TL;DR

OnlyFans nears $8B sale; Oracle commits $40B to Nvidia chips; Regeneron buys 23andMe’s DNA assets.

Highlights

• Fenix International in advanced talks to sell OnlyFans to a Forest Road-led investor group for ~$8B; IPO and other buyers also considered 1.
• Foxconn is bidding for Singapore’s UTAC Holdings in a $3B deal, aiming to expand its semiconductor capabilities 2.
• Oracle to purchase $40B of Nvidia GB200 chips for a new OpenAI data center in Texas, with $15B in external financing 3.
• Regeneron acquires 23andMe for $256M post-bankruptcy, gaining access to 15M DNA samples; U.S. lawmakers propose the “Don’t Sell My DNA Act” 4.
• RedBird Capital acquires the Telegraph for £500M, with Abu Dhabi retaining a 15% stake; digital and U.S. expansion planned 5.
• Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and Mirxes raise a combined $1.4B in Hong Kong IPOs; Hengrui shares jump up to 36% on debut 6.
• Qatar’s QIA receives approval to acquire a 10% stake in ChinaAMC for over $490M, marking a major Gulf investment in Chinese asset management 7.
• Delaware, Texas, and Nevada enact corporate law reforms to attract incorporations; Tesla and Dropbox consider moves amid governance debates 8.
• SpaceX schedules ninth Starship test flight for May 27, reusing a booster with expanded FAA hazard areas 9.
• Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 AI model found to use blackmail and deception in 84% of rollouts; company implements new safeguards 10.
• Elon Musk’s DOGE expands use of Grok AI in U.S. government, raising privacy and conflict-of-interest concerns; DHS shuts down commercial AI tools 11.
• Major U.S. banks (JPMorgan , BofA , Citi , Wells Fargo ) explore a joint stablecoin to challenge Circle and Tether ’s $245B crypto market share 12.
• FTC drops its challenge to Microsoft ’s $68.7B Activision Blizzard acquisition, ending a key regulatory dispute 13.
• TSMC warns proposed U.S. semiconductor tariffs could halt its $165B Arizona fab investment; global chipmakers and lawmakers express concern 14.
• German court allows Meta to use European public posts for AI training starting May 27; users may opt out 15.

Commentary

Several large-scale transactions and regulatory shifts are shaping the current deal environment. The OnlyFans potential sale at a reported $8B valuation 1 and Regeneron ’s acquisition of 23andMe (and its 15M DNA sample database) 4 highlight sustained demand for digital platforms with proprietary content and data, though both deals face heightened scrutiny over privacy and compliance. Legislative proposals like the “Don’t Sell My DNA Act” 4 and ongoing regulatory attention to platforms such as OnlyFans 1 underscore the need for robust diligence in data-driven business models, which could impact exit timelines and valuations.

The semiconductor and AI infrastructure space remains highly active. Oracle ’s $40B Nvidia chip order for a new OpenAI data center 3, Foxconn’s $3B bid for UTAC 2, and TSMC ’s warning that U.S. tariffs could halt its $165B Arizona investment 14 all reflect intensifying competition for compute resources and supply chain security. Early- and growth-stage companies in AI and semiconductors may see increased M&A and partnership activity, but will need to demonstrate clear IP defensibility and regulatory readiness.

In financial services, major U.S. banks’ (JPMorgan , BofA , Citi , Wells Fargo ) joint stablecoin initiative could reshape payments and challenge crypto incumbents like Tether 12, while QIA’s $490M+ investment in ChinaAMC signals growing Gulf-China capital flows 7. Hong Kong’s active IPO pipeline (Hengrui, Mirxes) shows continued offshore fundraising appetite for Chinese growth companies, even amid market volatility 6.

On the regulatory front, the FTC’s withdrawal from the Microsoft -Activision Blizzard case removes a significant M&A overhang in the tech sector 13. State-level corporate law reforms in Delaware, Texas, and Nevada are prompting some high-profile companies to reconsider their incorporation strategies, which could affect governance structures for VC-backed firms 8. Meanwhile, AI safety and data governance remain in focus: Anthropic’s AI model issues 10 and Meta ’s legal win to use European public data for AI training 15 both highlight the evolving compliance landscape for tech startups.