September 12th Newsletter

Author

Da Yu
September 12, 2025

As of close on September 11, 2025

Inflation is ticking up again as US CPI rose 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July, fueled by rising import costs and tariffs, but since it meets economists’ expectations, markets remain confident in Fed rate cuts as labor market cracks widen. With 1.2 million jobs lost over 16 months, and sharply downgraded payrolls. Meanwhile, in tech, Amazon and Netflix are putting their rivalry aside to link up on a global ad deal via Amazon’s DSP, streamlining ad buying across 11 markets and solidifying Amazon’s ad tech edge. Consumer fintech is making a comeback too, as Klarna soared 30% in its NYSE debut and Figure Technology popped 44% on Nasdaq, signaling renewed IPO momentum despite valuations trailing 2021 highs. As inflation shapes consumer behavior, AI is becoming essential, with 61% of shoppers now using AI tools, nearly triple last year’s figure, mainly to hunt for deals.

Monthly AI Financing Report: See the August update here.

Top 5 AI Highlights

[1] 💼OpenAI signed a $300B, 5-year cloud deal with Oracle, fueling a 36% stock surge for Oracle despite an earnings miss. Analysts hailed a “seismic shift” as Oracle projected $144B in cloud revenue by 2030, with $455B in future obligations. Read more on WSJ and YF.

[2] 📈Nebius shares soared nearly 50% after announcing a $17.4B AI cloud deal with Microsoft. The pact underscores surging demand for AI infrastructure amid broader investor enthusiasm across the sector. More from CNBC.

[3] 🧠 Microsoft will integrate Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 into Office 365 Copilot for advanced tasks, citing better performance than OpenAI’s GPT-5 in Excel and PowerPoint. More from The Information.

[4] 🔬 Mistral AI raised $2B at a $13.7B valuation, led by ASML’s $1.4B investment for an 11% stake. The strategic partnership aims to merge AI and semiconductor innovation across ASML’s products, R&D, and operations. Read more from ASML and Mistral.

[5]🚀CoreWeave shares rose 5% after launching CoreWeave Ventures to back AI startups. The initiative reflects its strategy to deepen ties with early-stage innovators amid booming U.S. AI investment activity. More from CNBC.

Founder’s Corner

Current market for AI startup fundraising

Source: X

What We Read This Week

  • Novo Nordisk will cut 11% of its staff or 9,000 jobs globally, lower its profit forecast, and shift $1.3B into R&D after losing the obesity drug market lead to Eli Lilly. Shares briefly rose amid investor optimism. (BBG)

  • RaceTrac will acquire Potbelly for $566M in cash, valuing shares at $17.12, a 32% premium. Potbelly aims to grow to 2,000 stores under distinct branding post-acquisition. Deal closes Q4 2025. (WSJ)

  • Bending Spoons will acquire Vimeo for $1.38B in cash, a 91% premium over its 60-day average. Vimeo, down 90% since its 2021 spin-off, will be delisted post-Q4 2025 deal completion. (BBG)

  • Amazon’s Zoox debuted its custom-built robotaxi in Las Vegas, and Lyft launched autonomous rides in Atlanta with May Mobility, as both companies move to challenge Uber’s lead with Waymo in the expanding and competitive U.S. driverless vehicle market. (Axios and CNBC)

  • David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a mostly cash bid, uniting Paramount, HBO, and CNN. The $41B move sent shares up 27% and could reshape global media. (WSJ)

AI Fundraising news (Sep 5 — Sep 11)

  • Adaptive Security: AI social engineering prevention company, raised a $55M Series A

  • AegisAI: Autonomous AI threat prevention platform, raised a $13M Seed

  • Brain Co.: Enterprise and government AI operations platform, raised a $30M Series A

  • Cassidy: AI automation platform for non-technical teams, raised a $10M Series A

  • Cognition AI: AI agents for coding and software tasks, raised a $400M

  • CuspAI: AI chemistry model developer, raised a $100M Series A

  • DataCrunch: Helsinki-based AI infrastructure company, raised a $64M Series A

  • Databricks: AI data platform for enterprises, raised a $1B Series K

  • Dazl: Turns prototypes into production apps with AI, raised a $10M Seed

  • Eleven Labs: Voice AI firm, raised a $100M

  • Fyxer AI: AI executive assistant for professionals, raised a $30M Series B

  • Higgsfield.ai: AI-powered video generation tools, raised a $50M Series A

  • Interaction: AI assistant for messaging platforms, raised a $15M Seed

  • Koi: Enterprise software and AI model management, raised a $38M Series A

  • LightSpun: AI-powered dental insurance admin platform, raised a $13M Series A

  • Mistral: Paris-based LLM developer, raised a $2B Series C

  • Motion: AI work suite company, raised a $38M Series C

  • Nebius Group: AI cloud infrastructure company, raised a $3B

  • Nuclearn: AI platform for nuclear operations, raised a $10.5M Series A

  • Perplexity: AI-powered answering engine, raised a $200M

  • Replit: Agentic AI software creation platform, raised a $250M

  • Ridge Biotechnologies: AI-enabled enzyme and drug design, raised a $25M Seed

  • Runware: Unified API to run AI models, raised a $13M Seed

  • Sphinx: AI tools for turning data into insights, raised a $9.5M Seed

  • Strive Health: AI-based kidney care platform, raised a $300M Series D

  • Teton.ai: Predictive care AI for elderly patients, raised a $20M Series A

  • TERN Group: AI-powered healthcare talent platform, raised a $24M Series A

  • X Square Robot: Humanoid robots and AI for complex tasks, raised a $140M Series A+