Yazılar

AI Startup Cohere Valued at $6.8 Billion in Latest Fundraising, Hires Meta Exec

/in /tarafından

Canadian AI startup Cohere raised $500 million in its latest funding round, pushing its valuation to $6.8 billion as it targets enterprise AI expansion. The round was led by Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital, with participation from AMD Ventures, Nvidia (NVDA.O), PSP Investments, Salesforce Ventures, and other existing investors.

Unlike broad AI models from OpenAI or Meta’s Llama, Cohere focuses on enterprise-specific AI solutions. Co-founder Nick Frosst said the new funding will help the company expand globally, explore different AI modalities—including its recently launched Command Vision model—and continue building secure AI tools for businesses.

Cohere also appointed two senior executives: Joelle Pineau, former VP of AI Research at Meta (META.O), as chief AI officer, and Francois Chadwick, ex-Uber and Shield AI executive, as chief financial officer. Pineau led Meta’s Fundamental AI Research group until May 2025.

Earlier this year, Cohere launched North, a ChatGPT-style tool designed to assist knowledge workers with tasks like document summarization. The company plans to use the funding to develop agentic AI aimed at improving operational efficiency for businesses and government agencies.

The fundraising comes amid a broader surge in AI investment, with private equity firms and Big Tech pouring capital into startups to capture returns from innovative AI technologies.

Hedge Funds Double Down on Big Tech Amid AI Boom

/in /tarafından

Top Wall Street hedge funds, including Bridgewater Associates, Tiger Global Management, and Discovery Capital, increased their exposure to Big Tech stocks in the second quarter, capitalizing on a generational surge in artificial intelligence.

Funds reduced their holdings in lagging sectors such as aerospace, defense, consumer, and retail, returning to momentum investing as tech stocks staged a strong comeback. The S&P 500 (.SPX) is up 10% this year, largely driven by the largest technology companies, which make up nearly a third of the index’s market capitalization.

Outside tech, hedge funds like Lone Pine, Discovery, and Soros Fund Management also added positions in UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), while Berkshire Hathaway unveiled new stakes. UnitedHealth shares are down 46% this year amid rising costs, a DOJ probe, a cyberattack, and the shooting of a former executive.

Quarterly 13F filings revealed these key hedge fund moves:

BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES:

  • Added significantly to Nvidia (NVDA.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O), and Microsoft (MSFT.O).

  • Nvidia stake more than doubled to 7.23 million shares ($1.14B).

  • Alphabet and Microsoft increased by 84.1% and 111.9%, respectively.

  • Added Broadcom (+102.7%) and Palo Alto Networks (+117%).

DISCOVERY CAPITAL:

  • Doubled stake in America Movil (AMXB.MX) to 2.65 million shares ($95M).

  • More than doubled Meta Platforms (META.O) holdings and took a new position in Nvidia-backed CoreWeave (CRWV.O).

  • Increased UnitedHealth stake by 13%.

TIGER GLOBAL MANAGEMENT:

  • Bought more shares in the “Magnificent Seven”: Amazon (AMZN.O), Alphabet, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta.

  • Added ~4M Amazon shares, ending June with 10M shares ($2.34B).

  • Increased stakes in smaller AI-related companies such as Lam Research (LRCX.O).

COATUE MANAGEMENT:

  • Added new positions in Arm Holdings and Oracle (ORCL.N), worth ~$750M and $843M.

  • Increased holdings in Nvidia-backed CoreWeave to 3.39M shares ($2.9B).

LONE PINE CAPITAL:

  • Took a new position in UnitedHealth, buying 1.69M shares worth ~$528M.

These moves illustrate a clear pivot toward technology and AI-driven growth opportunities by major hedge funds in the wake of market volatility and tariff concerns earlier this year.

Foxconn Sees AI Driving Growth as Q2 Profit Exceeds Forecast

/in /tarafından

Foxconn (2317.TW), the world’s largest iPhone assembler, reported second-quarter net profit of T$44.4 billion ($1.48 billion), surpassing the consensus estimate of T$38.8 billion, as strong demand for AI servers helped offset slower growth in smart electronics. The company on Thursday forecast a significant rise in third-quarter revenue, with AI server sales expected to jump more than 170% year-on-year.

Cloud and networking products, including servers, accounted for 41% of Q2 revenue, while smart consumer electronics contributed 35%. CEO Kathy Yang said, “AI has been the primary growth driver so far this year,” but cautioned that “close attention is needed due to the impact of changes in tariffs and exchange rates.”

Foxconn is increasing capital spending by more than 20% in 2025 to expand server production capacity at its facilities in Texas and Wisconsin. The company’s AI business benefits from rising demand as cloud computing giants such as Amazon (AMZN.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), and Google (GOOGL.O) expand AI infrastructure.

Geopolitical uncertainty remains a risk, particularly from U.S.-China trade tensions, although a 90-day tariff truce has been extended. While most iPhones for Apple (AAPL.O) are assembled in China, production for the U.S. market has shifted mainly to India. Foxconn is also building factories in Mexico and Texas to manufacture AI servers for Nvidia (NVDA.O).

In its electric vehicle (EV) operations, Foxconn sold its former Lordstown, Ohio, factory for $375 million but will continue to occupy the site to produce cloud-related products. Initial production of its Model C EV for the U.S. market will take place in Taiwan.

Foxconn shares have risen 8.4% year-to-date, outperforming the broader Taiwan index (.TWII), which gained 5.2%, and closed up 0.5% on Thursday ahead of the earnings release.