Circle Raises $222M for Arc Blockchain at $3B Valuation

Samsung Group plans to announce an investment package exceeding 1,000 trillion won ($648 billion) next week, marking a record pledge focused on semiconductors, AI data centers, batteries, and display technology. The investment represents a major capital commitment by South Korea's largest tech conglomerate to strengthen its position in critical technology sectors. The announcement underscores Samsung's strategy to compete in high-growth markets including artificial intelligence infrastructure and advanced chip manufacturing.

Amazon announced a $13 billion investment in AI infrastructure in India, joining other global tech companies in expanding computational capacity in the country. The investment reflects intensifying competition among major technology firms to establish AI infrastructure presence in India's growing market. The move signals Amazon's commitment to supporting AI development and deployment in the region.

AWS published a technical guide on building agentic AI applications using a modern data mesh architecture that enforces fine-grained access control across multiple data sources. The approach replaces specialized vector databases with Amazon S3 Vectors (reducing costs up to 90%), uses S3 Tables with Apache Iceberg for governed data access, and exposes data through Model Context Protocol tools via AgentCore Gateway with Lambda-backed interceptors. This addresses governance gaps in autonomous AI agents that query databases and synthesize answers across organizational data sources.

SambaNova, an Intel-backed AI chip startup, is raising between $800 million and $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation, roughly five times its valuation from four months prior. The funding reflects intensifying demand for AI server chips that can compete with Nvidia's offerings as developers and cloud providers seek lower-cost alternatives. SambaNova, founded nine years ago, is among a growing cohort of startups targeting the high-margin AI chip market.