Uber has struck a $14.8 billion all-stock agreement to acquire Delivery Hero, significantly expanding its global presence. This acquisition will nearly double Uber's footprint in the food delivery industry, establishing one of the largest platforms outside China.
BP Ventures, the venture capital arm of BP, is closing down after nearly 20 years. The unit was reportedly unable to generate the returns expected, leading to the decision to shut its operations.
By Ellie McDonald
Venture headlines often suggest that seed rounds have dramatically evolved, citing billion-dollar raises for newly founded companies and massive initial funding rounds. However, the data tells a different story. At Bison Ventures, with deep experience in biotech, we find that large first rounds are often necessary due to high costs but usually yield modest returns, with only about 1% of $100 million-plus seed rounds delivering venture-scale returns. Although AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic may improve this trend, their early investor returns are still much lower than historic blockbuster investments like Google or Uber, driven largely by higher entry prices.
Despite the surge in seed rounds exceeding $50 million, traditional-sized rounds remain prevalent and continue to generate strong outcomes as seen with AI startups like Cursor and ElevenLabs that began with smaller rounds but reached billion-dollar valuations. Raising colossal seed rounds does not guarantee superior returns; in fact, it can restrict upside potential due to high entry valuations. The proven strategy across tech waves remains purchasing substantial ownership in capital-efficient companies at reasonable prices, a tactic less flashy but historically successful. While some mega-seeded AI companies will succeed, betting on these rare cases has often resulted in losses, highlighting the importance of focusing on consistent patterns rather than exceptions.
Ellie McDonald is a principal at Bison Ventures with extensive experience in infrastructure and technology investments, supporting frontier tech entrepreneurs.
1Password has launched AI Spend and Consumption Management, a new feature within its SaaS Manager platform designed to give IT and finance teams real-time insights into AI service usage and spending from providers like Anthropic, Cursor, and OpenAI. This move expands 1Password's portfolio beyond password management into enterprise AI cost control, addressing the unpredictable and consumption-based pricing models of AI, which traditional software budgets struggle to handle. The tool consolidates token-level data across vendors, offers budget controls, and breaks down usage by team, user, and model, aiming to prevent unexpected spikes in AI spending caused by agentic workflows. This new capability reflects growing demand as enterprises face rapid growth in AI token consumption, with forecasts predicting a 24-fold increase by 2030. 1Password integrates this feature with its established identity security and SaaS governance foundation, ensuring visibility into who is spending and whether the expenditure delivers value. The launch is timely, as AI costs become a significant concern in enterprise budgets, echoing past challenges seen with cloud infrastructure costs. Currently available in public preview, the product will gain broader availability in fall 2026.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently confirmed that the bank has cut 30% to 40% of jobs in specific departments as a result of AI-driven efficiency gains. While Dimon had previously minimized the impact of AI on workforce reductions, he now acknowledges these changes, emphasizing that many affected employees have been reassigned within the company. The bank is also focusing on retraining staff to adapt to evolving roles. Despite productivity improvements from AI, JPMorgan’s CFO noted that increased token-related costs are expected later in the year. This shift reflects a broader industry reassessment of AI’s role in reshaping jobs, with other tech leaders and companies similarly navigating these changes.
Revolut, Stripe, UniCredit, Deutsche Bank, and SumUp have been chosen to participate in an upcoming pilot project for the digital euro. This initiative is scheduled to begin in the latter half of 2027 and aims to explore the use of the digital euro across various payment platforms.
Kalshi, a prominent prediction markets exchange, has developed a forward curve that monitors the future pricing of computing power. This move places Kalshi among a growing number of exchanges and index creators focused on standardizing GPU rental costs into financial products. Their system leverages weekly and monthly event contracts linked to compute prices, projecting trends up to a year ahead. This innovation is part of a broader effort to transform GPU compute power into a tradable commodity.
IBM announced preliminary results for the second quarter on Monday, reporting revenue of approximately $17 billion. This marks a 1% increase from the previous year but falls short of analysts' forecasted $18 billion. Following the announcement, IBM's stock dropped up to 17% in premarket trading, wiping out recent gains that were supported by positive analyst sentiment and a recent rally.
DeepSeek, the Chinese developer specializing in large language models, is reportedly gearing up for an initial public offering in 2027. The company aims to secure approximately $1.5 billion in new investment, valuing the business at around $71 billion.
Meta’s stock had a tough year, remaining flat while the Nasdaq-100 surged 18%. However, the trend reversed sharply with the stock enjoying its strongest weekly gain since early 2024. Shares increased about 6% on Friday and roughly 15% throughout the week, reports CNBC. This surge was notable as it wasn’t fueled by advertising revenue, which is Meta’s core business. The company shared new plans with investors on how it intends to recover its AI spending, sparking renewed confidence.
