OpenAI is in advanced talks to buy coding assistant company Windsurf for more than $3 billion, in what would be its largest-ever acquisition.

Why it matters: This could be the starting gun for an AI apps land grab by foundation models.

• OpenAI already has done in-house app efforts like its image generator, but there are plenty of areas where it may be easier to buy.
• And that also could become true of model makers like Anthropic, which would be derelict if it hasn't already placed a call to Anysphere (dba Cursor), the Windsurf rival that recently raised at $2.5 billion.
• Try to imagine if Microsoft had just remained an OS. Yeah, neither can OpenAI.

Behind the scenes: This isn't yet a done deal, and could be complicated by a leak first scooped by Bloomberg.

• Don't be surprised if the majority of that $3b+ is in OpenAI stock.
• Windsurf (fka Codeium) also had been rumored to be weighing new VC funding. To date it's raised $240 million, most recently last summer at a $1.25 billion post-money valuation from General Catalyst, Greenoaks, and Kleiner Perkins.

The intrigue: Anysphere raised seed funding in 2023 from OpenAI Startup Fund, which at the time was controlled by Sam Altman but which now is part of the larger company.

Zoom out: If this deal gets signed, it could pose some interesting questions to antitrust regulators.

• The FTC currently is battling Meta in court over a pair of acquisitions that it had signed off on during the Obama years, no longer viewing them as ancillary. Might it view OpenAI buying Windsurf as analogous?
• Or will it decide that this deal promotes competition by aiming straight at Microsoft Copilot? The answer there may depend on how the FTC views the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft — which right now might be best described as frenemies.

OpenAI declined comment, via a spokesperson.

Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) has agreed to acquire Cincinnati-based payment processor Worldpay from GTCR and FIS (NYSE: FIS) for $24.25 billion.

Why it's the BFD: This is a speedy flip for GTCR, particularly in the midst of an industry-wide distribution drought.

• The private equity bought a 55% stake in Worldpay just 14 months ago at an $18.5 billion valuation.

Zoom in: It also bakes in a steep loss for FIS, which bought Worldpay in 2019 for more than $48 billion.

• In a related transaction, FIS will buy Global Payments' issuer solutions business for $13.5 billion.
• In short, many strategics are trying to become pure-plays — a far cry from fintech's relatively recent conglomeration push. And that could create new buying opportunities for PE firms like GTCR.

The bottom line: "The deal represents an about-face for Global Payments, which told Axios last fall that it was done pursuing big M&A." — Ryan Lawler, Axios Pro

• Auradine, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based blockchain and AI infrastructure company, raised $153m in Series C funding led by StepStone Group, with participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, and GSBackers. axios.link/4igjwmZ

🚑 Chapter, a NYC-based Medicare navigation company, raised $75m in Series D funding led by Stripes with participation from insiders XYZ Venture Capital, Susa Ventures, Addition, Narya Capital, and Maverick Ventures. axios.link/4cDAElF

• Exaforce, a San Jose, Calif.-based agentic security ops startup, raised $75m in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures, Mayfield, and Thomvest Ventures. axios.link/4lArtpS

• Toku, an account receivable SaaS for Latin America, raised $48m in Series A funding. Oak HC/FT led, joined by Gradient Ventures, F-Prime, Clocktower, YC, and Honey Island by 4UM. trytoku.com

• PolicyMe, a Canadian digital insurance provider, raised C$30m from Blue Cross Life and Securian Canada. axios.link/4ihSVGc

• Revel, a software platform for hardware development, raised $23m in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital. It also disclosed a $7m seed round co-led by Felicis Ventures and Abstract Ventures. axios.link/4imVs1M

🚑 Skin Analytics, a British developer of skin cancer diagnostics, raised £15m in Series B funding led by Intrepid Partners. axios.link/3Gc4y41

• Scout AI, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI maker for defense applications, raised $15m in seed funding led by Align Ventures and Booz Allen Ventures, per Axios. axios.link/3RHAgsJ

• Capsule, a video editor for brands, raised $12m in Series A funding. Innovation Endeavors led, joined by Swift Ventures, and Hubspot Ventures. axios.link/4cz5KLb

• Deck, a Canadian API startup, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Infinity Ventures. axios.link/3Gf8AZy

• Blue Onion, a financial data infrastructure startup for CFOs, raised $10m in Series A funding. Viola FinTech led, joined by YC, Entrée Capital, Green Visor, and Vinyl Capital. blueonion.ai

• Resolv Labs, which created the Resolv DeFi protocol and USR stablecoin, raised $10m in seed funding led by CyberFund and Maven11, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, SCB Limited, Arrington Capital, Gumi Cryptos. axios.link/4jEDYix

• Pillar Security, an Israeli AI security startup, raised $9m in seed funding. Shield Capital led, joined by Golden Ventures and Ground Up Ventures. axios.link/4jdgP6W

⚡️ Cosmic Robotics, an SF-based developer of construction robots for solar farms, raised $4m in pre-seed funding. Giant Ventures led, joined by HCVC and MaC Ventures. axios.link/42vsw1F

• Glider, a financial orchestration layer for building automated onchain investment portfolios, raised $4m led by a16z. glider.fi

• Finch, a tech startup for injury law firms, raised $3.75m in seed funding. Sequoia Capital led, joined by Roar Ventures and Liquid 2 Ventures. axios.link/43Qk53r

• Vizzy, a London-based talent platform for brands, raised £3.65m in seed funding led by Adjuvo. axios.link/3Ed0HU1

🌎 BeSirius, a Dutch sustainability data provider for metals, mining, and heavy industries, raised €3m in seed funding led by NAP (fka Cavalry Ventures). axios.link/4lAnOZk

• Inephany, a British AI optimization startup, raised $2.2m led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from Sure Valley Ventures and Steve Young. axios.link/4lzkXjp

• SlashExperts, an SF-based B2B sales SaaS, raised $2m in seed funding led by Social Leverage, with participation from Touring Capital and Veridical Ventures. axios.link/3GcqgVM

🌎 Catchfree, a Swiss producer of plant-based seafood, raised €1.3m in seed funding led by FortyOne Group and Stiftung Startfeld. axios.link/3Gg1Iv1

• ActiveCampaign, a Chicago-based marketing automation platform backed by Susquehanna Growth Equity and Silversmith Capital Partners, acquired Hilos, a Mexico City-based WhatsApp automation startup. axios.link/4ikXShk

• Comau, an Italian portfolio company of One Equity Partners, agreed to acquire Automha, an Italian warehousing and intralogistics automation company, from Trasma. comau.com

⚡️ First Reserve is forming a third IOG Resources platform, per an SEC filing. IOG provides onshore producing non-operated oil & gas investments and structured drilling capital. iogresources.com

• Goldman Sachs Alternatives acquired a majority stake in PeopleStrong, an Indian HR SaaS. axios.link/4cFcqaz

• Mubadala will pay $600m for a minority stake in Nord Anglia, a U.K.-based private school operator controlled by EQT. axios.link/4jFUZZR

• Stonepeak acquired Lafayette, La.-based Dupré Logistics. axios.link/4j5p05g

Source: Giphy

☕ Chagee, a Chinese teahouse operator and franchisor, raised $411m in its IPO at a $5.1b valuation after pricing at the high end of its $26-$28 price range. It will list on the Nasdaq (CHA). axios.link/4imMzoW

• ABB (Swiss: ABBN) said it plans to spin off and list its robotics unit in 2026. axios.link/42QdK6Y

⚡️ EGH Acquisition, an energy transition SPAC led by Energy Growth Holdings' co-founders, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/4ij0dt6

• Globa Terra Acquisition, an agribusiness and water SPAC led by Agustin Tristan Aldave (Lexington Capital), filed for a $152m IPO. axios.link/4jAxmBE

• TK Elevator, a German elevator maker bought for €17.2b in 2020 by a PE group, is considering a U.S. IPO for next year, per Reuters. axios.link/4imJHI

• Yorkville Acquisition Corp., a TMT SPAC led by former T-Mobile ad exec Kevin McGurn, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/4j6upci

• BRS & Co. hired Piper Sandler to find a buyer for Phoenix-based budget gym chain EoS Fitness, which could fetch around $1b (including debt), per Reuters. axios.link/42eUPmi

• Databricks, valued by VCs at $62b, acquired Fennel, an incremental compute engine seeded by Scribble Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Essence VC. axios.link/3RmaVnP

• Featured.com, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based expert journalist platform, acquired Help A Reporter Out (HARO) from Platinum Equity portfolio company Cision. axios.link/4imqJ55

• InPost, a listed Polish parcel locker company, acquired British parcel delivery firm Yodel, which had raised over $100m from firms like PayPoint. axios.link/3EmTTDe

• KKR is considering a sale of Atlantic Aviation, a Plano, Texas-based private jet fixed-base operator that could fetch around $10b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3EbB3it

• Misumi (Tokyo: 9962) will pay $350m to buy Fictiv, an SF-based provider of supply chain tech for manufacturers. Fictiv had raised from Accel, Honeywell, Activate Capital Partners, Angeleno Group, Cross Creek Advisors, The Westly Group, FJ Labs, W11 Capital Management, G2 Venture Partners, Standard Investments, and Bill Gates. fictiv.com

• Strava, an SF-based workout app that's raised $180m, acquired Runna, a British provider of running coaching and training plans that had raised around $10m from firms like Eka Ventures and JamJar Investments. axios.link/4ly3Oqc

• Torq, a Portland, Ore.-based no-code automation platform for security teams, acquired RevRod, an Israeli multi-agent RAG startup. Torq recently raised $70m in Series C funding led by Evolution Equity Partners, while RevRod had raised $6m from Hetz Ventures and Notable Capital. axios.link/3GeJcDd

⚡️ Foresight Group (LSE: FSGF) agreed to buy U.K. battery storage investment firm Harmony Energy Income Trust (LSE: HEIT) for £210m. axios.link/3Y4sSuZ

• Lighthouse, a British hotel management platform that's raised nearly $500m, acquired The Hotels Network, a Spanish hotel marketing personalization company. axios.link/4cHNijA

🌎 Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) acquired Holocene, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based carbon capture startup. axios.link/3RipkS2

• Securitize, a real-world asset tokenization firm that's raised $150m, acquired the fund administration unit of Denver's MG Stover. axios.link/4cHNjEa

• Coller Capital raised $2.4b from Barings and Ares for a structured financing vehicle that will buy secondary stakes in PE and credit funds, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Gp3MRg

• Crayhill Capital Management, an alt asset firm focused on asset-based finance, raised $1.31b for its third flagship fund. crayhill.com

• Galaxy Ventures, a crypto and fintech-focused effort led by Michael Novogratz, raised more than $150m for its debut fund. axios.link/42NXG5J

• Sculptor Capital Management raised nearly $900m for a private credit fund. sculptor.com

• Tap Root Capital, led by Eric Zoller (ex-Harris Williams/Sixpoint Partners), is raising its debut fund-of-funds, mostly focused on new managers, per an SEC filing.

🌎 JD Vargas agreed to join TPG Rise as a partner, per Bloomberg. He previously was with EQT Infrastructure. axios.link/3RlWKz7

Global fund managers have turned startlingly pessimistic when it comes to the effect of across-the-board U.S. tariffs, and they're particularly bearish when it comes to the U.S. itself, Axios' Felix Salmon writes.