Anthropic Bets Big on Google

Top News

Anthropic has reportedly committed to spending as much as $200 billion on Google’s cloud infrastructure and chips, as massive AI deals from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI now make up more than half of the roughly $2 trillion in contracted backlogs across major cloud providers. Reuters has more here.

Google DeepMind workers in the UK have voted to unionize, citing concerns over the company’s AI deals with the US military and the broader use of its technology in warfare and surveillance. The Guardian has more here.

ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet on His Company’s Monopoly: No One Is Coming for Us

Image Credits: Wiktor Dabkowski / Bloomberg / Getty Images

By Connie Loizos

Every time you use AI, you are, in some small way, depending on a 42-year-old, 44,000-person Dutch company that spends €4.5 billion each year to advance its technology.

ASML, headquartered in the Netherlands, makes the machines that make the chips that make AI possible. More specifically, it makes the only machines in the world capable of printing the microscopic patterns on silicon wafers that define the most advanced semiconductors — a process called extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV. The machines are roughly the size of a school bus, take months to assemble, involve hundreds of suppliers, and cost anywhere from $200 million to upwards of $400 million apiece depending on the generation (prices that give even ASML’s biggest customers pause occasionally).

That monopoly has made ASML the most valuable company in Europe, worth over $530 billion. And with the four largest American tech companies — Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google — committing more than $600 billion in AI infrastructure spending this year alone, demand for ASML’s machines has surged to the point where the company has openly said the world won’t have enough chips for years.

All that demand has also made ASML a target. Substrate, a San Francisco startup founded by a protégé of Peter Thiel, has raised more than $100 million and been valued at over $1 billion on the claim that it can build a rival lithography machine. Separately, there have been reports that former ASML engineers in China have partly reverse-engineered the technology, a prospect with enormous geopolitical implications.

Christophe Fouquet, who became ASML’s CEO in 2024 after more than a decade at the company, sat down with this editor on the rooftop deck of his Beverly Hills hotel Tuesday morning ahead of his appearance at the Milken Institute Global Conference. Dressed in a blue suit and white shirt, he was relaxed — even when the conversation turned to rivals.

Massive Fundings

Astrocade, a four-year-old startup based in Los Altos, CA, that provides a platform that lets users create and share video games using AI to generate code, assets, and gameplay from text prompts, raised a $56 million Series A round. Investors included Sea, Sequoia Capital, Google, Nvidia, LG Ventures, Dentsu Ventures, and Conviction Embed. More here.

Blitzy, a three-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that creates AI software for autonomous code generation and testing, raised a $200 million round at a $1.4 billion valuation. The deal was led by Northzone, with PSG, Battery Ventures, Jump Capital, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Erie Strategic Ventures, and BAL Ventures as well as previous investors NFX, Link Ventures, and Flybridge also joining in. The company has raised $204+ million. Crunchbase News has more here.

DeepInfra, a three-year-old Palo Alto startup that operates cloud infrastructure optimized for running AI models, focusing on large-scale inference workloads, raised a $107 million Series B round co-led by 500 Global and Georges Harik, with additional support from Nvidia, Samsung Next, Supermicro, A.Capital Ventures, Crescent Cove, Felicis, Peak6, and Upper90. SiliconANGLE has more here.

eleQtron, a six-year-old startup based in Siegen, Germany, that develops quantum computers using trapped-ion processors for industrial and research applications, raised a $66.7 million Series A round led by Schwarz Digits, with the European Innovation Council Fund, Earlybird, Ankaa Ventures, Precitec, NRW BANK, and IFB Hamburg also taking part. EU-Startups has more here.

Enter, a three-year-old startup based in São Paulo that develops AI tools to automate legal workflows and litigation, raised a $100 million round at a $1.2 billion post-money valuation. The investment was led by previous investor Founders Fund, with Ribbit Capital as well as prior backer Sequoia Capital also pitching in. Bloomberg has more here.

QuantWare, a startup that develops modular quantum processors for large-scale quantum systems, raised a $177.8 million Series B round. Investors included Intel Capital, In-Q-Tel, and ETF Partners as well as prior backers FORWARD.one, Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, InnovationQuarter Capital, Ground State Ventures, and Graduate Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

RadixArk, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that aims to build systems that make AI models run more efficiently by reducing computing and memory requirements, raised a $100 million seed round at a $400 million post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Accel and Spark Capital, with NVentures, Salience Capital, A&E Investments, HOF Capital, Walden Catalyst Ventures, AMD, LDV Partners, WTT Investment, and MediaTek also piling on. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Reserv, a four-year-old New York startup that provides AI-powered claims processing and third-party administration services for property and casualty insurers, raised a $125 million Series C round led by KKR, with previous investors Bain Capital Ventures and Flourish Ventures also stepping up. More here.

Windward Bio, a two-year-old startup based in Basel, Switzerland, that is working on long-acting antibody therapies targeting inflammatory diseases such as asthma and COPD, raised a $165 million round led by OrbiMed, with Novo Holdings, Blue Owl, SR One, Omega Funds, RTW Investments, Qiming Venture Partners, Quan Capital, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Sanofi Ventures, and Harbour BioMed also opting in. More here.

ZyG, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that is building an AI platform to identify and scale high-potential e-commerce products, raised a $60 million Series A round at a $500 million valuation. The deal was led by Accel, with Felix Capital, O.G. Venture Partners, QP Ventures, and Assaf Rappaport as well as previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Viola Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Access Industries, Stardom Ventures, Emerge, Disruptive AI, and Jibe also piling on. The company has raised a total of $118 million. CTech has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

CopilotKit, a three-year-old Seattle startup that provides tools for developers to build and deploy AI agents within applications, raised a $27 million Series A round co-led by Glilot Capital, NFX, and SignalFire. TechCrunch has more here.

Degen, a three-year-old New York startup whose app, Degen, lets users create and remix images using AI models trained on specific visual styles, raised a $15 million seed round. GV was the deal lead, with Lerer Hippeau Ventures, BoxGroup, and Shine Capital also participating. Tech Funding News has more here.

Latus Bio, a four-year-old Philadelphia startup that is creating gene therapies using engineered viral vectors to treat neurological and other diseases, raised a $42 million Series A round led by 8VC, with BioAdvance, Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners, DCVC Bio, Gaingels, Hatch BioFund, Modi Ventures, Korea Development Bank, and Helen’s Pink Sky Foundation also contributing. The company has raised a total of $97 million. Pharmaceutical Technology has more here.

Magrathea, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that extracts magnesium metal from seawater and industrial brines using electrochemical processes, raised a $24 million Series A round co-led by Resource Technology Capital and Balerion Space Ventures, with Oxcart, WovenEarth, Audacity, Avila, VoLo Earth, Capricorn Investment Group, and Ora Global also investing. More here.

Moment Energy, a seven-year-old Canadian startup that repurposes used electric vehicle batteries into grid-scale energy storage systems, raised a $40 million Series B round led by Evok Innovations and including W23 as well as previous investors Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, and In-Q-Tel. The company has raised a total of $100 million+. TechCrunch has more here.

Nace.AI, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup that is developing AI systems that automate enterprise workflows across finance, audit, and compliance, with human experts validating outputs, raised a $21.5 million seed round led by Walden Catalyst, with General Catalyst also engaging. More here.

PlayReplay, a seven-year-old Stockholm startup that provides electronic line-calling systems used by tennis tournaments and clubs to track ball placement and automate officiating, raised a $12 million round led by Alfven & Didrikson, with Centre Court Capital and ExM Investment Partners also digging in. Sports Business Journal has more here.

Subquadratic, a newly formed Miami startup that develops AI models designed to handle long-context inputs with greater efficiency, raised a $29 million seed round. Investors included Javier Villamizar and Justin Mateen. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Smaller Fundings

Altara, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that develops AI tools to unify and analyze fragmented data in physical sciences and hardware development, raised a $7 million seed round led by Greylock, with Neo, BoxGroup, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Jeff Dean also participating. TechCrunch has more here.