Technology

OpenAI Proposes Giving the US Government a 5% Stake

OpenAI is reportedly in talks to give the US government a 5% stake, worth about $42.6 billion at its $852 billion valuation, as part of a broader plan for Washington to hold 5% of each leading US AI company.

Technology

Baseten Raises $1.5 Billion Series F at Up to $13 Billion Valuation

Baseten raised a $1.5 billion Series F led by Altimeter Capital, Conviction, and Spark Capital, valuing the AI inference startup at up to $13 billion — five months after a $300 million round at a $5 billion valuation.

Daily Roundup

The Daily Roundup: Air Jordan 4 'She's A Star' Drops, World Cup Round of 32 Knockouts, Essence Fest Lineup, and Together AI's $800M Raise — July 2, 2026

The Air Jordan 4 'She's A Star' drops today at $165, the World Cup Round of 32 reaches Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland, Essence Festival returns to New Orleans, and Together AI raises $800 million at an $8.3 billion valuation.

Technology

Global Ad Industry Cuts Revenue to 1,400 Illegal World Cup Streaming Sites

The Trustworthy Accountability Group demonetized nearly 1,400 piracy websites streaming stolen World Cup content, while the DOJ seized 400 more under Operation Offsides — a coordinated bet that cutting ad revenue is more effective than chasing streams.

Technology

Getty Images Terminates $3.7 Billion Shutterstock Merger After U.K. Regulator Demands Editorial Divestiture

Getty Images killed its $3.7 billion Shutterstock merger after rejecting the U.K. CMA's demand that Shutterstock divest its editorial business — walking away just days after landing a transformative AI licensing deal with OpenAI.

Culture

Google and Idris Elba to Fund AI Tool Access for African Creators

Alphabet's Google and actor Idris Elba are partnering to fund African creators' access to AI production tools, part of Elba's broader push to build creative infrastructure across the continent.

Daily Roundup

The Daily Roundup: Free The Youth's Air Jordan 16 Drops July 17 at $255, the Liberty Win a Second Commissioner's Cup, CAA and TPG Launch a $250M Creator Rollup, and Stripe-Visa-Coinbase Back Open USD — July 1, 2026

Free The Youth's Air Jordan 16 drops July 17 at $255, the New York Liberty beat the Aces 93-85 for a second Commissioner's Cup, and Stripe, Visa and Coinbase back the new Open USD stablecoin.

Technology

Bending Spoons Prices $1.6 Billion Nasdaq IPO at $19 Billion Valuation

Milan software roll-up Bending Spoons priced its Nasdaq IPO at $29 a share, raising $1.68 billion, then jumped nearly 40% on its July 1 debut to a $25.7 billion market value.

Technology

Uber-Backed Lime Raises $174 Million in Nasdaq IPO

Lime, the Uber-backed e-scooter and e-bike company, raised $174 million in its Nasdaq IPO at $25 a share and a valuation near $1.6 billion — with Uber buying $20 million of stock — despite a $64.6 million annual loss.

Technology

Stripe, Visa, Coinbase and 140 Firms Launch Open USD to Challenge Circle and Tether

A consortium of more than 140 firms — including Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, BlackRock and BNY — unveiled Open USD, a dollar stablecoin built to challenge Circle and Tether and share reserve revenue with partners. Circle shares fell more than 17%.

Technology

Anthropic Launches Claude Science, an AI Workbench for Researchers

Anthropic launched Claude Science, an AI workbench for scientists, in beta on June 30, pairing a coordinating agent with 60-plus curated skills across genomics, proteomics and more, plus a reviewer agent that checks citations and calculations.

Technology

Anthropic Launches Claude Sonnet 5 as Default Model for Free and Pro Users

Anthropic launched Claude Sonnet 5 on June 30 as the default model for Free and Pro users, priced at an introductory $2 per million input and $10 output tokens, with performance it says approaches Opus 4.8.