Baseten is reportedly finalizing a $1.5 billion funding round valuing the company at about $13 billion. The deal comes only months after its prior large raise, underscoring surging investor demand for AI inference infrastructure.
5:20 PMTechCrunch4 stories from 3 sources
Thursday, June 18, 2026
Day’s Recap is unavailable for this topic and date. Feel free to go through our curated list of stories below.
Other Developments
A curated list of other prominent stories from this day.
Elon Musk is pitching investors on a path to value SpaceX in the trillions ahead of an eventual IPO, using an aggressive AI-focused comparison to justify raising tens of billions of dollars. The pitch signals a much larger capital-raising effort than prior rounds and reframes SpaceX as an AI-scale platform rather than only a launch and satellite business.
4:53 PMBloomberg MarketsBaseten is finalizing a $1.5 billion fundraising round to scale its AI inference software layer for running, optimizing, and training open-source models. The round uses a dual-tier structure with some investors buying in at an $11 billion valuation and others at different terms.
10:49 AMPYMNTSPixi launched an iOS messaging app that lets users turn texts into interactive AR moments, aiming to replace static stickers and GIFs with experiences you can manipulate in camera view. The product packages AR creation and sharing into a chat-first workflow designed for casual, fast use.
8:00 AMTechCrunch5:20 PMTechCrunch
AI inference startup Baseten reportedly raising $1.5B months after its last mega-round
Summary
Baseten is reportedly finalizing a $1.5 billion funding round valuing the company at about $13 billion. The deal comes only months after its prior large raise, underscoring surging investor demand for AI inference infrastructure.
Why it matters
If this round closes at the reported terms, it validates inference as a primary AI value capture point and resets valuation expectations across the AI infrastructure stack.
4:53 PMBloomberg Markets
SpaceX’s Epic Fundraising Campaign for AI Has Only Just Begun
Summary
Elon Musk is pitching investors on a path to value SpaceX in the trillions ahead of an eventual IPO, using an aggressive AI-focused comparison to justify raising tens of billions of dollars. The pitch signals a much larger capital-raising effort than prior rounds and reframes SpaceX as an AI-scale platform rather than only a launch and satellite business.
Why it matters
If SpaceX can sell an AI-grade valuation story, it could pull more private capital into mega-rounds and further raise the ceiling for late-stage pricing across venture and crossover markets.
10:49 AMPYMNTS
Baseten Nears $1.5 Billion Funding Round as Inference Demand Surges
Summary
Baseten is finalizing a $1.5 billion fundraising round to scale its AI inference software layer for running, optimizing, and training open-source models. The round uses a dual-tier structure with some investors buying in at an $11 billion valuation and others at different terms.
Why it matters
Capital is concentrating in inference-layer winners, shaping who controls enterprise AI deployment and pricing power.
8:00 AMTechCrunch
Pixi’s new iOS app turns text messages into interactive AR experiences
Summary
Pixi launched an iOS messaging app that lets users turn texts into interactive AR moments, aiming to replace static stickers and GIFs with experiences you can manipulate in camera view. The product packages AR creation and sharing into a chat-first workflow designed for casual, fast use.
Why it matters
If AR becomes a default reply format, the winners will control new creation tools, monetization surfaces, and the social graph that distributes them.
Make it yours
Build Your First Pass.
Pick your topics, set your cadence, and receive your personalized First Pass in your inbox. It’s that simple!