Featured image by Thanasis/Getty Images SambaNova, a startup developing AI chips designed to power large language models, has raised a $350 million Series E round. It’s the latest mega-deal for a semiconductor startup and the surest sign yet of investor confidence that there’s room in the market beyond established players, namely Nvidia. As the AI boom has matured beyond the initial development of large language models, chip companies — and investors — are turning their focus to technologies bet

SAN JOSE, Calif., February 24, 2026--SambaNova today introduced their SN50 AI chip, which boasts a max speed that’s 5X faster than competitive chips. The company also announced a planned collaboration with Intel to deliver high‑performance, cost‑efficient AI inference solutions, and more than $350M in investment from new and existing investors.

From contacts to denial by big font, the real battleground of getting older is admitting we can’t see any more In the middle of my 20s, there was a fierce baldness debate, just among the men: if one went bald, did it make them all look old? And if so, did that create a moral onus upon the first bald man to take Regaine? It was so contested that considerations like: “are we absolutely sure Regaine works, and if it does, why is anybody bald?” became secondary, the way all the practical questions of Brexit melted away, once one person, one time, said the word “sovereignty”. I can’t remember how baldgate ended because, sooner or later, give or take 25 years, everyone was bald, except for the ones who most definitely were not. Now in our 50s, the battleground is reading glasses: everyone has a subtly but importantly different version of the etiquette. One friend hates it when you never quite take them off, and just slide them to the top of your head, because she thinks it’s beyond physical laziness: the beginning of entropy, like eating with your hands, weeing in a sink. I love wearing my glasses on my head, because then I either know where they are, or forget where they are, and am wearing a pair on my face as well, win-win. But I hate it when people wear them round their neck on a chain, because I take it as shorthand for my adornment days are over. From now on, anything I hang off myself will be strictly utilitarian, and soon I will get a hammer and a big bunch of keys and a miniature spirit level, and I’ll be ready for absolutely anything except the high life. Continue reading...

A former Soviet military facility offers an unlikely respite – before its patients return, too quickly, to the frontline Ksenia Savoskina directed the Guardian documentary No Time to Heal , which follows the psychological rehabilitation of a Ukrainian soldier after three years in Russian captivity Imagine a place hidden deep in a pine forest, with small lakes and ponies. Far from the noisy city. In the middle of it there is a modernist Soviet building with marble walls. Walls that have heard so many stories of suffering, loss and death. This place was built in 1974 as a secret sanatorium for the ministers of Soviet Ukraine. Later it hosted soldiers returning from the 1979-89 Afghan-Soviet war . Then, from 2014, those coming back from the war in eastern Ukraine. And now, soldiers from every part of the Ukrainian front. Ksenia Savoskina is a Ukrainian film-maker and the director of No Time to Heal Continue reading...

In Milan, athletes showed that patriotism can be generous. In Los Angeles, that definition will be tested on the biggest, loudest stage sport can offer The Milano Cortina Winter Games ended on Sunday night as the Olympics always do: in light, spectacle and speeches about unity. In Verona, the Olympic flag passed to the French Alps and the twin flames were extinguished. But unofficially, at least, a flame also flickered 6,000 miles west. If these Games felt political, just wait until Los Angeles a little more than two years from now. Continue reading...

Apple Inc. on Tuesday said it will start building Mac mini desktop computers in Houston later this year, part of a push to do more manufacturing in the US. The company said the assembly would take place at the same site where it last year began producing servers for use in data centers to power its artificial intelligence features. As part of the latest announcement, the company said AI server production would also expand and that it’ll open a 20,000-square-foot facility for manufacturing training. Today, Apple builds the vast majority of its Mac computers in Asia, including at facilities in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. But it has long built the Mac Pro, its lowest-volume Mac that it has discussed phasing out , at a facility in Austin, Texas. That program has been plagued with issues since the first Made in America Mac Pro launched in 2013. The Mac mini is still one of Apple’s lower-volume products, trailing more popular computers like the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac. But the Mac mini, which starts at $599, has seen newfound relevancy in recent weeks with users snapping them up to run AI software. Apple is working on a refreshed model for this year with a new chip, Bloomberg News has reported. Read More: Apple Expands 18-Year-Old iPhone Glass Deal in Bid to Avoid Trump Tariffs In the case of the Mac Pro, Apple has produced models for the US market in Texas and versions for other markets in Asia. That strategy is expected to continue for the Mac mini. The company doesn’t produce any of its high-volume products, including the iPhone and iPad, in the US, though its glass partner Corning Inc. now builds iPhone display components locally. The latest move comes as part of a $600 billion US investment that Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook discussed in a public Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump last year. During the meeting, Cook famously presented Trump with a gold bar and a circular piece of glass that were built in the US. “Apple is deeply c...

Dutch chipmaker Axelera AI raised more than $250 million from investors including BlackRock Inc. to make power-efficient semiconductors that are designed to run artificial intelligence models after they’ve been trained. The round, which confirms a Bloomberg report last year, was led by European venture capital fund Innovation Industries , Axelera said in a statement Tuesday. It included participation from existing investors like Samsung Catalyst and new ones like BlackRock. Axelera AI makes chips for inference, the process of running AI models in real-world applications. While much inference still takes place in the cloud, it can also be deployed locally on devices such as phones or security cameras. The firm’s chips are designed for such “edge” applications, which aim to reduce reliance on large data centers powered by GPUs such as those made by Nvidia Corp. While Nvidia’s chips are still the dominant products for training and running AI models, the inference market is expanding rapidly as companies monetize their AI investments. Read More: AI Chip Startups Dream of Taking On Nvidia: Tech In Depth Last year, Nvidia reached a licensing deal with AI startup Groq, which produces low-latency chips similar to the ones Axelera focuses on. Nevada-based startup Positron, which makes AI chips for inference, this month raised $230 million in a funding round. Axelera has “a large pipeline of opportunities that require investments and this pipeline is increasing,” Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Del Maffeo said in an interview with Bloomberg. Customers are looking for more accessible compute, efficiency and a way to reduce spending on costly AI infrastructure, he added. Axelera is headquartered in the Netherlands’s Eindhoven region, which is also home to chip machine giant ASML Holding NV , Europe’s most valuable company. Inference can run on a decentralized chip architecture that’s less power hungry, Del Maffeo said. The intensive energy requirements of the large data center...

Exxon Mobil Corp. is betting the economic boom unleashed by its giant discovery in Guyana will give the company an edge when negotiating fiscal terms with other nations looking to develop their own oil and gas reserves. The US supermajor says the breakneck production growth in the South American country shows Exxon can build oil projects faster and more efficiently than its competitors. It’s a “unique value proposition” that will ultimately make more money for countries — and Exxon, Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said in an interview. “We’re going to bring something unique to you that has great value to you, and then we expect to be compensated for that,” Woods said. “That’s the proposition that we’re making to basically all the resource owners and our customers.” The world’s largest energy companies are locked in a global race to secure new resources as investor concerns shift from climate change to the longevity of their oil and gas reserves. Chevron Corp. is reviving exploration efforts while Shell Plc and BP Plc are pivoting back to fossil fuels after their ventures into lower-carbon energy fell flat. But Exxon believes its unwaivering faith in oil and gas combined with its ability to build complex projects on time and on budget is a competitive advantage. “We can see that in Guyana,” Woods said. “In all the things where we’re executing, where we’re the operator, that we’re delivering differentiated results. Importantly, our industry peers can see it, and the resource owners can see it.” Guyana produces nearly 1 million barrels a day — more than neighboring Venezuela — up from nothing just over six years ago. It has transformed the formerly impoverished South American country into one with a sovereign wealth fund worth $3 billion and growing. The boom is not without its problems — citizens worry about the government’s dependence on Exxon, inflation and potential environmental liabilities — but it has also created one of the fastest-growing economies in the...

Archer Meat Snacks secured a credit facility for nearly $100 million from JPMorgan Chase & Co ., allowing it to ramp up production as demand surges for its high-protein snacks — particularly among women. Archer Chief Executive Officer Eugene Kang said the loan agreement will help the Los Angeles-based company accelerate its growth as demand for meat sticks and jerky surges. It will use the proceeds to buy “state-of-the-art” machinery for its new production facility in California, which opened in November. The company, which is privately held and sells beef sticks as well as jerky made from beef, turkey and bison, expects retail sales to surpass $500 million this year, Kang said. This follows 36% sales growth in 2025. “One of the most compelling trends is the growth we’re seeing among women, particularly moms, who are adopting meat snacks as an everyday staple for school lunches, work snacks, after-school fuel,” Kang said in an email. He said the shift “from specialty to pantry staple” is reshaping the category. Meat snacks, which Bank of America says is a nearly $5.5 billion industry, are booming as consumers look for high-protein options with shorter ingredient lists. They accounted for 7% of salty snacks sales last year, with annual growth of 6.6%, according to the Bank of America report released this month. “Meat snacks are a rare growth driver in packaged food, fueled by demand for protein and convenience,” analyst Peter Galbo said in the note. He said Archer, privately-held Chomps and Fatty, whose parent company was acquired by Conagra Brands Inc. in 2024, were gaining the most market share. Conagra also owns the Slim Jim brand. Although men used to buy most meat snacks, that’s no longer the case. Around 70% of Chomps consumers are female and a third are kids, according to Bank of America. About 57% of Archer Meat Snack consumers are women, compared to 52% for the broad meat snack category, according to a Boston Consulting Group consumer survey from December. K...

SambaNova raises $350M with Intel backing theregister.com

Intel-Backed SambaNova Raises Cash, Touts SoftBank Chip Contract Bloomberg

SambaNova Unveils Fastest Chip for Agentic AI, Collaborates with Intel, and Raises $350M+ Business Wire

The co-author of a report musing about artificial intelligence disrupting a host of businesses says he was betting those companies would go down in value.

laddawan punna/iStock via Getty Images Dave Goodson Portfolio Manager Jonathan Abshire, CFA Portfolio Manager Strategy overview Invests in fixed income sectors collateralized by distinct asset types: commercial real estate (CMBS), residential housing (RMBS), nonmortgage assets (ABS) and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). Portfolio review The fourth quarter of 2025 opened against an unusually opaque macro backdrop as the U.S. government shutdown stretched to a record 35 days, halting the flow of key economic data and adding friction to an already uncertain environment. Investors and policymakers implications of aggressive corporate spending on AI and data-center infrastructure. Although anxiety as early-quarter volatility spiked across risk assets. When official data finally resumed, it confirmed a cooling labor market October payrolls fell by more than 100,000 jobs and November added only 64,000 with most weakness tied to government layoffs but with private-sector momentum clearly slowing. Inflation remained elevated but stable, giving the U.S. Federal Reserve enough cover to cut rates twice during the quarter, extending the easing cycle that began in 3Q25. The resulting shift lower in rate volatility and a slightly steeper curve helped stabilize sentiment into year end, allowing major markets to recover and finish near all-time highs. Against this backdrop, securitized markets delivered broadly positive results, with spread sectors generally outperforming and benefiting from resilient fundamental factors. Agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) was the standout performer within the securitized index, generating sector-leading total and excess returns as lower rate volatility, a friendlier policy backdrop, and December's “QE-light” announcement drove spreads materially tighter. That strength created a major headwind for our strategy's relative performance, given our lack of exposure. Outside the agency complex, issuance was unseasonably heavy across asset-backe...

Corning Incorporated has successfully transformed into a critical infrastructure provider for the generative AI economy by supplying essential optical fiber.

Exiled Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had fled to Italy translated Hebrew bible into their common language In 1553, a community of exiled Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had found refuge and patronage in the northern Italian city of Ferrara did something that would have been unthinkable, and very possibly fatal, in their former homelands. They printed their own Hebrew bible in Spanish. Continue reading...

Forget fear of public speaking. A lot of people now shy away completely from speaking to anyone in public. But if we learn to do this it’s enriching, for ourselves and society It started with two incidents on the same day. In a fairly empty train carriage, a stranger in her 70s approached me: “Do you mind if I sit here? Or did you want to be alone with your thoughts?” I weighed it up for a split second, conscious that I was, in effect, agreeing to a conversation: “No, of course I don’t mind. Sit down.” She turned out to be an agreeable, kind woman who had had a difficult day. I didn’t have to say much: “I’m sorry to hear that.” “That’s tough for you.” She occasionally asked me questions about myself, which I dodged politely. I could tell she was only asking so the conversation would not be so one-sided. Some moments are for listening, not sharing. I sensed, without needing to know explicitly, that she was probably returning to an empty house and wanted to process the day out loud. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, as I knew I could duck out at any moment by saying I needed to get back to my phone messages. But instead we talked – or, rather, I listened – for most of the 50-minute journey. I registered that it was an unusual occurrence, this connection, but thought little more of it. A small part of me was glad this kind of thing still happens. Continue reading...

格隆汇2月24日｜据微软官方博客，微软主权云将新增治理与生产力功能，以支持大型AI模型完全断网安全运行。

南向資金追蹤｜淨買入約31億港元 加倉美團及小米流出泡泡瑪特 富途牛牛

南向資金追蹤｜淨買入約31億港元 加倉美團及小米流出泡泡瑪特 富途牛牛

格隆汇2月24日｜英国投资者正等待英国央行货币政策委员会成员格林、泰勒、皮尔以及行长贝利今晚向议会财政委员会发表证词。加拿大皇家银行资本市场策略师在一份报告中表示，市场将密切关注贝利的言论，以寻找英国央行降息路径的线索，因为他是委员会中关键的摇摆票。此次证词发表之际，英国近期疲软的就业数据出炉后，下月降息的可能性正在增加。伦敦证券交易所集团的数据显示，市场预计英国央行在2026年将进行两次幅度为25个基点的降息，3月份降息的概率为76%。

格隆汇2月24日｜据伊朗国家电视台，伊朗革命卫队在该国南部海岸举行军事演习。

Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 9,497 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG MarketBeat

3,596 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Purchased by Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. MarketBeat

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Sells 35,360 Shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated $QCOM MarketBeat

(RTTNews) - Tech major Apple Inc. plans to move some production of its Mac Mini desktop computer to the U.S. from Asia as part of its efforts to reshore parts of its vast supply chain, The Wall Street Journal reported quoting Sabih Khan, Apple's chief operating officer.