Blackstone's pledge to invest $25 billion in data centers and power in Pennsylvania on Tuesday places the company's marker on where AI is going.

Why it matters: It's an outsized bet that tech giants slowing down data center leasing is a blip, and that spending on AI power will grow as it becomes more efficient.

Context: Pundits have shown concern that the explosion of investments on the so-called "picks and shovels" of the space is entering bubble territory.

Between the lines: What Blackstone appears to see as the secret sauce to this particular pledge is the idea of colocation — building the data center alongside the power source, cutting out the cost of building the transmission and pipelines.

• Builders also argue proximity makes it faster to get a data center up and running.
• Per a source familiar, the $25 billion also includes a stake in its joint venture with PPL, the Pennsylvania-based utilities company, which will invest in new natural gas facilities in the state.

Zoom out: Blackstone has invested $85 billion into the space over the last four years, and is clearly not slowing down.

• This $25 billion is committed to projects that will break ground come 2028.

Aura Minerals, a company with gold and copper mines in Mexico, Brazil, and Honduras, raised $196.4 million from its U.S. listing, pricing shares at $24.25.

• Shares will begin trading on Nasdaq this morning. The company already trades in Toronto.

Why it's the BFD: President Trump has announced 50% tariffs on copper, effective Aug. 1, driving up price and volatility for the metal.

Between the lines: Aura's copper production is largely in Latin America, meaning it could take a direct hit from the tariffs.

• Though the company over the last year has been growing its gold production as a percentage of revenue — with the company saying that it believes it's an inflation hedge with more use-cases compared to copper.
• As of 2024, 33% of its revenue sourced from copper-gold concentrate, the rest from gold. That figure was 42% the year prior.
• Aura has an agreement with Trafigura to buy most of its copper through 2027, providing some insurance against the current copper volatility.

The bottom line: The biggest concern is not U.S. copper tariffs alone — but what could happen if reciprocal tariffs are lobbed back.

• Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by OpenAI's former chief technology officer Mira Murati, raised $2b led by Andreessen Horowitz. The deal values it at $12b. axios.link/3IsLhwn

• SpaceX is planning an insider share sale that would value the company at about $400b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/467Ty2L

🚑 OpenEvidence, a Cambridge, Mass.-based AI medical assistant for doctors, raised a $210m Series B round co-led by Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, valuing it at $3.5b. Coatue, Conviction and Thrive also participated. axios.link/40QS4q0

⚡ Gridserve, a British mobile EV charging company, raised £100m in new equity from investors including TPG Rise Climate, Infracapital and Mitsubishi. axios.link/4kI328C

• Bedrock Robotics, an SF-based maker of autonomous heavy machinery, raised $80m in Seed and Series A funding. The Series A was led by 8VC and Seed led by Eclipse. bedrockrobotics.com

• Exein, a Rome-based embedded IoT cybersecurity company, raised €70m in Series C fundign led by Balderton. Supernova, Lakestar, 33N, United Ventures and Partech participated, per Axios Pro. axios.link/44JPlzP

• Eton Solutions, a Morrisville, N.C.-based wealth management platform for family offices, raised $58m in Series C funding led by Navis Capital Partners, per Axios Pro. axios.link/40Xmnvb

• Firestorm Labs, a California-based drone printing company, raised $35m in Series A funding. New Enterprise Associates led and was joined by Washington Harbour Partners, and the venture arms of Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen Hamilton. It also raised $12m in debt. axios.link/46evn2O

• iCounter, a Dallas-based cyber risk intelligence company, raised $30m in Series A funding led by SYN Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/40ipBJB

🚑 Numan, a U.K.-based digital healthtech, raised $30m led by Big Pi Ventures, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, White Star Capital and Novator Partners. axios.link/468OACT

🚑 Fellow Health, a San Leandro, Calif.-based company male reproductive health startup, raised $24m in Series B funding. 5AM Ventures led with participation from The Forest Road Company. axios.link/44TUoxS

🚑 GT Medical Technologies, a Tempe, Ariz.-based medical device company, raised $16m in additional Series D funding. FemHealth Ventures and Warren Point Capital were among the investors. axios.link/455hlzh

• Heron, a New York-based workflow automation company, raised a $16m Series A led by Insight Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, BoxGroup and Flex Capital. herondata.io

• Linkby, a Boston-based performance marketing platform, raised $15m in Series B funding led by Volition Capital. axios.link/4lXh2MF

• Felt, an Oakland, Calif.-based platform for geospatial work, raised $15m in funding led by Energize Capital. BCV and Footwork also participated. felt.com

• FlyGuys, a Lafayette, La.-based reality data capture platform, raised $13m in Series A-1 funding led by the Wonder Fund North Dakota. flyguys.com

• ParadeDB, a maker of search infrastructure, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Craft Ventures with participation from Y Combinator. paradedb.com

• Rwazi, an L.A.-based consumer insight company, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Santa Barbara Venture Partners, Newfund and Alumni Ventures. rwazi.com

• Ordio, an Germany-based automated payroll company, raised €12m in Series A funding. 3VC led with participation from Wecken & Cie., Capnamic and Simon Capital. axios.link/4nPmLpt

• Laka, a London-based sustainable transport insurance company, raised $10.4m in Series B funding. Shift4Good and MS&AD Ventures led with participation from Ponooc, Achmea Innovation Fund, Autotech Ventures, Motive Partners, Creandum, LocalGlobe, 1818 Ventures, and Republic. axios.link/44QtRBB

• Callidus Legal AI, a San Francisco-based litigation workflow company, raised $10m in funding led by Cervin Ventures. axios.link/4nQMQEA

• Little Sesame, a Washington D.C.-based hummus brand, raised $8.5m of Series A funding led by InvestEco Capital. Watchfire Ventures, Santatera Capital and Beliade Consumer Partners also participated. axios.link/3GFpmBM

• Chariot Defense, a South San Francisco-based energy defense tech, raised $8m in seed funding led by General Catalyst and XYZ Venture Capital. axios.link/455Dk9k

• Auriga Space, a Garden Grove, Calif.-based electromagnetic hypersonic launch tech maker, raised $4.6m in seed funding led by OTB Ventures. aurigaspace.com

• Internxt, a Spain-based privacy-focused company, raised €3.3m led by Prosegur Tech Ventures and Andorra Telecom, with participation from Angels Capital. internxt.com

• Opper, an AI infrastructure company, raised $3m in pre-seed funding led by Luminar Ventures, with participation from Emblem Venture Capital, and Greens Capital. axios.link/4kCRX8v

• Paypercut, a Bulgaria-based fintech for SMBs to offer BNPL, raised €2m in pre-seed funding. Concentric led, joined by Passion Capital, RTP Global, Tuesday Capital, Robin Capital, and Angel Invest Ventures. paypercut.co

• Almac, backed by Wise Equity, acquired Italian spider lift producer Easy Lift. axios.link/4kFPdHs

• The Friedkin Group formed Pursuit Sports, a company that will manage its sports groups and seek new opportunities. A.S. Roma, A.S. Cannes, and Everton F.C will enter its portfolio. friedkin.com

• KKR will take a minority stake in ghSmart, a C-suite leadership and advisory firm, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4nSzfNc

• PrecisionX Group, backed by CORE Industrial Partners acquired Hudson Technologies, an Ormond Beach, Fla.-based maker of specialty deep and shallow drawn stamping. axios.link/44W4XR1

🚑 Sellers Dorsey, backed by Consonance Capital, acquired DignifiHealth, a Williamson, W.Va.-based population health data analytics company. axios.link/3INWd7S

• The Sterling Group agreed to acquire Precision Concepts International, a provider of specialty rigid packaging solutions, from ONCAP. axios.link/4lyLFbs

🚑 UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) made a series of secretive stake sales to firms including Warburg Pincus and KKR totaling $3.3b last year, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3GOtq2u

• Watchtower Capital acquired fencing companies Fence Builders, of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Green Hill Fence Company, of upstate South Carolina. watchtowercp.com

• Doorvest, a San Francisco-based real estate investing app, acquired Wreno, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based vendor management platform backed by Lerer Hippeau and Fifth Wall Ventures. axios.link/4lyQ2TZ

• Pronto.ai, a San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle haulage tech developer, acquired SafeAI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based autonomous heavy equipment company backed by Autotech Ventures. axios.link/456k9w4

• Figure Technology Solutions, a startup that makes home loans on the blockchain, plans to go public in the fall, co-founder Mike Cagney said. axios.link/3GJO0Bc

• Klook, a Hong Kong-based travel booking app, is weighing a U.S. IPO that could raise as much as $500m. SoftBank backs the firm. axios.link/3ItGdrH

• Elliott Management has built a stake in Global Payments (NYSE: GPN), the payments business that agreed in April to buy Worldpay for $24.3b. axios.link/3Iu31aU

• Dragoneer is ramping up for its seventh fund. axios.link/3TJO5aZ

• Neuberger Berman closed NB Strategic Co-Investment Partners V with over $2.8b. axios.link/40n9A55

• Pantheon closed Pantheon Credit Opportunities III with $2.2b. Its predecessor raised $590m. axios.link/44MPySW

• Verified Capital, founded by former Coatue Partner Kris Fredrickson, has raised $175m for its debut fund. axios.link/4lZ8dSA

• Partners Group appointed John Sievers as managing director and head of private wealth solutions. axios.link/3GMuMLc

• Terence Lee, a Singapore-based dealmaker for Warburg Pincus, is leaving after four years with the firm. axios.link/4o9dZ67

Amid an improving public market outlook, take-privates are slowing, with 35 in the first half of the year compared to 98 in all of 2024.