November 14th Newsletter

Author

Da Yu
November 14, 2025

❄️ Now Accepting Intern Applications for Winter 2025!
Stepmark Partners is excited to welcome a new cohort of Fall Analysts beginning on November 17th. If you're passionate about the intersection of AI and deal-making, we invite you to apply. To learn more, please email [email protected].

As of close on November 13, 2025

Markets are bracing for turbulence as the White House warns that a prolonged federal shutdown could shrink Q4 GDP, with air traffic controller shortages threatening Thanksgiving travel and economic activity. While Trump ended the recent record-breaking shutdown, 670K furloughed workers have only just returned, raising concerns about lasting ripple effects. On the tech front, Apple is doubling down, enhancing its satellite features with photo messaging and third-party app integration while eyeing a $1B Gemini AI pact to overhaul Siri and revive low-cost MacBooks. As the legal front heats up, Google is suing a China-based group behind a phishing ring that may have compromised up to 115M credit cards.

Top 5 AI Highlights

[1] 🏗️ Meta commits $600B to U.S. infrastructure and jobs, focusing on AI data centers to drive superintelligence. This follows Zuckerberg’s comments at the White House tech leaders’ dinner two months ago about committing at least $600B (YouTube). Capital outlays include a $27B Louisiana facility, a $1.5B Texas site, and $1B for a Wisconsin facility. More from Reuters and Bloomberg.

[2] 🧱 Anthropic launches $50B U.S. AI infrastructure plan starting with Texas and New York data centers, creating 2,800 jobs. Counters OpenAI’s $1.4T expansion, bolstering domestic AI strength. More from CNBC.

[3] 💸 SoftBank exits $5.8B Nvidia stake to fund $30B+ investment in OpenAI, backing the Stargate AI project. CEO Masayoshi Son doubles down on AI, despite valuation concerns. More from Fortune.

[4] 🧠 OpenAI rolls out GPT-5.1 with improved conversational tone, adaptive reasoning, and expanded user customization. Users gain better memory controls and tone settings for personalized, context-aware AI. Details on GPT 5.1 and ChatGPT’s tone and memory.

[5] 📡 Vast Data inks $1.17B deal with CoreWeave to provide AI cloud infrastructure, supporting AWS, xAI, and Nebius. Separately, CoreWeave shares fall 16% on Tuesday due to lowering 2025 guidance amid Core Scientific-linked delays. More from Reuters and CNBC.

As of close on November 13, 2025

Layoff concerns deepened as US companies cut an average of 2,500 jobs per week in late October, according to ADP, with the official jobs report delayed by the government shutdown. Bitcoin briefly dropped below $90,000 on tuesday, hitting a seven-month low at $89,259. As AI-driven power demand surges, fueled by earlier energy deals between Constellation and tech giants like Microsoft and Meta, the Trump administration approved a $1 billion loan to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1, now the Crane Clean Energy Center, targeting a 2027 relaunch. Meta, meanwhile, secured a major antitrust win, as a federal judge ruled its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp didn’t violate U.S. competition laws. In space, Blue Origin successfully landed its New Glenn booster and launched NASA’s ESCAPADE Mars mission, intensifying competition with SpaceX. Nvidia beat Q3 with $57B revenue and $65B Q4 guidance as AI-driven data center sales surged 66%; shares rose 5.5% after hours but closed 3% lower on Thursday amid valuation concerns. On the consumer front, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who has led the company since 2014, will retire in January after transforming the retailer into a digital and logistics powerhouse.

Top 5 AI Highlights

[1] 🤖 Google launches Gemini 3, its most advanced AI yet, featuring the Antigravity coding tool. It scores a record 37.4 on Humanity’s Last Exam and currently serves 650M+ users, 13M developers. Catch Google Deepmind CEO Demis Hassabis in conversation with Rowan Cheng here. More from TechCrunch 

[2] 🚀Jeff Bezos launches Project Prometheus as co-CEO, a $6.2B AI startup targeting engineering for computers, autos, and space. It’s one of the best-funded entrants, with 100+ hires from top AI labs. Details on NYTimes 

[3] 💰 Anthropic hits a $350B valuation after securing up to $15B in funding from Microsoft and Nvidia. The deal includes $30B in compute commitments and deep tech collaborations to accelerate Claude’s growth. More from CNBC and Microsoft.

[4] 🦾 China’s robotics surge continues as MindOne’s Unitree G1 stuns with autonomous home tasks and UBTech’s Walker S2 secures $112M in factory orders, driving a 150% share price gain in 2025. See the video on X and read more about UBTech.

[5] 📉Leaked docs reveal OpenAI paid Microsoft $865.8M in revenue share in 2025, hinting at over $4.3B in revenue. But soaring inference costs, at $8.65B YTD, raise profitability concerns. Details from TechCrunch.

✨New Addition: Open Source AI Development

[1] 🔐Confident Security launches OpenPCC, the first open-source encryption wrapper for AI prompts, outputs, and logs, aiming to secure sensitive enterprise data amid rising AI adoption and privacy concerns. See more on Axios

[2] 🤖 Moonshot released Kimi K2 Thinking, a $4.6M generative AI model with advanced agentic abilities. Backed by Alibaba, it rivals ChatGPT as Chinese AI gains traction amid U.S. chip restrictions. See more from Moonshot.

[3] 📚 Baidu unveils ERNIE 5.0, a multimodal AI rivaling GPT-5/Gemini 2.5 Pro. It expands globally with premium pricing, following June’s open-source release of ERNIE 4.5, a 10-model family under Apache 2.0. More on ERNIE 5.0 and ERNIE 4.5

Founder’s Corner

Engineering Equity is rocketing upwards

Source: X

What We Read This Week

  • Coatue’s Philippe Laffont warned the U.S. IPO market is “broken beyond repair,” citing a sharp decline in listings that limits retail access to early-stage growth, despite a 48% annual IPO rise. (CNBC)

  • Google is rolling out new AI shopping features, including conversational search, “Let Google Call” to call stores, and agentic checkout that uses Gemini to buy items on your behalf. (The Verge)

  • Kaltura acquired eSelf.ai for $27M, gaining advanced AI avatars and speech tech. The Snap-backed startup brings real-time, screen-aware conversational agents to Kaltura’s enterprise video tools across 30+ languages. (TechCrunch)

  • You.com CEO Richard Socher seeks $1B to launch a new AI lab focused on automating AI research. (The Information)

  • Robinhood Markets is launching a closed‑end fund via its subsidiary Robinhood Ventures to give everyday investors access to private AI start‑ups, targeting “the drivers of disruption” despite liquidity and risk concerns. (Financial Times)

  • FanDuel will launch FanDuel Predicts with CME Group in December, offering peer-to-peer prediction markets to bypass gambling bans. Targets non-betting states like California and Texas, tapping new growth channels. (Financial Times)

  • Lilly drops CVS's drug plan for employees after CVS favored Novo's Wegovy over Lilly’s Zepbound. Starting Jan. 1, Lilly will use Rightway as its new pharmacy benefit manager. (Bloomberg)

AI Fundraising news (Nov 6 — Nov 13)

  • 1Mind: AI sales agent startup, raised a $30M Series A

  • Agency: AI agents for customer relationship management, raised a $20M Series A

  • AirOps: Content engineering platform for AI search, raised a $40M Series B

  • Aily Labs: AI-native decision intelligence platform for enterprises, raised a $80M

  • Amae Health: AI-driven psychiatry-led treatment for mental illness, raised a $25M Series B

  • Attentive.ai: AI platform for construction management, raised a $30.5M Series B

  • Beacon Biosignals: Wearable EEG and AI brain diagnostics, raised a $86M Series B

  • Beacon Software: AI-driven software for various industries, raised a $250M Series B

  • Beside: Cross-platform AI receptionist for businesses, raised a $32M Seed + Series A

  • Bindwell: AI to discover safer pesticides, raised a $6M Seed

  • BoomPop: AI-native event planning for company retreats, raised $25M

  • Code Metal: AI-driven code translation software, raised a $36.5M Series A

  • CoLab: AI-powered tools for mechanical engineering teams, raised a $72M Series C

  • Cursor: AI-powered coding tool startup, raised a $2.3B Series D

  • DeepJudge: Customized AI search indexes for law firms, raised a $41M Series A

  • Digitail: AI-powered veterinary practice management software, raised a $23M Series B

  • EdgeCortix: Energy-efficient AI processors for edge devices, raised a $110M Series B

  • Evidium: Healthcare AI with a clinical reasoning platform, raised a $22M Series A

  • Exowatt: Modular solar thermal systems for data centers, raised a $50M Series A

  • Fastbreak AI: Youth and amateur sports operations startup, raised a $40M Series A

  • Fintary: AI financial ops for insurance organizations, raised a $10M Series A

  • Gamma: AI platform for presentations and websites, raised a $68M Series B

  • GC AI: In-house corporate legal teams with AI tools, raised a $60M Series B

  • Giga: Enterprise AI platform for customer support, raised a $61M

  • Hippocratic AI: Safe GenAI for healthcare, raised a $126M Series C

  • Iambic Therapeutics: AI-driven drug discovery company, raised a $100M Series B

  • Joy: AI-powered parenting guidance app, raised a $14M Series A

  • Majestic Labs: AI startup founded by ex-Meta, Google execs, raised a $100M

  • Metropolis: Applied AI company, raised a $500M Series D

  • Mind Robotics: Industrial AI and robotics spinoff from Rivian, raised a $115M Seed

  • Parallel Web Systems: Web search infrastructure for AI agents, raised a $100M Series A

  • Portal26: GenAI adoption management platform, raised a $9M Series A

  • Procurement Sciences: AI software for government contracts, raised a $30M Series B

  • RAAAM: On-chip memory tech for power savings, raised a $17.5M Series A

  • Red Queen Bio: AI-driven tools against biological threats, raised a $15M Seed

  • Reevo: AI-native GTM platform, raised a $80M

  • Rumble: Video platform expanding into AI infrastructure, raised up to $970M

  • Sage Haven: AI-moderated messaging app for kids, raised a $2M Preseed

  • Scribe: Helps enterprises optimize AI and automation investments, raised a $75M Series C

  • Tala Health: AI agents to support clinician care, raised a $100M Seed

  • Tavus: Enterprise AI agents for recruitment and training, raised a $40M Series B

  • Theo Ai: AI-driven prediction platform for legal teams, raised a $3.4M Seed

  • Trase: Autonomous AI agent platform, raised a $10.5M Preseed

  • Uare AI: Personal AI replicas from user data, raised a $72M Series C

  • Video Rebirth: AI video startup, raised a $50M

  • Wonderful: Helps companies manage client-facing AI agents, raised a $100M Series A

  • WisdomAI: AI-driven data analytics for “dirty” business data, raised a $50M Series A