The White House and Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot, are in a war of words over AI regulation.

Why it matters: AI may be the century's most consequential technology, possibly even determining the geopolitical order, and rules are (or aren't) being written right now.

• Anthropic recently was valued by VCs at $183 billion, making it the world's fourth-most valuable startup.

Catch up quick: Jack Clark, Anthropic's cofounder and policy head, on Monday shared a short essay titled "Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear."

• It argues that too many people are pretending that AI cannot threaten humanity, and that we need to acknowledge a different reality before figuring out how to "tame it and live together."
• David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and White House AI czar, responded by claiming that "Anthropic is running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering."

Behind the scenes: The fight is as much about state-level regulations as it is federal ones.

• The White House supported a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI laws, proposed as part of the Big Beautiful Bill negotiations, arguing that 50 different rules in 50 different states would slow innovation.
• Anthropic called the moratorium "too blunt" and, after it failed to become law, endorsed a major piece of AI legislation in California.

Zoom out: Both sides support some sort of federal policy, although Sacks' driving philosophy so far has been to unwind federal safety work and "let them cook."

A big question for the White House is if he's being hypocritical when accusing Anthropic of "regulatory capture" — given that Sacks and others on the White House AI policy team hail from monied tech interests in Silicon Valley.

A big question for Anthropic is if it's being hypocritical when it expresses "appropriate fear" while spending (and raising) billions for the sake of AI advancement.

The bottom line: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has been noticeably absent from several White House tech events — ceding that ground to rivals like OpenAI.

• His company's regulatory efforts may help it recruit other safety-first researchers, but it won't help Anthropic gain traction in Trump's D.C.

Blackstone has launched a defined contribution business unit, just months after President Trump issued an executive order to encourage 401(k) investment in private equity.

Why it's the BFD: One of private equity's biggest names, and balance sheets, is preparing to capitalize on the industry's controversial expansion into retirement accounts.

• It previously had announced a partnership with Wellington Management and 401(k) giant Vanguard to develop products that blend public and private assets.

Zoom in: The new group will be led by Heather von Zuben, a Goldman Sachs vet who most recently was head of perpetual capital solutions in Blackstone's credit and insurance group. Its chair will be Tom Nides, the longtime Morgan Stanley exec who was U.S. ambassador to Israel between 2021 and 2023.

The bottom line: Americans hold around $13 trillion in defined-contribution plans, including $9.3 trillion in 401(k) plans.

• Zepto, an Indian grocery delivery company, raised $450m at a $7b valuation from CalPERS, Goodwater Capital, and General Catalyst. axios.link/3KQBjpX

• Vantaca, a Wilmington, N.C.-based provider of housing association management software, raised more than $300m at a $1.25b valuation. Cove Hill Partners led, joined by JMI Equity. axios.link/3KO3INr

🚑 HistoSonics, a Minneapolis-based histotripsy therapy platform, raised $250m from Thiel Bio, Founders Fund and existing majority owners K5 Global, Bezos Expeditions, and Wellington Management, axios.link/46WE4P2

🚑 Kardigan, a South SF-based cardiovascular drug developer, raised $254m in Series B funding from Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Arch Venture Partners, and Sequoia Heritage. axios.link/47epGAB

• Upgrade, a consumer lender led by ex-Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche, raised $165m in Series G funding at a $7.3b pre-money valuaution. Neuberger Berman led, joined by LuminArx and insiders DST Global and Ribbit Capital. axios.link/3Jey9f5

🚑 Adcytherix, a French developer of ADCs, raised €105m in Series A funding from Andera Partners, Angelini Ventures, Bpifrance, Kurma Partners, Surveyor Capital, aMoon, Pontifax, DawnBiopharma, Pureos Bioventures, and RA Capital. axios.link/470F1o8

• Kuku, an Indian storytelling platform, raised $85m at a $500m valuation. Granite Asia led, joined by Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, IFC, Paramark, Tribe Capital India, and Bitkraft. axios.link/48tZm7X

• Reducto, an SF-based document intelligence startup, raised $75m in Series B funding. A16z led, joined by Benchmark, First Round Capital, BoxGroup, and YC. axios.link/3KPSWGs

• Campfire, an SF-based ERP for finance teams, raised $65m in Series B funding. Accel and Ribbit Capital led, joined by Foundation Capital and YC. axios.link/475YiVh

• Starship Technologies, an SF-based autonomous delivery startup, raised $50m in Series C funding. Plural led, joined by Karma.vc, Latitude, Coefficient Capital, SmartCap and Skaala joined. axios.link/4nr3h9v

• Stand, an insurer of "catastrophe-exposed properties," raised $35m in Series B funding. Eclipse led, joined by insiders Inspired Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, and Equal Ventures. axios.link/3KQN3c1

• Viven, an SF-based digital twin platform, raised $35m in seed funding from Khosla Ventures, Foundation Capital, FPV Ventures, and Operator Collective.. axios.link/4oq2xSQ

⚡️ Prisma Photonics, an Israeli infrastructure monitoring platform, raised $30m. Protego Ventures led, joined by Adara Ventures, Insight Partners, Chione Switzerland, and SE Ventures. axios.link/477ADDZ

🚑 Brook AI, a Seattle-based remote care platform, raised $25m in Series B funding led by UMass Memorial Health and Morningside. axios.link/3KSB4uE

• Jack&Jill AI, a London-based recruitment startup, raised $20m in seed funding. Creandum led, joined by Ada Ventures. axios.link/3Jer1iQ

• MatrixSpace, a Burlington, Mass.-based drone detection startup, raised $20m in Series B funding. The Raptor Group and OTB Ventures led, joined by L3Harris. axios.link/3JcISGY

• Upciti, a Paris-based dashboard for cities, raised $20m in Series A funding. Notion Capital led, joined by Point Nine and Chalfen Ventures. axios.link/4he4SOk

🚑 Weave Bio, a provider of software for automating drugmakers' regulatory paperwork, raised $20m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. USVP led, joined by Innovation Endeavors, Magnetic Ventures, Character and TMV. axios.link/3IQ8V6N

🚀 HyImpulse, a German microlauncher startup, raised €15m in Series A funding led by Campus Founders Ventures. It also secured €30m in public funding. axios.link/49cwUrg

🚑 OutcomesAI, a Boston-based provider of virtual nursing tools, raised $10m in seed funding led by Santé Ventures. axios.link/42Kb8aB

• Ego AI, a developer of AI characters, raised $6.7m in seed funding from Patron, YC, Accel, and Boost VC. axios.link/4okGwEG

• Matters AI, a data security startup, raised $6.3m from Kalaari Capital, Endiya Partners, Better Capital and Carya Venture Partners. axios.link/4ok6A2K

• Woz, an AI app builder, raised $6m in seed funding. Cervin Ventures led, joined by Burst Capital, YC, Untapped Ventures, MGV, and the Lacob Family. axios.link/47xCJ0n

⚡️ Bees & Bears, an embedded finance startup focused on clean energy tech, raised €5m in seed funding from Extantia Capital and Contrarian Ventures. axios.link/4o1UUlS

🌎 Sonic Fire Tech, a Rocky River, Ohio-based fire suppression startup, raised $3.5m from Khosla Ventures and Third Sphere. axios.link/3KO3W7f

🚑 IO Health Technologies, a Pasadena, Calif.-based health documentation company, raised $2m in seed funding led by Nina Capital. axios.link/47xCK4r

• Active Thermal Solutions, backed by LDR Partners, acquired D&B Heat Transfer Products, a Michigan-based provider of radiator and heat-exchanger services. axios.link/4qb3S1h

🚑 Archimed bought DermaPharm, a Danish maker of skin-care products. axios.link/4q8Dzcp

• Boyu Capital and Carlyle are the leading bidders for a majority stake in Starbucks' (Nasdaq: SBUX) China business, per the FT. axios.link/42JdJ4F

• Chobani, the Greek yogurt maker, raised $650m at a $20b valuation, per NY Times DealBook. axios.link/47qWpDX

🚑 GTCR invested $200m for a minority stake in Solmetex, a Northborough, Mass.-based provider of dental products to practices. axios.link/3KSHJVs

• Learning Pool, a Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company, acquired WorkRamp, an SF-based employee learning management system that had raised around $67m from VC firms like OMERS Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Susa Ventures, and Bow Capital. axios.link/4nSA6Nh

• Oakley Capital acquired NOX, a premium padel equipment brand, from GPF Partners (which retains a minority stake). axios.link/3W7DY0Q

• Oakley also invested in ONHC, an Italian health-care insurance services firm.

🚑 Permira and Nordic Capital increased their buyout offer for vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic (CSE: BAVA) by 7.3%, but the sweetened bid was rejected by BN's top shareholder. axios.link/4quseDJ

• Saothair Capital Partners acquired GatesAir, a Mason, Ohio-based maker of over-the-air content delivery and public safety communications equipment. axios.link/4n6w3M6

⚡️Quinbrook acquired a majority stake in Canada's Elemental Clean Fuels. axios.link/477dEce

• Beta Technologies, a South Burlington, Vt.-based maker of electric aircraft, set IPO terms to 25m shares at $27-$33. It would have a $7.2b fully diluted value, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (BETA). The company recently raised $300m from GE Aerospace. Other backers include TPG Rise. axios.link/4nWuAcK

• Bleichroeder Acquisition II, a SPAC led by Andrew Gundlach, filed for a $250m IPO. axios.link/4qbIQzJ

🚑 EssilorLuxottica (Paris: EL) acquired RetinAI, an eyecare data workflow startup that had raised over $16m from firms like Sanoptis, Topcon Healthcare Solutions, Verve Ventures and Zürcher Kantonalbank. axios.link/3J8XfvN

• Mammoth, a VC-backed consumer brands group whose names include Harry's razors, acquired premium diapers brand Coterie, whose backers included American Pacific Group, Scoop Ventures, and Align Ventures. The NY Times DealBook reports the deal value could exceed $1b.

• S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) agreed to acquire With Intelligence, a London-based asset management data company, for $1.8b in cash, from Motive Partners and Partners Group. axios.link/48xsLOt

• Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) agreed to sell 138 branches in 11 states to First Citizens (Nasdaq: FCNCA), representing $5.7b in deposits and $1.1b in loans. axios.link/4qeoUMA

• Estée Lauder (NYSE: EL) is looking to sell cosmetics brand Too Faced, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3WHcbEA

• Kraken, valued by VCs at $15b, acquired Chicago-based futures exchange Small Exchange from IG Group (LSE: IGG) for $100m. axios.link/47bJjcu

• Orange (Paris: ORA) is seeking to raise €400 million via a stake sale in some French data centers, per Bloomberg. axios.link/46U8Gkk

• Ardian raised $20b for its fifth infrastructure fund, which mostly focuses on Europe. axios.link/46TdUwD

• Luis Cabrera joined Bregal as a managing partner and head of secondaries. He previously was with GCM Grosvenor. axios.link/47f4hYd

• Eiji Ueda, former chief investment officer of Japan's government pension fund, joined Apollo as head of Asia-Pacific. He succeeds Matt Michelini, who will remain with Apollo. axios.link/4n3uX3P