Augment

?? This week on The Pulse: ?? Anthropic and Databricks join forces in a $100M, five-year deal to build enterprise AI agents using Claude and Databricks' infrastructure. The partnership aims to accelerate AI adoption despite reliability concerns, with joint clients like Block already putting it to work. ?? OpenAI expects to remain cash flow negative until 2029, despite forecasting $125B in revenue that year. With 2025 revenue projected at $12.7B, soaring chip, data center, and talent costs are delaying profitability. ???♂? Leaked dataset reveals China’s LLM-powered censorship machine, flagging 133K+ politically sensitive topics to bolster authoritarian control. Experts warn this marks a chilling evolution in state repression. ?? 23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after cratering demand, a data breach, and a collapse in valuation from $6B to near-zero. The company now faces major privacy and regulatory scrutiny during the sale process.

?? Welcome Mark Bringas to the team as Compliance Manager! ?????? He’s a private markets veteran with deep experience in broker-dealers and RIAs. Formerly at SharesPost and excited to be back in the space. Mark enjoys tennis and Muay Thai. He thrives on adventure, and that includes his work at Augment. ??

?? This week on The Pulse: ?? Alphabet Inc. is acquiring cybersecurity startup Wiz for $32 billion, marking Google’s largest-ever deal to enhance its cloud security offerings. The acquisition strengthens Google’s position against Amazon and Microsoft, with Wiz’s technology remaining available across all cloud providers. The deal is expected to close in 2026 amid regulatory scrutiny. ?? AI cloud provider CoreWeave is preparing for an IPO with a price range of $47-$55 per share, potentially raising up to $2.7 billion. Backed by NVIDIA, CoreWeave specializes in AI-focused cloud infrastructure and competes with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Investors are closely watching the IPO as a benchmark for AI-driven cloud companies. ?? Baidu, Inc. has introduced Ernie X1, a new AI reasoning model aimed at competing with DeepSeek AI at a significantly lower cost. Additionally, the company unveiled Ernie 4.5, which it claims outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4.5. These models will be integrated into Baidu’s services, signaling an intensifying AI race in China. ?? Ripple’s XRP surged 10% after CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the SEC is dropping its lawsuit against the company. The legal battle, which lasted over four years, had major implications for the crypto industry. The decision reflects a shifting regulatory approach to digital assets under the new administration.

?? This week on The Pulse: ?? Cursor is in talks to raise at a $10B valuation, just months after closing a $100M round at $2.5B. Thrive Capital is expected to lead the funding as AI coding tools surge in demand. ?? CoreWeave denies reports of contract cancellations with Microsoft, which accounts for 62% of its revenue. With its $35B IPO on the horizon, concerns remain over potential disruptions in AI cloud services. ?? OpenAI signs a $11.9B, five-year deal with CoreWeave to secure AI computing infrastructure. OpenAI will also take a $350M stake in CoreWeave ahead of its IPO. ??? Anthropic’s revenue surges to $1.4B, marking a 40% YoY increase. A recent $3.5B funding round pushed its valuation to $61.5B, with projected 2025 revenue ranging from $2B to $4B.

AI's Next Top Model: DeepSeek vs. OpenAI vs. Anthropic vs. xAI Join us on March 6 at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET for the first session of our deep-dive livestream series with Sacra. Augment co-founder Noel Moldvai will host Sacra's research lead and co-founder, Jan-Erik Asplund, for an in-depth look at the top AI companies.

?? Live streaming here TODAY @ 12pm PT / 3pm ET: Augment CEO Noel Moldvai and Sacra Co-Founder Jan-Erik Asplund dive into DeepSeek, OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Add to your calendar now so you don't miss it. https://lnkd.in/gkvh8EJD

?? This week on The Pulse: ?? CoreWeave files for IPO under the ticker "CRWV," reporting a 700% revenue surge to $1.92B but an $863.4M net loss. With Microsoft contributing 62% of revenue, CoreWeave faces $8B in debt and over $15B in unfulfilled contracts as it scales its AI cloud dominance. ?? TSMC commits $100B to U.S. chip manufacturing, expanding its Arizona footprint with three new fabs, two packaging plants, and an R&D center. With CHIPS Act backing ($6.6B in grants), this move strengthens U.S. semiconductor independence amid geopolitical tensions. ?? OpenAI’s AI "agents" pricing revealed—potential costs up to $20,000/month, with developer-focused agents at $10,000 and knowledge worker agents at $2,000. SoftBank commits $3B to AI agents as OpenAI pushes monetization to offset financial losses. ??? CoreWeave acquires Weights & Biases for $1.7B ahead of its IPO. Backed by NVIDIA, this move expands its AI training infrastructure used by OpenAI and Meta. CoreWeave is now targeting a $35B valuation. ? Who will dominate AI? DeepSeek AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, or xAI? Join us March 6 at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET for an exclusive deep-dive livestream with Sacra to discuss the AI arms race and emerging industry leaders.

?? This week on The Pulse: ?? Anthropic launches Claude 3.7 Sonnet, its first hybrid AI reasoning model, featuring real-time responses, improved coding accuracy, and Claude Code for developers. A direct competitor to OpenAI, it aims to redefine AI interaction. ??? ElevenLabs unveils Scribe, a speech-to-text model supporting 99+ languages. Outperforming Google's Whisper, it offers diarization, timestamping, and auto-tagging—pricing starts at $0.40 per hour. ?? Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati's AI startup nears a $9B valuation, raising $1B to build an open-source AI powerhouse. Backed by ex-OpenAI researchers, it could become a major industry disruptor. ?? Anthropic secures $3.5B in funding, valuing the company at $61.5B. Backed by Lightspeed and General Catalyst, this raise signals strong investor confidence despite growing competition from DeepSeek AI and xAI. ? AI’s biggest battle: DeepSeek AI vs. OpenAI vs. Anthropic vs. xAI. Join us on March 6 at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET for the first session of our deep-dive livestream series with Sacra as we will discuss the race for AI superiority.

Stoked to be reunited with my bald spirit animal, Jan-Erik Asplundi. The livestreams are alive again and we're serving up 1 hour of unfiltered research wisdom courtesy of Sacra. We’re diving headfirst into the wild world of (top) AI models: OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and DeepSeek. Rough plan: 0:00-0:45: Banter. 0:45-0:55: AI model throw-down. 0:55-1:00: Audience questions/banter. Mark your calendars and see you there! (written by Grok-3)

Join us on March 6 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET for the first session of our deep-dive livestream series with Sacra. Augment co-founder & CEO Noel Moldvai will host Sacra's research lead & co-founder Jan-Erik Asplund for an in-depth look at the top foundational model AI companies. Link in the comments.