America's AI revolution may have a problem with its data centers. Not because of political pressure tied to electricity prices, but because of private credit freezing up.

Why it matters: The circular nature of AI dealmaking could become a vortex, without an obvious exit ramp.

Catch up quick: The unvirtuous cycle was kicked off at the end of January, when Anthropic released a series of Claude plugins that seemed able to automate legal-tech and other white-collar functions.

• Investors freaked out that this meant the end of software as we know it, sending SaaS stocks tumbling.
• Suddenly there was increased worry about private credit, which for years had helped to finance private equity's software spending spree. More smoke than fire, but it was prompt redemption requests.

State of play: Private credit often limits such redemptions — a stability feature rather than an instability bug — but once-record inflows appear to have slowed.

• And that may be where circularity comes to bite AI in the inference.
• Private credit has been a major financer of data centers. Blue Owl, for example, late last year signed a $30 billion deal with Meta for its planned Hyperion campus in Louisiana.
• Apollo, Blackstone, BlackRock, and TPG are among other private lenders that have participated in data center deals.

The bottom line: Private credit funds may need to stem their lending pace because of how AI cut the value of existing portfolio assets. Including to the sort of data centers that helped AI cut those values in the first place.

The Department of Justice and Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) have settled their antitrust dispute, which had been focused on the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Why it's the BFD: This represents a big green light for U.S. dealmakers, coming just weeks after the Trump administration forced out DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater.

Flashback: DOJ's lawsuit, filed in 2024, accused Live Nation of abusing its monopoly power in live event ticketing.

• The trial began earlier this month.

The bottom line: We don't yet have settlement details, but this most likely means that Live Nation won't need to divest Ticketmaster. Don't expect the decision to be politically popular.

• Nscale, an AI infrastructure hyperscaler, raised $2b in Series C funding at a $14.6b valuation. Aker ASA and 8090 Industries led, joined by Astra Capital Management, Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, Lenovo, Linden Advisors, Nokia, Nvidia, and Point72.

• The London-based company also added ex-Meta execs Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg to its board of directors, plus ex-Yahoo president Susan Decker.

• Isembard, a U.K. manufacturing startup focused on aerospace, defense, and robotics, raised $50m from USV, Tamarack Global, and IQ Capital. axios.link/4bfRird

• Axiomatic AI, a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of verification for engineering-focused AI, raised $18m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Engine Ventures led, joined by Kleiner Perkins, Big Sur Ventures, Global Vision Capital, Propagator Ventures and Liquid 2. axios.link/4rjHQZS

• Augur, a London-based sovereign AI platform for protecting critical national infrastructure, raised $15m. Plural led, joined by First Kind, SNR, Flix and Tiny VC. axios.link/4s6U89e

• Axiom Trust, a wealth custodian, raised $11.8m in pre-seed funding, per Axios Pro. Lightspeed led, joined by Wischoff Ventures, Runa Capital, SNR, Mercury founder Immad Akhund, and Primetime Partners. axios.link/4liRtX3

• Mega, a Brooklyn-based provider of agentic AI marketing for SMBs, raised $11.5m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Goodwater Capital led, joined by a16z and Atreides. axios.link/4bcH2Qp

• Voomi Supply, a Latrobe, Pa.-based B2B ecommerce platform for HVAC, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Asymmetric Capital Partners. axios.link/4lC0ATf

• Coral, an NYC-based instant rebate provider for energy and HVAC upgrades, raised $7.5m, per Axios Pro. ResilienceVC led, joined by Twelve Below, Floating Point, Accion Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, Remarkable Ventures, New Climate Ventures, and Watsco Ventures. axios.link/4be511B

• Mirai Robotics, an Italian developer of dual-use autonomous maritime ops systems, raised $4.2m in pre-seed funding from Primo Ventures, Techshop and 40Jemz Ventures. miraitech.ai

• DiligenceSquared, an M&A diligence platform, raised $5m in seed funding. Relentless led, joined by YC. axios.link/4ripkki

New Mountain Capital has rejected an offer from Matt Holt, the firm's former president of private equity, to buy and merge five portfolio companies focused on health care services, as reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Axios. The deal could have been valued north of $30 billion.

🌍 Ambienta invested in Pieco, an Italian provider of industrial water treatment and recycling solutions. axios.link/4sEAj93

• Coriant, an H.I.G. Capital portfolio company, acquired Control Valve Services, a U.K. provider of control valve maintenance and refurbishment solutions. axios.link/4liS9vz

• CVC Capital Partners may buy a stake in state-owned Belgian bank Belfius, ahead of a possible IPO, per Reuters. axios.link/4cBeRNw

• EQT agreed to buy a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the parent company of private U.K. water company Yorkshire Water. axios.link/3OZbfLh

🚑 Lone Star Funds agreed to buy the capsules and health ingredients unit of Lonza Group (Swiss: LONN), which will retain a 40% position, for around $2.2b upfront plus earnouts. axios.link/4cAI9f9

• Oak Hill Capital agreed to acquire Guild Garage Group, an alliance of garage door repair and replacement businesses, for more than $800m, per Reuters. axios.link/4dazH6o

• ORS Nasco, a Wynnchurch Capital portfolio company, acquired assets of industrial products wholesalers AD Member Supply and Alliance Distribution Partners. axios.link/4rk1ip8

⚡ Saber Power, a Greenbelt Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Bounds Construction, a Tylertown, Miss.-based provider of foundation construction for industrial, utility, and energy infrastructure projects. axios.link/4rD2a8N

🚑 Serent Capital invested in Saisystems, a Shelton, Conn.-based provider of RCM and EHR solutions for physicians in skilled nursing facilities. axios.link/4lfoJyJ

PayPay, a Japanese payments app controlled by SoftBank, is the only company planning a U.S. IPO this week.

• ACP Holdings Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Atlas Credit Partners, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4ugu2C1

• Apogee Acquisition, an advanced tech SPAC led by Jeffrey Smith, filed for a $250m IPO. axios.link/4rud3cY

• Cerebras, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI chipmaker valued by VCs at $22b, picked Morgan Stanley to lead its IPO. The company previously tried to go public last year in an offering led by Citi and Barclays, but withdrew that offering in October. axios.link/46MtppE

🚑 Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A) agreed to acquire Biocare Medical, a Pacheco, Calif.-based maker of cancer research tools and materials, for $950m in cash from Excellere Partners and GHO Capital. axios.link/4bbXqR5

• Austrian Post acquired a 70% stake in Bulgarian logistics firm euShipments from BlackPeak Capital. axios.link/4li8LUt

• Blackstone is prepping a sale of ShyaHsin Packaging, a Chinese packaging firm that could fetch at least $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4rgtTMh

• KKR is seeking to sell CoolIT Systems, a Canadian data center cooling company that could fetch more than $3b, per the FT. axios.link/4d6BHfV

📺 Liberty Strategic Capital, led by Steve Mnuchin, sold nearly an 11% stake in Starz (Nasdaq: STRZ) to Weather Channel owner Byron Allen for $25m. axios.link/3OOoqPj

🐔 PAG is seeking to sell Chinese poultry producer Shandong Fengxiang (dba Fovo Foods), which could fetch $700m-$800m, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4lk18wO

🚑 AtaiBeckley (Nasdaq: ATAI) hired Jefferies and JPMorgan to explore a sale or partnership for its lead psychedelic drug candidate, which is entering Phase 3 trials and could be valued at $2b or more, per Bloomberg. axios.link/47gpeTe

🚑 Servier of France has agreed to buy Brisbane, Calif.-based cancer therapy biotech Day One Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DAWN) for $2.5b in cash. axios.link/3NrxZ6b

• Starboard Value has built a "sizable stake" in Lamb Weston (NYSE: LW), an Idaho-based frozen french fry maker with a $6.4b market casp, per the WSJ. axios.link/46Poe8B

• Zurich Insurance Group (Swiss: ZURN) agreed to buy Generali's (Milan: G) Irish unit (RedClick) for €337m in cash. axios.link/4sCi0kT

• Glade Brook Capital Partners raised $1b for a CV that will acquire assets from the firm's 2021 growth fund. StepStone Group is anchor investor, with BlackRock participating. gladebrookcapital.com

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas promoted Ashley Baum to management committee co-chair. axios.link/4lfokMJ

Oil prices yesterday hit triple digits for the first time since 2022, at one point topping $108 per barrel.

• It's a stark sign of how the Iran war is throttling global supplies and raising consumers' costs, Axios' Ben Geman reports.