Inference Raises $2.3B, OpenAI Delays IPO & Europe's €980M Deep-Tech Week

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Inference Raises $2.3B, OpenAI Delays IPO & Europe's €980M Deep-Tech Week

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(00:00:00) Inference Raises $2.3B, OpenAI Delays IPO & Europe's €980M Deep-Tech Week
(00:00:53) Groq's $650M Survival Story
(00:01:42) OpenAI IPO Pushed to 2027
(00:02:22) SpaceX IPO Cautionary Tale
(00:03:17) Europe's €980M Deep-Tech Push
(00:03:59) Signals to Watch

This episode covers one of the most capital-intensive weeks in AI infrastructure this year. Baseten closes a $1.5B round at a $13B valuation — its fourth raise in eighteen months — backed by Altimeter, Conviction, and Spark Capital. The thesis: AI inference is a standalone infrastructure category, not a bundled cloud feature. Groq adds $650M despite losing its founder to Nvidia months ago, and Upscale AI contributes $190M, putting the inference layer above $2.3B raised in a single week.

OpenAI, meanwhile, is stepping back from its IPO timeline. After a confidential SEC filing and reports of a September listing, the company now targets 2027 at the earliest — and only at a $1 trillion valuation floor. With $21B in net losses in 2025 and SpaceX's high-profile debut flattening near its $150 issue price, OpenAI is watching public market appetite carefully. Chip stocks felt the ripple immediately: Micron down 6%, AMD down 2%, Intel down 3%.

In Europe, Alan closes €480M in a Series G at a €5.5B valuation, and Berlin defense-AI startup Stark raises €500M co-led by Sequoia and Founders Fund. Together they represent nearly €1B in European deep-tech funding in one week — increasingly competitive with US mega-rounds in scale and sector ambition.

The episode closes on two watchpoints: whether inference-layer valuations can survive unit-economics scrutiny against bundled cloud competition, and whether OpenAI's $1 trillion floor holds if public markets stay cautious after SpaceX's muted debut.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

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