SAP bets $1.16B on 18-month-old German AI lab and says yes to NemoClaw
SAP plans to buy German AI startup Prior Labs and invest heavily in it. It is also prohibiting customers’ agents use to a select few like Nvidia’s NemoClaw.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Meta buys robotics startup to bolster its humanoid AI ambitions
Meta bought humanoid startup Assured Robot Intelligence to beef up its AI models for robots, the company said.
Cohere acquires, merges with Germany-based startup to create a ‘transatlantic AI powerhouse’
Cohere, the Canada-based AI company that makes AI tools for businesses in regulated industries, announced Friday it would merge with Aleph Alpha, a German company that also builds AI systems for businesses and governments.
Monarch Tractor’s collapse ends with an acquisition by Caterpillar
The startup had faced mounting pressure from dealers, farmers, and a co-founder who complained that Monarch’s tech didn’t work properly.
Instacart acquires Instaleap to expand its enterprise platform internationally
The acquisition will allow the company to expand its business into international markets without needing to launch a delivery network in those regions.
Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions
Canva says the acquisitions add strengths in agentic AI, data infrastructure, marketing automation, and customer engagement.
The company behind ClassPass and Mindbody just got a lot bigger with a $7.5B merger
The merger is a sign that the fitness industry is continuing to move toward consolidation to compete at a larger scale. Recent moves include MyFitnessPal acquiring Cal AI, an AI calorie counting app, and Strava buying two apps: cycling app The Breakaway and running app Runna.
Uber is buying Berlin startup Blacklane to bolster its ‘Elite’ offering
It’s a notable exit for Blacklane, which has raised more than $100 million from backers like Mercedes-Benz and Sixt.
Databricks bought two startups to underpin its new AI security product
With an overflowing war chest from its recent $5 billion raise, Databricks is buying startups and looking for more. It acquired Antimatter and SiftD.ai.
Elon Musk misled Twitter investors while trying to get out of acquisition, jury says
At the time, Musk had tweeted that Twitter had too many bots, which is why he was trying to renege on his commitment to buy the company.