🧠 Big Tech’s AI Talent Grab: The Billion-Dollar Brain Drain Is Real

The Backstory:
First, it was OpenAI. Then Anthropic. Now it’s FAANG (and friends) swooping in to scoop up top AI talent like it’s Black Friday at Stanford CS. With AI exploding and compute costs soaring, Big Tech is leaning into its unfair advantages: cash, GPUs, and legal teams.

What’s Happening:
Google is dangling $10M+ pay packages to keep DeepMind researchers grounded. Meta launched its own secret AI lab to poach from rivals. And after OpenAI’s boardroom shuffle last fall, a stream of researchers quietly defected to Big Tech firms that promised fewer politics and more parameter budgets.

Why It Matters:
This is more than hiring—it’s an AI land grab. Startups are losing talent, and VCs are watching their portfolio CTOs ghost Slack. If Big Tech corners the market on brains and GPUs, innovation may slow at the edges—and accelerate in house.
_{Source: Reuters}

⚖️ Deel vs. Rippling: The Payroll Cage Match You Didn’t Know You Needed

The Backstory:
Once upon a time, HR software was about PDFs and PTO requests. But now? It’s a $15B cage match between Deel and Rippling, with global payroll, compliance, and spend management on the line—and IPOs in the air.

What’s Happening:
Deel is scaling fast, launching new financial tools and pushing hard into enterprise. Rippling, meanwhile, is flexing full-stack muscle—owning every workflow from onboarding to benefits. Both are flush with fresh capital and fighting to replace the ADPs and Workdays of the world.

Why It Matters:
This is the rare SaaS rivalry where both are right—and both want everything. Rippling is going vertical; Deel is going global. Whoever wins may define the future of work infrastructure. HR has never been this competitive—or this well funded.
_{Source: Forbes}

💶 Blackstone’s $500B Power Move: Europe Is the New Playground

The Backstory:
For years, Europe was private equity’s second act—nice castles, slower growth, and a lot of spreadsheets in French. But Blackstone saw something others didn’t: undervalued assets, digitization tailwinds, and just enough macro drama to keep things interesting.

What’s Happening:
Blackstone revealed it’s now deployed a whopping $500 billion across Europe—across everything from real estate to infrastructure to credit. They're not just investing—they’re setting up shop across Paris, Frankfurt, and beyond. The continent’s becoming more than a hedge. It’s the main course.

Why It Matters:
This isn’t just another eurotrip—it’s a signal that Europe is back in the global capital conversation. Startups, energy assets, and digital infra are all in the crosshairs. For founders? Expect more dry powder with an accent. For rivals? Hope you’ve got an EU strategy—or a passport.
_{Source: Bloomberg}

Latest Fundraises from Major Firms (PE, VC, and Institutional Investors)

🚀 Venture Capital

• Amplify Partners raised $900 million across three funds: $400 million for its sixth fund, $300 million for its sixth select fund, and $200 million for its first bio fund, targeting early-stage technical founders in IT, AI, and digital biology.
  _{Amplify Partners Announcement}

• Energize Capital closed its third venture fund at $430 million, focusing on digitally-enabled climate solutions like energy transition and industrial digitization.
  _{Energize Capital Press Release}

• Swen Capital Partners raised $183 million for its impact VC fund, targeting ocean biodiversity and sustainable investments.
  _{ESG Today}

• Merlin Ventures closed its inaugural fund at over $75 million, focusing on growth-stage Israeli cybersecurity startups.
  _{Merlin Ventures Press Release}

• Bloomberg Beta raised $75 million for its fifth fund, investing in business technology and AI startups.
  _Newcomer.co

🌱 Growth Equity

• Thoma Bravo raised $8.1 billion for Discover Fund V, its growth equity fund targeting software and technology companies.

  _{Thoma Bravo Press Release}

• Sundance Growth raised $125 million for its debut fund, focusing on growth-stage software companies.

  _WSJ

💼 Private Equity

• Thoma Bravo raised $24.3 billion for Fund XVI, its flagship buyout fund, and approximately €1.8 billion (~$2 billion) for its first dedicated Europe fund, both targeting software buyouts.
  _Bloomberg

• Veritas Capital raised over $13 billion for its latest flagship fund, focusing on technology and government-related investments.
  _{Buyoutsinsider}

• Neuberger Berman raised $4 billion for its second GP-led secondaries fund, targeting private equity secondaries.
  _{PR Newswire}

• Carlyle’s AlpInvest raised $4.1 billion for its ninth co-investment fund, supporting private equity co-investments.
  _{Carlyle Press Release}

• BharCap Partners raised $1.1 billion across its second fund and related co-investment vehicles, focusing on financial services.
  _Businesswire

Top Jobs

Venture Capital roles

Analyst at Clocktower Group (Santa Monica, CA)

Analyst at 16VC (San Francisco, CA)

Analyst at Tower Research Ventures (New York, NY)

Analyst at Thomson Reuters Corporate Venture Capital (New York, NY)

Analyst at American Century Investments (Portland, OR)

Associate/Senior Associate at Temasek (San Francisco, CA)

Associate at TCV (New York, NY)

Analyst at Hitachi Ventures (Boston, MA)

Analyst at TDK Ventures (San Jose, CA)

Associate at SpringTide Ventures (Salt Lake City, UT)

Growth Equity Roles

Associate at Sands Capital (Arlington, VA)

Analyst at KKR Growth (New York, NY)

Investor at Stripes (New York, NY)

Private Equity (Buyout) Roles

Analyst/Associate at Apollo (New York, NY)

Analyst at Stepstone (New York, NY)

CoS Roles

Chief of Staff at Blueground (NYC)

Chief of Staff at Sevenstarling (Remote)

Chief of Staff at Snapdocs (Remote)

Business Operations Roles

Head of Finance & Ops at Tavus (SF / NYC)

Business Operations, API Pricing at OpenAI (SF / Hybrid)

Strategy Manager at Pepsico (Chicago)

Finance Roles

Strategic Finance Lead at Capchase (NYC)

Strategic Finance Associate at Cloud Kitchens (LA)

Head of Strategic & Corporate Finance at Bumble (NYC)

Sales Operations / GTM Roles

Sales Operations Manager at Airtable (Austin, Remote)

Director, Sales Operations at Samsara (Remote)

Director, Global Sales Operations at Attentive (Remote)

Interesting Podcasts from the past week

Podcasts:

• Fiverr CEO & Founder, Micha Kaufman: "If You’re Not Adapting to AI, You’re Done!"

• Anthropic's CPO on what comes next | Mike Krieger (co-founder of Instagram)

• State-Of-The-Art Prompting For AI Agents

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