"The only winning move is not to play."

Some readers may be too young to recognize that line from Joshua in "War Games," a 1983 film that presaged "The Terminator" in terms of AI gone rogue.

• But Apple CEO Tim Cook isn't, and he seems to have taken the wisdom to heart.

The big picture: Apple isn't spending mountains of cash to buy GPUs for the sake of training models and processing prompts. It's left that to OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Google, Meta, etc.

• It's also not investing huge sums in those frontier labs. It's left that to rivals like Amazon and Microsoft.
• Instead, it just plans to reap the rewards. Success from the sidelines.

The playbook: Keep selling high-end consumer hardware that will become even more essential as AI becomes more ubiquitous.

• AI advancements could lead to shorter upgrade cycles, while Apple's reputation for enhanced privacy could become an enhanced selling point.
• All the while, "taxing" the frontier labs via the App Store. It doesn't matter to Apple which app gets used most, so long as it's being used.

Behind the scenes: This is an argument that more and more investors, including some VCs with big AI positions, have been whispering about.

Zoom in: OK, it's not a sure bet.

• For starters, Apple does want/need to improve Siri. If it ultimately uses Google's Gemini models, the capacity will need to come from somewhere.
• There's also OpenAI's efforts to create its own branded hardware, designed by longtime Apple star Jony Ive. If successful, it could dent the iEmpire — or maybe even end the primacy of apps.

Wildcard: It's possible that the our primary AI devices won't be mobile. They'll be something else, running agents. What's in our pocket will be used more like the original iPhone — talk, text, and listen to music.

• In this case, Apple remains likely to benefit. As my colleague Ina Fried notes: "Lots of people are coding on their Macs and the Mac mini is sold out as enthusiasts use them to run agents like OpenClaw."

The bottom line: We understandably spend lots of time trying to gauge who's in the AI lead — using metrics like revenue or cluster size or model benchmarks.

• Don't sleep on the one tech giant we don't typically include in those analyses.

U.K. antitrust regulators say they're opening an investigation into Paramount Skydance's (Nasdaq: PSKY) proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD).

Why it's the BFD: Paramount won the battle, besting Netflix, but it hasn't yet won the war.

Elsewhere: Over 1,400 Hollywood professionals, including dozens of Academy Award winners and nominees, yesterday released an open letter that read, in part: "The integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised" were the deal to close.

• It wasn't addressed to the California AG's office, but it might as well have been.

The bottom line: "It would be up to state attorneys general and foreign regulators to challenge the merger, with DOJ likely to sign off, and there's indications both groups are ready to act." — Sara Fischer, Axios

⚡️ Slate Auto, a Troy, Mich.-based developer of affordable electric pickup trucks, raised $650m led by TWG Global. Other backers include Jeff Bezos, General Catalyst, and Slauson & Co. axios.link/3OfG7av

• Deutsche Börse invested $200m for a 1.5% stake in crypto trading platform Kraken, which last year filed confidential IPO docs. axios.link/4t3M7Ce

• Sygaldry, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based quantum infrastructure platform led by Chad Rigetti, raised $105m in Series A funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. axios.link/4cn2XET

🚑 Neomorph, a San Diego-based developer of molecular glue degraders for addressing undruggable proteins, raised $100m in Series B funding. Deerfield Management led, joined by Regeneron Ventures, Longwood Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments, and a VC affiliate of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. axios.link/3OoL6pl

🚑 Adcendo, a Danish developer of ADCs for treating cancers, raised $75m in Series C funding. Jeito Capital led, joined by Vida Ventures, BPI France, EIFO and insiders TCGX, RA Capital Management, TPG, Orbimed, Venrock, Surveyor, Logos Capital, Novo Holdings, Pontifax Venture Capital, Dawn Biopharma, HealthCap, Gilde Healthcare, and Ysios Capital. axios.link/3QBFSqO

• Bluefish, an NYC-based AI marketing platform, raised $43m in Series B funding. Threshold Ventures and insider NEA led, joined by TIAA and Bloomberg Beta.

• Synera, a German agentic platform for industrial engineering, raised $40m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Revaia led, joined by ISAI Cap Venture, UVC Partners, BMW iVentures, Cherry Ventures, and Spark Capital. axios.link/4dMY0rC

⚡️ Critical Loop, an LA-based on-site power provider for industry, raised $26m in Series A funding. Conifer Infrastructure Partners and Hanover led, joined by Better Ventures, Climate Capital, Adapt Nation Capital, and Cyrus Ventures. axios.link/4tLQQZf

• Neato, a Las Vegas-based second-party e-commerce accelerator, raised $25m led by Advantage Capital, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4co0b2u

🚀 Citra Space, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based startup that identifies orbiting objects, raised a $15m Series A. Washington Harbour Partners led, joined by Industrious Ventures, Reliable Properties, Scout VC, Squadra Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Flex Capital. axios.link/47WnBul

🚑 Helical, a virtual AI platform for drug discovery, raised $10m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Redalpine led, joined by Gradient, BoxGroup and frst. axios.link/3Ojosi8

🌎 Scentian Bio, a New Zealand developer of smell- and taste-sensors modeled on insects, raised NZ$7m. Icehouse Ventures led, joined by Cultivate Ventures and NZGCP. axios.link/4cvAjSq

🌎 PH7 Technologies, a Canadian startup that extracts metals from recycled and mining materials, raised US$6.4m in Series B extension funding (round total $32m) from new investors Asahi Kasei and the Circular Innovation Fund. axios.link/41ux34E

🌎 Fieldwork Robotics, a U.K. developer of berry-picking robots, raised £3m led by Elbow Beach Capital. axios.link/4vpSzVE

🌎 Fermtech, a U.K. sustainable cocoa developer, raised £2.5m in seed funding led by Elbow Beach Capital, joined by Carbon13 and Empirical Ventures. axios.link/4t7DWol

• Replenit, a Polish AI decision engine for retail, raised $2.5m in pre-seed funding led by Movens Capital and Vastpoint. axios.link/4cjU9Qi

🚀 Orbital, a developer of AI data centers in low Earth orbit, raised $1m led by a16z. axios.link/4sRxf9n

🚑 American Industrial Partners agreed to acquire Georgia-based medical device maker Avanos Medical (NYSE: AVNS) for around $1.27b. axios.link/3QjAR6b

• Blackstone and I Squared Capital may partner on a bid for the core advertising unit of Germany's Ströer, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4tLe2H3

• Fortreum, a Gryphon Investors portfolio company, acquired compliance startup Kovr.AI, a Reston, Va.-based compliance startup that had raised seed funding from Battery Ventures, Bull City Venture Partners, IronGate Capital Advisors, OODA Ventures, Hack Factory, Virginia Venture Partners, Dev Capital, and Xfund. axios.link/4tkDB1G

🚑 MKH Capital Partners acquired Haven Health Management, a provider of mental health and substance use treatment facilities in nine states and Puerto Rico. axios.link/4ejzO03

• Olympus Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Network Connex, a Downers Grove, Ill.-based provider of fiber installation and other digital infrastructure services, from ORIX Capital Partners. axios.link/4swtNjY

• Rep Data, backed by Mountaingate Capital, acquired SightX, an NYC-based consumer research platform seeded by firms like Scout Ventures. axios.link/4ctEe1Z

• Thoma Bravo agreed to merge portfolio company HCSS, a provider of heavy civil construction software, with a unit of Germany's Nemetschek Group (which would hold 72% of the combined business). axios.link/4suvz5m

• TPG agreed to acquire Learfield, a Dallas-based provider of media and tech solutions for college athletics, from Charlesbank Capital Partners. and Clearlake Capital Group. axios.link/41sOrXr

• General Catalyst Global Resilience Merger, an aerospace and defense SPAC formed by General Catalyst, filed for a $350m IPO. axios.link/4vnOCAR

• Maywood Acquisition 2, SPAC led by Zikang Wu (First Cover), raised $100m in its IPO. axios.link/496l3tl

• Service Long March Tyres, a Pakistani tire manufacturer, filed for what could be the country's largest IPO ever for a private company. axios.link/4t90N2R

• Hillman Solutions (Nasdaq: HLMN) acquired Delaney Hardware, a Sugar Hill, Ga.-based supplier of door hardware, from OpenGate Capital portfolio company S&G. axios.link/4tbyW24

• Instacart (Nasdaq: CART) agreed to acquire Instaleap, a Colombian grocery enablement and fulfillment platform that had raised over $5m from firms like Grupo Pegasus, Redwood Ventures, Innogen Capital Ventures, and SaaS Capital. axios.link/4e5hFmP

• Juniper Square, an SF-based fund administrator, agreed to acquire Sightglass, a startup that automates due diligence questionnaires, per Axios Pro. Sightglass was seeded by Base10 Partners. axios.link/4cJvaXS

• Mark Anthony Group of Cos, which owns White Claw, acquired Finnish Long Drink, an Indiana-based RTD cocktail brand, for $325m. It had raised around $65m from Pentas Ventures, MarcyPen Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman, Quench Ventures, and Miles Teller. axios.link/4mseOGn

• OpenAI acquired Hiro, a personal finance app that had raised funding from Restive Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and General Catalyst. axios.link/3OBQmpG

• Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has agreed to acquire satellite-based telecom company Globalstar (Nasdaq: GSAT) for around $11.6 billion, or $90 per share. Globalstar shareholders can choose either cash or Amazon stock.

• The goal is to rival Starlink, just as SpaceX plans to go public.

• BAWAG Group of Austria agreed to buy Irish retail lender Permanent TSB for €1.62b. axios.link/4tLDHzd

🚑 Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) agreed to acquire CrossBridge Bio, a Houston-based ADC developer for up to $300m. CrossBridge had been seeded by Texas Medical Center, CE-Ventures, Crescent Enterprises, Alexandria Venture axios.link/4mt9ZNb

• Lucid Motors (Nasdaq: LCID) raised $200m from Uber, plus a new robotaxi order, and agreed to sell another $550m of shares to Saudi Arabia's PIF. axios.link/4cJEHOE

⚡ EIG held a first close on a new fund focused on geothermal power projects. axios.link/4mBkj5W

• 5th Century Partners promoted Will Smith to partner. axios.link/4ck8MmB

• Rohan Arora joined Infinedi Partners as a principal. He previously was with H.I.G. Capital. axios.link/4t504Qk

• Suzanne Bell and William Bibby joined law firm Orrick as London-based partners focused on ABS. They previously were with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. axios.link/4mpbKuV

• Dave Guilmette, former CEO of Alight Solutions, joined THL Partners as an executive partner in its fintech and services investment group. axios.link/3QmicXn

• Grant Mueller joined Maple Park Capital as a VP. He previously was with Franchise Equity Partners. axios.link/4sw6DdO

• Triton Partners named Fergus Wheeler as head of communications. He previously was serving in the role on an interim basis, before which he was with FTI Consulting. axios.link/4t7M1JP

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby floated a merger with American Airlines, while meeting with President Trump in late February, per Reuters.

• This report comes just days after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNBC that he thinks there's "room" for some airline tie-ups. Such deals would need to be approved by both DOT and DOJ.
• JetBlue also is said to be seeking a partner, having previously been thwarted in merging with Spirit Airlines.

Shares of both United and American are up this morning in pre-market trading.