In Nepal, parliament’s attempt to ban social media to curb dissent ended up producing the opposite effect. With traditional platforms blocked, around 145,000 citizens quickly migrated to Discord, where they organised debates, voted on issues, and even nominated interim leaders. This fascinating case study shows how, if and when official channels close, people can co-opt whatever tools are available to re-create civic space. It highlights how digital platforms are not just communication tools, but are potentially becoming geopolitical and sovereign spaces in their own right—shaping how communities organise, exercise influence, and imagine alternatives to state-led governance. Elsewhere, Really Simple Licensing (RSL) launched with Medium, Yahoo, and Reddit onboard, offering automated content licensing and joining Cloudflare’s Pay Per Crawl in pushing AI firms toward revenue-sharing models—an early signal of how value chains around data and content may be rebalanced. And in the US, the FTC opened an inquiry into Alphabet, Character.AI, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, and xAI over chatbot companions for minors—underscoring how safety, liability, and child protection are becoming frontlines in the governance of consumer AI.
IPOs/Public
Gemini (crypto exchange founded by Winklevoss twins) raised $425M in its Nasdaq debut, closing up 14% at a $3.8B valuation despite mounting losses.
Figure (blockchain lending) raised $787.5M in its IPO at a $5.3B valuation, debuting 36% above offer price.
Heartflow (3D heart imaging) raised $316.7M in its Nasdaq debut, reaching $2.27B as shares jumped 47% on opening day.
Via (routing software for city transport) raised $492.9M in its IPO at a $3.9B valuation, ending its first day of trading just above offer.
Klarna (BNPL) debuted on the NYSE at a $15B valuation, becoming one of the few European fintechs to exit via public markets.
Only 7 companies floated on the LSE so far in 2025, down from 9 YoY, while US IPOs rose from 129 to 231 in same period.
Alphabet surpassed $3T market cap, joining Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple, following a favourable antitrust ruling easing regulatory overhang.
Sana (AI knowledge assistant) acquired by Workday for $1.1B, double its Oct 2024 valuation of $500M.
OpenAI & Oracle signed a $300B five-year agreement. Oracle’s share price jumped 40% ($230B to $930B) as public markets hunt for leveraged AI stocks
Opendoor newly reinstalled chair and VC Keith Rabois said workforce may be slashed by up to 85% and in-person work restored. “There’s 1,400 employees at Opendoor. I don’t know what most of them do,” he grumbled.
Apple unveiled iPhone 17 lineup including ultra-thin iPhone Air ($999) and AirPods Pro 3 with live translation. Devices include GPUs for AI workloads, 50% RAM increase, improved camera sensors, larger batteries and faster charging.
Microsoft signed a six-year $19B deal with Nebius (GPU cloud spun out of Yandex).
Microsoft & OpenAI reached non-binding agreement to extend partnership. OpenAI’s nonprofit parent to retain control and equity stake worth >$100B, making it one of the world’s richest philanthropies on paper.
Salesforce claimed 4,000 support jobs replaced via AI automation, though it sells the tech itself.
Big Dogs
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington and Beijing have sketched a framework to keep TikTok alive in the US, with Trump and Xi expected to bless the deal Friday.
Anthropic $1.5B author settlement at risk – judge says agreement incomplete pending clarity on works covered and notification of class members.
Anthropic backed California’s SB 53, favouring national AI rules over state patchwork. The bill would require frameworks, reporting of critical incidents and whistleblower protection.
OpenAI sent Broadcom shares up ~10% after placing $10B order for custom AI chips for 2026 delivery, challenging Nvidia dominance. Strategy includes Fidji Simo (ex-Instacart) appointed head of product, Kevin Weil to lead “AI for Science,” and first vertical product the OpenAI Jobs Platform (launch mid-2026), competing with LinkedIn.
OpenAI acquired Statsig for $1.1B to speed up product testing.
ElevenLabs employee tender co-led by Sequoia & ICONIQ valued the company at $6.6B, 2x since Series C nine months ago. ARR has doubled to $200M since Oct 2024.
Perplexity raised $200M, valuing the company at $20B.
Mercor (AI training experts marketplace) in talks for Series C at $10B+ valuation.
Mistral AI raised €1.7B Series C led by ASML, which also took a €1.3B (11%) stake, cementing Mistral as Europe’s leading independent AI lab.
PsiQuantum (building quantum computer) raised $1B Series E at $7B valuation led by BlackRock, Temasek and Baillie Gifford, with Nvidia’s NVentures, Macquarie and Ribbit also in.
CuspAI raised €85M to build an AI ‘search engine’ for materials science.
Divergent (AI-driven digital manufacturing) raised $290M Series E at $2.3B valuation led by Rochefort Asset Management.
Vimeo sold for $1.38B to Bending Spoons (Italy).
Venture Capital Insights
General Catalyst has backed 31 megarounds ($100M+) in 2025 – nearly one a week. At its peak in 2021, Tiger Global invested in 186 such rounds.
a16z argued against margin pessimism in AI – early low margins don’t predict long-term viability. AI apps show sticky usage and upsell opportunities. Nat Friedman: “Being a pessimist makes you sound smart. Being an optimist makes you money.”
Robinhood filed for Ventures Fund I, a publicly traded vehicle to give retail investors access to startups in AI, fintech and defence. Details on fees, holdings and timing still TBD.
Venture Geopolitics
Nepal – parliament’s social media ban backfired, driving 145k citizens onto Discord to debate and nominate interim leaders.
France – Macron appointed Sébastien Lecornu as third PM in <12 months. Cuts to startup incentives and political instability have (supposedly) halved startup funding YoY
China – military parade with Putin and Kim Jong Un displayed nuclear and advanced weapons, underscoring alignment with authoritarian states.
Georgetown report – China’s military-civil fusion recorded 2,857 PLA AI contracts (2023–24). Defence giants (CETC, CASC, NORINCO, Seven Sons universities) joined by newer dual-use firms founded post-2010, complicating US export control strategy.
China ruled that Nvidia’s $7B Mellanox acquisition violated antitrust law. No penalties yet, but signals further risk amid US-China chip tensions.
EpochAI report – US maintains 5:1 compute lead over China, suggesting export controls are in fact working
Legal & General closed €600M for digital infrastructure fund focused on UK/Europe.
£250M defence dividend – Defence Secretary John Healey announced Defence Industrial Strategy to frame defence as industrial development driver (UK).
Strategic Sectors
AI
AI inference paradox: per-token costs falling, but advanced reasoning requires exponentially more tokens, driving higher bills and squeezing SaaS gross margins (WSJ).
Really Simple Licensing (RSL) launched with Medium, Yahoo, Reddit signing up. Provides automated licensing for content, joining Cloudflare’s Pay Per Crawl and others in pushing AI firms to share revenues.
China passed law requiring all AI-generated images to be labelled.
FTC launched inquiry into Alphabet, Character.AI, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, xAI over chatbot companions for minors. OpenAI and Character.AI face lawsuits after alleged encouragement of suicides.
Cybersecurity
Consolidation wave >$1.5B this week:
• Cato Networks acquired Aim Security (AI security) for $350–400M.
• SentinelOne to buy Observo AI (AI-native data streaming) for $225M.
• Varonis buying SlashNext (AI-native email security) for up to $150M.Check Point acquired Lakera (AI security). Deal expected £270–300M on <£3M ARR – another huge exit for a very immature company.
Defence
Mind Foundry (AI/ML platform) explored frontline “edge AI” use for battlefield decision-making.
Robotics
Ant Group unveiled ‘R1’ humanoid robot via Robbyant unit, signalling Chinese entry into humanoid robotics alongside Figure, 1X and Apptronik.