AI funding made headlines this week, with Cognition AI raising $2 billion in the US and France’s Mistral AI securing €3 billion. The two deals come with very different stories: Cognition is developing autonomous coding agents, while Mistral is investing fresh capital in computing capacity and it pursues greater European AI sovereignty.
Crypto markets also had a busy week. TRON gained a new route into US investment markets through a staked TRX ETF, while Robinhood agreed a deal with Crypto.com to bring event contracts to its platform.
Cognition AI has raised $2 billion in fresh funding, bringing the valuation of this AI coding startup to $48 billion, according to Reuters. The company develops autonomous AI agents that can plan, write, test and deploy software with limited human oversight. Cognition’s annualised revenue has also reached nearly $900 million.
The size of this round is notable, as is the speed of Cognition’s valuation growth. The company has nearly doubled its valuation in four months, as demand for AI-powered software continues to grow. The deal adds to the growing investment in AI agents, which are being used in areas including finance and Web3.
Mistral AI has raised €3 billion in a funding round led by Samsung, taking the French company’s valuation above €21 billion. The company plans to use the funding to expand its computing capacity and international operations. Mistral has also linked its growth to Europe’s push for greater control over AI infrastructure and less dependence on US technology.
Cognition is developing autonomous software agents that can handle coding tasks with limited human input, while Mistral is using its latest funding to expand computing capacity and international operations. The two companies are taking different routes through the AI market, with Cognition focused on the commercial use of AI agents and Mistral building out its position around AI infrastructure and European sovereignty.
Crypto markets are moving into new territory too. The first staked ETF tied to TRON’s TRX token, TRXS, has started trading in the US. The ETF gives investors exposure to TRX while incorporating staking rewards. Those rewards are reflected in the fund’s net asset value.
The launch also takes the US crypto ETF market beyond its original focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum. More digital assets are now being offered through investment products traded on traditional markets. For TRON, the launch comes as the TRON network continues to be used for stablecoin transfers. The ETF gives investors another way to gain exposure to the token without holding TRX directly.
Robinhood is expanding its prediction-market business through a new deal with Crypto.com. Under the agreement, Crypto.com’s event contracts will become available on Robinhood’s platform. Robinhood will also take minority stakes in Crypto.com and its prediction-markets business, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Event contracts allow users to trade on the outcome of real-world events. Their growing presence on trading platforms has opened another area of competition between financial technology companies. Robinhood’s move follows a broader interest in prediction markets across the digital finance sector. A recent AIBC interview also explored how blockchain could improve capital efficiency in prediction markets.
This week’s stories point to two different directions for the technology and finance sectors. AI funding is going towards both autonomous software and the infrastructure behind it. In crypto, new products are expanding access to assets like TRX, while platforms like Robinhood are adding prediction markets to their offerings.
Watch this week’s AIBC News Round-up with Cyrielle Delmas for a summary of the week’s main digital asset and emerging technology stories.
