What's up: SoftBank Invests $2 Billion in Intel; enter the Palantir mafia; Palo Alto Networks founder retires.

Good morning. Databricks is finalizing a funding round that would value it at $100 billion, a 61% increase from its last funding round in December.

The latest fundraising surge by the data analytics company is a reminder of how AI, and by extension AI-centric infrastructure companies, are set to reshape enterprise expectations.

A portion of the new funds will go towards product development, including building databases specifically designed for AI agents, rather than for human users, the WSJ’s Angel Au-Yeung reports.

Databricks, which makes money by renting out analytics, AI and other cloud-based software that taps AI-ready data for companies to build their tools, has been actively expanding into the AI agent space. In May the company agreed to acquire Neon, a cloud-based database platform that developers—and AI bots—use when building apps and websites.

In the race to help organizations operationalize AI, the company, like its peers, feeds on talent. Databricks also plans to use the infusion of capital to keep up in the AI talent wars, Chief Executive Ali Ghodsi tells the WSJ. The company, which currently has nearly 9,000 employees, says it will finish the year having added 3,000 to its head count.

Intel shares have tumbled more than 50% since the start of last year as chip maker copes with a product line industry analysts say is outdated for the AI infrastructure boom that has lifted Databricks as well as rivals Nvidia and AMD.

Several players are trying to change that.

SoftBank Group has agreed to invest $2 billion in Intel, a boost from the private sector that coincides with a U.S. government rescue effort for the embattled chip maker.

The investment would give the Japanese firm ownership of about 2% of the company

Meanwhile, the White House is in talks with Intel for a 10% U.S. government stake, a dramatic turn in the weeks-long saga that started when President Trump called for the chip maker's CEO to resign over his China ties. 

While the structure and terms of the equity investment haven’t been finalized, one option would convert some of the money that Intel was slated to receive from the 2022 Chips and Science Act into an equity stake.

Trump makes tech business his business. The move was the latest effort by the White House to dictate affairs of some of the biggest U.S. firms. President Trump recently secured a commitment by Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to pay the government 15% of their chip sales in China in exchange for export licenses.

Over the weekend more than 500 humanoid robots took part in the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, competing in sporting events, but also real-world tasks such as delivering luggage,

Some were remarkably fast and agile, but most were clumsy and inconsistent. Throwing away nine pieces of trash in a mock hotel room took more than 17 minutes for one robot competitor. In a pharmacy simulation, a robot spent nearly five minutes grabbing three boxes of medicine.