$97B for AI sounds about right

Top News

• Nvidia takes on the world: The list of news from Nvidia is still being sorted out by the market. New GPUs? Check. A mini setup to bring AI model training to your home? Check. Better AI-empowered gaming NPCs? Check. Work on agentic AI? Check. Foundation models? Check. The company best known for selling GPUs en masse to major cloud companies is busy with a lot more than just that. Shares of the company fell after the news dump.

• Meta steps back on moderation: As tech companies donate to the incoming administration’s inauguration gala to try and butter up the next President, Meta is moving to both appease Trump and the next FCC chairperson, Brendan Carr. Carr has been critical of tech companies’ work with third-party fact-checkers and moderation efforts more generally. So, Meta is getting rid of both. It’s moving to the community notes model that X has been working on since before the Musk takeover and has become more prominent in recent quarters.

• $97B for AI: Startups in the United States raised $209 billion in 2024 PitchBook reports, of which a staggering $97 billion went into AI-related projects. Naturally, a chunk of that figure was built off multi-billion dollar rounds raised by xAI, OpenAI, and Anthropic — but not all. Overall, venture investment rose by “about one-third from 2023,” Bloomberg reports.

Programming Note: We’re sharing our show dockets ahead of recording. Normally, those will be released day-of. But, as TWiST is recording early for a few shows, we’re sharing our in-progress dockets ahead of time. You can play along here.

TWiST500

Alex here. The good news is that we sorted out a little issue we were having with the TWiST500 database and are back to adding companies. Including the last several batches we discussed here in the newsletter. Our backlog of entrants is pretty long, so expect to see the list quickly expand.

The latest additions include space-related startups (Impulse Space, Xona Space Systems), several robotics companies (Bear Robotics, Capstan Medical, and others), a host of companies building next-gen AI chips (SambaNova, Hail,o and others), and a few that don’t quite fit into a mega-trend (Finom, Chainguard, and others). You can see the full list here.

In other TWiST500 news, member company Anthropic could be in the market for $2 billion more. Here’s the WSJ:

Backing up that valuation is a revenue run rate of $875 million, per the same source. That would value Anthropic at pretty pricey levels, but given its revenue scale and presumed growth, it’s also not too hard to see why VCs are still willing to fire cash into its coffers. That Amazon recently put $4 billion into Anthropic also doesn’t hurt; every foundation model company probably needs a cloud computing giant in their pocket.

Regardless, the Anthropic round, if it closes, should be the first multi-billion dollar round for a TWiST500 company this year. It won’t be the last. In Q1. — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2068: Jason and Alex kick off the episode with TWiST’s new interactive “live docket” experiment and dive into the Vail Resorts Epic Pass controversy, critiquing its management and stock performance. They explore Sam Altman’s insights on fusion energy, U.S. innovation, and rural business subsidies. The conversation shifts to cybersecurity concerns over Chinese hacking and China’s economic struggles, emphasizing domestic production. The episode wraps with a thoughtful discussion on handling online criticism and tips on security for public figures in a less empathetic online world.

E2067: Jason and Alex start the year by reflecting on mindfulness, family moments, and Instacart’s funding rounds. Jason highlights his renewed focus on early-stage investing and Founder University. They dive into venture capital trends, including the concentration of fundraising and its impact on seed rounds, as well as challenges and solutions for H1B visa reform. The episode wraps with predictions for startup failures by 2025, potential mergers in the autonomous and on-demand sectors, and updates on opportunities for founders through Founder University.

E2066: Jason and Alex recap the year with the TWiSTY Awards 2024, celebrating standout startups, leaders, and moments from the year. Highlights included Breakout Startup of the Year, Pre-IPO Startup of the Year, and Main Character of the Year, along with debates on News Topic and Tech Product of the Year. The episode wrapped with Funniest Moment and Episode of the Year, showcasing the best of TWiST in 2024.

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The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker.