuation and rolled out Stord Labs, a new robotics and AI initiative.

Investors participating in the round included Strike Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared, Bond, and Lux, among others. The company said in a press release that the financing serves as fuel for expanding what it calls a "physical intelligence layer" that ties together fulfillment operations, software, and data for independent merchants.

Stord's founder and CEO, Sean Henry, said the company aims to help brands match the delivery experience consumers associate with Amazon Prime.

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Elon Musk's SpaceX Pushed For Starlink Fee Hike During Iran War— And The Pentagon Caved As No Rival Matched Its Reach: Report

Namrata Sen — Tue, 26 May 2026 13:44:04 +0000

Elon Musk’s SpaceX had reportedly requested a price hike from the Pentagon for the use of its Starlink network during the Iran war, leading to tensions between the two.

Senior officials from SpaceX have claimed that the Pentagon has been undercompensating for their satellite Wi-Fi network connection, which plays a key role in guiding U.S. kamikaze drones, reported Reuters on Tuesday.

The military had been shelling out around $5,000 per terminal, while the service they were availing was valued closer to $25,000, as per Reuters’ sources and Pentagon documents.

The disagreement is centered on the use of Starlink on LUCAS suicide drones, a cost-effective U.S. model comparable to Iran’s Shahed. The Pentagon and SpaceX also differ on the pricing for a plan to provide direct-to-cell connections with Starlink, similar to 5G service, to assist Iranian citizens in circumventing government-imposed communication blackouts.

Despite the Pentagon’s objections, it eventually conceded to SpaceX’s proposed price increase, nearly doubling the cost of each LUCAS drone. The Pentagon is now exploring other competitors, ...

Full story available on Benzinga.com

SpaceX's Orbital Solar Push Has Elon Musk Thinking Bigger Than Ever— He Says The '10X' Trend Will Last For Years

Namrata Sen — Tue, 26 May 2026 10:06:52 +0000

SpaceX Founder, Elon Musk, anticipates a steady surge in space solar power, according to his recent post.

On Monday, Musk responded to a post by David Holz, founder of MidJourney, highlighting SpaceX’s escalating solar power capacity in space. Holz noted the company’s progression from 10 megawatts across 3000 gen1 Starlink satellites to 100 megawatts with 7000 gen2 satellites. He also mentioned the upcoming generation, gen3, which is expected to generate 1000 megawatts.

“SpaceX is basically 10xing space solar every few years!” Holz wrote.

Musk concurred with this observation, stating, “This trend will continue for many years.”

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Weekend Round-Up: Nvidia's Q1 Triumph, SpaceX's IPO Filing, Musk's OpenAI Controversy, Google's AI Leap And More

Ananya Gairola — Sun, 24 May 2026 13:02:21 +0000

This week was a whirlwind of activity in the tech and business world. From Nvidia Corporation smashing first-quarter expectations to Google appealing a landmark monopoly ruling, there was no shortage of headlines.

Let’s dive into the top stories.

Nvidia’s Q1 Earnings Outshine Expectations

Nvidia Corporation reported a stellar first-quarter performance, with revenues reaching $81.615 billion, marking an 85% YoY increase. This figure surpassed the Street consensus estimate of $78.796 billion. The company’s financial results were eagerly awaited, and they certainly didn’t disappoint.

Read the full article here.

Google Appeals Landmark Monopoly Ruling

Google has filed an appeal against a 2024 ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who found the tech giant guilty of violating antitrust laws. The case revolved around Google’s exclusive agreements with companies like Apple Inc. to maintain its search engine as the default option on smartphones and web browsers. Read the full article here.

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This Tech Startup Just Axed Nearly A Quarter Of Its Workforce— And Says Survivors Could Earn $1 Million Salaries

Eva Mathew — Sat, 23 May 2026 13:02:37 +0000

Cloud-based productivity platform ClickUp laid off 22% of its workforce, but CEO Zeb Evans says the move is not about cost-cutting. Instead, the company is channeling savings into a radical AI-first strategy that includes million-dollar salary bands for top performers.

In a more than 1000-word post on X this week, Evans said ClickUp's business is "the strongest it's ever been" and argued that companies must redesign themselves around AI rather than simply layering the technology onto existing workflows.

Employees who create "outsized impact" through AI systems could earn compensation beyond traditional pay structures, including salaries of $1 million a year, he added.

Today we reduced headcount by 22%. The business is the strongest it's ever been. So I think it's important to be direct about what I'm seeing and why.

First, I made this decision and I own it. I did it because the ...

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Elon Musk Isn't Buying Yachts— He's Playing 'Elden Ring Or Polytopia' With SpaceX To Hit $1 Trillion, Says His Biographer

Namrata Sen — Sat, 23 May 2026 13:02:36 +0000

Walter Isaacson, an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg and the author of ‘Elon Musk‘, shared his insights about the ongoing race to establish a permanent base on the moon.

Isaacson predicted that by 2027, space would be the new AI, with the construction of a lunar base. However, he also emphasized the importance of collaboration between public entities like NASA and private companies like SpaceX and Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin for greater success, instead of a race between them.

He also expects China to establish a base by 2029 or 2030.

Turning to SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, Isaacson noted how Musk’s initial desire to go to space eventually led to innovative business models, such as deploying thousands of satellites to recreate the internet and placing data centers in low-Earth orbit.

Isaacson also touched on Musk’s long-term goal ...

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Deal Dispatch: IMAX Mulls Potential Sale, Shein Buys Everlane, West Marine Bankruptcy

Caroline Ryan — Fri, 22 May 2026 18:36:05 +0000

Updates From The Block

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) is planning to buy Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) for $66.8 billion. The all-stock transaction, which is pending regulatory approval, will be the third-largest energy company behind Exxon and Chevron. The combined enterprise value is approximately $420 billion, with a market cap of approximately $249 billion, Reuters reported.

Broad-based chip maker Analog Devices has agreed to purchase Empower Semiconductor for $1.5 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulator approvals.

• KKR stock is trading near recent lows. What’s the outlook for KKR shares?

Authentic Brands Group has agreed to acquire global denim brand Lee from Kontoor Brands Inc. (NYSE:KTB). Upon closing the transaction, Authentic plans to convert the Lee business into a licensing model, leveraging its brand-building expertise. The company is in discussions with brand operators to support Lee’s existing business and expand it across content, experiences and heritage-driven lifestyle categories. The transaction is subject to certain standard closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Canadian enterprise AI company Cohere has acquired Reliant AI, a Montreal-based biopharma AI company, for $7 billion. Together, Cohere and Reliant AI will "equip health care and life sciences enterprises with a powerful combination of cutting-edge AI technology, secure deployment options for highly regulated environments, and deep domain expertise to improve processes and bring projects to market faster," the company said in a press release.

Mister Car Wash, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCW) entered into a definitive merger agreement. Investment funds managed by Leonard Green & Partners will purchase all outstanding shares of common stock for $7 per share in cash, valuing the company at $3.1 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions. Upon completion, Mister Car Wash's common stock will no longer be listed on Nasdaq. The company will become privately held by funds managed by LGP.

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