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# The AI Money Pile Gets Taller, Rules, Watermarks, and Who Pays Whom, Elsewhere in Big Tech
- URL: https://adjacent.media/scan/2026-08-13-am/
- Published: 2026-08-13T10:05:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-13T10:05:40.000Z
- Description: AI money keeps finding new ways to compound — coding startups doubling valuations in months, chipmakers plugging Claude into R&D, infrastructure deals stacking up. The policy arguments about watermarks, antitrust, and who charges whom run alongside it. Business as usual, just faster.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #scan-am, #scan

AI money keeps finding new ways to compound — coding startups doubling valuations in months, chipmakers plugging Claude into R&D, infrastructure deals stacking up. The policy arguments about watermarks, antitrust, and who charges whom run alongside it. Business as usual, just faster.

> **$40B+** — Cognition's target valuation in new funding talks, up from $26B in May. *(Bloomberg)*

---

### Machines & Minds

#### [Cognition in talks to raise $1B+ at $40B+ valuation](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-12/ai-startup-cognition-in-new-funding-talks-at-40-billion-value?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Three months, roughly 50% valuation bump — the AI coding gold rush shows no sign of slowing. *(Bloomberg)*

#### [Lovable hits $13.3B valuation, doubling since December](https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/vibe-coding-startup-lovable-hits-13-billion-valuation-0c87ff8a?st=zd6W2k&reflink=desktopwebshare%5Fpermalink&ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Europe's vibe-coding darling just became one of the continent's most valuable startups. *(WSJ)*

#### [Kevin Weil seeking $150M for new AI science startup](https://www.businessinsider.com/weil-valuation-750-million-for-ai-science-startup-2026-8?ref=adjacent.media)

The former OpenAI product chief wants a $750M valuation before shipping a product — the exec-to-founder pipeline stays busy. *(Business Insider)*

#### [David Sacks' Craft Ventures targets $1B for new fund](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/sacks-craft-targets-1-billion-first-fund-since-white-house-stint?ref=adjacent.media)

First fund since his White House stint — the revolving door between D.C. policy and VC keeps spinning. *(The Information)*

#### [CoreWeave jumps 14% after earnings beat](https://siliconangle.com/2026/08/11/coreweave-coasts-solid-earnings-beat-sending-stock-higher-hours/?ref=adjacent.media)

The AI-data-center trade is still working, for now. *(SiliconANGLE)*

#### [Supermicro stock soars on crushed earnings](https://siliconangle.com/2026/08/11/server-maker-supermicros-stock-soars-crushed-earnings-results-soaring-profits/?ref=adjacent.media)

Wall Street forgave last year's accounting drama the moment the numbers got good again. *(SiliconANGLE)*

### Connected World

#### [French media ask regulators to make Google pay for AI answers](https://thenextweb.com/news/french-media-google-ai-antitrust-complaint?ref=adjacent.media)

The AI-Overviews-are-eating-our-traffic fight goes formal in France. *(The Next Web)*

#### [Anthropic starts watermarking all Claude output under EU AI Act](https://thenextweb.com/news/anthropic-watermarks-claude-output-eu-ai-act-article-50?ref=adjacent.media)

Invisible marks on text and files, rolling out globally. *(The Next Web)*

#### [Apple fails to delay filing new App Store fees in Epic case](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/08/11/apple-fails-to-delay-filing-new-app-store-fees-to-court-as-epic-battle-continues?utm%5Fsource=rss)

Apple gets 24 hours, not the reprieve it wanted, as the Epic saga grinds on. *(AppleInsider)*

#### [CFTC orders Kalshi to keep operating in New York despite state lawsuit](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/08/11/cftc-orders-kalshi-to-continue-offering-prediction-markets-in-new-york-after-state-lawsuit?ref=adjacent.media)

Federal emergency powers overriding a state shutdown attempt — prediction markets get an unusually blunt assist. *(CoinDesk)*

### Connected World

#### [IBM inks $240M infrastructure deal with Together AI](https://siliconangle.com/2026/08/11/ibm-inks-240m-infrastructure-deal-ai-optimized-cloud-operator-together-ai/?ref=adjacent.media)

Legacy tech keeps buying its way into the AI infrastructure boom rather than building it from scratch. *(SiliconANGLE)*

#### [Apple Pay/Apple Card VP Jennifer Bailey retiring after 12 years](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/08/11/apple-pay-apple-card-vp-jennifer-bailey-is-retiring?utm%5Fsource=rss)

The exec who built Apple's payments business from scratch heads out — a quiet end to a very consequential run. *(AppleInsider)*

#### [Tencent Q2 revenue up 11% to \~$30.4B on WeChat ad surge](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-12/tencent-sales-top-estimates-on-wechat-ad-surge-resilient-games?ref=adjacent.media) (paywall)

Ads and games both firing at once — a good problem to have. *(Bloomberg)*