Lilian Weng last month stepped down as a cofounder of Thinking Machines, just a year after it raised $2 billion from venture capitalists at an $8 billion pre-money valuation.

• Then she rejoined OpenAI, one of the 800-pound gorillas that Thinky is trying to unseat.

The big picture: Past generations of tech founders earned a reputation for eating glass before bailing on the mission. Let alone on their employees and investors.

• AI founders, however, often seem more interested in sipping from the glass until they're sated.

Catch up quick: This is something we first discussed last October, suggesting that VCs should put tighter founder retention policies in their term sheets. But that didn't happen.

• Instead, things moved in the opposite direction as founders have gained increased access to early liquidity via secondaries.

Here are four reasons why so many AI founders are different than their predecessors, while acknowledging that each individual situation is unique:

1. AI founders are often researchers at heart, not entrepreneurs. More conceptual than capitalist.

2. AI labs are often building such similar products — with an eye toward AGI — that the lines between competition and collaboration can blur.

3. The moat for launching a new AI company is relatively low, at least compared to more capital-constrained tech eras. The result is that founders haven't necessarily put in the blood and toil that would convince them to see it through.

4. It's hard to have golden handcuffs when almost every AI startup looks like a gold mine. Plus, the aforementioned secondaries situation and concerns about grabbing the brass ring before AI eats into job security.

The bottom line: AI valuations keep rising while loyalty lowers.

Stripe has agreed to acquire AI model marketplace OpenRouter for more than $7 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: Stripe's stubborn refusal to IPO hasn't dimmed its acquisition ambitions, despite its lack of a public currency, as this deal comes amidst ongoing efforts to buy PayPal.

By the numbers: OpenRouter has raised $164 million, most recently this past May at a $1.3 billion valuation. Backers include CapitalG, a16z, Menlo Ventures, NVentures, ServiceNow Ventures, MongoDB, Snowflake, and Databricks.

The bottom line: "Stripe already processes payments for frontier labs. OpenRouter gives it a more direct role in how developers evaluate, select and move between their models." — Ryan Lawler, Axios Pro

• Higgsfield, an SF-based AI video generation startup, raised $400m at a $5.4b post-money valuation. DST Global led, joined by Tribe Capital, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Smash Capital, Fifth Wall, Valor Capital, Intel Capital, Liberty Global Tech Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, NTT Docomo Ventures and insiders Accel, Menlo Ventures, AI Capital Partners, GFT Ventures, Capra Ventures, BAM Corner Point, and BroadLight Capital. Axios Pro flashback

• Groq, an AI inference neocloud, raised $350m in Series A funding at a $3.5b valuation. Disruptive led, joined by Nvidia (which previously signed a $20b licensing deal with Groq's first iteration). axios.link/45APiHx

• Wispr, an SF-based voice dictation tool maker, raised $280m in Series B funding at a $2b post-money valuation. Menlo Ventures led, joined by Acrew, Forerunner, Goodwater, Peak XV, Together Fund, Livvy Dunne, Shaun White, Dak Prescott, DK Metcalf, Plus Capital and insiders Notable Capital, NEA, Neo Ventures, 8VC, and MVP Ventures. axios.link/4wASpdI

• Gravis Robotics, a Swiss developer of construction robots, raised $200m in Series A funding from SoftBank. axios.link/4gB3YN1

• Gallos Technology, a U.K. defense-tech investor and incubator, raised $50m. Ventura Capital and Aberdeen Investments led, joined by insider Lansdowne Partners. axios.link/4zhxZsN

• Vals AI, an AI evaluator, raised $40m in Series A funding. a16z led, joined by HRT Ventures, Next Ladder Ventures and insiders 8VC and Bloomberg Beta. axios.link/4wWs9eC

• Amber, a German business knowledge platform, raised €7m in Series A funding led by Ventech and NRW Venture. axios.link/3UDxSaP

• Astute, a B2B media platform, raised $1.2m in pre-seed funding from Flyer One Ventures, Silicon Gardens, Marathon Fund, and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator. axios.link/4go0ooq

• Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners are prepping a takeover bid for German security systems provider Bauwatch for around €1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4xH5sLg

• Global Infrastructure Partners and I Squared Capital each submitted bids for Porto Sudeste, a Brazilian port being sold by Trafigura Group and Mubadala Capital, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gfIiVk

🚑 JLL Partners agreed to acquire Life Couriers, a German provider of health-care logistics, from Auctus Capital Partners. axios.link/4wy4S1w

• Shur-Co, a portfolio company of Behrman Capital, acquired Heavy Motions, an Ontario, Calif.-based maker of hydraulic systems and motion products. axios.link/4wxakSi

🚑 Skye Bioscience (Nasdaq: SKYE) agreed to acquire Redx Pharma, a U.K. biotech focused on fibrotic diseases. The deal includes $125m of new financing from Abingworth, British Business Bank, NEXTBio Capital, and 5AM Ventures. axios.link/3U0KDw3

• Truestar Capital agreed to buy Chinese mobile game developer Lingxi Games for around $2b from Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), per Reuters. axios.link/4zF5g1h

Lyntris, a defense-tech rollup backed by Trive Capital, is the only company expected to price a U.S. IPO this week.

• General Atlantic refreshed its confidential IPO paperwork with the SEC, nearly three years after the private equity firm's original submission, per the WSJ. axios.link/45xHshO

• Robotera, a Chinese robotics startup that's raised over $750m, is prepping a Hong Kong IPO, per Bloomberg. Backers include HSG, CDH Investments, and SF Express. axios.link/3RULxJX

• Thunder Bridge Capital Partners V, a fintech SPAC, raised $261m in its IPO. axios.link/4otlDIJ

⚽ Fenway Sports Group, whose backers include RedBird Capital Partners, agreed to sell around a one-third stake in Liverpool FC for £1.65b to a consortium that includes Amit Bhatia, Jeff Bezos, and Eduardo Saverin. axios.link/3U3guvZ

• Deutsche Telekom agreed to buy Polish network operator Fiberhost and broadband provider Inea from Macquarie ​Asset Management for €1b. axios.link/4cLwLvY

• Ascend Sport (dba AIM Sport), a Swiss sports tech company, is working on a reverse merger with shell company EvoNext (SIX: EVE) at around a $740m valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gA6tPA

• Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX) ended its efforts to acquire Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK), claiming demands from Genco were unreasonable. axios.link/4gcQfdV

📺 Disney (NYSE: DIS) has no interest in spinning off ESPN, per a CNBC interview with CEO Josh D'Amaro. axios.link/4wzKEES

• Madison Air Solutions (NYSE: MAIR) agreed to buy Ebm-papst, a German provider of fans and other ventilation technologies, for $5.4b. axios.link/4coMeC2

⚡ Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) agreed to invest $1.5b into SB Energy, a Redwood City, Calif.-based data center infrastructure firm, as part of an Ohio project. SB Energy previously raised around $3.8b from firms like SoftBank and OpenAI, and has filed confidential IPO paperwork. axios.link/46ad5y4

• OceanaGold (TSX: OCG) agreed to acquire Australian miner Ausgold (ASX: AUC) for around A$776m. axios.link/4idwp4Q

• Saputo (TSX: SAP) agreed to sell its U.K. dairy unit to France's Lactalis for £988m. axios.link/4g2wLKm

• GD1, a New Zealand venture firm, held an NZ$56.7m first close on its second flagship fund, which is targeting NZ$150m. axios.link/4gaqScM

• Homestead Capital, an SF-based investment firm focused on U.S. agriculture, is targeting $350m for its first private credit fund. axios.link/3RS6sgH

• Third Mind, a VC effort led by Antoine Nivard (ex-Blank Ventures), is raising up to $25m for its debut fund. axios.link/3SEnkHU

• Ashish Aggarwal joined IronArc Ventures as a partner. He previously was with Chamaeleon. axios.link/4qn3ZaK

• Doug Brockway joined Citizens Capital Markets & Advisory as head of cybersecurity and infrastructure software investment banking. He previously was with Stephens. axios.link/4xPb32x

• Sam Liu joined Great Hill Partners as director of AI. He previously was with Bain & Co. axios.link/4bU7IGV

• Nathaniel Robertson joined StartEngine as a managing director and head of capital markets. He previously was with Hiive. axios.link/4ql867e

SpaceX on Friday completed its $60 billion acquisition of Cursor, the largest acquisition ever of a VC-backed startup.

• Cursor had raised over $3.3 billion from firms like Thrive Capital, Neo, Alameda Research (yeah, that one), OpenAI Startup Fund, a16z, Dorm Room Fund, BoxGroup, WndrCo, DST, Coatue, and Accel.

SpaceX shares closed Friday above their $135 per share IPO price — defying lockup expiration concerns — but still below the first post-float trades at $150 per share.