Week in Review

September 28, 2026 — October 4, 2026

127
Stories
$13.9B
Tracked Funding
6
Categories
OpenAI
Most Covered (15)

Venture data this week

47 funding rounds totaling $4.8B tracked by Value Add VC for the week of Sep 28. These are the rounds our database recorded, not a total for the whole market.

47
+7% WoW
Rounds tracked
$4.8B
0% WoW
Dollars tracked
$1B
Instinct
Largest round
12
New to the database

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

Top Stories

1
REGULATIONOct 4

Trump Defends Ohio Data Centers Amid Backlash

Trump defended AI data centers at an Ohio Senate rally as bipartisan voter backlash over electricity prices turns data-center buildout into a genuine swing-state liability.

2
BIG TECHOct 4

Musk Renames SpaceXAI To SpaceXSI

Elon Musk is renaming SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI, The Information reports, swapping "AI" for "SI" -- super intelligence -- across the combined SpaceX-xAI entity formed in February's $1.25 trillion merger.

3
REGULATIONOct 4

Trump's AI Task Force Gets Its Full Roster

Trump named three more officials -- FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon tech chief Emil Michael and OPM Director Scott Kupor -- to join Jay Clayton atop the Super Intelligence Force.

4
FUNDING$20M Series AOct 4

Basalt Health Raises $20M Series A Led By NEA

Basalt Health raised a $20 million Series A led by returning investor NEA to expand its AI platform for post-acute care admissions, a notoriously manual and fragmented corner of healthcare.

5
REGULATIONOct 4

California Cracks Down On Robotaxi Chaos

California's new SB 1246 forces Waymo, Tesla and Zoox to provide local incident response when robotaxis block traffic or emergency responders, starting July 2028.

6
AIOct 4

Reflection AI's New Model Could Shake Up AI Race

Axios reports startup Reflection AI is preparing to launch a powerful new open-weight model, months after the $6.3 billion compute deal it struck with SpaceX's Colossus data center.

7
REGULATIONOct 4

Trump's Ohio Rally Goes Quiet On Data Centers

Fortune reports Trump's Ohio rally crowd went quiet when he defended data centers, a sign the AI buildout has become a bipartisan political liability even as hyperscalers keep building.

Biggest Deal of the Week
$2T IPO target valuation
Anthropic's IPO Filing Targets $2T, Warns Of AI Risk

Coverage by Category

FUNDING
45
35%
AI
29
23%
IPO
24
19%
REGULATION
14
11%
BIG TECH
13
10%
PEOPLE
2
2%

All 127 Stories

DateCategoryHeadlineAmountSource
Oct 4REGULATIONTrump Defends Ohio Data Centers Amid BacklashThe Hill
Oct 4BIG TECHMusk Renames SpaceXAI To SpaceXSIThe Information
Oct 4REGULATIONTrump's AI Task Force Gets Its Full RosterTechCrunch
Oct 4FUNDINGBasalt Health Raises $20M Series A Led By NEA$20M Series APulse 2.0
Oct 4REGULATIONCalifornia Cracks Down On Robotaxi ChaosTechCrunch
Oct 4AIReflection AI's New Model Could Shake Up AI RaceAxios
Oct 4REGULATIONTrump's Ohio Rally Goes Quiet On Data CentersFortune
Oct 4AIAnthropic's Charity Pledge Carries A Big Price TagThe Information
Oct 4REGULATIONJay Clayton Named To Lead Trump's AI Task ForceThe Information
Oct 4FUNDINGAI Megadeals Just Reset What 'Big' MeansValue Add Pulse Analysis
Oct 4IPOWhere the 2026 IPO Pipeline Actually StandsValue Add Pulse Analysis
Oct 3AIGoogle Cuts Free Gemini Access to Flash-Lite OnlyDigital Trends
Oct 3AIOpenAI Safety Lead Resigns, Calls Culture 'Broken'TechCrunch
Oct 3REGULATIONTrump Taps Jay Clayton as AI Czar, Builds Task ForceCNBC
Oct 3BIG TECHAmazon Drops Data Center NDAs, Pledges $1B Fund$1B Community FundTechCrunch
Oct 3REGULATIONAI Agents Are Going Rogue. Lawsuits Are NextThe Information
Oct 3BIG TECHDaniel Ek's Body-Scan Startup Neko Opens in USTechCrunch
Oct 3REGULATIONWho Really Had Power At Trump's AI Summit?The Information
Oct 3AIMcKinsey Sees AI Forcing 11M Into New CareersFortune
Oct 2AIMeta Opens Up Muse Hardware With Gadgets ProgramTechCrunch
Oct 2FUNDINGSupabase Raises $150M, Acquires Turso for AI Agents$150M + Turso buySiliconANGLE
Oct 2BIG TECHParamount, Warner Bros. Discovery to Become Skydance$110B mergerTechCrunch
Oct 2AIMicrosoft Launches Voice AI To Take On ElevenLabsThe Information
Oct 2REGULATIONOpenAI Hires Former Trump AI Official for SecurityThe Information
Oct 2FUNDINGPaleBlueDot AI Raises $200M at $3.2B Valuation$200M Series CPulse2
Oct 2AISean Parker Rebuilds Stability AI Around MusicTechCrunch
Oct 2FUNDINGAI's Data Center Boom Runs On Debt, Not Equity$346B in 2026The Information
Oct 2AIAI Data Center Debt Is Showing Up EverywhereThe Information
Oct 2BIG TECHApple to Tighten Mac Disk Access Over AI Agent RiskTechCrunch
Oct 2AIMicrosoft Debuts Voice AI, Taking Aim At ElevenLabsThe Information
Oct 2AINvidia Debuts $4,999 DGX Spark With Half the RAM$4,999 DGX Spark (64GB)The Register
Oct 2AIChina's Resellers Build a Gray Market For AnthropicThe Information
Oct 2IPOSeveral New IPO Filings Are Actually SPACsValue Add Pulse Analysis
Oct 2IPOYour Real IPO Comp Is X-energy's ReversalValue Add Pulse Analysis
Oct 2IPO2026's IPO Market Is Splitting In TwoValue Add Pulse Analysis
Oct 2IPOInfinigence AI Files for Hong Kong IPO$2.1B valuation (reported)The Information
Oct 2FUNDINGPaleBlueDot AI Raises $200M Series C at $3.2B Valuation$200M Series CThe SaaS News
Oct 2AIOpenAI Fires Three Safety ResearchersThe Information
Oct 2IPOBioStem Technologies Files S-1 With The SECSEC
Oct 2BIG TECHMicrosoft's Office, Teams Chief Exits Amid ExodusThe Information
Oct 2REGULATIONCalifornia Man Arrested In Nvidia Chip-Smuggling CaseThe Information
Oct 2IPOVSee Health Files S-1 For $5M Equity LineSEC
Oct 2IPOThis Week's IPO Filings Are Microcaps And SPACsValue Add Pulse Analysis
Oct 2FUNDINGCScale Exits Stealth With $145M For AI Data Centers$145MSiliconANGLE
Oct 1FUNDINGLambda Closes $1B Investment-Grade GPU Debt Deal$1.008B debt financingLambda
Oct 1PEOPLEYC Adds Two New General PartnersY Combinator
Oct 1FUNDINGHomeward Raises $120M As Housing Market Stalls$120M Series DCrunchbase News
Oct 1FUNDINGNvidia, SoftBank Add $20B To OpenAI's Round$20BThe Information
Oct 1FUNDINGFlow Engineering Raises $50M Series B At $750M$50M Series BSiliconANGLE
Oct 1FUNDINGArmadin Raises $255M At $2.5B Valuation$255.5M Series BTechCrunch
Oct 1BIG TECHGoogle Bets On Being Robotics' Android, Not AppleThe Information
Oct 1FUNDINGReco Raises $55M, Pushing Total Funding To $140M$55M funding roundThe SaaS News
Oct 1FUNDINGVolantis Raises $88M To Build Photonic AI Chips$88M Series ASiliconANGLE
Oct 1FUNDINGOaktree Closes Debut $2B Asset-Backed Finance Fund$2B fund closePulse 2.0
Oct 1FUNDINGHilbert Raises $28M Series A For B2C AI Analytics$28M Series AThe SaaS News
Oct 1FUNDINGdoxx.net Raises $38M To Rein In AI Agents$38M Series ARefresh Miami
Oct 1IPOAccelevation Sinks In Post-IPO Trading DebutIPO priced $540MThe Information
Oct 1FUNDINGHalluminate Raises $30M for AI Finance Training$30M Series AFortune
Oct 1REGULATIONJudge Dismisses Publisher Suits Over Google AIThe Information
Oct 1IPOWhy The IPO Window Opens Only SelectivelyCrunchbase News
Oct 1IPONuclear Funding Booms While Public Markets Turn BearishCrunchbase News
Oct 1AISharon AI Lands $356M GPU-Backed Loan$356M loanThe Information
Oct 1FUNDINGAudax Private Debt Closes Record $10B Fund$10B fundPulse 2.0
Oct 1FUNDINGStride Consumer Partners Closes $550M Fund II$550M fundPulse 2.0
Oct 1AIOpenAI Escalates Distillation Fight With MoonshotThe Information
Oct 1AIDoorDash Pushes Its Own AI Ordering AssistantTechCrunch
Sep 30FUNDINGMetaview Raises $60M Series C For AI Recruiting$60M Series CSiliconANGLE
Sep 30AIGeneral Intuition's New Round Lifts It To $6.2B$220M at $6.2B valuationSiliconANGLE
Sep 30FUNDINGSydney Sweeney-Backed Novig Hits $2B Valuation$2B valuation (reported)The Information
Sep 30FUNDINGMetaview Lands $60M Series C From Insight Partners$60M Series CPulse 2.0
Sep 30FUNDINGElevenLabs Tender Doubles Valuation To $22B$22B valuationTechCrunch
Sep 30FUNDINGCScale Exits Stealth With $145M for AI Optical Links$145M Series CSiliconANGLE
Sep 30BIG TECHApple Plans Oct. 13 Smart-Home Hardware BlitzMacRumors
Sep 30AIGoogle Unveils Gemini 4 Argon, Gated To PartnersAxios
Sep 30FUNDINGTXSE Group Raises $155M For Texas Stock Exchange$155MDallas Innovates
Sep 30FUNDINGMiami's Jeeves Raises $110M For Stablecoin Banking$110MPulse 2.0
Sep 30FUNDINGFlow Engineering Hits $750M Valuation$50M Series BTechCrunch
Sep 30REGULATIONFTC Opens Broad Probe Into OpenAI, AnthropicCNBC
Sep 30AIMeta's Muse Hits 3M Weekly Users Amid Privacy FlapThe Information
Sep 30FUNDINGGeneral Intuition Closes $220M At $6.2B$220M at $6.2B valuationSiliconANGLE
Sep 30FUNDINGGMI Cloud Raises $668M With Nvidia Backing$668M (equity + debt)The Information
Sep 30AIBanks Get Choosier On AI Data-Center DebtThe Information
Sep 30AIWall Street, Silicon Valley Split On AI's Price TagThe Information
Sep 30FUNDINGTiny Health Raises $33M Series B For Microbiome$33M Series BThe SaaS News
Sep 30AIHuawei Claims It Now Outsells Nvidia In ChinaThe Register
Sep 30IPOOura's IPO Delay Isn't A One-Company StoryThe Information
Sep 30AIReco Raises $55M To Expand Agentic Security$55MPulse 2.0
Sep 30IPOOura, World Labs Show Two Paths Out For StartupsThe Information
Sep 30IPOOpenAI Says It Won't IPO Until Its Models Are 'Safe'Gizmodo
Sep 30REGULATIONSix AI Giants Sign Trump's 'Super Intelligence' PactThe Register
Sep 29FUNDINGEliseAI Raises $350M, Valuation Doubles To $4B$350M at $4B valuationTechCrunch
Sep 29FUNDINGOpenAI In Talks To Raise $30B At $1.4T Valuation$30B pre-IPO roundTechCrunch
Sep 29IPOBehind Oura's Pullback, A Loaded Fall IPO QueueCrunchbase News
Sep 29AIOpenAI's Annual Revenue Nears $70BAxios
Sep 29AIAI Needs $6 Trillion A Year By 2031, Bain SaysTheNextWeb
Sep 29IPOAnthropic's IPO Filing Reveals An $84.5B SpaceX Bet$84.5B SpaceX compute dealSeeking Alpha
Sep 29FUNDINGEfficient Computer Raises $97M At $650M Valuation$97M Series BSiliconANGLE
Sep 29IPOOura Pulls $2.2B IPO Citing Market Uncertainty$2.2B IPO (delayed)TechCrunch
Sep 29FUNDINGTiny Health Raises $33M To Scale Microbiome Testing$33M Series BMedCity News
Sep 29IPOFive Blank-Check SPACs File S-1s In One WeekSEC EDGAR
Sep 29IPOAnthropic's IPO Filing Targets $2T, Warns Of AI Risk$2T IPO target valuation24/7 Wall St
Sep 29FUNDINGSamsung Invests $1B In KKR-Backed AI Infra Firm Helix$1B investmentThe Information
Sep 29FUNDINGPeak XV Raises Surge Seed Check Size To $5M$5M max seed checkTechCrunch
Sep 28AIOpenAI Won't Ship GPT-6.1 Astra, Cites SafetyThe Information
Sep 28AINvidia Launches Tool To Contain Rogue AI AgentsThe Information
Sep 28IPORent The Runway Amends Its Rights Offering FilingSEC EDGAR
Sep 28BIG TECHAMD Buys Fei-Fei Li's World Labs For $8.2B$8.2B acquisitionTechCrunch
Sep 28BIG TECHAMD To Buy Fei-Fei Li's World Labs For $8.2B$8.2B acquisitionThe Information
Sep 28FUNDINGSiMa.ai Raises $150M Series C At $1.45B Valuation$150M Series C at $1.45B valuationSiliconANGLE
Sep 28BIG TECHNvidia Authorizes Record $150B Stock Buyback$150B buybackThe Information
Sep 28PEOPLEMeta Taps MongoDB's CEO To Lead Enterprise AI PushThe Information
Sep 28IPORent The Runway's Investors Backstop $15M Offering$15M rights offeringStockTitan
Sep 28FUNDINGModal Labs Nears $750M Round At $15.75B Valuation$750M round (reported)TechCrunch
Sep 28FUNDINGInstinct Closes $1B Series C At $10B Valuation$1B Series C at $10B valuationPulse 2.0
Sep 28FUNDINGMotive's $1.3B Is Revenue-Share Financing, Not a Round$1.3B growth financingMotive
Sep 28FUNDINGQuartermaster Raises Another $140M Series B$140M Series BTechCrunch
Sep 28FUNDINGVinod Khosla: Robotics Valuations Will Fall By 2030The Information
Sep 28REGULATIONFlorida AG Moves To Bar OpenAI From New ModelsThe Information
Sep 28AIManus Launches Agent App To Challenge Meta's MuseThe Information
Sep 28FUNDINGMega Rounds Aren't Special AnymoreValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 28FUNDINGHealth AI Raised $655M+ In Just Three Deals$655M+ combinedValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 28IPOThe IPO Window Has A Barbell ProblemValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 28BIG TECHYour 401k Is Already Betting On The AI BoomFortune
Sep 28IPOS-1 Filings Are Piling Up Faster Than PricingsValue Add Pulse Analysis
Sep 28AIOpenAI Says To Expect More Training PausesThe Register
Sep 28IPOADARx's IPO Haul Grows To $535M With AbbVie In$535.3M totalMedCity News
Sep 28BIG TECHTruecaller Takes Its Scam Data Beyond The AppTechCrunch

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