Tuesday 18 August 2026

Top stories today:
Anthropic annualized revenue hits $65B in Jul. ahead of fall IPO
Appleās AirPods with cameras, Visual Intelligence appear
OpenAI signs Ohio data-center deal as NVIDIA commits up to $105B
Groq raises $350M at $3.5B valuation, -49% from Sep.
Wispr Flow, voice AI startup, raises $280M at $2B valuation
0. Data & Calendar

All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

All times are ET.
Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing todayās newsletter (beware of hallucinations):
1. Anthropic annualized revenue said to have hit $65B in Jul. ahead of expected fall IPO

The figures were reportedly shared with investors as part of a regular update.
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3. Appleās AirPods with cameras, Visual Intelligence appear in macOS video
A video in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate demoed camera-equipped AirPods, expected to debut in Sep.
A man holds up a book so the AirPods camera can see its title, the video showed.
A Home Hub, new Beats, AirPods Pro 4, and Apple Intelligence in China have also been referenced in macOS Tahoe 26.7 RC.
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5. OpenAI signs 20-year Ohio data-center deal with SB Energy as NVIDIA commits up to $105B
NVIDIAās stock closed slightly lower on Mon.:
NVIDIAās chips and computing systems will be deployed at the data center.
~8GW of computing capacity will be delivered in phases, starting with 800MW by 2028, as NVIDIAās backing rolls out from 2028-2030.
NVIDIA has also agreed to invest $1.5B in SB Energy, which will build, own and operate the facility.
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7. Groq raises $350M at $3.5B valuation, -49% from Sep.

Disruptive led the round, with NVIDIA participating.
200MW+ of data-center capacity is planned with the new funding.











