OpenAI = 14 tech leaders combined

Hey there!

Welcome back to The Pulse, where we dive into interesting AI stories and trends backed by data, all presented through simple visuals.

> $157B → $500B in 1 yr; now world’s most valuable startup (overtook SpaceX)

> valuation jump via $6.6B secondary sale - one of the largest in tech history

> employees sold shares to SoftBank, Thrive, etc.; no new capital raised

> x3 growth market-driven, not funded - reflecting investor conviction in revenue momentum

> Anthropic $61B → $183B (+200%) in 6 months - Amazon-backed

> Perplexity $9B → $20B after browser launch & $10B run-rate buzz

> 16.2% inc. from 2024 total; 9x targeted in 2 years ($1.6B → $13B)

> Microsoft still takes 20% revenue through 2030

> H1 sales & marketing spend ≈ 2x 2024 total spend, for heavy enterprise push

> capital on hand: $17.5B → ~18 months of runway

> if $13B target achieved

• price-to-sales ≈ 38x - on par with Meta in 2014

• fastest documented big-tech revenue ramp from ~$1B → $10B (actual) in 2 years

• growth pace ahead of Google (3 yrs) and Facebook (4 yrs)

> $192.7B YTD; AI takes >50% of global VC for first time ever

> in 2025:

• Q1 = $73.6B

• Q2 = $42.1B

• Q3 ≈ $77B

• record pace even before Q4

> mega-rounds drove surge; 2025 already +47% above full-year 2024 ($131.5B)

> deal count ↓ (~30%) while value ↑ (>50% of all VC)

> AI deal value up >3x since 2022, as total VC volume halved

> OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Mistral, CoreWeave - each raised or repriced >$10B+ this year

> first true AI super-cycle: capital concentration unseen since the dot-com peak