Funding Bill

• Gli investimenti globali in venture capital hanno raggiunto il record di 300 miliardi di dollari nel primo trimestre del 2026, distribuiti su circa 6.000 startup, rappresentando un aumento del 150% rispetto al trimestre precedente e all'anno precedente. • I finanziamenti per l'AI hanno dominato con 242 miliardi di dollari, ovvero l'80% del totale dei fondi venture, in crescita rispetto al 55% del primo trimestre del 2025, con il capitale concentrato in creatori di frontier model, software aziendale, robotica, semiconduttori e scienze della vita. • Isomorphic Labs, una spinout di DeepMind, ha raccolto un round di finanziamento Series B da 2,1 miliardi di dollari sostenuto da Thrive Capital, Google Ventures e Alphabet, puntando ad applicazioni di scoperta di farmaci guidate dall'AI.

• Anduril Industries ha annunciato un round di finanziamento Serie H da 5 miliardi di dollari, raddoppiando la sua valutazione a 61 miliardi di dollari a soli un anno dalla precedente raccolta di fondi multimiliardaria. • Il finanziamento in fase avanzata è stato guidato congiuntamente da Thrive Capital e Andreessen Horowitz, dimostrando la forte fiducia degli investitori nell'azienda di sistemi autonomi e di difesa. • L'enorme aumento della valutazione riflette la crescente domanda di sistemi autonomi e tecnologie di difesa avanzate nell'attuale contesto geopolitico.

• Si riferisce che Tencent parteciperà a un round di finanziamento da 4 miliardi di dollari per la startup cinese di AI DeepSeek, che valuterebbe l'azienda a circa 50 miliardi di dollari e segnerebbe il suo primo finanziamento esterno. • Il rapporto indica che il round aggiungerebbe nuovo capitale a uno dei developer di modelli AI più osservati in Cina, con Tencent e altri grandi investitori tra i sostenitori. • L'operazione è rilevante poiché DeepSeek è diventata un rivale chiave nella rapida corsa all'AI in Cina, e una valutazione di diversi miliardi di dollari sottolineerebbe la continua appetibilità degli investitori per le startup di modelli di frontiera.

• Shield AI, con sede a San Diego e fondata nel 2015, ha ottenuto 1,5 miliardi di dollari nel suo round di finanziamento di Serie G nel marzo 2026, portando il finanziamento totale a 2,5 miliardi di dollari. • L'investimento sostiene l'avanzamento di sistemi autonomi gestiti dall'IA per applicazioni di difesa, potenziando le capacità di sicurezza nazionale. • Questo massiccio round sottolinea la crescente fiducia degli investitori nelle startup statunitensi di tecnologia per la difesa in un contesto di crescenti tensioni geopolitiche.

• Moonshot AI, azienda leader cinese nello sviluppo di chatbot focalizzata su applicazioni AI commerciali, ha ottenuto 20 miliardi di dollari nel suo round di finanziamento Serie E guidato da Meituan. • L'investimento massiccio, uno dei più grandi nella storia dell'AI, accelererà lo sviluppo di modelli di AI avanzati e amplierà le implementazioni commerciali in tutta l'Asia. • Questo finanziamento sottolinea la spinta aggressiva della Cina nel campo dell'AI in un contesto di competizione globale, posizionando Moonshot per sfidare i giganti statunitensi come OpenAI.

• La startup di IA cinese DeepSeek è prossima a concludere un massiccio round di finanziamento che potrebbe portare la valutazione dell'azienda a circa 45 miliardi di dollari, più di quattro volte il valore stimato nei colloqui di sole due settimane prima. • Il China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (Big Fund) sta guidando il round di finanziamento, con la partecipazione di Tencent e Alibaba per fornire un forte sostegno interno. • Il round di finanziamento rappresenta un drastico aumento della valutazione di DeepSeek e sottolinea la spinta aggressiva della Cina nello sviluppo di capacità di IA competitive e indipendenti dalla tecnologia occidentale.

• Dodici imprese tecnologiche indiane hanno annunciato finanziamenti superiori a 1,1 miliardi di dollari, alimentando l'innovazione nell'IA e la crescita delle startup nel settore in rapida espansione del Paese. • Questo afflusso evidenzia l'esplosione degli investimenti nell'industria tecnologica indiana, con un'attenzione particolare alle startup basate sull'IA e allo sviluppo di prodotti. • Tali accordi posizionano l'India come hub globale per i finanziamenti tecnologici, sostenendo l'espansione economica in un contesto di alti tassi di adozione dell'IA.

• The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Homeland Security appropriations bill on Thursday, clearing the way to end a two‑month agency shutdown that had idled parts of federal immigration, border, and cybersecurity operations. • President Donald Trump signed the measure shortly after, restoring full funding for the Department of Homeland Security and averting potential disruptions to airport security, deportation operations, and border enforcement through the fiscal year. • The shutdown clash pitted Trump allies against centrist Republicans and Democrats over border enforcement levels, but the final bill preserved core Trump‑era border initiatives while softening some hard‑line spending demands.

Bipartisan measure includes funding for Secret Service and TSA, but excludes immigration enforcement operationsPartial government shutdown ends after Congress votes to fund DHS The US House of Representatives has voted to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security – excluding immigration enforcement operations – and end the longest government agency shutdown in history.The deal struck on Thursday aims to draw a line under a 75-day impasse that had threatened airport chaos and exposed fresh strains within the Republican party. Continue reading...

• The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a Senate-approved budget resolution on April 29, 2026, enabling billions in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). • Republicans utilized a filibuster-skirting procedure to advance the blueprint, criticized by Democrats like Congresswoman Doris Matsui as prioritizing enforcement over other needs. • This move supports Trump administration immigration policies amid ongoing border security debates and midterm election pressures.

• Anthropic announced a $4 billion Series E funding round on April 25, 2026, with lead investments from Amazon and Google, valuing the AI safety firm at $61.5 billion post-money. • The capital will accelerate development of Claude 4 models and expand enterprise AI infrastructure across US data centers in California and Virginia. • This funding underscores intensifying competition in AI amid regulatory scrutiny, positioning Anthropic as a key challenger to OpenAI's dominance.

• Databricks announced a Series H funding round of $10 billion at a $43 billion valuation on April 18, led by existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, to accelerate development of its AI and data platform. • The funding will support expansion of Databricks' lakehouse architecture, which integrates data warehousing and data lakes, and fund aggressive hiring in engineering and sales across North America. • The round positions Databricks as one of the fastest-growing enterprise software companies and signals strong investor confidence in the competitive data infrastructure market dominated by Snowflake and others.

• Perplexity AI announced a Series D funding round of $500 million at an $8.5 billion post-money valuation on April 19, led by prominent venture capital firms and strategic investors including Nvidia and Saudi PIF. • The funding will support expansion of Perplexity's AI search engine capabilities, development of enterprise API offerings, and geographic expansion into European and Asian markets with localized language models. • The round positions Perplexity as a serious challenger to Google Search and reflects growing investor confidence in AI-powered search alternatives and conversational information retrieval platforms.

• Scale AI raised $1 billion on April 9, 2026, at $2.5 billion valuation from Accel and Founders Fund for US data labeling expansion. • Funding supports hiring 1,000 engineers in San Francisco to improve RLHF datasets for models like Llama 4. • Positions Scale as critical US AI infrastructure player, with CEO Alexandr Wang noting 'data is the new oil.'

• Anthropic secured $8 billion in its Series E funding round on April 9, 2026, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from US-based investors including Amazon and Google. • The funds will accelerate development of Claude 4 AI models and expand enterprise AI infrastructure in US data centers. • This round values Anthropic at $61.5 billion post-money, solidifying its position as a leading US AI challenger to OpenAI amid intensifying competition.

• Shield AI, a U.S.-based developer of autonomous pilot platforms, secured $1.5 billion in Series G funding as part of a $2.25 billion capital package on April 4, 2026. • The round values the company at $12.7 billion, a 140% increase in one year, with its Hivemind platform selected by the U.S. military for defense applications. • This funding underscores surging investor confidence in AI-driven defense tech amid rising geopolitical tensions.

• Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act has darkened the outlook for approximately 17,000 federally-funded health clinics across the United States, which collectively stand to lose $32 billion in government support. • The policy represents a significant threat to community health infrastructure that serves vulnerable populations, though specific implementation details and timeline remain under review. • Federal health clinics provide essential services including primary care, preventive services, and treatment for underinsured and uninsured Americans in underserved communities.

• The Senate voted early Friday morning to approve a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that excludes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and portions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ending weeks of stalled negotiations. • Republicans indicated they plan to fund immigration enforcement agencies through a separate reconciliation bill in fiscal 2027, bypassing the normal appropriations process and relying solely on GOP votes. • The Senate-passed measure faces significant obstacles in the House, where hardline conservatives have already signaled opposition, threatening to extend the DHS shutdown beyond its current five-week duration.

Bill passes by 213 to 203 votes in move prolonging weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travelUS House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security and instead passed their own funding measure late Friday, extending a weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travel.The stopgap bill, which proposes funding the DHS in full for eight weeks, passed by 213 to 203 votes after Republicans in the lower chamber refused to take up a Senate-passed deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. Continue reading...

• Shield AI, a San Diego-based defense tech firm, raised new funding that more than doubled its valuation to $12.7 billion on March 27, 2026. • The company projects revenue exceeding $540 million this year, driven by its Hivemind autonomy software used in drones and fighter-jet programs. • This funding underscores growing investor confidence in AI-powered military autonomy amid rising defense tech demand in the US.

• The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday, March 26, 2026, to end the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, marking the third such attempt in two months after funding lapsed nearly six weeks ago. • The bill aims to restore operations but faces uncertain prospects in the Senate, unlikely to immediately resolve the prolonged funding crisis affecting border security and immigration enforcement. • This repeated House action underscores deepening partisan divides on federal spending priorities during a critical period for national security infrastructure.

• Congress rejected Trump administration's $18 billion NIH budget cut proposal, providing stability for 2026 grantees at institutions like University of Wisconsin-Madison. • Delays in grant reviews and dispersal have stalled projects, hiring, and caused anxiety, with NIH months behind schedule as of March 26, 2026. • Vice Chancellor Dorota Brzezinska noted core funding protection but ongoing uncertainty impacts lab operations and future awards before September 30 deadline.

• On March 20, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the Pentagon's request for $200 billion in extra funding, stating 'it takes money to kill bad guys'. • The request supports ongoing U.S. offensives, including jet patrols and helicopter strikes against Iranian forces in key waterways. • Funding comes amid surging oil prices from Iranian attacks on facilities, prompting Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to propose lifting sanctions on Iranian oil.

• The Pentagon is requesting more than $200 billion in additional funding from Congress to sustain the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, which has been ongoing for approximately three weeks with thousands of strikes. • The funding request aims to urgently increase production of weapons that have been heavily expended during the intensive air campaign, according to the Washington Post. • Lawmakers from both parties are demanding detailed justification before approving the massive expenditure, with some questioning why the administration is requesting such funds if the conflict is expected to end soon.

• Advanced Machine Intelligence raised over $1 billion in a major funding round on March 16, 2026, targeting AI systems specialized in reasoning, planning, and world models. • Investors are shifting capital toward alternative AI architectures beyond traditional large language models, prioritizing deep tech with strategic advantages. • This deal highlights the growing emphasis on startups with access to computational power and proprietary data in the US venture market.

• The House passed DHS funding bill H.R. 7147 earlier in 2026 to secure operations, but Senate disagreements over spending have delayed votes as of March 2026. • Delays threaten USCIS offices in Florida and nationwide, slowing visa applications, renewals, and Dreamer status adjustments. • Without approval, DHS faces potential shutdown, limiting immigration processing and creating uncertainty for immigrants.

• The U.S. House Agriculture Committee approved the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 on March 5 in a 34-17 vote after a 20-hour markup session. • GOP-proposed cuts to SNAP nutrition programs sparked partisan disputes, with Rep. Angie Craig warning they 'jeopardize the path forward for this bill.' • The 802-page bill sets policy and funding for food, agriculture, and conservation programs over five years, but faces hurdles needing Democratic support in the Senate's 60-vote threshold.