American venture capital fund; early backer of SpaceX, Palantir, Facebook
Covenant has announced Anthem, a ground-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a 200+ kg payload. With multiple production sites and a goal of 5,000 missiles per year, the program aims to lower costs while expanding long-range reach, including Indo-Pacific defense considerations.
Factory AI and Cognition remain at odds over confidential information and board-level conflicts. Vinod Khosla has publicly criticized Factory while investors debate the implications for valuations and competitive dynamics in AI coding tools.
A wave of multi-million-dollar rounds in robotics and AI-enabled hardware signals a push to bring ‘physical AI’ into real-world production. Companies from Multiply Labs to FieldAI and SiMa.ai are racing to scale their robot-centric platforms, with strategic rounds aimed at forging scalable, cost-effective manufacturing and autonomous systems.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a renewed inquiry into Polymarket’s past safeguards to block U.S. users, focusing on location-detection and U.S. advertising. The probe is part of broader CFTC actions and follows previous settlements and later developments in the company’s US platform and marketing practices.
California voters have rejected Proposition 40, a one-time 5% wealth tax on net worth over $1 billion, aimed at backfilling federal healthcare funding cuts. Opponents warn it would drive billionaires away; supporters cite healthcare funding needs. Major backers include tech figures like Sergey Brin and Peter Thiel’s networks. The vote underscores tensions over wealth, taxes, and economic policy in the state.