TL;DR

Senate advances stablecoin bill; Sword Health raises at $4B; Meta, Wix, Klarna, and Reddit drive AI, fintech moves.

Highlights

• U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, advancing the first major federal stablecoin regulation to the House1.
• Sword Health raised $40M at a $4B valuation, expanding AI-powered therapy into mental health; IPO delayed to 20282.
• Wix acquired solo-founded AI startup Base44 for $80M (29x revenue), highlighting continued high AI M&A multiples3.
• Meta plans up to $15B for AI talent, including offers to Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang and $100M signing bonuses to OpenAI engineers8.
• Klarna launched a $40/month U.S. mobile phone service, targeting 25M users and aiming for an AI-powered super app5.
• Disney and Universal sued Midjourney for copyright infringement, the first major Hollywood lawsuit against an AI image generator6.
• Eyenovia raised $50M to purchase and stake HYPE tokens as a treasury asset, with a potential rebrand to “Hyperion DeFi.”7
• Nansen (backed by a16z, $750M valuation) launched a tokenized user loyalty program, resolving initial technical issues9.
• Waymo expanded its California robotaxi service by 80 square miles and applied to test in New York City10.
• Vodafone Idea partnered with AST SpaceMobile for satellite-to-phone service across India, boosting AST shares11.
• Kraken’s Ink Layer-2 will issue 1B INK tokens and airdrop to early users, as Kraken moves toward IPO14.
• Reddit launched AI-powered ad tools, driving a 7% stock jump and signaling deeper platform monetization15.

Commentary

Regulatory clarity is advancing in the U.S. digital asset sector, with the Senate’s passage of the GENIUS Act moving stablecoin oversight closer to federal law1. This could improve institutional confidence and unlock new growth for compliant crypto startups, particularly those focused on payment and DeFi infrastructure1. Eyenovia’s move to hold HYPE tokens as a treasury asset, and Kraken’s INK token launch, signal a growing willingness among public and late-stage companies to experiment with tokenization as a balance sheet and engagement strategy714.

AI remains the dominant theme in both capital allocation and M&A. Wix’s $80M acquisition of Base44 at a 29x revenue multiple underscores the premium for early-stage AI capabilities, especially those with strong developer traction3. Meta’s aggressive $15B talent push—including attempts to recruit Scale AI’s founder and OpenAI engineers—reflects escalating costs and competition for top technical talent, which may further drive up salary expectations and acqui-hire deal sizes across the sector8.

Legal and regulatory risks around AI-generated content are rising, as shown by Disney and Universal ’s lawsuit against Midjourney6. Startups in generative AI should expect increased diligence on IP exposure and data provenance, with potential implications for deal terms and valuations6. Meanwhile, Nansen’s loyalty program and Reddit ’s new AI ad products highlight how platforms are leveraging AI and tokenization to deepen user engagement and diversify revenue, trends that may influence both SaaS and consumer internet investment theses915.

Fintech and telecom convergence is accelerating, with Klarna’s entry into U.S. mobile service and Vodafone Idea’s satellite partnership in India both expanding addressable markets for digital platforms511. These moves create new opportunities for VC-backed startups in embedded finance, connectivity, and AI-powered consumer services, but also raise execution and regulatory complexity511.