I don't know if AI is going to destroy humanity. Neither do you.

• But here's what I do know: It's very difficult to have a sober conversation about this when there's so much money at stake.

This isn't an accusation of dishonesty. It's an observation that wealth, and the promise of wealth, has a way of putting blinders on even the best of intentions and the brightest of minds.

It's something I thought about a lot this past weekend, while finally reading "All the Devils Are Here" by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera. It's an excellent 2010 book about the seeds of the Great Financial Crisis and its early days.

• Very few of the protagonists viewed themselves as engaging in risky or ethically questionable activities. In fact, most believed they were pursuing a noble imperative of enabling homeownership. This was true of lenders, bankers, regulators, and politicians.
• Doubts did emerge — including from inside the house — but they were extinguished by not wanting to upset the abundance cart. It was subconscious and consistent.
• The few public critics were ignored at best and attacked at worst.

The parallels aren't letter perfect. Just like other comparisons between the AI era and the GFC, like how securitizing compute might be like securitizing subprime mortgages or how Nvidia is becoming something of an uber-counterparty in the vein of an AIG.

• But history rarely repeats. It rhymes.

So many of today's financial incentives are to damn the torpedoes.

• The entire venture capital industry is now dependent on AI acceleration. So is Wall Street. And so are the politicians funded by such financiers. And so are regulators appointed by (or replaced by) those politicians.
• None of them need to view it as a cash grab. VCs and Wall Street are funding tech innovation, which has a proven history of helping humanity. Politicians are ensuring that we "win the race" with China, so that we maintain sovereignty. Regulators don't want to stand in the way of a cure for pediatric cancer.
• Most AI industry bigs— including Sam, Dario and Demis — have expressed at least some (p)doom concerns. Much like early subprime lending leaders warned against lowering standards (before they did). So far,, the money seems to still be talking louder, including in their own heads.

The bottom line is that we all should try to approach these issues from first principles. Not from sunk costs or current cash. And then let the chips quite literally fall where they may.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is weighing a merger of video game makers Electronic Arts and Savvy Games, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: Gamers might be close to a mash-up of Madden and Pokémon GO.

Catch up quick: PIF recently led a $55 billion take-private acquisition of EA, with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners also participating.

• Five years ago PIF created Savvy as a video game platform, later buying assets like Scopely and Niantic's games unit.

Yes, but: None of the aforementioned deals sparked major antitrust scrutiny, but this one likely would.

The bottom line: "Such a combination would represent a major shift in the structure of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund's gaming strategy, potentially giving it a single vehicle through which to make acquisitions, develop games and exploit intellectual property across different parts of the $214 billion industry." — Dinesh Nair & Cecilia D'Anastasio, Bloomberg

Please take a moment to remember the thousands of people murdered 25 years ago this morning.

• Among them were private equity investors Dave Retik and Chris Mello, both of whom worked at Alta Communications and were on American Airlines Flight 11.
• The foundation established in their names has since awarded $4.2 million in grants to more than 61 nonprofit organizations, plus more than 60 scholarships.

• Covenant, a Washington, D.C.-based developer of cruise missiles, disclosed $250m in funding over three rounds from a16z, Founders Fund, Lux, 8VC, Aleph, and Lightspeed. axios.link/46TzdgC

• Maven Robotics, a warehouse robotics startup, raised $100m from RoboStrategy, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures, and XTX Markets Ventures. axios.link/4xNJPcT

• Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, raised $100m from Nasdaq. axios.link/3UOGefZ

• Xapien, a London-based background check and due diligence startup, raised $56m in Series B funding led by Spectrum Equity, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4iWtU7k

🚑 Archy, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of practice-management software to dental offices, raised $50m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. JMI Equity led, joined by TCV, Entrée Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, and Alven. axios.link/4rgaDzZ

• CBTS, a TowerBrook Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Recovery Point Systems, a provider of disaster recovery and cyber resiliency solutions for enterprise IT. axios.link/4hlwliA

⚽ Collaborative Fund, an NYC-based venture firm, acquired a minority stake in MLS club D.C. United and its stadium, Audi Field. axios.link/4iobKLG

• Grain Management merged telco portfolio companies Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications to form Rightfiber. axios.link/4gOsg6A

🚑 L Catterton and Altas Partners acquired Fullscript, a Canadian patient care platform, from HGGC and Snapdragon Capital Partners. axios.link/4A7amDw

• Macquarie Asset Management is acquiring a majority stake in SI Solutions, a Huntersville, N.C.-based provider of structural integrity engineering and testing for critical infrastructure, from MidOcean Partners. axios.link/4gOidhS

• PSG invested in Real Estate Business Analytics, a provider of multifamily housing industry data. axios.link/4yB2pVH

• Vauban Infrastructure Partners is lead bidder for the Swedish fiber business of GlobalConnect, an EQT portfolio company that could fetch around €2b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gKIugW

• Allarity Acquisition, a biotech SPAC formed by Allarity Therapeutics, filed for a $100m IPO. axios.link/3STbWZ1

• Altera, a San Jose, Calif.-based chipmaker backed by Silver Lake and Intel, is prepping an IPO that could raise up to $2b, per Reuters. axios.link/4A5TtZJ

⚡ Excelsior Energy Capital sold its Faraday (Utah) and Skyhawk (Tennessee) solar plants to subsidiaries of Enel (Milan: ENEL) for $760m. axios.link/4xP6PIm

• Genesee & Wyoming, a U.S. short-line operator owned by Brookfield and GIC, is exploring a spin-off of its western and eastern railroads, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4r7pKf8

• Kiteworks, a data security company backed by Insight Partners and Sixth Street Growth, acquired Bonfy, a Los Altos, Calif.-based data classification startup seeded by TLV Partners and Saban Capital Group. axios.link/4yzfvmn

• Copart (Nasdaq: CPRT) agreed to acquire rival online vehicle auctioneer ACV (NYSE: ACVA) for around $1.9b in cash. axios.link/4cGtGNU

⚡ Saudi Aramco is weighing a sale of specialty chemicals business Arlanxeo, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gKHXeW

⚡ Shell (LSE: SHEL) agreed to sell its stake in RISEC Holdings, a gas power plant in Rhode Island, to Constellation Energy (Nasdaq: CEG) for $715m. axios.link/4h51Fkp

• ArcTern Ventures, a Canadian firm focused on decarbonization, will target up to US$400m for its fourth early-stage fund, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4A61pKv

🚑 Frazier Life Sciences secured more than $1.1b for a fund focused on public biotechs, but which also can back private companies. axios.link/4Aqh2Np

• Nordic Foodtech VC is targeting €80m for its second fund and already secured a €30m commitment from EIF. axios.link/4xe0qWh

• Pinegrove Venture Partners raised $1.5b for its 12th fund, which focuses on fund commitments and co-investments. axios.link/4gKIPQK

• Seed Capital of Copenhagen raised €130m for its fifth fund. axios.link/4yrVP3v

• Volition Capital, a Boston-based growth equity firm, raised $950m for its sixth fund. volitioncapital.com

• Luca Bocchio joined European VC firm Balderton as a partner. He previously was with Accel. axios.link/3UDrfFN

• Jeff Hawkins joined Vistria as head of portfolio resources. He previously was with JPH Revenue Partners. axios.link/3SSy3Pi

• Alex Heath, a former tech reporter with The Verge, joined Sound Ventures as a partner. axios.link/4h4qtJj

• Patrick Lucier joined Shore Search Partners as a partner and chief investment officer. He previously was with SCS. axios.link/4A5Rx3D

🚑 Neetesh Kumar joined Vivo Capital as a managing partner. He previously was with Spruceview Capital Partners. axios.link/46UQVjK

Inflation heated up in August, with CPI hitting the expected marks of 0.4% for the month and 3.4% for the year.

• Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, was a bit higher than expected at 0.3% for the month.