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a16z raises $1.1 billion for a new fund: focusing on the construction of a full set of infrastructure for AI operations

Silicon Valley's renowned venture capital firm a16z has announced that it has raised $1.1 billion for its latest fund, the Machine Age Fund, which will focus on investing in the full suite of computing infrastructure that supports AI operations, including chips, memory, networking, storage, as well as complete systems such as data centers, robots, and home AI devices.a16z stated that over the past year, there has been a significant turning point in the growth of AI in terms of application capabilities and types of work. As AI expands from chat and reasoning further into programming and other knowledge work, the demand for computing power and tokens is experiencing exponential growth, and machine intelligence is accelerating its deep development.a16z indicated that its team possesses extensive experience in hardware, data centers, chips, networking, and large-scale computing systems. They have also established a resource network covering market expansion, talent recruitment, marketing, customers, suppliers, and American manufacturing, which will further support the next generation of AI hardware entrepreneurs. a16z mentioned that we are currently at an important juncture in the transformation of computing paradigms and look forward to collaborating with entrepreneurs dedicated to reconstructing AI hardware and advancing the arrival of the "Machine Age."

first_img A U.S. judge ruled that the Trump administration illegally retaliated against Anthropic, lifting the ban and issuing a permanent injunction

U.S. Federal Judge Rita Lin issued a partial summary judgment in a 59-page ruling regarding Anthropic's lawsuit against the Trump administration, determining that the government's punishment of Anthropic for publicly refusing to allow the military to use its Claude large model for mass surveillance of U.S. citizens and lethal autonomous operations constituted illegal retaliation, violating the First Amendment, due process clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The judge also revoked the related designations and Defense Secretary Hegseth's injunction, issuing a permanent injunction.The controversy arose from the Pentagon's demand that Anthropic remove all usage restrictions and accept terms allowing "all lawful uses," while Anthropic maintained its last two bottom lines. On February 27, 2025, Trump ordered all federal agencies to cease using the company's technology, and Hegseth subsequently prohibited any military contractors from doing business with it. During this process, the government abandoned its core claims, acknowledging that Anthropic had no backdoor access to the deployed models and that the risks of Claude were no greater than those of other "black box" systems. Lin pointed out that the government's punishment under the guise of "national security" was not a blank check, and that the government had been operating under the preliminary injunction since March without indicating any harm.Anthropic did not achieve a complete victory, as its claim that Trump's directive exceeded presidential authority was dismissed. Anthropic informed the court that if the relevant measures continued, its defense-related revenue would decrease by 50% to 100%, resulting in a loss of billions of dollars in overall revenue by 2026.

first_img Members of the Abu Dhabi royal family are reported to support a cryptocurrency banking project associated with Trump

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing informed sources, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, is the backer behind StringZ Holding RSC, which holds a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the parent company of World Liberty Financial, associated with the Trump family, which is proposing a U.S. trust bank. It is said that entities linked to the Trump family hold an additional 38% stake in the company.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company on August 14. The decision announced by the OCC confirms that StringZ is an investor in WLTC Holdings and has signed a commitment not to interfere with the bank, but does not specify Tahnoon as its backer or disclose his shareholding percentage. The trust bank must meet OCC's pre-operational requirements and obtain final approval before it can begin operations.Tahnoon previously supported the acquisition of a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million, prompting U.S. Democratic senators to call for hearings on the deal and investigate whether it affects U.S. policy towards the UAE. Tahnoon currently serves as the UAE's National Security Advisor and is also the chairman of the artificial intelligence company G42. Cointelegraph reached out to the Trump Organization for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

first_img Analysis: The demand for AI infrastructure is longer than that of the internet, and general programming still drives ARR

Analysis of the AI semiconductor and infrastructure cycle indicates that the demand for AI infrastructure will continue to exceed that of the internet era, as user penetration and per capita token are multiplied and converted into tokens, significantly raising the ceiling. User penetration has surpassed 50%, with growth primarily coming from the still-early per capita token; the median monthly AI spending per employee in U.S. companies is about $12, which could long-term approach around 10% of white-collar salaries, approximately $1,000 per month, leaving nearly two orders of magnitude of space in between. Unlike the flat subscriptions and extremely low marginal hardware consumption of the internet, the high costs of inference make the marginal cost of a single access higher, requiring greater infrastructure intensity.After developers program, the next ARR growth will still mainly come from broad programming: non-programmers use programming infrastructure to complete non-programming tasks across industries, with programming becoming the default execution kernel for agents. Tasks related to broad programming account for about 60% to 70% of ARR. As of June 2026, Codex accounted for 64% of the total output tokens from Codex and ChatGPT among OpenAI's enterprise clients; since February, Codex has seen a much higher weekly growth in verticals such as law, sales recruitment, and marketing compared to engineering. In Anthropic's revenue, narrow development/software accounts for about 40%, while finance and insurance exceed 20%, with law, life sciences, retail, and others also having considerable shares.The demand-side token growth logic remains, with a high overlap between funders and beneficiaries.

first_img The nonprofit organization claims that Trump's cryptocurrency project caused investors a loss of $4.7 billion

Consumer rights organization Public Citizen released a report stating that U.S. President Trump and his family's cryptocurrency projects have resulted in investor losses of at least $4.7 billion since 2022. Most of the losses stem from the TRUMP meme coin issued by Trump, with investors losing about $3.2 billion, while buyers of World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin "have not suffered significant losses."The report noted that Trump profited $7.2 million from NFT royalties, over $600 million from the sale of World Liberty tokens and equity, $635 million from meme coin royalties, and $197 million in revenue from investing in World Liberty. These figures do not include the company and project shares he continues to hold, and some data is included in the President's 2025 disclosure documents, showing his cryptocurrency-related income reached $1.4 billion.Public Citizen once again called for the inclusion of ethical provisions in the Digital Asset Market Clarification Act (CLARITY Act), requiring the U.S. President and his family to divest from industry-related projects. The bill is scheduled for a final vote on September 15 and requires support from at least 60 senators to advance. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly previously responded that Trump's cryptocurrency investments "do not present a conflict of interest."

Viewpoint: The Bessen effect makes it difficult for Bitcoin to return to a true bull market; the main reason for the price increase is short covering

Bloomberg reporter Emily Nicolle stated that Bitcoin recently rose 23% in a single week, marking the largest weekly increase in over three years and ending a period of stagnation since summer. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen proposed expanding the scale of long-term Treasury bond repurchases, prompting market concerns about U.S. debt and dollar depreciation, which drove funds toward alternative assets like Bitcoin. However, after Bitcoin surpassed $80,000, it has stabilized again, and this catalyst alone is insufficient to bring the market back to a true bull market state.Nicolle pointed out that the narrative of Bitcoin as a hedge against the dollar and inflation still lacks sustainability. After Trump reiterated threats of tariffs against China last October, Bitcoin fell over 12% within 24 hours, while gold reached an all-time high during the same period. Since 2026, gold has cumulatively risen over 7%, while Bitcoin, even accounting for the recent rebound, has still fallen nearly 10%. She believes that the simultaneous rise of gold and Bitcoin last week does not prove that both have the same safe-haven properties, as much of the current crypto market rally is driven by short sellers being forced to cover their positions. Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor called on traders to continue buying Bitcoin during the rise, but his company did not increase its holdings accordingly.In addition, the CLARITY cryptocurrency market structure bill remains stalled due to disagreements over ethical provisions, with the Senate expected to reconsider it by mid-September, leaving limited time before the midterm elections in November. Bitcoin has yet to establish a stable and convincing value narrative, and in daily payments, users still prefer to use stablecoins or cash.
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