AI policy proposals, and even many AI investments, often are rooted in the concept of a "race with China."

• Rarely is there follow-up about what the race course or finish line might look like.

Yesterday, however, I got into some of the particulars during my Axios AI+ Summit conversation with Sriram Krishnan, the longtime tech exec and venture capitalist who now serves as the White House's senior policy advisor for AI.

• Krishnan argues that the "race" is about the entire AI tech stack — chips, models, and applications — and ensuring that most of the world is utilizing the American stack.
• The imperative, he adds, is both about economic dominance and national security.
• In terms of winning, he says, "the metric is market share."

One major complication, of course, is calculating such market share. Krishnan says one way may be to track token inferences, although that's much easier said than done — particularly when trying to measure Chinese stack usage. Consider it to be aspirational.

There's also the issue of U.S. chip exports to China, in which the Trump administration has been somewhat looser than was the Biden administration.

• One argument, made earlier in the afternoon by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, is that selling U.S. chips to China is self-defeating when trying to own stack market share, since they can help improve Chinese models. Even if the chips are older generations.
• Krishnan's counter is that such exports restrict revenue for Chinese companies like Huawei, which retards their technological growth. And it may be an argument that Beijing has taken to heart, given that it just told its own tech giants to stop buying Nvidia chips.

It's also worth noting, however, that the Trump administration's focus on AI market share isn't entirely consistent. Namely, in its requirement that chipmakers like Nvidia give the U.S. government a cut of any export sales to China.

• If Chinese tech companies can build faster with more money, so too could U.S. tech companies — and the White House is quite literally taking cash off their balance sheets.

The bottom line is that White House policy is being viewed through a business and tech optimism lens. Or, put more simply by Krishnan's boss, David Sacks, "let them cook."

• Watch the full video of our conversation, including a discussion of "woke AI."

ABC "indefinitely" suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, following comments he made about Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin.

Why it's the BFD: This reads like an effort to ensure that a major media merger is approved by federal regulators, and that interpretation will reverberate in corporate boardrooms.

Catch up quick: Kimmel on Monday night criticized conservatives over their response to Kirk's killing, including what seems to be an inaccurate suggestion that the killer identified wth the MAGA movement.

• FCC chair Brendan Carr responded by saying, in part: "There are avenues here for the FCC ... We can do this the easy way, or these companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."

Behind the scenes: Nexstar, the country's largest network affiliate group, just hours later said it would stop airing Kimmel's show, with ABC soon after announcing its suspension.

• Nexstar recently agreed to pay $6.2 billion to acquire Tegna, the country's fourth-largest local broadcaster, in a deal that requires FCC approval.
• Sinclair Broadcasting also says it warned ABC that it planned to preempt Kimmel's show, and that it was asking Kimmel to make a "meaningful personal donation" to Kirk's family and his political organization.
• Sinclair recently launched a strategic review of its broadcast business, which could lead to a transaction that requires FCC approval (or a temporary ownership cap waiver).

The bottom line: Kimmel wasn't suspended after his on-air comments. That could have happened on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. He was suspended after Brendan Carr's comments.

• Groq, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI chipmaker, raised $750m at a $6.9b post-money valuation. Disruptive led, joined by BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, Samsung, Cisco, D1, and Altimeter. axios.link/4n7rQZo

• Irregular, an AI security startup, raised $80m led by Sequoia Capital and Redpoint Ventures. axios.link/46buFCX

🚑 Dualitas Therapeutics, a South SF-based developer of antibodies for immune and inflammatory diseases, raised $65m in Series A funding. Versant Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners led, joined by Eli Lilly, Chugai Venture Fund, and Alexandria Venture Investments. axios.link/4mmBZ3o

• Upscale.ai, a Palo Alto-based AI networking startup, raised $100m in seed funding, Mayfield and Maverick Silicon led, joined by StepStone Group, Celesta Capital, Xora, Qualcomm Ventures, Cota Capital, MVP Ventures, and Stanford University. axios.link/4grLDjP

• Macroscope, an understanding engine led by Periscope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour, raised $30m in Series A funding. Lightspeed led, joined by Adverb, Thrive Capital, and Google Ventures. axios.link/4nCzvip

• RegScale, a Tysons Corner, Va.-based continuous controls monitoring startup, raised $30m in Series B funding. Washington Harbour Partners led, joined by M12, Hitachi Ventures, Ankona Capital and insiders SYN Ventures and SineWave Ventures. axios.link/4gqKWaq

• Ultralytics, a London-based vision AI startup, raised $30m in Series A funding. Elephant led, joined by SquareOne. axios.link/3IriXuF

• Aleph, a New York-based provider of planning and analysis automation for finance teams, raised $29m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Khosla Ventures led, joined by Bain Capital Ventures and Picus Capital. axios.link/4gq3WG6

• Markup AI (fka Acrolinx), a provider of content protection for brands, raised $27.5m in Series A funding led by Genui Partners and EMH Partners, per Axios Pro. axios.link/420LONb

• Extend, a provider of spend management software to banks, raised $20m in equity and debt, per Axios Pro. B Capital led the equity tranche, joined by March Capital, Point72 Ventures, FinTech Collective, and Commerce Ventures. axios.link/48lBDGH

🚑 Synthesize Bio, a Seattle-based AI genomics startup, raised $10m in seed funding. Madrona led, joined by Sahsen Ventures, AI2 Incubator, Inner Loop Capital, and Point Field Partners. axios.link/3VTxXEN

⚡XL Batteries, a Marlborough, Mass.-based flow battery maker, raised $7.5m from Merrin Investors. axios.link/420MlyF

🚑 Bio Protocol, a Swiss decentralized science startup, raised $6.9m in seed funding. Maelstrom Fund led, joined by Mechanism Capital, Animoca Brands, and Presto Labs. axios.link/4n804vR

🚑 Trially, a Kansas City-based clinical trial recruitment platform, raised a $4.7m seed. Flyover Capital led, and Alpaca, Atria, Blu Ventures, Looking Glass Capital, Redbud, The Council, and Gaingels participated. axios.link/4gwGt6n

• Keplar, an SF-based market research startup, raised $3.4m in seed funding. Kleiner Perkins led, joined by SV Angel, Common Metal, and South Park Commons. axios.link/46JGkJa

🌎 Terra Oleo, a Singaporean developer of sustainable alternatives to palm oil derivatives and cocoa butter, raised $3.1m led by Breakthrough Energy Discovery. terraoleo.com

• BusCaro, a Pakistani commuter tech startup, raised $2m led by Daman Investments. axios.link/3VlZWgc

🌎 Finally Foods, an Israeli molecular farming startup making dairy proteins in potatoes, raised $1.2m led by CBC Group. axios.link/3ItJibw

⚡ Adnoc, ADQ and Carlyle pulled their US$18.7b offer to buy Australian oil and gas giant Santos (ASX: STO). BFD flashback

🚑 Arlington Capital Partners acquired Team Tech, a Morristown, Tenn.-based contract manufacturer for health care, from Clearlake Capital Group. axios.link/41WCGJk

🚑 Blackstone and TPG revived interest in buying med-tech firm Hologic (Nasdaq: HOLX), which has a $15b market cap, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3VScLir

⚡ EQT completed its purchase of a majority stake in Waga Energy, a French biomethane producer. BFD flashback.

• FitzMark, a portfolio company of Calera Capital, acquired Hometown Logistics, an Indianapolis-based non-asset freight brokerage. axios.link/46aDay7

⚡ I Squared Capital agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in Entek, a Lebanon, Ore.-based maker of battery separators. axios.link/47Hyzoe

• Informativ, a Capstreet portfolio company, acquired Carmatic, a Deerfield, Ill.-based digital payments platform for car dealers. axios.link/487r8Hh

🚑 Keensight Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in Isto Biologics, a Hopkinton, Mass.-based maker of orthobiologic products, from Thompson Street Capital Partners for $1b. axios.link/4pqaZ5E

• L Catterton agreed to invest in Japanese furniture seller Seki Furniture. axios.link/47TzWQV

• Levine Leichtman Capital Partners acquired a majority interest in Entro Service, a German provider of testing, inspection, repair, and installation services. axios.link/3Kt8lfm

• PSG Equity invested in Emotion Mobility, a provider of fleet and mobility SaaS. axios.link/46sOa8T

• RedBird IMI no longer will bid for a stake in ITV's (LSE ITV) studio arm, per the FT. axios.link/3VSJLqL

• The Riverside Co. invested in Accurate Fire Equipment, a New York-based provier of fire and life safety solutions. axios.link/3K0GTpr

• EQT is weighing an IPO for Morristown, N.J.-based waste management company Reworld, which could raise at least $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/46rxcHQ

• It's also considering options for school bus operator First Student, which could include an IPO.

• Netskope, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based cloud security provider, raised $908m in its IPO. It priced at the top of its upwardly revised range, for a $9b fully diluted value, and will list on the Nasdaq (NTSK). Major shareholders include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Iconiq, and Accel. axios.link/42ov1Uk

• Yuanxiang Acquisition, a China-focused SPAC, filed for a $100m IPO. axios.link/42AgnJA

• Heartland Food Products Group agreed to buy weight management products maker SlimFast U.S. from Ireland's Glanbia (Dublin: GL9). axios.link/3KedesJ

• Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) agreed to buy Inigo, a Lloyd's specialty insurer, for $1.7b. axios.link/3VpR09D

🚑 Roche (SIX: RO) agreed to acquire 89bio, (Nasdaq: ETNB), an SF-based biotech focused on liver and cardiometabolic diseases, for up to $3.5b. axios.link/46aFkxD

Intel shares surged at today's open, on news that Nvidia will invest $5 billion into the chipmaker, as part of a broader strategic agreement.

• Or, put another way, a major deal for America's AI tech stack.