Pat Gelsinger has joined VC firm Playground Global as a general partner, just three months after abruptly retiring as CEO of chipmaker Intel. He'll also become exec chair of Playground portfolio company xLight, a developer of free electron lasers.

• I spoke with Pat earlier this morning about his decision. What follows are highlights from our conversation:

Axios: You've been an operator for decades. Why go into venture?

Gelsinger: Post-Intel I did about 100 meetings. Some were about other operating roles or potential government positions. Even a few university president opportunities.

As I sifted through them, it came down to some of the big private equity firms where you can write big checks, or the deep-tech VCs. Most of them have tombstones in their lobbies about successful deals or IPOs. At Playground, they have an engineer's playground. I'm an engineer's engineer, so it felt right. And I've maybe set a record by signing two term sheets in my first week on the job.

At Intel you oversaw Intel Capital, which now is spinning out. Does corporate venture still make sense?

We made the decision to spin it out when I was there.

Intel Capital and groups like it have agendas, in that they want to be close to the leading-edge thinking that comes from the entrepreneurial startup world. But scaling those groups, plus the balance sheet implications, is why you're seeing some companies decide to be affiliated but not necessarily in control. It's the exact route SAP took before Intel. And you see groups like Google Ventures and Salesforce Ventures operate more independently than controlled.

How are you currently thinking about reshoring the semiconductor industry?

I think about it through three different pillars of action. The first is the CHIPS Act, both the capital commitments and R&D commitments. I think there was huge support from Congress to get that done...

But Trump says he wants to rescind the CHIPS Act.

He pushes hard on things and then finds the pragmatic place that still meets his objectives. I think that will happen here. If you watch Howard Lutnick's confirmation hearing, a lot of senators from both parties asked specifically if he'd execute the CHIPS Act.

The second pillar is tariffs. The third is the sovereign wealth fund. Let's bring all the big economic levers to this assignment.

You think the SWF is going to happen?

Oh yeah, they're quite dedicated to it. Sovereign wealth funds in places like Singapore have played a major role in the economic miracle, and I think this administration wants to leverage that capacity in a very serious way.

You've only been a VC for a week. Any surprises?

I'd had an operational role for 45 contiguous years, and it's been pretty delightful how quickly those networks can be leveraged in venture capital.

But I'm also still a novice. When I was COO at EMC, I came with the explicit purpose to become CEO, and I'd ask one of the board members how I was doing and what I needed to work on. He first told me that EMC was an East Coast firm and I was still dressing like an engineer. So I got some suits.

The second thing was that I needed to learn corporate finance if I was ever going to run the place. It was a new domain for me, things like talking to shareholders, so the CEO Joe Tucci got me a private tutor from Columbia University. I went on a summer cruise with my wife, and I'm there reading a 1,100-page corporate finance textbook. Now I need to learn the venture capital handbook, including things like writing term sheets, because I've never before sat on this side of the table.

OpenAI is closing in on a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank at a $300 billion post-money valuation, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: This would be the largest venture capital round ever, which is the same thing we wrote last fall when OpenAI raised a measly $6.6 billion.

• It also comes on the heels of OpenAI releasing a ChatGPT image generator, which was met with both user enthusiasm and new copyright concerns.

Other investors reportedly would include Altimeter, Coatue, Founders Fund, and Magnetar Capital.

The bottom line: "The San Francisco-based company generated $3.7 billion in revenue last year, according to a person familiar with the matter ... [and] expects sales to continue growing at a fast clip, more than doubling next year to $29.4 billion. ... Still, OpenAI is also confronting significant costs from the chips, data centers and talent needed to develop cutting-edge AI. It doesn't expect to be cash-flow positive until 2029." — Bloomberg

🚑 Supira Medical, a developer of catheter-based ventricular heart pumps, raised $120m. Novo Holdings and QIA co-led, joined by Cormorant Asset Management, The Capital Partnership, 415 Capital, AMED Ventures, PA MedTech, and Unorthodox Ventures. axios.link/3FFdn6i

🌎 GravitHy, a French producer of low-carbon iron for the steel industry, raised €60m from Japan Hydrogen Fund, Marcegaglia, Ecolab, Rio Tinto, Siemens, and insiders Engie New Ventures, and InnoEnergy. axios.link/3XVht0z

• Capital Markets Gateway, a New York-based equity capital markets platform, raised $30m in Series C funding led by StageDotO. cmgx.io

• Manna Air Delivery, an Irish consumer drone delivery startup, raised $30m. Molten Ventures and Tapestry VC co-led, joined by Coca-Cola HBC, Dynamo VC and Radius Capital. axios.link/43u2m1G

🚑 Galatea Bio, a Miami-based genomic research and clinical genetic testing startup, raised $25m from F-Prime Capital, Helios Digital Ventures, Digitalis Ventures, AME Cloud, CEI Ventures, Alexandria, Founders Collective, Stanford President's Fund, and HBM Genomics. galatea.bio

• Arcade, a gen AI marketplace for creating physical products, raised $25m in Series A funding. Canaan Partners and Forerunner Ventures co-led, alongside Adverb Ventures and Factorial Funds. axios.link/4cfut6X

• GetReal, a cybersecurity startup focused on genAI-enabled threats, raised $17.5m in Series A funding. Forgepoint Capital led, joined by Ballistic Ventures, Evolution Equity, K2 Access Fund, IQT, Cisco Investments, and Capital One Ventures. axios.link/41JWKis

• Jolly, a New York-based employee rewards platform, raised $16.5m in Series A funding. Zach Kirkhorn led, joined by Bullpen Capital, Dorm Room Fund, and Eigen Ventures. axios.link/42gwfBf

• DeepIP, an AI platform for patent pros, raised $15m in Series A funding. Resonance led, joined by Headline, Serena Capital, and Balderton Capital. deepip.ai

⚡ XGS Energy, a Palo Alto, Calif., geothermal startup, raised $13m from from Aligned Climate Capital, ClearSky, ClimateIC, and WovenEarth Ventures. It plans to soon seek between $60m-$100m, per Axios Pro. axios.link/41JbIFs

• Contoro Robotics, an Austin, Texas, maker of cargo-unloading robots, raised $12m in Series A funding from Doosan, Coupang, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, IMM and insiders SV Investment, KB Investment, Kakao Ventures, and Future Play. axios.link/4j4ANR1

• Hakimo, a Menlo Park, Calif., physical security monitoring startup, raised $10.5m in Series A funding. Vertex Ventures and Zigg Capital co-led, joined by RXR Arden Digital Ventures and existing investor Defy. hakimo.ai

• Pro Padel League, a North American sports league prepping for its second season, raised $10m led by Left Lane Capital. axios.link/4hQmsGR

• Voiceops, a New York-based AI platform for call centers, raised $5m in seed funding. Bonfire Ventures and Twelve Below co-led, joined by Precursor Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Village Global, Kearny Jackson, and Four Acres Capital. voiceops.com

⚡ DeCharge, a EV charging network, raised $2.5m in seed funding. Lemniscap led, joined by Colosseum, Daedalus Angels, EV3 Labs, Echo Fundraiser Chainyoda Jedis, and Levitate Labs. decharge.network

🎵 Hook, a music remixing platform, raised $3m from Khosla Ventures, Kygo's Palm Tree Crew, Raine Group, Imaginary Ventures, Point72 Ventures, KSHMR, and Waverley Capital. axios.link/3RlJ86T

🚑 VQ Biomedical, a Durham, N.C.-based developer of devices for treating lung injuries, raised $1.7m in seed funding from Harbright Ventures, Wolfpack Investor Network, and Duke Capital Partners. axios.link/3DV3bpG

🚑 Healsgood, a U.K.-based provider of NHS staffing and operational efficiency startup, raised £1.5m from Fuel Ventures. axios.link/3FJp4J9

• Affinity Equity Partners agreed to buy Indonesian candy maker Yupi, which had been prepping an IPO, for $1.1b. axios.link/4lmLkZV

• Bain Capital, CD&R, KKR, and PAI Partners are circling Nestle's (Swiss: NESN) water business, which could fetch around €5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/41JoDHs

• Coral Tree Partners bought a minority stake in talent agency Innovative Artists. axios.link/43ZnrB3

• CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital and ADIA completed their £5.4b take-private of British investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

• DIA Equity Partners, a PE firm led by ex-Sonic Drive-In CEO Clifford Hudson, acquired fast-casual restaurant chain Nature's Table. axios.link/42gLf21

🚑 Elliott Management spoke with PE firms about buying Bayer's consumer health business, per the FT. axios.link/4iRIg6b

🚑 KKR is in talks to buy Topcon (Tokyo: 7732), a Japanese medical gear maker with a $2.15b market cap, per Reuters. axios.link/43n4CaR

• ProSite Services, a portfolio company of RF Investment Partners, acquired Potter's Potties, a portable sanitation firm serving Northern Virginia. prositeservicesco.com

• Pryor Learning, a Mission, Kan.-based portfolio company of Trive Capital and Epic Partners, acquired PeopleKeys, a Boardman, Ohio-based provider of behavioral assessment and related services for hiring and upskilling. pryor.com

• Rockbridge Growth Equity acquired Access Global Group, a Southlake, Texas-based Salesforce consultancy. acsgbl.com

• SER Group, a German content automation company backed by Carlyle and TA Associates, acquired AFI Solutions, a German document capture and processing company. sergroup.com

• Signal Hill Equity Partners invested in CSArch, an Albany, N.Y.-based architecture and engineering firm for the education sector. csarchpc.com

🚑 Unified Health Services, a Nashville-based portfolio company of Reynolda Equity Partners, acquired Sunbelt Medical Financial, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based health claims manager. uhsweb.com

🚑 VisiQuate, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based portfolio company of Accel-KKR, acquired Rotera, a Denver-based provider of health-care revenue cycle automation software. rotera.ai

• Armada Acquisition II, a SPAC led by Stepgen Herbert (ex-CEO of Cantaloupe), filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/3DWHtBH

🚑 Asker Healthcare Group, a Swedish health products distributor backed by Nalka Invest, raised around $887m in its Stockholm IPO. axios.link/3FW7npG

• CoreWeave, a Roseland, N.J.-based cloud computing platform, plans to slash the size of its IPO, per Bloomberg. The company was targeting $2.5 billion by selling 49m shares at $47-$55, with pricing scheduled for this week, but reportedly now plans to raise $1.5b by offering 37.5m shares at $40. axios.link/43nhYUx

• Insight Partners is weighing a sale of PDI Technologies, an Alpharetta, Ga., convenience store software provider that could fetch at least $4.5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4l9Pbtc

• KarpReilly is seeking to sell Jackson, Wyo.-based outdoor apparel brand Stio, per PE Hub. axios.link/3E3soyb

• Bunge (NYSE: BG) agreed to sell its European margarines and spreads business to Belgian foods group Vandemoortele. axios.link/4l4HNix

• CoStar (Nasdaq: CSGP) increased its takeover bid for Australian property classifieds business Domain (ASX: DOH) to US$1.92b. axios.link/4j3JMBP

• Dollarama (TSX: DOL) of Canada agreed to buy Australian discount retailer Reject Shop (ASX: TRS) for A$249m, representing more than a 100% premium. axios.link/42hcSIm

⚡ New Fortress Energy (Nasdaq: NFE) ("NFE") agreed to sell its Jamaica business to Excelerate Energy (NYSE: EE) for just over $1b. axios.link/43W2wyP

⚡ Vitol, a Dutch commodities trader, is seeking to sell U.S. shale producer VTX Energy Partners for upwards of $3b, per Reuters. axios.link/3FDuSnE

• CBPE Capital, a U.K. midmarket PE firm, raised £714m for its 11th fund. cbpe.com

• Harmony Partners of New York is raising $200m for its sixth flagship VC fund, per an SEC filing.

• K1 Investment Management is targeting $6.25b for its sixth fund, with a $6.5b hard cap, per a public pension disclosure. It focuses on midmarket enterprise software companies.

• Madison Dearborn Partners is targeting $3b for its ninth flagship buyout fund, its smallest in over a decade, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3FFswEG

• Stellex Capital Management is targeting $2.5b for its third flagship fund, per a public pension disclosure.

• Brett Brewer joined Sequence Equity (fka TXV Partners) as a managing partner. He's a founding partner of Crosscut Ventures and the former CEO of MySpace parent Intermix Media. sequenceequity.com

• The Federal Trade Commission named Taylor Hoogendoorn, an associate with Houston law firm Susman Godfrey, as deputy director of competition. axios.link/3FEZuox

• James Gorman, former Morgan Stanley CEO, joined General Atlantic as a strategic adviser. axios.link/4j6zCR8

🚑 Howard Miller, former CEO of Envision Pharma, joined Halifax Group as an operating executive focused on health care. axios.link/4iZsi9K

• Chris Norman is leaving Wells Fargo to join BofA as head of Americas tech M&A, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3FEWx7r

Celia Yan is joining Apollo as a partner, after stepping down as BlackRock's head of Asia-Pacific private credit, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3XxvuBc

• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is joining Pimco's global advisory board. axios.link/3FHKVAR

It's not just sentiment surveys. Businesses may be acting on worries that the volatile policy environment could crimp future activity, Axios' Neil Irwin writes.

• Durable goods orders increased 0.9% overall in February, but new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft — core capital goods — fell 0.3%.
• Analysts had expected the forward-looking indicator of how much equipment businesses are buying to rise 0.2%.