OpenAI Targets $830B Valuation, Morgan Stanley Linked to SpaceX IPO, Figure AI Launches $100M Lab

Here’s what stood out this week across our portfolio holdings: OpenAI tests the limits of private-market fundraising, Morgan Stanley seen as front-runner for SpaceX IPO, and Figure AI’s CEO backs embodied AI with $100M of personal capital. Let’s dive in…

THIS WEEK’S BREAKING NEWS

OpenAI fundraising talks point to $830B valuation

OpenAI is seeking to raise up to $100B in a new funding round that could value the company at as much as $830B, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal. The early-stage round would test investor appetite as AI enthusiasm cools and capital intensity rises, with OpenAI expected to tap sovereign wealth funds to finance model development, compute infrastructure, and long-term expansion amid intensifying competition. (1)

MARKET UPDATE

IPOs and secondaries reopen liquidity for SE Asia PE

Southeast Asia’s private equity market is showing clearer signs of liquidity normalization in 2025, with IPOs and secondaries reaching post-pandemic highs. PE-backed IPOs rebounded to nine listings raising about $1.39B, while secondary exits hit a five-year high with 35 deals, increasingly driven by sponsor-to-sponsor transactions. The change reflects tighter valuation discipline, higher execution standards, and a structurally more balanced exit environment across the region. (2)

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PORTFOLIO NEWS

Boeing and Anduril target next-generation air defense

Boeing has partnered with Anduril Industries in the U.S. Army’s IFPC Increment 2 Second Interceptor competition, with Anduril supplying the solid rocket motor for a new midrange interceptor. Awarded an OTA on Dec. 5, the program targets affordable, layered defense against cruise missiles and drones, with prototype selections expected in 2026. (3)

Anduril fraud case highlights focus on verified private access

A U.S. investment manager has been charged for allegedly running a sham pre-IPO scheme falsely linked to Anduril Industries, underscoring rising fraud risks in private markets. Prosecutors say the scheme raised millions by promising “economic exposure” without any access to shares. As high-profile private firms restrict distribution, regulators warn that opaque markets, fake documents, and exclusivity claims are increasingly exploited. (4)

Anduril expands European footprint through co-funded UK defense

Anduril is expanding into the UK and Europe by co-funding defense programs, localizing manufacturing, and positioning itself as an “Anglo-American” industrial partner. The company has offered to cover half the development cost of a $133.5M UK uncrewed combat aircraft program, replicating a model that helped secure a $1.1B autonomous submarine contract in Australia as Europe accelerates rearmament and prioritizes domestic defense capacity. (5)

Anthropic lands largest Claude deployment via Accenture

Accenture and Anthropic have deepened their partnership by launching a dedicated business group and committing to train around 30,000 Accenture professionals on Claude and Claude Code. The move targets a key enterprise bottleneck by embedding AI capability at scale, positioning Accenture as a frontline deployment partner for Claude across large organizations. (6)

Anthropic releases open Agent Skills standard for Claude

Anthropic has expanded Claude’s Skills capability by launching Agent Skills as an open standard, signaling a shift from model-centric AI to enterprise use cases. The update adds centralized management for enterprises, prebuilt partner Skills, and greater agent autonomy, while raising governance considerations. The move follows Anthropic’s donation of its Model Context Protocol to the Linux Foundation, reinforcing its open-standards strategy. (7)

Anthropic tightens Claude rules amid teen safety concerns

Anthropic is tightening safeguards around its Claude chatbot by developing systems to detect underage users through conversational signals and disabling accounts confirmed to belong to minors. The move reflects rising regulatory and parental scrutiny over teen mental health and AI use. Alongside OpenAI’s parallel measures, Anthropic’s approach underscores a shift toward stricter governance and liability management as conversational AI becomes more pervasive. (8)

AI coding stacks consolidate with Cursor–Graphite deal

Cursor has acquired Graphite, continuing an aggressive M&A push to build an end-to-end AI software development platform. Axios reports the deal valued Graphite well above its last $290M valuation. The acquisition adds advanced AI code review, notably “stacked pull requests,” tightening the loop from code generation to deployment as competition intensifies in AI developer tooling. (9)

Japan’s app store reform sparks fresh Epic–Apple clash

Epic Games has sharply criticized Apple’s compliance with Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act, arguing that new third-party app store rules still suppress competition. Epic points to Apple’s proposed 21% commission on external payments and warning screens as “junk fees” that deter alternatives, echoing fee structures U.S. courts have already deemed anti-competitive and signaling escalating global regulatory pressure. (10)

Figure AI CEO launches $100M embodied AI lab

CEO Brett Adcock has launched a new embodied AI lab, Hark, committing $100M of personal capital as Figure scales humanoid robotics. The lab will focus on human-centric, proactive AI systems and went live this week. The move signals ambitions to monetize embodied-AI data and training insights alongside Figure’s $39B humanoid platform targeting large-scale autonomous deployment. (11)

Kraken-backed xStocks bring equities to Telegram Wallet

Kraken-backed xStocks has launched tokenized U.S. equities and ETFs on the TON blockchain, embedding them directly into Telegram’s wallet. The move shifts tokenized stocks from crypto exchanges to mass-market distribution, offering fully collateralized, on-chain exposure while remaining anchored to U.S. market hours. Jurisdictional restrictions exclude the U.S., highlighting regulatory limits even as distribution scales. (12)

xStocks scale as Kraken deepens Alpaca partnership

Kraken has expanded its strategic partnership with Alpaca to accelerate global adoption of xStocks outside the U.S. Alpaca becomes Kraken’s preferred venue for sourcing and custodying the 1:1-backed equities underlying xStocks and will integrate them into its Instant Tokenization Network. Since launch, xStocks have surpassed $10B in transaction volume, underscoring growing institutional demand for compliant, scalable tokenized equities. (13)

OpenAI explores $10B-plus investment with Amazon

Amazon is in early talks to invest over $10B in OpenAI, a deal that could lift OpenAI’s valuation above $500B and deepen its use of Amazon’s Trainium chips and data centers. The discussions follow OpenAI’s restructuring with Microsoft and reflect a broader strategy to diversify infrastructure amid long-term chip and cloud commitments across multiple suppliers. (14)

OpenAI and U.S. DOE formalize AI-for-science partnership

OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen collaboration on AI and advanced computing, supporting initiatives such as the Genesis Mission. The agreement builds on OpenAI’s deployments across DOE national laboratories, including frontier models on supercomputers, and formalizes coordination to accelerate scientific discovery while strengthening U.S. leadership in AI-driven research. (15)

OpenAI squeezes more profit from paid AI usage

OpenAI has significantly improved margins on its paid products, with compute margins reportedly reaching 70% by October, up from 52% at end-2024, according to The Information. The gains reflect a shift toward enterprise and premium use cases as OpenAI seeks to offset heavy infrastructure costs and defend its position amid intensifying competition from Google and Anthropic. (16)

Research-first iPad redesign signals Perplexity’s enterprise push

Perplexity AI has relaunched its iPad app with a redesigned interface focused on research and multitasking, signaling a push toward business and professional users. The update highlights Perplexity’s citation-heavy research feature, supports iPad split view, and aligns the tablet experience more closely with its web product. The shift aims to drive paid subscriptions as enterprise usage grows. (17)

Perplexity and tech rivals offer free Pro access as India opens up

Perplexity AI is emerging as a major beneficiary of India’s AI adoption surge after making its Pro research tool free for a year via a telecom partnership. India now represents over one-third of Perplexity’s global daily active users, up from 7% last year. Alongside similar moves by OpenAI and Google, the strategy reflects a push to scale usage and collect multilingual training data in the world’s largest smartphone market. (18)

Early talks link Blackstone funds to Revolut platform

Blackstone is holding early-stage talks with Revolut on a potential partnership that would allow Blackstone to distribute its funds via Revolut’s developing private-banking platform. While exploratory and non-binding, the discussions reflect Blackstone’s broader push to expand wealth-channel distribution in Europe and Revolut’s ambition to build private-market offerings for high-net-worth clients. (19)

Revolut adds IOM as global digital giving partner

International Organization for Migration and Revolut have launched a strategic partnership enabling Revolut users to donate directly to IOM through the app via one-off gifts, recurring donations, or spare-change roundups. Processed through Prism the Gift Fund, the initiative channels 100% of contributions to migration-related programs, reflecting the growing role of digital finance platforms in scaling humanitarian funding and public participation. (20)

Ripple backs TJM to expand regulated crypto trading

Ripple has taken a minority stake in TJM Investments, deepening its push into institutional trading and clearing infrastructure. The partnership builds on Ripple Prime, enabling TJM to offer digital asset trading within regulated market structures. The move reflects a shift toward crypto exposure being accessed through familiar brokers, predictable settlement, and compliant intermediaries rather than offshore venues. (21)

SpaceX IPO talks put Morgan Stanley in pole position

Morgan Stanley is emerging as a front-runner to lead a potential IPO for SpaceX, according to sources, using long-standing ties with CEO Elon Musk. While no banks have been selected and market conditions remain decisive, SpaceX is preparing internally for a possible 2026 listing that could raise over $25B to fund Starship, AI infrastructure, and lunar projects. (22)

Voice AI goes mainstream as xAI releases Grok API

xAI has launched the Grok Voice Agent API, opening its low-latency, multilingual voice technology to developers. Built on the same stack used in Grok mobile apps and Tesla vehicles, the API supports real-time search, tool calling, and dozens of languages. xAI positions Grok as a cost-efficient, enterprise-ready voice agent, priced at $0.05 per minute and benchmarked as the fastest on Big Bench Audio. (23)

OTHER NEWS

Mistral AI lands major UK retailer in Tesco

Tesco has signed a three-year partnership with Mistral AI, gaining full access to its commercial and future AI models and engineers. The deal includes a joint AI lab to co-develop generative AI tools across content creation, data analysis, and internal knowledge access, marking Tesco as the first major UK retailer to partner with Europe’s leading frontier AI developer. (24)

SandboxAQ and MapLight strike $200M CNS drug alliance

SandboxAQ and MapLight Therapeutics have formed a strategic collaboration worth up to $200M to develop first-in-class therapies for central nervous system disorders. The partnership targets a novel GPCR, combining MapLight’s discovery platform with SandboxAQ’s AQBioSim AI system for molecular simulation. MapLight retains exclusive clinical and commercial rights, underscoring growing investor interest in AI-driven CNS drug discovery. (25)

Cerebras prepares to revive U.S. IPO plans

Cerebras Systems is preparing to refile for a U.S. IPO as early as next week, targeting a second-quarter 2026 listing after withdrawing a prior filing. The AI chipmaker, valued at $8B after raising over $1B, had faced delays linked to U.S. national security scrutiny of former investor G42. With CFIUS clearance secured and G42 no longer listed, Cerebras is renewing its public-market push amid intensifying competition with Nvidia. (26)

ByteDance signs binding pact to restructure TikTok in U.S.

ByteDance has signed binding agreements to place control of TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new joint venture, a major step toward avoiding a U.S. ban. U.S. and global investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will hold 80.1% of the entity, while ByteDance retains 19.9%. The structure aims to address national security concerns by placing U.S. data, algorithms, and oversight under U.S.-controlled governance. (27)

CHART OF THE WEEK

Secondary trading consistently reflects where real enterprise value resides among venture-backed tech firms. A small group of late-stage companies dominates. Each quarter, top five firms capture the greatest share of secondary volume; top twenty by far account for over eighty percent of capital traded. This region of concentration has been stable for years. It highlights a structural truth: only a handful of private tech companies offer the scale, audited metrics, and liquidity pathways that institutional investors trust. The universe of startups is vast, yet capital flows sparingly beyond those with visibility and valuation clarity.

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THE UNTOLD UNICORN STORY

Kraken: The crypto platform for smarter investing

Kraken Founder Jesse Powell. Source: CoinDesk (28)

Kraken is a leading cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell. Headquartered in San Francisco, it is renowned for its robust security measures, wide range of supported cryptocurrencies, and advanced trading features. Kraken offers services including spot trading, futures, margin trading, and staking, catering to both novice and professional traders. It has built a strong reputation for transparency and reliability, frequently being recognized as one of the most trusted platforms in the industry. The exchange also places a significant emphasis on regulatory compliance, operating in numerous countries with adherence to local financial regulations, making it a preferred choice for many institutional and retail investors.

In November 2024, Kraken, in collaboration with fintech firms like Robinhood and Galaxy Digital, launched the Global Dollar Network—a worldwide stablecoin initiative aimed at accelerating the adoption of stablecoins and providing economic benefits to its partners. (29)

Fun Fact: When Jesse Powell founded Kraken, he was inspired by the collapse of Mt. Gox, one of the earliest Bitcoin exchanges. Determined to build something more resilient, he reportedly began working on Kraken the same month Mt. Gox was hacked.

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SOURCES

1 - Wall Street Journal, 2 - Deal Street Asia, 3 - Anduril, 4 - Reuters, 5 - Bloomberg, 6 - Outsource Accelerator, 7 - AI Business, 8 - Tech Crunch, 9 - Tech Crunch, 10 - Gadget Hacks, 11 - The Information, 12 - Decrypt, 13 - Business Wire, 14 - Financial Times, 15 - OpenAI, 16 - Fortune, 17 - Bloomberg, 18 - Reuters, 19 - Bloomberg, 20 - IOM, 21 - Coindesk, 22 - Reuters, 23 - xAI, 24 - Tech Crunch, 25 - Investing, 26 - Reuters, 27 - Reuters, 28 - Coindesk, 29 - Reuters