OpenAI overtakes SpaceX

👋 Good morning or evening, wherever you are. It’s Thursday.

OpenAI has become the world’s most valuable startup after a $500 billion employee share sale.

Current and former staff sold $6.6 billion worth of stock to investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and T. Rowe Price, according to Bloomberg. The deal lifts OpenAI past SpaceX’s $400 billion valuation and makes it the most valuable private company in the world.

The announcement comes as OpenAI negotiates with Microsoft to shift from its nonprofit structure into a public benefit corporation, a move that could reshape its governance and funding model. At the same time, rivals like Anthropic, Google, and Meta are racing to raise billions of their own.

OpenAI still hasn’t turned a profit, but it is cutting billion-dollar deals with Oracle and SK Hynix to keep the engine running. The higher its valuation goes, the more capital it can draw, and the cycle feeds itself.

OK let’s keep going ↓

🔥 Creative pulse

I just posted Sora 2’s blooper reel + 7 insane launch stats.

I’ll give you one: It’s the first AI video app to break into the U.S. top 5 apps on iOS at launch.

Which is wild, considering it was (and still is) invite only.

Watch the video. Posted on LinkedIn.

It’s also worth reading Sam’s full post on Sora 2. A few themes stand out, some straight from the text and some from between the lines:

• ChatGPT for work, Sora for play

• The cameo feature is the Trojan horse (hook)

• Social fees are the new battlefound

• Principles = pre-defense

• The “Cambrian explosion” framing is real

P.S. If you’re passionate about AI creative, join the club. The people inside will pull you higher than you could go alone.

Inside you’ll find filmmakers and festival-recognized directors, Cannes Lions jurors, studio veterans, award-winning creatives from film, gaming, music, and ads, plus early builders of the AI tools shaping the industry.

It’s global, it’s full of ambitious creators, and it’s where the next wave of breakthroughs is happening.

One insight or connection inside could change your life. Join now.

💡 Here’s what you should know

• With GPT-5, Wrtn builds Lifestyle AI for millions in Korea

  Wrtn scaled to 6.5M users by pairing GPT-5 with deep localization, showing how Lifestyle AI can drive retention, engagement, and expansion across East Asia.

• OpenAI partners with Japan’s Digital Agency on generative AI in public services

  The collaboration will pilot Gennai, an AI tool for government employees, and advance international AI governance through Japan’s Hiroshima AI Process framework.

• Perplexity AI rolls out Comet browser for free worldwide

  The AI search startup is opening its $200/month assistant browser to millions of users, positioning Comet against Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic as the battle for AI-driven browsing accelerates.

• Former ‘Tonight Show’ producer launches AI entertainment startup

  And Then blends human storytelling with generative AI to create interactive, audio-first experiences where every user shapes the outcome.

• Google cuts 100+ design roles in cloud unit

  The layoffs halved some design teams as Google shifts resources toward AI infrastructure and pushes employees to integrate AI into daily work.

• Google acquires Atlantic Quantum to accelerate superconducting qubit scaling

  The MIT-founded startup’s modular chip stack will bolster Google Quantum AI’s roadmap toward large-scale, error-corrected quantum computers and real-world applications.

• IBM launches Granite 4.0 hybrid models for enterprise

  The new open-source Mamba/transformer architecture delivers high performance with far lower memory and hardware costs, ISO 42001 certification for security, and optimized efficiency for agentic AI workflows.

• Harvard researchers build first continuously operating quantum computer

  By replenishing qubits with optical lattices and tweezers, the 3,000-qubit system ran for over two hours and could in theory run indefinitely, marking a breakthrough toward scalable, real-world quantum machines.

• APEX: The AI Productivity Index launches

  Harvard- and industry-backed researchers unveiled a first-of-its-kind benchmark measuring how well AI models perform real-world professional tasks across law, banking, consulting, and medicine, with GPT-5 leading at 64.2% but still falling short of automation readiness.

💰 The numbers

• BlackRock’s GIP is nearing a $40B acquisition of Aligned Data Centers, one of the largest AI infrastructure deals ever, covering 50 campuses and 78 sites across the Americas.

• Google broke ground on a $4B AI data center in West Memphis, Arkansas, designed as a multi-phase build with cheap land, renewable power from Entergy, and billions more expected in follow-on expansion.

• DualEntry raised $90M Series A, valuing it at ~$415M; offers an AI-native ERP and rapid migration tools.

• Feedzai raised $75M at a ~$2B valuation to scale its AI fraud-prevention tools, already embedded in global banks’ real-time payments systems.

• Midi Health pulled in $50M Series C to build an AI search engine focused on women’s health + longevity.

• DermaSensor raised $16M Series B to commercialize its FDA-cleared AI skin cancer detection device for primary care doctors, already in use across 200+ clinics.

🧠 Thought starters

a16z just published the first real spending map of AI-native startups.

What stands out:

• OpenAI and Anthropic top the list. Model access still eats the biggest budgets.

• Replit at #3 shows vibe coding is no side project, it is enterprise spend.

• Creative tools are everywhere. Freepik, ElevenLabs, Canva, Midjourney, CapCut, OpusClip are already part of startup workflows.

• No winner in note-taking. Otter, Read, Happyscribe, Fyxer all made it. Expect churn.

• Consumer apps keep crossing over. Canva, CapCut, Midjourney prove employees bring personal tools into work.

• Vertical niches are emerging. Legal, recruiting, and customer service are early hot spots.

Startups are still spreading bets…nobody owns the market yet.

😂 Meme of the day

Thanks for reading,

Eddie

Join the AI Creative Club (you’ll find me there). It’s not only for artists and filmmakers…it’s for anyone who recognizes this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn as much as you can about AI to multiply your impact...to become superhuman. Remember, creativity is just intelligence having fun. This club is for ultra curious people, and if you’ve made it this far…you’re pretty damn curious and probably the smartest one in your circle of friends. It would be my honor to have you in there.

👋 Connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X (Twitter).

🔥 Hire XANATOS. We make the best AI films and ads in the world.

P.S. If this was valuable, forward it to a friend. If you’re that smart friend, subscribe here.

P.P.S. Interested in reaching other ambitious readers like you? To become a sponsor, reply to this email.