Bezos is back in the ring

Author

Jackson Berger
November 20, 2025

TL;DR. Jeff Bezos is back. The long-time Amazon CEO is stepping into the trenches of the startup world as co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI research lab newly valued at $6.2B. Meanwhile, Anthropic just inked a $30B cloud deal with Microsoft and raised $15B from Microsoft and Nvidia. And despite Elon Musk calling the reports “false,” xAI is said to be raising at a staggering $230B valuation.

Jeff Bezos returns to the trenches as co-CEO of AI startup Project Prometheus, raises $6.2B

Jeff Bezos is reportedly stepping back into the startup trenches as co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI company building models for the physical economy. Co-led by former Verily co-founder Vik Bajaj, the startup has already raised $6.2B and hired top talent from Meta, OpenAI, and DeepMind.

Anthropic lands $30B cloud deal as Microsoft and Nvidia commit $15B to Claude's expansion

Anthropic is deepening ties with Microsoft and Nvidia in a blockbuster deal that includes $30B in cloud spend and fresh investments of up to $15B. The move diversifies dependencies away from OpenAI while positioning Anthropic to scale enterprise adoption of Claude and adopt the latest versions of Nvidia's chip technology.

xAI in talks to raise $15B at $230B valuation

Elon Musk’s xAI is reportedly raising $15B at a $230B valuation, nearly doubling its March valuation. Despite Musk previously denying reports of the raise, new details show Tesla and SpaceX are increasingly intertwined with xAI's infrastructure and strategy. The firm is aggressively scaling its Memphis-based “Colossus” supercomputer as it races to build out massive data centers to compete with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Wall Street is betting big on venture secondaries

Secondary markets are no longer a niche, they’re becoming core financial infrastructure. With Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Charles Schwab all making major moves, the message is clear: secondaries are going mainstream. But with explosive SPV growth, investors need to do their homework. Not all deals are created equal.

Quick Takes

Pulse check. From headline-making raises to early bets with breakout potential, this week’s funding pulse check highlights where capital is flowing in the private markets. Whether you're tracking the next top pre-IPO name, mapping category momentum, or reading up on the hottest tech, these deals offer a snapshot of what’s heating up now.

More notable fundings this week

Ramp: $300M Series E-3 at $32B valuation – The expense management fintech just raised again three months after its last round, led by Lightspeed.

Function Health: $298M Series B at $2.5B valuation – AI-powered health data platform helping users track labs, wearables, and diagnostics.

Thinking Machines Lab: funding round at ~$50B valuation – Mira Murati’s AI startup is in talks to raise a new round that could quadruple its valuation since July.

Parallel: $100M Series A at $740M valuation – Building internet infrastructure for AI agents; founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

Flexion: $50M in new funding – A Zurich-based robotics company founded by ex-Nvidia researchers to build the “brain” for humanoid robots.

ByteDance: secondary sale at $480B valuation – TikTok’s China-based parent company, signaling renewed investor confidence amid U.S. scrutiny of TikTok’s ownership.

Cheerio! Until next week.
-Jack