Anthropic's $11.5B Q2 Revenue, Stripe's $7B Acquisition, and Nvidia's $105B Investment - Daily AI Brief #520
August 18, 2026 -
Daily AI Brief
Hi there,
Welcome to today's AI Brief.
In today's edition, AI Automation Startup Relay has announced its shutdown, with its staff joining Google. Meanwhile, Perplexity reports an increase in revenue following its offer with Airtel. Additionally, Amazon faces allegations of destroying rare books for AI training purposes.
Anthropic has reported a revenue of $11.5 billion in Q2 2026, and Wispr has secured $280 million to enhance its AI voice technology. Nvidia has made significant investments, including $105 billion in an Ohio data center for OpenAI, while also cutting funding for the same center. Uber has partnered with Zipline for drone deliveries, and SoftBank has invested $200 million in Gravis Robotics.
Welcome to today's AI Brief.
In today's edition, AI Automation Startup Relay has announced its shutdown, with its staff joining Google. Meanwhile, Perplexity reports an increase in revenue following its offer with Airtel. Additionally, Amazon faces allegations of destroying rare books for AI training purposes.
Anthropic has reported a revenue of $11.5 billion in Q2 2026, and Wispr has secured $280 million to enhance its AI voice technology. Nvidia has made significant investments, including $105 billion in an Ohio data center for OpenAI, while also cutting funding for the same center. Uber has partnered with Zipline for drone deliveries, and SoftBank has invested $200 million in Gravis Robotics.
AI Automation Startup Relay Shuts Down, Staff Joins Google
The AI automation startup Relay has ceased operations, with its team transitioning to join Google's Chrome team. Read more
Perplexity Reports Revenue Increase Post Airtel Offer
After the end of its 12-month free subscription offer with Airtel, Perplexity has seen a 60% rise in in-app purchase revenue, despite a drop in downloads. Read more
Amazon Allegedly Destroys Rare Books for AI Training
Amazon is reportedly acquiring rare books, dismantling them, and scanning them to train AI models. This practice was uncovered by 404 Media, which traced a rare book to an Amazon facility in Las Vegas. The company claims it purchases books commercially to improve its offerings. Read more
Anthropic Reports $11.5 Billion Revenue for Q2 2026
In Q2 2026, Anthropic reported over $11.5 billion in revenue, a significant increase from the previous year, indicating rapid growth and potential IPO plans. Read more
Wispr Raises $280 Million to Enhance AI Voice Interaction
On August 17, 2026, Wispr announced a $280 million Series B funding round led by Menlo Ventures, aiming to advance voice technology in AI interactions. Read more
Nvidia Reduces Funding for OpenAI Data Center
Nvidia has decreased its funding guarantee for OpenAI's data center project in Ohio from $250 billion to under $120 billion, due to investor concerns about financial risk. Read more
Uber Partners with Zipline for Drone Deliveries
Uber is collaborating with drone delivery company Zipline to implement drone-powered deliveries for Uber Eats in the US, aiming for one million deliveries per day by 2029. Read more
SoftBank Invests $200 Million in Gravis Robotics
Swiss startup Gravis Robotics has received $200 million from SoftBank, valuing the company at $1 billion. The investment will support expansion and increase autonomous machinery operations. Read more
Nvidia Invests $105 Billion in Ohio Data Center for OpenAI
Nvidia Corp. has announced a significant investment of $105 billion to build a data center campus in Ohio, which will be leased by OpenAI. The project aims to deliver substantial computing capacity to meet the increasing demands of the AI industry. Read more
Groq Secures $350 Million to Become Neocloud Provider
Startup Groq has raised $350 million to transition from AI chip manufacturing to offering neocloud services, including powerful GPUs and AI infrastructure. The funding round was led by Disruptive and included participation from Nvidia. Read more
Anthropic CEO on AI Trust Crisis
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei discusses the negative public perception of AI, attributing it to a crisis of trust in companies and governments, and emphasizes the need for effective regulation. Read more
Stripe Acquires AI Startup OpenRouter for $7 Billion
Stripe has completed its acquisition of AI startup OpenRouter for over $7 billion. OpenRouter provides a platform for selecting AI models and serves 8 million developers worldwide. Read more
We hope you enjoyed this article.
Consider subscribing to one of our newsletters like Daily AI Brief.
Also, consider following us on social media:
Subscribe to Daily AI Brief
Daily report covering major AI developments and industry news, with both top stories and complete market updates
