Week in Review

September 14, 2026 — September 20, 2026

128
Stories
$22.7B
Tracked Funding
5
Categories
OpenAI
Most Covered (25)

Venture data this week

49 funding rounds totaling $8.9B tracked by Value Add VC for the week of Sep 14. These are the rounds our database recorded, not a total for the whole market.

49
+53% WoW
Rounds tracked
$8.9B
-38% WoW
Dollars tracked
$3.9B
Crusoe
Largest round
12
New to the database

Largest rounds

Trends by sector over 3, 6 and 12 months: startup funding by sector →

Top Stories

1
AISep 20

World Model Startups Have Billions But No Business Plan

A TechCrunch panel with Yann LeCun's AMI Labs and Fei-Fei Li's World Labs found both leading world-model companies evasive about commercialization plans, despite AMI raising over $1 billion and World Labs seeking a $5 billion valuation.

2
AISep 20

StepFun Ships 600B-Parameter Model To Challenge US Labs

Chinese AI lab StepFun released Step 5 Preview, a 600-billion-parameter sparse mixture-of-experts model with a 1-million-token context window, priced at $1 per million input tokens and promising open weights on October 15.

3
AISep 19

Trump Wants To Rename AI And Start An 'AI Force'

President Trump used Truth Social to propose renaming artificial intelligence to 'Superior Intelligence' or 'Extreme Intelligence,' ran a public poll on the choice, and announced he is forming an AI Force and will name an AI czar.

4
FUNDING$41M seedSep 19

Noetive Raises $41M To Digitize The Physical Economy

Noetive emerged from stealth with a $41 million seed round led by Eclipse. The company pairs self-improving AI with multi-modal sensing pods to build what it calls an 'intelligence of record' for the physical economy -- manufacturing, logistics, energy and data centers.

5
REGULATIONSep 19

OpenAI, Newsom Move On AI Safety In The Same Week

OpenAI's new self-disclosure framework and California's executive order studying a mandatory AI 'kill switch' landed one day apart -- one a company setting its own bar, the other a state moving to set one for it.

6
IPO$240M raised / $1.14B valuationSep 18

Orion180 Prices Below Range, Slips In Nasdaq Debut

Orion180 priced its IPO at $12 a share -- below its $15-$17 target -- raising $240 million, then opened at $11.50 for a $1.14 billion valuation on its first day of Nasdaq trading.

7
REGULATIONSep 18

Newsom Orders Review Of An AI 'Kill Switch' Mandate

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing a working group to study strengthening the state's AI safety laws, including a possible requirement that frontier AI companies build an emergency "kill switch."

Biggest Deal of the Week
$1.2T valuation talks
OpenAI Projects $278B Cash Burn, Eyes $1.2T Valuation

Coverage by Category

FUNDING
46
36%
AI
38
30%
IPO
18
14%
REGULATION
16
13%
BIG TECH
10
8%

All 128 Stories

DateCategoryHeadlineAmountSource
Sep 20AIWorld Model Startups Have Billions But No Business PlanTechCrunch
Sep 20AIStepFun Ships 600B-Parameter Model To Challenge US LabsAI Weekly
Sep 19AITrump Wants To Rename AI And Start An 'AI Force'TechCrunch
Sep 19FUNDINGNoetive Raises $41M To Digitize The Physical Economy$41M seedPR Newswire
Sep 19REGULATIONOpenAI, Newsom Move On AI Safety In The Same WeekValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 18IPOOrion180 Prices Below Range, Slips In Nasdaq Debut$240M raised / $1.14B valuationBloomberg
Sep 18REGULATIONNewsom Orders Review Of An AI 'Kill Switch' MandateCNBC
Sep 18IPONscale Files For NYSE IPO Behind $103B AI Backlog$103.4B contracted backlogSEC EDGAR
Sep 18FUNDINGOpenAI Projects $278B Cash Burn, Eyes $1.2T Valuation$1.2T valuation talksBloomberg
Sep 18FUNDINGAngle Health Raises $600M, Hits $2.7B Valuation$600M ($200M new)MedCity News
Sep 18AIAnthropic: Claude Now Leads 26% Of Its Own AI R&DNBC News
Sep 18FUNDINGVantora Raises $100M To Build 'Physical AI' Startups$100MTechCrunch
Sep 18FUNDINGMantic Raises $25M For 'Superhuman' AI Forecasting$25M seedTechStartups
Sep 18AIAnthropic Says Claude Now Leads 26% Of Its Own AI R&DQuartz
Sep 18FUNDINGEVAS Intelligence Raises Near 2B Yuan For AI Chips~$280M / ~$2.1B valuationPANews
Sep 18FUNDINGAI Infrastructure Financing Just Broke Its Own Ceiling$3.9B Series FTechCrunch
Sep 18AIHackers Used Claude To Breach OpenAI's Core CodebaseFortune
Sep 18FUNDINGTsinghua Professor's Stealth LLM Startup Hits $1.4B$400M raised / $1.4B valuationThe Information
Sep 18IPOIPO Market Logs 35 Pricings In One Week, Busiest Since 2021Wall Street Horizon
Sep 18BIG TECHCloudflare's Prince: Bots Now Outnumber Humans OnlineFortune
Sep 18IPOOura And Anthropic's IPOs Both Now Sitting In OctoberValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 18FUNDINGThis Week Alone Nearly Matched A Month Of AI Infra CapitalPulse Funding Tracker
Sep 18FUNDING25,000 Applications Later, Seed VCs Have New RulesCrunchbase News
Sep 18REGULATIONRo Khanna Asks Chinese AI Labs To Help Pace Frontier AIThe Information
Sep 18BIG TECHWaymo Picks Singapore For Southeast Asia Robotaxi PushFortune
Sep 18AIOpenAI's Rogue Agents Turn Up On 10+ More Sites, Researchers SayTom's Hardware
Sep 17FUNDINGWatney Raises $80M To Put Robots In Data Centers$80M Series AWOWTALE
Sep 17AIOpenAI Says It's Closing In On A Second Math MilestoneThe Information
Sep 17AISame Zero-Click Flaw Hits Claude Code, Codex, CopilotThe Information
Sep 17FUNDINGOpenAI, Anthropic Add Nearly $3 Trillion In One WeekValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 17AIOpenAI Discloses Six New Rogue-Agent IncidentsFortune
Sep 17AIIntel, AMD, Nvidia Rally As Chip Supply Squeeze Talk BuildsTipRanks
Sep 17IPOWall Street Shrugs Off Fed Hike As Tech Stocks RallyCNBC
Sep 17REGULATIONKing Charles Presses AI's Biggest Names On Control, They Pitch Self-RegulationCNBC
Sep 17AIOpenAI Launches Astra For Law With GPT-6Artificial Lawyer
Sep 17REGULATIONSEC Clears Path For Tokenized Stock Trading In The USCNBC
Sep 17AIOpenAI Poaches SpaceX's Brian McCarthy As Sales ChiefFortune
Sep 17REGULATIONBridgewater's Jensen Wants AI Giants Regulated Like BanksThe Information
Sep 17AIOpenAI's Rogue AI Agents Secretly Probed Hugging FaceDecrypt
Sep 17FUNDINGD-Robotics Raises $400M To Build Chips For Every Robot$400M Series CThe AI Insider
Sep 17FUNDINGNex Raises $150M As Active-Play Console Hits 1M Sales$150M Series EVariety
Sep 17FUNDINGCrusoe Hits Initial Close On $3.9B Series F At $30.9B$3.9B Series FTechCrunch
Sep 17AIOpenAI Caught Models Leaving Hidden Notes To SuccessorsTechCrunch
Sep 17FUNDINGInsight Partners Leads $45M Round For AI Captive Insurer$45M Series BThe Insurer
Sep 17FUNDINGCoreWeave Launches $3B Convertible Bond, New ATM Program$3B convertible notes + $2.9B ATMBloomberg
Sep 17FUNDINGBain Capital Ventures Raises $1.6B To Bet On 'Life After AGI'$1.6B Fund XITechCrunch
Sep 17FUNDINGComp AI Raises $34M To Push Compliance Into Agentic Security$34M Series ATechCrunch
Sep 17AIHuawei Speeds Up AI Chip Launch To Challenge NvidiaAscend 960DT, Q1 2027 launchTechCrunch
Sep 17BIG TECHZoox's 100-Robotaxi Cap In Nevada Is About To ExpireTechCrunch
Sep 17AIUN Taps Google To Make Its Global Data AI-ReadyTechCrunch
Sep 17FUNDINGThe Fed Just Hiked Rates. AI Capital Didn't Blink.25bp hike to 3.75%-4%CNBC
Sep 17FUNDINGKhosla-Backed Mazama Energy Raises $135M For Hot-Rock Power$135M Series BTechCrunch
Sep 17FUNDINGD-Robotics Closes $400M Series C For Robot Chips$400M Series CThe AI Insider
Sep 17AIPrismML's Ternary-Weight LLM Fits A 27B Model In 5.9GB$22.25M seedTechCrunch
Sep 16FUNDINGVishal Sikka's Hang Ten Adds $53M, $85M Total In 4 Months$53M extension / $85M totalTechCrunch
Sep 16IPODow Sheds 630 Points On Fed Hike, Futures Rally Next DayDow -630 pts / -1.2%TheStreet
Sep 16AIGoogle DeepMind Launches Institute To Widen AGI DebateTechCrunch
Sep 16FUNDINGOpenAI Weighs New Funding Round At $1.5T Valuation$1.2T-$1.5T valuationFortune
Sep 16IPOAnthropic Nears $15B Credit Line Ahead Of Fall IPO$15B credit facilityBloomberg
Sep 16FUNDINGBain Capital Ventures Closes $1.6B Fund For 'Post-AGI' Bets$1.6B Fund XIBloomberg
Sep 16IPONvidia, Oracle Earnings Show AI Infrastructure Demand IntactNVDA +106% YoY revenueInvestrade
Sep 16IPOAI Trade Whipsaws As Amodei Essay, Fed Hike Collide In One WeekInvestrade
Sep 16AIFactory Triples To $5B Valuation In Five Months$200M / $5B valuationTechFundingNews
Sep 16FUNDINGAI Hearing-Aid Startup Fortell Hits $740M Valuation$163M raised / $740M valuationTechCrunch
Sep 16AIGoogle Opens Smart Homes To Claude And Other AI AgentsXDA Developers
Sep 16AIAnthropic Merges Claude Chat And Cowork Into 'One Claude'TechCrunch
Sep 16FUNDINGArcee AI Hits $1B+ Valuation Building Open-Weight Models$150M Series B / $1B+ valuationSiliconANGLE
Sep 16REGULATIONJudge Orders Musk's X, SpaceXAI To Reveal Secret Apple Deal9to5Mac
Sep 16IPO10-Year Treasury Yield Tops 5%, Highest Since 2007>5%, highest since July 2007TradingEconomics
Sep 16FUNDINGImpulse Space Adds $308M, Valuation Jumps To $5.4B$308M ext. / $5.4B valuationInvesting.com
Sep 16FUNDINGManufacturing AI Startup CADDi Reaches Unicorn Status$114M Series D / $1.18B valuationYahoo Finance
Sep 16FUNDINGSling Banks $123M To Push Oral Thyroid Eye Disease Pill$123M Series CBioSpace
Sep 16FUNDINGWhy One September Day Explains AI Capital's Mood$2.2B+ priced in one dayBloomberg
Sep 16AIEx-OpenAI Researcher's TypeSafe AI Exits Stealth With $40M$40M seedHPCwire
Sep 16IPOSpaceX Targets Sept 22 For Starship's First Orbital FlightTechStartups
Sep 16AIOpenAI Starts Testing Ads-As-Agents Inside ChatGPTppc.land
Sep 16IPO2026's IPO Count Trails 2025, But Mega-Deals Dominate238 IPOs YTD, -4% YoYRenaissance Capital
Sep 16AIByteDance Spins Out AI Drug Unit Anew Labs At $1.5B$290M / $1.5B valuationTheNextWeb
Sep 15FUNDING$2.2B Priced In One Day Across Three AI Bets$2.2B across 3 eventsValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 15FUNDINGEuclyd Raises $231M To Challenge Nvidia On Inference$231M Series ABloomberg
Sep 15REGULATIONFTC Chair Warns AI Labs Against Antitrust ExemptionsThe Star
Sep 15FUNDINGInspiren Raises $70M To Scale AI Senior-Living Platform$70M Series C / $500M+ valuationMedCity News
Sep 15AIAEO Startup Profound Hits $1.8B In Just 7 Months$180M Series DBloomberg
Sep 15REGULATIONMicrosoft Commits To Sweeping AI Rules For StudentsTechXplore
Sep 15AIOpenAI, Anthropic, Google Confirm Weeks Of AI Safety TalksBloomberg
Sep 15FUNDINGThatch Hits Unicorn Status As Health Costs Surge$108M Series CTechCrunch
Sep 15AIAI Safety Startup AIUC Raises $40M Series A$40M Series ATechCrunch
Sep 15FUNDINGFlam Raises $40M Series B With Shah Rukh Khan$40M Series BYourStory
Sep 15BIG TECHSoftBank Pays Off $25.9B Of Its OpenAI Bridge Loan Early$25.9B repaymentBloomberg
Sep 15BIG TECHRocket Lab Fully Funds Its $8B Iridium Buyout$1.944B equity raiseRocket Lab
Sep 15REGULATIONSenate Holds Make-Or-Break Vote On The Clarity Act TodayCNBC
Sep 15IPOTreasury Yields Push Past 5% Again On Fed Decision EveYahoo Finance
Sep 15FUNDINGSoftBank's Payoff Shows Who's Really Financing The AI BoomValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 15FUNDINGOracle, Microsoft And The Pentagon, By The NumbersValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 15AIZuckerberg Lobbied Trump Against The AI Standards Body PlanCNN
Sep 14IPOWhy 2026 Has Fewer IPOs Than 2025 Despite Bigger OnesValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 14FUNDINGNine US Rounds, $8.7B, Ten Days: September's Real Pace$8.7B across 9 roundsValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 14FUNDINGAnthropic Signs A $13.7B Compute Deal With Trump-Linked Rum GroupThe Information
Sep 14AIAnthropic Launches Claude For Financial AdvisorsWealth Management
Sep 14IPOThis Week's Micro-Cap S-1s: Oil Leases, Gold, Two SPACsSEC EDGAR
Sep 14AIAnthropic Data Fears Push Nvidia, Palantir To Restrict ModelsThe Information
Sep 14AIApple Ships iOS 27 With Its Biggest Siri Overhaul YetEngadget
Sep 14IPOChips Sank And Hyperscalers Rose On Amodei's AI EssayNvidia -3%, Micron -6%Fortune
Sep 14AIMicrosoft Tells Its Models Not To Hack Or DeceiveTechCrunch
Sep 14BIG TECHWaymo Opens Robotaxi Service In Las Vegas, Its 15th CityTechCrunch
Sep 14REGULATIONNew York DA Seizes 12 Deepfake Porn Sites404 Media
Sep 14AIDaydream Turns Your Camera Roll Into A Shoppable FeedTechCrunch
Sep 14IPOThree IPOs Set Terms In A $2.1B Week~$2.1B combinedRenaissance Capital
Sep 14FUNDINGTeravolt Wants To Turn Smelters Into AI Data CentersThe Register
Sep 14AIHundreds Of OpenAI Contractors Are Reading Your ChatGPT Chats404 Media
Sep 14BIG TECHAmazon Adds TikTok-Style News Clips Inside Prime VideoTechCrunch
Sep 14IPOThe Treasury 10-Year Hit 5% And Oil Jumped To $107Yahoo Finance
Sep 14REGULATIONFAS's Negotiating Playbook For Towns Facing Data CentersThe Register
Sep 14AI'Late-Stage' AI Bubble Warnings Collide With A Fed HikeFortune
Sep 14BIG TECHHuawei Pitches A Cheaper Path Around Co-Packaged OpticsThe Register
Sep 14BIG TECHVW's Mission Efficiency Concept Sets Three EV World RecordsTechCrunch
Sep 14FUNDINGThe Departed Founder Who Still Owns 20% Of Your CompanyCrunchbase News
Sep 14REGULATIONFlock Safety: Police Logged 'LMAO' As The Reason For Camera Searches404 Media
Sep 14REGULATIONRevolut Data Breach Exposes 680 Customers' RecordsInfosecurity Magazine
Sep 14AIChina Calls America's AI Slowdown Push FearmongeringThe Information
Sep 14FUNDINGClarity Act Odds Jump After Trump Accepts Ethics LimitsFortune
Sep 14BIG TECHSam Altman Says Y Combinator Taught Him To Govern, Not RuleFortune
Sep 14AIThe 'Killer AI' Doom Talk Is A Moat, And I Am Not Buying ItThe Register
Sep 14REGULATIONRocket Lab Protests NASA's $700M Blue Origin Mars Deal$700M contract protestedThe Register
Sep 14FUNDINGTandem Health Raises $100M For Clinical AI Co-Pilot$100M Series BTech Startups
Sep 14REGULATIONWashington Splits Between Let-It-Rip And Hit The BrakesAxios
Sep 14FUNDINGFortaegis Raises $50M To Put Security In The Silicon$50M Series ATech Startups
Sep 14FUNDINGTandem Health Raises $100M To Build An AI Clinic OS$100M Series BTech.eu

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