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The Week in Short US IPOs see their biggest year since 2021, but many have slumped since their debut. AI leaders and government officials alike say fresh AI regulation is needed, but the Trump administration can’t be counted on to craft thoughtful policy. Helsing and Fireworks raise funding rounds over $1 billion. Early-stage venture stalwart Greylock announces $1.5 billion in new funds. Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab releases its first model.

For a prime example of the VC power law at play, look no further than the recent history of Menlo Ventures. The venerable Silicon Valley firm had been struggling to stand out, with its 2015 and 2018 funds showing middling returns. Then came AI — and Anthropic. Menlo first invested in the AI lab’s Series C in 2023, and eventually put around $1 billion into the company across different funds and vehicles.

The Week in Short AI companies are scrambling for humanities majors and geopolitics experts as they navigate a shifting global landscape. Independent journalist Taylor Lorenz makes the case for the anonymous internet on the podcast. OpenAI, SpaceX, and Meta are all launching new foundation models — with some designed to compete mainly on price. Seed valuations for the top 5% of startups have entered the stratosphere. Chipmaker SambaNova rakes in nine figures.

The Week in Short Sky-high valuations and volatile markets make for a nervous season. Amazon abandons its OpenAI movie, though we’ll still get to see it. Neocloud Together AI & German drone maker Quantum Systems landed major investment rounds. OpenAI wants to give the government a 5% stake. Meta is joining xAI in the business of selling compute to others. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown brokers a truce with the US government. Lime enjoys a decent IPO. Bending Spoons’ offering proves even hotter.

Of all the white collar industries staring down the barrel of AI disruption, few are more tortured by it than Hollywood. Look no further than the howls of protest that greeted a fairly innocuous announcement by the indie studio A24 that Google was investing $75 million as part of an AI partnership. “A24 Knows You’re Mad about the Google-AI Collab,” declared WIRED’s headline on the story. Film Twitter, which is on the front lines of the rebellion against AI, descended into full despair.

We’re fresh off the mid-year Cerebral Valley AI Summit in London. AI founders, investors, and operators from Europe, the United Kingdom, the US, and beyond came together to hear from industry leaders including Sixth Street chairman and Alphabet board member R. Martin Chavez, Cohere founder Aidan Gomez, Sequoia partner Luciana Lixandru, Luminance CEO Eleanor Lightbody, Index Ventures partner Danny Rimer, Decagon founder Jesse Zhang, and more.

R. Martin Chavez (Sixth Street vice chairman and Alphabet board member) We just wrapped our mid-year Cerebral Valley AI Summit in London Wednesday. On stage, we heard from top model providers, AI application leaders, investors, and more. We also anonymously surveyed the artificial intelligence insiders in attendance and you’ll definitely be surprised by what they had to say. EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNTY.

A year ago, Meta fired the starting pistol in an epic AI talent race when it brought on Scale’s Alexandr Wang and began throwing around nine-figure deals. This year has seen an even higher-stakes shuffling of the deck as OpenAI and Anthropic head toward fall IPOs while SpaceX puts all its chips on Cursor to deliver stratospheric results.

The Week in Short SpaceX exercises its option to purchase Cursor, in a win for xAI, a16z, Thrive, Google, and Nvidia. Governor Gavin Newsom treads a thin line between pro-tech policies and data center backlash. Vanta founder Christina Cacioppo dishes on compliance world drama on the podcast. VC funding for US AI startups far outpaces their international peers. A Wired exposé on Peter Thiel’s Dialog Society generates a lot of hand-wringing over not a lot of substance.

We’re one week away from the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in London, bringing together the top founders, investors, and leaders in AI for an exclusive one-day event. There are just a few spots left for the right people, so you can apply to attend now for last-minute consideration. Apply to Attend Ahead of the summit, we’re thrilled to announce three additional speakers to our main stage lineup.