How Did AI Deals Target A $350B Giant? 🤖📈💸

TL;DR

• Anthropic targets a $25B raise at $350B valuation
• Creator economy AI Fanvue lands $22M Series A
• Brain-mapping AI Omniscient extends $36M Series D
• Infra and visas: AI data centers, SPUN $1.8M seed

HEADLINES

Sequoia Capital backs Anthropic in $25B mega-round 🧠🔗

Fanvue raises $22M Series A for AI creators ⭐🔗

Omniscient Neurotechnology secures $36M Series D for brain mapping 🧠🔗

SPUN raises $1.8M seed for AI visa infra 🛂🔗

Meta Platforms stock drops 5% on AI infra pivot 📉🔗

FROM THE BIG PLAYERS

Sequoia Capital invested $25B into Anthropic-led mega-round syndicate 🤖🔗

GIC invested $1.5B in Anthropic fundraising 🏦🔗

Blackstone took control stake in AI infra startup Neysa ⚙️🔗

RAISES

Fanvue raised $22M in a Series A led by Fortnight Capital 📸🔗

Omniscient Neurotechnology raised $36M in a Series D from NRF and partners 🧬🔗

SPUN raised $1.8M in a seed round led by Seedstars Asia Ventures 🌏🔗

NEW LAUNCHES

DeepWisdom unveiled Atoms multi-agent AI application 🤝🔗

FITT IIT Delhi & BFI launched AI healthtech acceleration platform 🏥🔗

NIMS introduced Research Data Express (RDE) data platform 🧪🔗

Salesforce announced Startup Program for AI-heavy Sri Lankan tech 🚀🔗

TRY THESE TOOLS

Fanvue AI creator monetisation and virtual influencers 🎨🔗

Atoms by DeepWisdom AI agents orchestrating workflows for solo founders 🧩🔗

SPUN AI-enabled visa and travel documentation infrastructure 🛄🔗

Research Data Express automates experimental data pipelines for AI discovery 📂🔗

METRICS

Anthropic targeting $25B raise at $350B valuation 📊🔗

MENA startups secured $7.5B funding in 2025 🌍🔗

SEA startups raised $491.06M across 116 deals in December 📈🔗

South Koreans spend $6.8B yearly on genAI subscriptions 💸🔗

Meta Platforms fell 5% after AI infra reprioritisation 📉🔗

BENCHMARKS

TNGlobal Tracker shows SEA deal volume surged in Q4 📘🔗

Wamda analysis reports record MENA startup funding levels 📊🔗

Lenovo CIO Playbook finds nearly all ASEAN+ firms scaling AI 📙🔗

Monash Lens frames responsible AI as board-level governance risk ⚠️🔗

INFRA & COSTS

Vantage Data Centers secured £254M ABS for EMEA campuses 🏗️🔗

Meta Platforms reprioritised spending toward AI infrastructure and wearables 🖥️🔗

Blackstone–Neysa deal channels private equity into AI infra stacks ⚙️🔗

AI data centers highlighted as major grid load factor 🔌🔗

VALUATIONS

Anthropic seeking $350B valuation in current round 🏷️🔗

Andreessen Horowitz raising $20B AI-focused megafund for growth 💼🔗

MENA funding review shows heavy concentration in late-stage rounds 💹🔗

POLICY

India government pushes global consensus on AI standards 🛡️🔗

US executive order aims to preempt divergent state AI regulations ⚖️🔗

State AI laws in Illinois, Texas, Colorado take effect 📜🔗

Texas RAIGA restricts harmful, discriminatory AI deployments statewide 📕🔗

SOVEREIGN

US–Japan defense partners aligned 2026 AI drones investment plan 🛰️🔗

IndiaAI Summit agenda seeks global partnership funding facility 🤝🔗

Qatar programs channel state support into AI startups 🏛️🔗

MENA governments underpin record regional tech funding boom 🌐🔗

SECTORS

Travel deployed AI-enabled visa infrastructure 🛂🔗

Public Safety deployed AI-powered robotic traffic officers 🚓🔗

Mortgage Finance deployed AI-cloned voice advertising 📢🔗

Enterprise IT deployed full-scale generative AI workflows 🏢🔗

Healthcare deployed AI healthtech startup acceleration 🩺🔗

COMMUNITY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Latent.Space grew to over 103k AI engineer subscribers 🌐🔗