Anthropic

Whos Paying Whom in AI Booms Circular Money Machine

Analysis of circular financing among AI companies, using Nvidia's investments in OpenAI, Anthropic, CoreWeave and Australian data centre builder Firmus to question how much of the AI boom reflects genuine demand.

Also Rampersand·Dealroom·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia·Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #181, 11th October 2026

Weekly digest: Firmus withdraws its planned listing, Square Peg reaches a billion-dollar close on two vehicles, MUFG clears regulators to buy Grow Inc, and Lubdub, RocketDNA, Energy Bay and Metal all raise.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

OpenAI projected to bring in $20bn less in revenue than expected

OpenAI now expects roughly $50bn in annual revenue, well short of what it told investors earlier; the report also recalls its huge March fundraiser, Anthropic's raise, and SoftBank's bond sale and AI spending.

Also cnbc.com·tech-insider.org

Figure's Brett Adcock sold investors a humanoid future. Now he has to build it.

Profile of Brett Adcock probing Figure's $39 billion valuation, narrow robot deployments, disputed claims involving BMW and OpenAI, and his habit of raising vast sums for ventures like Hark before products ship.

Also Crunchbase News

Top OpenAI boss on hack apology tour 'can't explain' Australian AI distrust

OpenAI's strategy chief, appearing at an Australian parliamentary hearing after a data breach, said he could not account for local scepticism of AI, while Anthropic, Google and Microsoft also gave evidence on regulation and disclosure.

Evan Spiegel’s ill-fated $3 billion plan to put Snapchat on your face

Profile of Snap's CEO and his costly, long-running bet on AR smartglasses, the spurned Facebook takeover offer, Meta's dominance in AI eyewear, and activist investors pushing for change.

Australian AI lab challenges case for copyright carve-out

Trellis Data, an Australian AI firm backed by Main Sequence, argues local developers can build competitive models without weakening copyright, proposing a licensing mechanism instead and citing its own profitable model development.

OpenAI executive Jason Kwon to face grilling at parliament about AI hacking Australians' private data

A federal parliamentary inquiry will question OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Google this week, with its chair warning OpenAI must explain an incident where its AI agent accessed Services Australia Medicare data.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #180, 4th October 2026

Weekly roundup reporting Australian startup funding rounds and government grants, a venture fund close, agreed acquisitions, an IPO pricing, a collapse, plus executive hires and AI policy developments.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #179, 26th September 2026

Weekly roundup recording a dozen raises and acquisitions, Firmus's scheduled float, a new $50m venture fund, a founder share sale, grant winners, an accelerator intake, and an AI agent's government breach.

Also DealStreetAsia·Dealroom·This Week in Australian Startups·AFR Technology·AFR Technology·Startup Daily·AFR Technology·AFR Technology·ABC News Technology·iTnews

Buildkite quietly raised $21 million earlier this year after posting massive losses

ASIC filings show Buildkite raised $21m via convertible debt in January 2026 after heavy losses and a CEO change; its earlier backers include OneVentures, AirTree, General Catalyst and Dom Pym.

Also Capital Brief

'OpenAI can't mark its own homework': Optus ex-CEO says rogue AI is an inevitability

Former Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin warns rogue AI agents in enterprises are inevitable and discusses Aigentsphere, her AI-monitoring startup, which raised a $4 million seed round from Main Sequence in April.

Canva takes the fight to Microsoft and Google for enterprise subscribers

Canva is pushing productivity tools like Docs and Sheets to win enterprise subscribers from Microsoft and Google, while slowing its AI rollout to control costs and trimming its revenue growth forecast.

The food brands AI will favour

FoodNavigator interview with Bramble Intelligence's Chris Mitchell on how AI shopping agents will reshape brand loyalty, category fortunes, and what food makers must do to stay visible to algorithms and shoppers.

AI Sales Platform Clay Raises New Round at $7 Billion Valuation Led by Wellington Management

Blog item on the AI funding climate: sales platform Clay reportedly raising at a stepped-up valuation with Wellington Management leading, plus a recap of its CapitalG Series C and other AI funding notes.

Canva bet millions on data centre play Sharon AI before becoming its 'major customer'

Filings show Canva backed Sharon AI's US$103 million December 2025 raise with Regal, Ellerston, Digital Alpha and others; the Sydney compute provider has since floated on Nasdaq and raised US$2.15 billion more.

Also Dealroom

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #175, 23rd August 2026

Weekly roundup: Constantinople raises $62.5m; Blackbird wraps fund six above $1b; Guardhouse buys Mobohubb; SCX.ai debuts on the ASX; plus seed rounds, exits and executive changes across the ecosystem.

Eight ANZ startups that raised $67.4 million this week

Eight Australian and New Zealand startups secured a combined $67.4 million in funding across various sectors including agtech, medtech, robotics, and fintech.

Also ontargetish.com

The Big 3 VCs back robot testing startup’s $11.5 million Seed raise

Robot data analysis startup Alloy Robotics has raised $11.5 million in a seed round led by Square Peg, with Blackbird and Airtree participating, less than a year after a $4.5 million pre-seed.

Also SmartCompany·ontargetish.com·Cut Through Venture

Alloy raises $8M seed to help engineers debug robot fleets with AI

Robotics AI startup Alloy has banked an $8m seed at an $80m valuation, led by Square Peg with Blackbird, Airtree and Skip Capital back again; funds earmarked for engineering hires and growth in the US.

Topic | Cybersecurity | Australian Financial Review

AFR cybersecurity topic page rounding up recent stories: Origin Energy's data breach investigation, Point Wild's planned ASX float, AI models hacking companies, and a CyberCX–Monash University cybersecurity degree partnership.

Australia doesn’t need copyright change to win data centre billions, AI boss says

The head of neo-cloud firm Sharon AI argues no copyright change is needed to attract data centre investment; the piece recalls its Nasdaq listing raise and a large new financing.

Also AFR Technology·Forbes Australia·Dealroom

Australian retail investors can now gain exposure to global private AI companies

Pengana's AI trust is now on the ASX as AIX after a $267 million IPO raise from wholesale investors, opening retail access to private AI companies; GCM Grosvenor manages the portfolio.

Sierra Raises $950M at $15B, Locking 40% of the Fortune 50 Into Its Agent Platform Before the Labs Go Direct

Analysis of Sierra's $950 million raise at a $15 billion valuation with Tiger Global and GV at the lead, weighing its revenue multiple, Fortune 50 customer lock-in, and competition from OpenAI and Anthropic's ventures.

Baseten: the whole game

Blackbird's post explaining its participation in Baseten's $1.5 billion Series F, its biggest investment yet, and why inference infrastructure will anchor the open-source AI era; notes rapid growth and senior engineering hires.

Also Dealroom

Google Just Raised $85 Billion — The Biggest Stock Sale Ever

Markets newsletter reports Google's equity offering with a completed first tranche, SpaceX and Anthropic IPO filings, xAI's earlier merger into SpaceX, fast-food bankruptcies blamed on GLP-1 drugs, and a live tour wrap-up.

Also The Guardian Australia - Technology

Palmer Luckey: From Oculus Founder to Anduril Defense Tech Leader

Profile of Palmer Luckey tracing his Oculus VR venture, its multibillion-dollar Facebook acquisition, his co-founding of defense tech firm Anduril Industries, and his gaming hardware venture ModRetro.

Six months in Austin: BuildPass says the US is already 20% of revenue

BuildPass, a Melbourne construction software maker, says its American business now exceeds a fifth of revenue half a year after opening in Austin, with growth credit from Mighty Partners funding the expansion.

Bret Taylor's Sierra raises nearly $1 billion months after last capital push

Sierra, the enterprise AI agent firm started by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, has banked a $950 million Series E with Tiger Global and Google Ventures at the helm, plus Benchmark, Sequoia and Greenoaks.

Also TechCrunch Venture·aivy.com.au·cmswire.com·theaiworld.org·faq.com.tw·groundy.com

Clem Delangue: Open Source AI & the Future of Builders

Turing Post interviews Hugging Face's co-founder and CEO on open-source AI, arguing open models empower a far larger builder community, discussing robotics hardware sales, cybersecurity arguments, and lobbying against open source in the US.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #159, 3rd May 2026

Weekly roundup: Hipages takes a majority stake in VIZ Insurance, Side Stage Ventures banks $40m for fund two, Airwallex unveils the Latitude 37 program, Anthropic appoints an ANZ general manager, Atlassian shares jump.

‘Before Canva was Canva’: Mel Perkins on the original vision now shipping at scale

Interview with Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins on the release of Canva AI 2.0, its agentic and memory features, and Anthropic's Claude Design launch, which builds on the two companies' partnership.

Sequoia's new leaders raise about $7 billion for firm's biggest bets

Bloomberg-sourced report says Sequoia's incoming co-leaders have gathered roughly seven billion dollars for a new vehicle backing large, often AI, companies; the piece also covers leadership changes and Wiz's sale to Alphabet.

Sequoia Capital Raises $7 Billion Fund for AI and Late-Stage Investments

Sequoia Capital has closed about $7 billion for a fund backing late-stage AI companies in the US and Europe, the first big fundraise since Alfred Lin and Pat Grady took over as co-stewards.

Also economictimes.indiatimes.com

Goodbye, SaaS. Welcome, SaiS.

Blackbird partner Tom Humphrey argues AI panic overstates the threat to software firms, sketching four stages from bolting on models to training them, and pointing to Canva's acquisitions and Springboards' new model as proof.

💫 Ramplify: April Architect

Rampersand's April newsletter: an essay on AI services startups, model releases from Anthropic and Meta, Firmus Technologies' $505 million raise, Dexibit's sale to accesso, plus portfolio jobs, events and market commentary.

Also Dealroom·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia·Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Mirage News

Canva paints itself as an AI work platform with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions

Canva has bought Sydney AI startup Simtheory and marketing automation firm Ortto, its fifth and sixth acquisitions in ten months, as it repositions from design tool to AI workplace platform; no prices disclosed.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #156, 5th April 2026

Weekly digest reporting Australia Post's purchase of delivery-software firm Rendr, an $83 million sharemarket raise by 4DMedical, Reserve Bank director Elana Rubin's move to Airwallex, and an Anthropic-government memorandum.

Also SmartCompany

WorkOS raises $100M Series C at $2B valuation, betting on AI agent identity infrastructure

WorkOS has closed a $100m Series C at a $2bn valuation — its first external backing in over four years — with founder Michael Grinich pointing the company at identity infrastructure for enterprise AI agents.

Heidi acquires UK medical AI startup

Melbourne clinical documentation firm Heidi has bought UK healthcare AI company Automedica for an undisclosed sum and launched two AI products; the piece recalls its $98m Series B and $27m Series A top-up.

Also Forbes Australia