Out of the clouds

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Hello reader,

AI may feel like it lives in the cloud, but the physical infrastructure behind it is far from weightless. In reality, every model, agent, and chatbot needs land, chips, water, and a lot of power. Now multiply that by a gazillion.

As demand for AI climbs, its physical footprint is becoming harder to ignore.

This week’s biggest deal is a red-hot reminder of that. Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus Technologies has raised a whopping US$2 billion – and no, it’s not making another chatbot. It is building AI factories designed to run heavy compute more efficiently across Australia and Asia Pacific.

That puts sustainability back in the business model conversation.

You can find all other important investment deals from the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up.

Let’s dive into the biggest deals and M&As that have recently taken place.

— Lilian

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The biggest deals by market

🇦🇺 Firmus Technologies builds and operates AI factories and graphics processing unit cloud services. It has bagged US$2 billion in a strategic investment round from Blackstone, Coatue Management, Jane Street, and Nvidia.

🇨🇳 Aureka focuses on the development of generative antibody drugs. Headquartered in China, the firm has secured US$100 million in series B money from Granite Asia, HighLight Capital, Matrix Partners China, Newley Capital, and Qiming Venture Partners.

🇮🇳 Yulu is an India-based shared micro-mobility service provider. It has raised US$93 million in a series C round from GEF Capital Partners.

🇮🇱 Based in Israel, which is located in West Asia, Corma is developing foundation models for defensive cybersecurity. The startup has bagged US$60 million in seed funding from Coatue Management, Khosla Ventures, and Sequoia Capital.

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M&As

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Startups that are raising funds

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Behind the Glasswall

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Scaling AI for millions

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Exclusive listicles

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Thoughtful reads