President-elect Trump last night announced that venture capitalist David Sacks will serve as the incoming administration's "AI and crypto czar."

Why it matters: Sacks, a member of the PayPal mafia, is suddenly transformed into the VC industry's most influential investor on its most consequential technology.

Behind the scenes: Trump began considering an AI czar role just before Thanksgiving, as Axios scooped, and batted around combining it with a crypto czar role.

• Several names and structures were floated, including others close to Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, with the Sacks offer coalescing over the past few days.

The big picture: Sacks is a serial tech entrepreneur and executive who in 2017 formed Craft Ventures, which mostly focuses on B2B software.

• The firm last year raised $1.3 billion for a pair of new funds, and Sacks has co-founded some of its portfolio companies.
• A Craft Ventures spokesperson says that the "czar" role is advisory, with a similar government classification to DOGE, and will not require Sacks to leave the firm.

Zoom in: Less clear is what Sacks will disclose about Craft's investments and his personal finances, given the obvious potential for conflicts.

• There may not be any statutory requirements, given that this is a novel role, but Sacks would need to volunteer this information if he wants his recommendations to be viewed as credible.

Flashback: Sacks joined me for a conversation at the Axios BFD event in San Francisco this past May, during which we discussed his new AI-enabled workplace chat app, why he no longer thought Trump was "disqualified" from running for president, podcasting, and the regulatory state. Full video here.

The bottom line: Venture funds have invested fortunes into AI, with some foundational model companies raising billions, and almost every VC-backed startup is incorporating AI in some way.

• Future regulation could create rules of the road, making or breaking those bets, and it will be David Sacks with his hands on the wheel.

Covalis Capital submitted a £5 billion bid to take control of British utility Thames Water.

Why it's the BFD: Thames is too important to fail, with millions of Londoners relying on it for water and sewer service, but is so messed up that its pension fund and sovereign wealth fund owners have called it "uninvestable."

• Pick your problem: Aging assets that Thames says could "post a threat to public safety," nearly nearly £19 billion in debt, and regulatory sloth on setting both water prices and investor ROI caps.

Zoom in: Covalis would invest around £1 billion upfront, while the remaining £4 billion would come via asset sales, a subsequent IPO, and debt refinancing.

• The U.K. government also could get board representation, while French utility giant Suez would provide operational advice (but not get equity).
• Castle Water, which bought Thames' non-household water and sewer business in 2016, also submitted an indicative bid.

The bottom line: Thames is on the brink of running out of money, particularly if it can't finalize a £3 billion emergency loan on which the Covalis bid relies. Nationalization, at least temporarily, remains on the table.

🌎 Amp Robotics, a Louisville, Colo., developer of trash-sorting robots and recycling facilities, raised $91m in Series D funding. Congruent Ventures led, and was joined by Liberty Mutual Investments CalSTRS and insiders Sequoia Capital, XN, Blue Earth Capital, Wellington Management, Range Ventures, and Tao Capital Partners. axios.link/4f4aGqI

• Zopa, a British neobank, raised €82m led by A.P. Moller Holding. axios.link/3D5qKLN

• Axiado, a San Jose, Calif.-based AI security platform, raised $60m in Series C funding. Maverick Silicon led, and was joined by Samsung Catalyst Fund, Atreides Management, and Crosslink Capital. axios.link/41gkAT9

🚑 Sollis Health, a N.Y.-based concierge care provider, raised $33m in Series B funding. Foresite Capital led, and was joined by Torch Capital, Montage Ventures, Friedom Partners, Read Capital, and One Eight Capital. axios.link/4ipFViX

• Planet A Foods, a German developer of cocoa-free chocolate alternatives, raised $30m in Series B funding. Burda Principal Investments and Zintinus co-led, and were joined by AgriFoodTech Venture Alliance, Bayern Kapital, Cherry Ventures, Omnes Capital, Tengelmann Ventures, and World Fund. axios.link/3Bsg4pX

• Oxford Flow, a U.K. valve tech startup, raised $25m in Series C funding co-led by BP Ventures and EIP. axios.link/4fXJ6Nq

• Enterpret, a customer feedback insights platform, raised $20.8m in Series A funding. Canaan Partners led, and was joined by Kleiner Perkins, Peak XV Partners, Wing Ventures, and Recall Capital. axios.link/41i27p5

🌎 Spexi, a Canadian drone pilot network for earth imaging, raised US$11.5m in Series A funding led by Blockchange Ventures. axios.link/3OJdq2e

• Ethyca, a New York-based data privacy compliance startup, raised $10m co-led by Aspenwood Ventures and AVP.  axios.link/4f2XEdh

• Nectir, an AI learning assistant for students, raised $6.3m in seed funding. Long Journey Ventures led, and was joined by Entrada Ventures, Precursor Ventures, and Behind Genius Ventures. nectir.io

• Much Better Adventures, a U.K. outdoor travel company, raised £5m from Gresham House Ventures. axios.link/3OIbSp6

• Netacea, a U.K. cybersecurity startup focused on bot attacks, raised £4m from Mercia Asset Management. axios.link/3OK40Du

• Sekai, a storytelling platform, raised $3.1m in seed funding. Hashed led, and was joined by from  a16z CSX, Azuki, Orange DAO, and Zypsy. axios.link/3Zl0DrO

• On Me, an SF-based digital gifting platform, raised $1.7m in pre-seed funding co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Focal.VC. onme.com

• Sandbox Wealth, a New York-based banking solution for non-bank financial institutions, raised $1.25m in pre-seed funding led by NextGen Venture Partners. axios.link/4ipGv07

• CCMP acquired Combined Caterers, an event management and catering services provider in the Carolinas. combinedcaterers.com

• LeaseCrunch, a Milwaukee-based portfolio company of Aquiline Capital Partners, merged with Finagraph, a Bellevue, Wash.-based accounting software startup that raised $7m from such firms as Moody's. axios.link/4gnOGZh

• Mubadala Capital agreed to acquire a 42% stake in U.S. credit firm Silver Rock Financial, which is backed by Michael Milken's family office (which also will invest in Mubadala, representing its first-ever outside equity). axios.link/4goUHF5

• PSG invested $175m into Element451, a Raleigh, N.C.-based higher ed CRM. axios.link/3Zmhfzq

• Vector Capital agreed to buy Bigtincan (ASX: BTH), a Waltham, Mass., provider of enterprise sales enablement software, for A$183m. Bigtincan had previously agreed to merge with a SPAC called Investcorp AI Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: IVCA). axios.link/3VsKgs1  

🚑 Apotea, a Swedish online pharmacy, raised around $150m in its Stockholm IPO and then saw shares surge 46%. axios.link/49tMWez

• eToro, a London-based no-fee trading app, hired Goldman Sachs to lead an eventual U.S. IPO, per Bloomberg. The VC-backed company had planned to go public via SPAC in 2022, but later scrapped the merger. axios.link/3ZlspnX

• DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG) completed its purchase of Simplebet, an in-game wagering startup that had raised funding from such backers as DraftKings, Gaingels, and Anti Fund. axios.link/4g7aQ2G

• HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) agreed to acquire Frame AI, a New York-based customer intelligence platform that had raised around $17m from G20 Ventures, Velvet Sea Ventures, ValueStream Ventures, FirstMark and Greycroft. frame.ai

• Direct Line Insurance Group (LSE: DLG) accepted a sweetened £3.4b takeover bid from rival insurer Aviva (LSE: AV). axios.link/4ip1HTX

• Eos, a lip balm and skin care brand, hired Centerview Partners to help it explore a sale, per Axios Pro.

• Guardian Media Group agreed to sell the Observer, the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, to Tortoise Media, a U.K.-based media startup. Flashback.

• Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) acquired a majority stake in influencer management agency Timeline. axios.link/49o9Xj0

⚡ RWE, a German energy giant, launched a sale process for its €2b minority stake in grid operator Amprion, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3OJdmzw

🚑 Atlas Venture raised $450m for its 14th biotech-focused VC fund. axios.link/3Vob24J

• Fly Ventures of Germany raised €80m for its third fund. axios.link/3OFjAk1

• Sixth Street Partners is raising at least $4b for its sixth opportunities fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3OIS4SD

• Temasek, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, launched a private credit platform with a $7.5b initial portfolio. axios.link/49rFQqQ

• Cary Kochman is stepping down as Citi's head of M&A. axios.link/4f4dmVi

• Go deeper: Trump's gilded administration