European AI infrastructure company Nebius, formerly known as Yandex N.V., has raised $700 million in a private placement to fund its expansion into the U.S. market. Key investors include Nvidia, Accel, and Orbis, with Nebius issuing 33.3 million Class A shares at a slight premium to their trading price.

The Netherlands-based company, which rebranded after divesting its Russian assets, is positioning itself as a full-stack provider for AI companies with data centers, GPU clusters, and related services. Nebius is expanding its footprint with a mix of co-location facilities and greenfield sites, including new operations in Kansas City and Paris, alongside its flagship data center in Finland.

With $3 billion in available capital, Nebius has also raised its revenue guidance, projecting an annualized run rate (ARR) of $750 million to $1 billion by the end of 2025. As part of the funding round, Accel’s Matt Weigand will join Nebius’s board as an observer, pending formal election in 2025.

The company’s ambitious growth plans highlight its strategy to compete with both established hyperscalers and private players like CoreWeave, leveraging Nvidia's support to fuel its infrastructure expansion and AI market leadership. 💡💻

In a groundbreaking move, the FCC has approved SpaceX and T-Mobile's Direct-to-Cell (DTC) service, enabling smartphones to connect directly to Starlink satellites without traditional cell towers. This marks the first FCC approval of a satellite-terrestrial network partnership in the U.S., a pivotal step in transforming connectivity for underserved and remote regions.

The service aims to bridge connectivity gaps across over 500,000 square miles of rugged U.S. terrain unreachable by conventional networks. With DTC technology, standard smartphones can connect directly to satellites, initially supporting text messaging, with voice and data capabilities to follow. Next-generation satellites promise speeds exceeding 2Gbps, revolutionizing emergency response, disaster relief, and rural connectivity.

Internationally, Starlink has partnered with telecom operators in Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, and Switzerland, aiming to eliminate dead zones globally. Although regulatory challenges remain, including concerns from competitors like AT&T and Verizon, SpaceX has already launched over 320 second-generation satellites and plans beta testing soon, pushing the boundaries of global communication.

Image Credit: Starlink

Amazon has announced an additional $4 billion investment in Anthropic, a San Francisco-based generative AI start-up. This brings Amazon's total funding in Anthropic to $8 billion over the past 14 months, underscoring its determination to compete with industry giants like OpenAI and Google.

Anthropic, known for its Claude chatbot and commitment to responsible AI development, aligns with Amazon's ambitions to advance generative AI tools. These technologies, capable of creating humanlike text and images, are seen as transformative for industries and global economies.

Amazon’s partnership extends beyond funding, as Anthropic utilizes Amazon’s data centers, cloud computing services, and AI chips. This symbiotic relationship also boosts Amazon’s competitive stance against Nvidia in the AI semiconductor market.

With significant investments from Amazon, OpenAI, and other players, the race to develop cutting-edge AI models continues to reshape the tech sector, drawing attention from both investors and regulators.

Twenty, a startup led by former Luckey executives, is developing a modern open-source CRM platform to rival Salesforce. Released under the AGPLv3 license, the platform has already garnered 20,000 GitHub stars and over 300 contributors, emphasizing community collaboration.

The flexible CRM allows businesses to create custom objects and fields, making it adaptable for various industries. With GraphQL and REST API integrations, Twenty aims to enable developers to build extensions and plugins, mirroring the extensibility of Salesforce.

Still in its early stages, Twenty has raised $5 million from investors like Y Combinator, Runa Capital, and the founders of Front and HubSpot. The team is focused on creating a robust platform with automation and workflow features to disrupt the CRM landscape.

Screenshot:Twenty.com

QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a leader in embedded FPGA (eFPGA) technology and AI/ML solutions, is highlighting its cutting-edge eFPGA Hard IP solutions at the Space Tech Expo Europe 2024 in Bremen, Germany, from November 19–21. The company’s solutions are designed for the aerospace and space sectors, offering high-performance, low-power, and radiation-hardened options that meet the stringent demands of mission-critical applications.

QuickLogic's pre-verified, silicon-proven eFPGA Hard IP reduces development time, cost, and risk by being optimized for specific manufacturing nodes. This approach ensures faster integration and reliable performance, making it ideal for space missions requiring accelerated timelines and minimized design variability.