ElevenLabs hits $6.6B valuation in tender offer • Stephen Van Tran

Today’s venture capital landscape sees major AI companies securing record valuations and strategic partnerships. ElevenLabs doubles its valuation in a tender offer while Cognition AI joins the decacorn club. European chipmaker ASML makes a bold move into AI by becoming Mistral AI’s largest shareholder, signaling Europe’s push for AI sovereignty.

ElevenLabs Staff Tender Offer at $6.6B Valuation

ElevenLabs is offering employees a $100M tender sale at a $6.6 billion valuation, exactly double its January valuation of $3.3B when it raised $180M. Sequoia Capital and Iconiq Growth are leading the deal, with Andreessen Horowitz and others participating to increase their stakes. CEO Mati Staniszewski revealed revenue jumped from $100M ARR in October 2024 to $200M within 10 months, targeting $300M ARR by year-end, while headcount exploded from 77 to 331 employees in just one year.

Cognition AI Reaches $10.2B Valuation

Cognition AI, the San Francisco startup behind the coding agent Devin, has raised $400 million at a $10.2 billion valuation, up from $4 billion earlier this year. The Series B round was led by Founders Fund, with participation from Lux Capital, 8VC, Elad Gil, Definition Capital, and Swish Ventures. The company’s rapid valuation growth reflects intense investor interest in AI coding assistants and autonomous development tools.

ASML Becomes Mistral AI’s Top Shareholder

Dutch chipmaker ASML is investing €1.3 billion into French AI startup Mistral AI, leading a larger funding round and becoming the company’s biggest shareholder with a new board seat. The partnership aims to reduce the European Union’s dependence on AI models from the United States and China, securing the region’s digital sovereignty. This strategic investment connects ASML, the exclusive supplier of EUV lithography systems for chip manufacturing, with Mistral AI, Europe’s primary competitor to US tech giants.

Sam Altman posted concerns that it’s becoming impossible to distinguish between human and bot posts on Reddit and X, after noticing waves of pro-Codex posts on r/Claudecode. He argued that humans now mimic “LLM-speak,” engagement incentives drive fake-seeming behavior, and some posts may be competitor-funded astroturfing. Altman concluded that AI Twitter and Reddit “feel very fake” compared to a year ago, highlighting how LLMs and bots are fundamentally reshaping online conversations.

Anthropic Backs California’s AI Safety Bill

Anthropic has endorsed SB 53, a California bill requiring major AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI to publish safety frameworks and risk reports before deploying powerful models. The bill targets catastrophic risks like AI misuse for cyberattacks or bioweapons and includes whistleblower protections, though third-party audit requirements were dropped after industry pushback. While OpenAI and investors warn state-level rules could stifle innovation, Anthropic argues AI governance can’t wait for federal action, calling SB 53 a “solid blueprint” for near-term regulation.

SpaceX Acquires EchoStar Spectrum for $17B

SpaceX is acquiring EchoStar’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses for $17 billion, split evenly between cash and company stock for its satellite network. The newly acquired spectrum enables SpaceX to develop its “Direct to Cell” service, providing broadband-speed internet and optimized 5G protocols directly to mobile phones worldwide. This sale follows an FCC inquiry into EchoStar’s spectrum holdings, reportedly after personal encouragement from President Trump and public pressure from SpaceX.

OpenAI Backs $30M AI-Generated Film

OpenAI is backing “Critterz,” a $30 million animated film created with Vertigo Films, aiming to complete the entire project in just nine months to demonstrate its generative AI tools. The production uses a hybrid model combining DALL-E for concept art, the Sora model for video generation, and GPT-5 for other tasks, all guided by human writers and artists. This strategic case study aims to win over a skeptical Hollywood industry currently engaged in major copyright infringement lawsuits against AI developers.

Intel Leadership Exodus Continues

Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel’s chief executive of products, is leaving after more than 30 years, though she will stay on as a strategic adviser. Intel created a new central engineering group led by Srini Iyengar from Cadence to build custom silicon for external customers, while adding ex-ARM exec Kevok Kechichian to head its data center unit. CEO Lip-Bu Tan continues overhauling Intel’s leadership since taking charge in March, reorganizing around foundry growth and custom chipmaking amid tighter U.S. government oversight.

The venture capital ecosystem continues its rapid evolution with AI companies commanding unprecedented valuations and established tech giants making strategic bets on emerging technologies. As regulatory frameworks begin taking shape and international competition intensifies, the next few months will prove critical for determining market leaders in the AI revolution.