Morning Scan

Defense tech is raising money at a pace that has already surpassed all of 2025. Robots are filing for IPOs. Major institutions are deploying AI across operations that once seemed impervious to it.

$12.3B — Defense tech (drones, battlefield AI, and more) raised this much across 175 deals in 2026 so far, up from $9.95B in all of 2025. (Financial Times / PitchBook)

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Connected World

Defense Tech Has Raised $12.3B So Far This Year (paywall)

Half-year volume has already cleared full-year 2025 — a signal or a warning, depending on your portfolio. (Financial Times)

Anduril Is Exploring Operations in Israel

Recruiting a local manager is a small step; establishing a footprint in one of the world's most active defense markets is another thing entirely. (CTech)

Tesla Autopilot Crash in Texas Kills a Woman (paywall)

Every autonomous vehicle company's liability calculus just got heavier. (New York Times)

Humble Robotics Raises $24M for Cabless Driverless Freight Trucks

The truck has no cab, tops out at 55 mph, and has 200 miles of range — California's freight unions are already pushing back. (Los Angeles Times)

Connected World

Coowa, the SoftBank-Backed Robot Maker, Plans a Hong Kong IPO at a $3B Valuation (paywall)

Embodied AI is moving from lab demo to public market — Shanghai-based Coowa raised $600M in its last round before filing. (Wall Street Journal)

Apple Supplier Lingyi iTech Seeks $1.1B in Hong Kong IPO

The electronic parts maker is reframing its IPO story from "Apple supplier" to "AI hardware and robotics play" — a useful tell about where investor appetite sits. (South China Morning Post)

Spiro Takes $55M as It Approaches a $1B Valuation

The Lagos-and-Nairobi electric motorcycle company cracked the charging problem; now a Chinese fund is betting it can scale across the continent. (The Next Web)

“We can't let AI giants eat the economy.” — Satya Nadella, via Wall Street Journal

Machines & Minds

Satya Nadella Warns Against Letting a Few AI Labs Control Global Learning (paywall)

Microsoft's CEO positioning low-cost models as a public good is a clever way to frame competing with OpenAI as a civic virtue. (Wall Street Journal)

Bain Uses AI to Rebuild Target Companies' Software During Due Diligence (paywall)

Hundreds of rough prototypes, built to stress-test acquisition targets before signing — due diligence has a new power tool. (Financial Times)

Samsung Deploys ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex Across the Company

Less than two years after banning ChatGPT over a code leak, Samsung has done a full reversal at scale. (SamMobile)

The Bank of England Backs Down on Its Toughest Stablecoin Rules

When the BoE softens on crypto regulation, it tells you something about where the political winds are blowing. (The Next Web)

Connected World

Japan Was Hit by 22.4% of Global Cyberattacks in 2024 (paywall)

The most targeted country on earth is also the one still running on legacy IT — and now facing AI-powered threats on top of it. (Bloomberg)

Toto — Yes, the Toilet Company — Is Investing $495M in Chip Materials by 2030

Targeting R&D for 1nm chip production, which means the most advanced semiconductor race now has an entrant best known for washlets. (Nikkei Asia)