TL;DR

OpenAI seeks $40B funding amid Microsoft rift; xAI, Helsing raise billions; MiniMax open-sources 456B LLM.

Highlights

• OpenAI is seeking $40B in new funding led by SoftBank, with talks involving Saudi PIF, Reliance, and UAE’s MGX, to fund $90B in AI R&D and infrastructure through 2027 1.
• OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft is under strain over profit-sharing, cloud exclusivity, and IP rights; OpenAI is considering antitrust action as Microsoft seeks a larger stake in a planned for-profit conversion 12.
• The Pentagon awarded OpenAI a $200M contract to develop generative AI for military use, its first direct DoD partnership, with collaboration from Anduril 3.
• Elon Musk’s xAI is in talks to raise $4.3B in equity and $5B in debt, after spending most of its prior $14B, to accelerate generative AI development 4.
• Defense AI startup Helsing raised €600M led by Daniel Ek’s Prima Materia, valuing it at €12B, as Europe ramps up AI-enabled defense spending 5.
• Chinese startup MiniMax open-sourced its 456B-parameter MiniMax-M1 LLM (1M-token context) under Apache 2.0, outperforming DeepSeek and Qwen in reasoning 6.
• Groq became an official Hugging Face inference provider, offering real-time Llama 4 and Qwen 3 access at $0.29/M tokens, targeting latency-sensitive workloads 9.
• Adobe launched Firefly mobile apps for iOS and Android, bringing text-to-image/video generation and third-party model integration to smartphones 7.
• OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT image generation to all WhatsApp users globally, leveraging WhatsApp ’s 2B+ user base 8.
• Microsoft introduced “Microsoft 365 Local” and expanded EU sovereign cloud controls, enabling full EU data residency and customer-held encryption keys 10.
• Google launched a Safety Charter and expanded AI-driven fraud detection in India via a government partnership, targeting misinformation and deepfakes 11.
• Oracle launched a Defense Ecosystem to help small AI firms access Pentagon contracts, expanding its cloud and sovereign solutions for defense tech 12.
• Italy’s antitrust regulator is investigating Chinese AI platform DeepSeek for failing to warn users about AI-generated misinformation; Italy’s AI adoption rate is 8.2% 13.
• Nvidia will participate for the first time at China’s Supply Chain Expo in July, highlighting ongoing engagement with the Chinese market despite tech tensions 14.
• SoftBank raised $4.8B by selling T-Mobile shares, with proceeds expected to fund further AI investments 15.

Commentary

OpenAI’s $40B fundraising effort, alongside ongoing negotiations with Microsoft over profit-sharing and cloud exclusivity, reflects the capital intensity and evolving governance structures of leading AI labs 12. The potential antitrust angle signals increasing regulatory complexity as major partners jockey for control over IP and revenue streams 2. OpenAI’s parallel $200M Pentagon contract and the launch of ChatGPT image generation on WhatsApp show the company’s push to diversify both revenue and distribution, spanning government, enterprise, and mass consumer channels 38.

The funding momentum is sector-wide: xAI is seeking $9.3B in new capital, while Helsing’s €600M round underscores investor appetite for defense AI, particularly in Europe 45. Oracle ’s new Defense Ecosystem and Microsoft ’s EU-focused cloud offerings indicate that national security and data sovereignty are now central to AI go-to-market strategies, especially as regulatory scrutiny intensifies in both the U.S. and EU 1012.

On the technology front, MiniMax’s open-source 456B-parameter LLM with a 1M-token context window demonstrates China’s rapid progress in efficient, large-scale models, now openly available under Apache 2.0 6. Groq’s integration with Hugging Face as a real-time inference provider for Llama 4 and Qwen 3—at aggressive pricing—signals growing competition in the AI infrastructure layer, with a focus on latency and cost for developers 9.

Consumer and enterprise adoption continues to accelerate, with Adobe ’s Firefly mobile apps and OpenAI’s WhatsApp integration expanding generative AI’s reach 78. Meanwhile, Google ’s India partnership and Italy’s investigation of DeepSeek highlight the regulatory focus on misinformation, fraud, and user transparency as AI tools proliferate 1113.

Nvidia’s upcoming appearance at China’s Supply Chain Expo and SoftBank’s $4.8B capital raise (likely earmarked for further AI investments) round out a week defined by capital flows, infrastructure competition, and regulatory maneuvering 1415. AI professionals should monitor shifts in partnership structures, cloud and inference pricing, and regulatory enforcement, as these will drive the next phase of AI deployment and market access.