TL;DR

Perplexity raises at $14B with PayPal deal; Databricks buys Neon for $1B; TensorWave lands $100M for AI GPUs.

Highlights

• Perplexity partners with PayPal for in-chat shopping; finalizing $500M round at $14B valuation 1.
• Databricks acquires Neon for $1B to expand serverless Postgres and AI agent infrastructure 2.
• Pony AI confidentially files for Hong Kong listing after 2024 U.S. IPO; shares up 16% on news 3.
• TensorWave raises $100M Series A to deploy 8,192 AMD GPUs for AI cloud infrastructure 4.
• Super Micro (SMCI) signs $20B+ deal with DataVolt for AI data centers in U.S. and Saudi Arabia; stock volatile amid mixed analyst sentiment and past accounting issues 5.
• JPMorgan executes first public transaction of tokenized U.S. Treasuries using Ondo’s blockchain and Chainlink 6.
• Zeno Power raises $50M for nuclear batteries in extreme environments; TurbineOne secures $36M for AI-powered military perception systems 7.
• Notion launches new AI productivity features; Granola raises $43M Series B at $250M valuation to expand AI note-taking for teams 9.
• Thrive Capital realizes $522M from Carvana share sale as Morgan Stanley raises price target 10.
• Apollo ’s New Home Company acquires Landsea Homes for $1.2B at a 61% premium; bluebird bio deal terms improved, boosting stock 11.
• Varda Space completes third hypersonic reentry mission for AFRL, supporting defense and commercial microgravity research 12.
• Eight Sleep launches Pod 5 AI-powered sleep system, expands internationally, and eyes IPO after $500M in sales 13.

Commentary

AI infrastructure and applications continue to attract significant capital and strategic activity. Perplexity’s $14B valuation, paired with its PayPal partnership for in-chat commerce, signals investor appetite for AI-driven consumer platforms with embedded transaction capabilities 1. Databricks ’ $1B acquisition of Neon further consolidates the AI data stack, with a focus on serverless and agentic workloads—an area seeing rapid adoption and customer growth 2.

Demand for AI compute remains a bottleneck, as evidenced by TensorWave’s $100M Series A to scale AMD -based GPU clusters 4, and Super Micro ’s $20B+ supply agreement with DataVolt for hyperscale, liquid-cooled data centers 5. However, SMCI’s stock volatility and lingering accounting concerns underline the need for diligence in hardware and capital-intensive bets, despite strong end-market demand 5.

On the liquidity front, Pony AI’s move to dual-list in Hong Kong after a recent U.S. IPO highlights ongoing global capital market interest in mobility tech, even as operational risks (e.g., recent robotaxi fire) persist 3. Thrive Capital’s sizable Carvana exit and Apollo ’s acquisition of Landsea Homes show VCs are taking advantage of strong public market and M&A windows 1011, while improved terms in the bluebird bio deal reflect a competitive environment for strategic transactions 11.

Defense tech, deeptech, and enterprise AI remain active themes. Zeno Power, TurbineOne, and Varda Space all secured funding or achieved milestones in areas with government and dual-use potential 712. In enterprise SaaS, Notion and Granola’s product and funding updates suggest continued opportunity for AI-driven productivity tools, especially those expanding from individual to team use 9.

For VC investors, the focus remains on AI-native infrastructure, compute supply, and platforms with embedded monetization. Liquidity events are materializing for well-positioned growth assets, especially in sectors with strong secular demand and differentiated technology.