OpenAI debuts $500B Stargate Project

Anthropic teases new features: Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, a competitor in the Silicon Valley race to create the most sophisticated AI platform, released a statement today giving a preview of the AI giant's future. Paralleling Anthropic's foremost competitor, OpenAI, the company intends to release a “two-way” voice feature for its Chatbot, Claude, in addition to increased memory about users and past conversations. This comes around the same time Anthropic reportedly is looking to raise another $2B round at a whopping $60B valuation.

Mistral working towards an IPO: Mistral’s co-founder and CEO has announced plans for an IPO as the French AI leader continues its impressive growth trajectory. In June 2024, the company secured €600 million (approximately $640 million) in a Series B funding round, with a $6B valuation. While not yet ready to go public, Mistral is focusing on establishing a stronger global footprint by expanding into the Asia-Pacific region and increasing its user base in the U.S. and Europe.

$500B data center project: OpenAI has teamed up with SoftBank and Oracle on The Stargate Project, a $500 billion initiative to build AI-focused data centers in the U.S., starting in Texas. The venture aims to boost AI infrastructure, create jobs, and strengthen national security. Microsoft and Nvidia are among the partners, with plans for custom AI chips by 2026. Critics have raised concerns about environmental impacts and job promises.

Hippocratic AI: Founded in 2024 by Munjal Shah (who previously sold Like.com to Google), Hippocratic AI has already reached a $1.64 billion valuation this month after raising $141M in a Series B led by Kleiner Perkins. This healthcare-focused AI startup has signed 23 healthcare clients and launched an AI Agent App Store with 300+ tools designed for mental health, diabetes care, and more. Its Polaris system doesn’t just match the safety of human clinicians — it also uses "empathy inference" to make interactions more engaging. With backers like A16z, NVIDIA, and General Catalyst, the company seems poised to expand into pharma, insurance, and global markets.

Slingshot AI: This New York-based startup is taking a unique approach to mental health AI by developing a foundational model specifically for psychology. Co-founded by Neil Parikh (of Casper fame), Slingshot just raised $40M in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. As A16z put it, “We’ve always known that we needed technology to help us solve the problem. But for years, we looked at mental health chatbots and thought, 'Who wants to talk with a bot about their feelings?’ Generative AI changed that. Seemingly overnight, the bots got 100x better, and people wanted to chat with bots all day, every day. About everything!” This is an early pick and a crowded space, but I think this is one to watch as the AI becomes more integrated into mental health support.

Render: Here’s one for developers who are tired of dealing with infrastructure headaches. Today, Render closed an $80M Series C led by Georgian, with participation from 01A (Dick Costolo) and Avra, alongside existing investors Addition, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and South Park Commons Fund. Render’s platform takes developers from code to production in minutes, eliminating the need for complex configuration and management. It automatically scales applications, reduces the need for specialized DevOps teams, and offers a free tier for startups. With plans to expand enterprise features, enhance AI-native capabilities, and grow its global footprint, Render is betting on simplicity and speed to win over developers.

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