SpaceX Closes $60B Cursor Deal, OpenAI Reportedly Completes $7B Tender Offer, Databricks Raises $5B at $190B Valuation

Private tech saw major deals close lately. Cursor officially became part of SpaceX in a $60B acquisition, OpenAI reportedly completed a $7B tender offer at an $852B valuation, and Databricks closed a $5B round at a $190B valuation. Let's dive in…

THIS WEEK’S BREAKING NEWS

Cursor officially joins SpaceX after $60B deal closes

SpaceX officially completed its $60B acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor, following an April technology partnership and a June commitment to proceed after SpaceX's IPO. Cursor said the deal gives it access to "the largest fleet of GPUs in the world," referencing SpaceX's computing infrastructure, which it has been renting to customers including Anthropic and Google. (1)

STABLETON NEWS

Our Q2 2026 report is here

Q2 2026 was one of the biggest quarters we have seen in years.

We saw public market activity picking up significantly, with SpaceX completing the largest IPO in history and Cerebras going public in the same quarter. (2,3) Behind them, both OpenAI and Anthropic have now filed confidentially for their own listings. (4,5) Beyond the IPOs, we also saw a shift in deployment, from Figure AI’s robots entering commercial logistics to the Pentagon expanding classified AI contracts to eight top tech firms. (6,7)

Our latest Private Blue-Chip Tech Navigator breaks down what these new developments mean and where the market is moving next. Inside, we cover the quarter's largest funding rounds, secondary pricing trends, the upcoming IPO calendar, and more.

Download the full report here below.

PORTFOLIO NEWS

Anduril's redesigned headset targets Army's phase two testing

Anduril is moving into phase two of the Army's Soldier Borne Mission Command program, delivering several hundred redesigned heads-up display systems with 4K digital night vision, a 70% wider field of view, and a Meta/Oakley-partnered glasses form factor weighing 110 grams. Testing begins in late January or early February, with a downselect and production award expected in fiscal 2028. (8)

Anduril protests missing DHS counter-drone contract award

Anduril filed a GAO protest after winning a track two services spot but missing out on track one hardware/software awards in DHS's $1.5B counter-UAS contract, arguing it should have secured both. The five-year vehicle drew 57 offers for track one and 47 for track two, with a GAO decision due by November 20. (9)

Anthropic's Q2 revenue surges past $11.5B

Anthropic's preliminary Q2 2026 revenue surged to over $11.5B, a roughly 14-fold jump from $787M a year earlier and up from $4.73B in Q1, according to documents shared with prospective investors. The quarter also marked Anthropic's first positive adjusted operating income, according to Bloomberg-reviewed documents. (10)

Anthropic investors eye $2T valuation for record IPO

Anthropic investors expect the AI lab to float at a $2T-plus valuation this October, potentially surpassing SpaceX's $1.77T debut as the largest IPO ever, as annualized revenue is projected to reach $100B-$120B by year-end 2026, up over tenfold. The company's valuation reached $965B in May after nearly $100B in 2026 investment, though June's export controls and rising Chinese competition briefly slowed growth. (11)

Anthropic revenue run rate jumps sevenfold to $65B

Anthropic's annualized revenue run rate reached $65B at the end of July, a sevenfold jump from a year earlier and up from $47B in May, as the company gears up for a blockbuster IPO following its confidential June SEC filing. That tops rival OpenAI's recently reported $40B run rate, with Anthropic also disclosing $11.5B in Q2 revenue, a 14-fold year-over-year increase. (12)

Anthropic in talks to buy Decart AI for $6B

Anthropic is in early-stage talks to acquire Nvidia-backed Decart AI in a deal potentially worth $6B, aiming to absorb growing demand ahead of its planned IPO. Decart, which raised $300M in May with Nvidia as a new investor, develops AI infrastructure and models including Lucy for real-time video editing; its team would join Anthropic's inference and performance organization if the deal closes. (13)

Applied Intuition launches Dana for software-defined vehicles

Applied Intuition unveiled Dana for Software-Defined Vehicles, an agentic development platform that connects requirements, architecture, code, and validation into one continuous workflow for automotive engineering teams. Built on a decade of domain experience, Dana can compress processes like brake control module validation from months across multiple teams into days for a single developer, extending to trucks, mining, and defense platforms. (14)

Databricks raises $5B at $190B valuation, tops $7B revenue

Databricks closed a $5B funding round at a $190B valuation, up from $134B six months earlier, led by Coatue with Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price, and Sixth Street Growth. The company crossed a $7B annualized revenue run-rate, growing over 80% year-over-year, with Lakebase surpassing $100M and Lakehouse topping $1.5B, as CEO Ali Ghodsi called AI agent demand "crazy”. (15)

Databricks acquires Electric to speed up AI agents

Databricks acquired Electric, whose WebAssembly-based Postgres technology (PGlite and Electric Sync) will let AI agents run local databases while synchronizing with Databricks' centralized Lakebase, reducing latency for long-running agentic tasks. Analysts noted the dual-database architecture could cut costs and improve reliability but raises new governance and security challenges, giving Databricks a rare edge since rivals like Snowflake lack comparable WASM-Postgres capability. (16)

Deel expands DLUSD stablecoin wallet to 80+ countries

Deel expanded its DLUSD stablecoin wallet to over 80 countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, 11 weeks after launching in Argentina, using Stripe's Bridge for issuance and Tempo for settlement. The dollar-backed voucher offers up to 4% variable yield via Morpho vaults, though the US, UK, EU, and Australia remain excluded, and Tempo's total value locked has nearly tripled to $39.99M. (17)

Asteria backs Figure AI with $1M robotics investment

Japanese software company Asteria invested $1M in Figure AI through its newly formed U.S. subsidiary fund, marking the vehicle's first deal since launching in June to target unlisted AI, physical AI, and robotics companies. Figure AI's Helix-powered Figure 02 robots are deployed at BMW's Spartanburg plant, contributing to production of over 30,000 automobiles. (18)

Payward becomes first crypto firm in Project Glasswing

The Kraken parent joined Anthropic's Project Glasswing, becoming the first reported crypto company to gain access to Claude Mythos 5 for scanning its systems and open-source software for security vulnerabilities. The move follows an open letter from 40+ Bitcoin and crypto companies urging AI labs to open trusted-access programs, with Glasswing partners having already uncovered thousands of high- or critical-severity flaws since April. (19)

Kraken parent Payward posts $508M in Q2 revenue

Kraken parent Payward posted Q2 adjusted revenue of $508M, up 17% year-over-year, and stayed adjusted EBITDA positive at $23M, even as platform transaction volume fell 13% to $310B amid a broader crypto spot volume decline. Funded accounts rose 42% to 6.6M, aided by EEA growth post-MiCA authorization, as Payward closed its Bitnomial and Reap acquisitions and moved to acquire Magic Labs' wallet business. (20)

OpenAI reportedly completes $7B tender offer at $852B

OpenAI reportedly completed a $7B employee tender offer, according to Bloomberg, valuing the company at $852B, matching its March fundraising round that added $122B to its coffers. The buyback follows OpenAI's confidential June SEC filing for a potential IPO, though the tender, combined with reportedly missed internal financial targets, suggests a public offering may not be imminent. (21)

IBM partners with OpenAI to scale enterprise AI

IBM partnered with OpenAI to embed frontier models like GPT-5.6, Codex, and ChatGPT Work into IBM Consulting Advantage, targeting financial services, government, telecommunications, and retail. IBM will launch a dedicated OpenAI Practice with thousands of certified consultants, joining OpenAI's Elite partner tier, while expanding cybersecurity collaboration through IBM Autonomous Security and the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program. (22)

OpenAI launches Ultrafast, powered by Cerebras, for GPT-5.6

OpenAI launched Ultrafast mode, running GPT-5.6 Sol up to ~14x faster than Standard processing at up to 750 output tokens per second, powered by Cerebras. Early customers including Jane Street, Podium, Basis, and Rogo tested it across incident response, voice support, and real-time financial research, with OpenAI itself using it to compress overnight research loops into same-day iteration, now in limited preview. (23)

Nvidia backs $105B financing for OpenAI's Ohio site

Nvidia will provide up to $105B in financing for an OpenAI data center in Ohio, down from the previously discussed $250B guarantee, supporting an initial 4.25 gigawatts with an option for 3.75 more. SB Energy will build and manage the site under a 20-year OpenAI lease, with Nvidia also investing $1.5B in SB Energy and capacity expected online in phases starting 2028. (24)

Zama's ZAMA token lists on Revolut across the EEA

Zama listed its ZAMA token for trading on Revolut across the EEA, opening access to the fintech's 70M+ customers, including over 15M existing crypto traders, with zero trading fees and no additional identity checks required. The listing follows Zama's June confidential DeFi vault launch with Morpho and Steakhouse Financial and its May acquisition of TokenOps, building on February's Dutch auction that shielded over $121M on Ethereum. (25)

VinSpace partners with SpaceX to launch first satellites

Vietnam's VinSpace, backed by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, will use SpaceX's Transporter ride-share program to launch its first satellites in Q2 2027, marking a step in Vietnam's push into commercial aerospace. VinSpace, a Vingroup unit incorporated in November with $11.5M in committed capital, will handle satellite research, development, manufacturing, and post-launch operations. (26)

Nvidia discloses $21B stake in SpaceX

Nvidia disclosed a 122.8M-share stake in SpaceX worth about $21B at Q2's end, now valued around $17.2B after SpaceX shares fell to $140. The holding, Nvidia's second-largest behind Intel, stems from its $10B investment in xAI before SpaceX's $1.25T acquisition of that company, as Musk pledged to use Nvidia chips exclusively in SpaceX's AI data centers. (27)

Stripe finalizes $7B acquisition of AI firm OpenRouter

Stripe finalized an agreement to acquire OpenRouter for more than $7B, months after the AI-model marketplace startup raised funding at a reported $1.3B valuation. The deal reflects rising business demand for cost-efficient AI switching tools and could strengthen Stripe's position in the fast-growing AI sector. (28)

Stripe, Advent in renewed talks to buy PayPal

PayPal is in talks to sell itself to a group including Stripe and Advent International, months after the buyers' July offer of $60.50 per share was deemed insufficient. The two sides have since negotiated toward a potentially higher price, with a deal possibly coming together in the coming weeks, though no agreement is guaranteed. (29)

xAI debuts Grok Bot for Cursor, SuperGrok users

xAI launched Grok Bot in beta, an always-on AI agent that operates its own cloud computer, signs into existing tools and apps, and completes multi-step jobs end to end. Available today for SuperGrok Heavy, Cursor Ultra, and Cursor Teams Premium subscribers on desktop and iOS, the product originated as an internal prototype that spread across SpaceXAI's sales, ops, and engineering teams before its public release. (30)

OTHER NEWS

Blue Origin plans new pad for upgraded New Glenn

Blue Origin will add a second pad, LC-36B, at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36 to support its upgraded New Glenn 9x4 rocket, while rebuilding the existing LC-36A pad damaged in a May 28 static-fire explosion. CEO Dave Limp said returning New Glenn to flight this year remains the priority, with the company now testing a new "horizontal/vertical hybrid" stacking approach at a separate Cape Canaveral facility. (31)

US lifts TikTok ban after ByteDance restructuring

The White House lifted its ban on TikTok for federal government devices after the Justice Department determined the app, now operated by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, no longer falls under the 2022 restriction targeting ByteDance-controlled applications. The joint venture, led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX with 15% stakes each, took effect January 22, 2026, following ByteDance's restructuring of its US operations to comply with national security rules. (32)

CesiumAstro acquires Jariet to build in-house chips

CesiumAstro acquired Jariet Technologies, a mmWave RF System-on-Chip semiconductor specialist, to bring chip design in-house and advance its vertically integrated satellite communications strategy. The deal follows CesiumAstro's earlier acquisition of AI signal-analysis firm Vidrovr, extending its technology stack from RF semiconductors through payloads, satellites, and intelligent mission systems for defense and commercial applications. (33)

Groq raises $350M to complete its neocloud pivot at $3.5B valuation

Groq raised $350M at a $3.5B valuation, led by Disruptive with Nvidia's planned participation, as it completes its pivot from AI chipmaker to neocloud provider following Nvidia's licensing deal that hired away founder Jonathan Ross. The company now operates 13 data centers serving over 6M developers and plans to scale from 54 to over 200 megawatts by 2027, down from its $6.9B valuation last September. (34)

Dassault leads early round into Harmattan AI

Dassault Aviation led an early-stage round into French defense startup Harmattan AI, joined by Bpifrance and Future French Champions, a joint venture between Bpifrance and the Qatar Investment Authority. The deal pairs French state capital with Gulf sovereign wealth to accelerate autonomous, attritable defense systems, part of a strategic partnership integrating controlled autonomy into combat aviation. (35)

Lightmatter launches OCP photonics initiative with 19 firms

Lightmatter launched the Open Silicon Photonics for AI Systems initiative as an official OCP workstream, uniting 19 companies including Dell, Qualcomm, Foxconn, and Celestica to develop a shared co-packaged optics reference architecture. The blueprint aims to scale AI clusters from 72 to over 1,024 nodes as copper interconnects hit physical limits, with the first specifications expected in Q4 2026. (36)

Lovable confirms $13.3B valuation, raises $400M more

Lovable confirmed a $400M Series C at a $13.3B valuation, led by Menlo Ventures and the Scaleup Europe Fund, following its $500M annualized revenue run-rate in June. The vibe-coding startup now hosts 60M projects and 900M monthly visitors, building on its December round ($330M at $6.6B) and a June multiyear Google Cloud deal that increased usage fivefold. (37)

Prometheus picks Oakland for power-heavy AI manufacturing

Jeff Bezos' AI startup Prometheus signed a 100,000-square-foot lease at West Oakland's former American Steel Blocks site, drawn by 8,000 amps of power capacity, after considering but losing out on San Francisco warehouse space. The deal joins a growing East Bay AI cluster, including OpenAI's 202,000-square-foot Richmond lease, Ambi Robotics in Berkeley, and expanded Tesla and Zoox operations in Fremont and Hayward. (38)

Shaires Holdings invests $14.8M in SandboxAQ at $14B

Shaires Holdings agreed to invest roughly $14.8M in SandboxAQ at $41.35 per share, implying a $14B fully diluted valuation, structured through in-kind SPV contributions managed by Rizvi Traverse. SandboxAQ, spun out of Alphabet in 2022, received a $500M CHIPS Act award in June for physics-based AI semiconductor research, with investors including Google, Nvidia, and Eric Schmidt. (39)

Navy backs Shield AI's X-Bat with $50M investment

The US Navy and Defense Innovation Unit invested $50M in Shield AI's X-Bat under the RIMES program, validating a jet-powered VTOL strike aircraft that can operate from Arleigh Burke-class destroyers lacking catapults or arrestor systems. The award follows July's AVEN nozzle integration test with GE Aerospace, with VTOL flight demonstrations expected by late 2026 and full operational validation targeted for 2028. (40)

Whoop to double Boston headquarters ahead of IPO

Whoop plans to lease 107,000 square feet near its Boston headquarters, doubling its footprint to accommodate 1,000 employees, as it hires 600 people this year following a March round that valued the company at $10.1B. CEO Will Ahmed said Whoop remains on track for an IPO in roughly 18 months, with over 70% of nearly 400 hires this year based in Boston. (41)

CHART OF THE WEEK

AI and software command the largest share of private market value

If you're not in SaaS or AI, you're missing out on a lot.

SaaS and AI & ML alone account for more than $10T in combined valuation, putting them in a category of their own within the private unicorn market.

Fintech remains the clear third force, still commanding a meaningful share of total value. But the more interesting story sits further down the chart: space tech, clean tech, and climate tech each carry outsized valuation relative to their company counts, signs that investors are willing to pay a premium for scale and long-term positioning in these newer categories, even where the ecosystem is still small.

The Stableton Morningstar PitchBook Unicorn 20 strategy is aligned with this dynamic, focused on the category leaders sitting at the center of the largest and most valuable segments of private markets.

THE UNTOLD UNICORN STORY

Stripe: From rural Ireland to global payments

Stripe co-founders, Patrick and John Collison (42)

Stripe exists because two Irish brothers thought accepting payments online was absurdly hard. Patrick and John Collison grew up in Dromineer, a village of fewer than 200 people in rural Ireland, teaching themselves to code without internet access (43). In 2008, at ages 19 and 17, they sold their first company for $5 million, then dropped out of MIT and Harvard to tackle a bigger problem. They built a prototype that let any developer accept payments with just seven lines of code, and launched Stripe in 2011 (44). In 2025, Stripe processed $1.9 trillion in payments, and in February 2026 the company was valued at $159 billion (45).

Fun Fact: In the early days, despite already being millionaires from selling their first company, the Collison brothers biked to the Stripe office every day because they were too frugal to buy a car.

Did you know? Stripe is one of the 20 companies in our Stableton Morningstar PitchBook Unicorn 20 strategy, a systematic, index approach that aims to outperform public benchmarks with low-cost fees, and without a performance fee. Click below for more information.

SOURCES

1 - TechCrunch, 2 - NPR, 3 - CNBC, 4 - The Guardian, 5 - Bloomberg, 6 - Figure AI, 7 - The Guardian, 8 - DefenseScoop, 9 - Washington Technology, 10 - Bloomberg, 11 - Financial Times, 12 - CNBC, 13 - Reuters, 14 - Applied Intuition, 15 - CNBC, 16 - InfoWorld, 17 - The Defiant, 18 - International Business Times, 19 - Decrypt, 20 - The Block, 21 - TechCrunch, 22 - IBM Newsroom, 23 - OpenAI, 24 - CNBC, 25 - The Block, 26 - Aljazeera, 27 - CNBC, 28 - Bloomberg, 29 - The Wall Street Journal, 30 - xAI, 31 - SpaceNews, 32 - South China Morning Post, 33 - Business Wire, 34 - TechCrunch, 35 - Dealroom, 36 - HPCWire, 37 - TechCrunch, 38 - The Real Deal, 39 - Investing.com, 40 - TechTimes, 41 - Bloomberg, 42 - Business Insider, 43 - Citrus, 44 - TechCrunch, 45 - PYMNTS