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ROBOTICS BOOM: VC POURS $23B INTO PHYSICAL AI

Venture capital investment in robotics and physical AI has surged to $23 billion in 2025 alone—on pace to exceed last year's $26 billion total. The six-fold increase since 2019 signals investor confidence in autonomous systems despite regulatory headwinds.

9 SOURCESFIRST SEEN MAY 30, 10:15 PM► READ THE ARTICLE

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PitchBook: VC investment in global robotics and physical AI jumped to $26B in 2025 from $4.2B in 2019, and has already topped $23B as of May 20 this year (Kate Clark/Wall Street Journal)

Kate Clark / Wall Street Journal: PitchBook: VC investment in global robotics and physical AI jumped to $26B in 2025 fro…

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As robotaxi companies attempt to scale in the US, they face increasing scrutiny and mounting criticism from drivers, law enforcement, and local governments (Sean McLain/Wall Street Journal)

Sean McLain / Wall Street Journal: As robotaxi companies attempt to scale in the US, they face increasing scrutiny and m…

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Bill Gates' carefully crafted public image has been eroded by revelations about his ties to Epstein; Gates was recently snubbed from Microsoft's CEO Summit (Emily Glazer/Wall Street Journal)

Emily Glazer / Wall Street Journal: Bill Gates' carefully crafted public image has been eroded by revelations about his…

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Crunchbase: SF startups hit a record of 1,404 seed deals in 2025, while the number of NYC seed deals has dropped over the past three years, to 666 in 2025 (Yuliya Chernova/Wall Street Journal)

Yuliya Chernova / Wall Street Journal: Crunchbase: SF startups hit a record of 1,404 seed deals in 2025, while the numbe…

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The US data center build-out is falling behind schedule; JP Morgan says 60%+ of data center capacity planned for completion in 2027 isn't yet under construction (Katherine Blunt/Wall Street Journal)

Katherine Blunt / Wall Street Journal: The US data center build-out is falling behind schedule; JP Morgan says 60%+ of d…

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AI market research platform AlphaSense raised $350M from Vitruvian, Accenture, and others at a $7.5B valuation, up from $4B in 2024, ahead of a possible IPO (Ben Glickman/Wall Street Journal)

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal: AI market research platform AlphaSense raised $350M from Vitruvian, Accenture, and o…

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Anthropic unveils a Services Track for its Claude Partner Network, a ranking based on what companies built with Claude, and releases a Claude Partner Hub portal (Belle Lin/Wall Street Journal)

Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal: Anthropic unveils a Services Track for its Claude Partner Network, a ranking based on w…

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Sources: Benchmark raised $2B across two new funds, including a $1.25B fund for late-stage bets, its first growth fund after decades focusing on new startups (Kate Clark/Wall Street Journal)

Kate Clark / Wall Street Journal: Sources: Benchmark raised $2B across two new funds, including a $1.25B fund for late-s…

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Sources: Meta has repeatedly delayed plans to release the Muse Spark API due to bugs and infrastructure needs; Meta says it plans to release it this month (Meghan Bobrowsky/Wall Street Journal)

Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal: Sources: Meta has repeatedly delayed plans to release the Muse Spark API due to…

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