AI Startups and Tech Giants Invest Billions in AI Expansion

Leading AI Startups Secure Massive Funding

AI search startup Perplexity has reached an $18 billion valuation after raising $100 million in its latest funding round, as reported by Bloomberg. The startup, which has tripled its valuation in a year, has attracted interest from Apple for a potential acquisition.

Meanwhile, Thinking Machines, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, raised $2 billion, valuing the company at $10 billion. Murati announced plans to launch a multimodal AI product within two months, featuring an open-source component to aid researchers and startups.

Anthropic is also in talks with investors, potentially reaching a $100 billion valuation, up from $61.5 billion earlier this year.

Big Tech Commits Over $100 Billion to AI Infrastructure

Tech giants are investing heavily in AI data centers to meet growing demand for computing power. At the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, attended by President Donald Trump, Google announced a $25 billion investment in the PJM grid region, partnering with Brookfield to modernize hydroelectric plants.

Blackstone pledged $25 billion for data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, citing the state's low-cost energy and abundant natural gas resources. CoreWeave committed $6 billion to build an AI data center in Lancaster, PA.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed plans to spend "hundreds of billions" on data centers to support the company's new superintelligence team.

OpenAI Explores eCommerce Revenue Stream

OpenAI is reportedly planning to earn commissions on eCommerce sales made through ChatGPT, according to the Financial Times. The company already features product listings and partnered with Shopify in April. OpenAI aims to integrate a checkout system directly into ChatGPT, allowing users to complete purchases within the platform.