# Industry

[https://timesof.ai/category/industry](https://timesof.ai/category/industry)

Corporate strategy, markets, funding, IPOs, and competitive moves across the AI economy.

## Coverage

- [Mirendil Raises $1 Billion to Sell the Idea That One Researcher With Agents Can Pretrain a Model](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/mirendil-1b-series-a-kleiner-clearlake-agent-run-ai-research) — AI lab Mirendil raised a $1B Series A led by Kleiner Perkins and Clearlake to sell agent-run AI research. Valuation undisclosed; claims unverified.
- [SoftBank Leads $500 Million Round Valuing Agile Robots at $8.5 Billion, Less Than the Round Discussed in June](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/agile-robots-500m-series-f-8-5b-valuation-softbank-nvidia) — Munich robotics firm Agile Robots closed a $500M Series F at $8.5B led by SoftBank, with Nvidia and Hitachi, to expand in the US and build capacity.
- [Meta Hands Its AI Data Center Build-Out to a Former AWS Executive as Infrastructure Chief Santosh Janardhan Steps Down](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/meta-infrastructure-chief-janardhan-steps-down-dave-brown) — Meta's Santosh Janardhan will step down in 2027; ex-AWS SVP Dave Brown takes over infrastructure under Meta Compute as capex runs $135B-$145B this year.
- [Oura Agrees to Buy Counsel Health for $625 Million, Betting That a Smart Ring Plus a Medical AI and On-Call Doctors Is a Care Business](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/oura-counsel-health-625m-ai-native-primary-care) — Oura agreed to buy Counsel Health, which pairs medical AI with on-call physicians, for $625M cash. Oura reports preliminary Q4 revenue of $533M, up 153%.
- [Mercor Raises $750 Million at $20 Billion to Sell Frontier-Lab Training Work to Enterprises Building Their Own Models](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/mercor-750m-series-d-20b-valuation-enterprise-evals) — Mercor's $750M Series D at $20B, including an employee tender, funds expert-built evals and post-training for enterprises fine-tuning open models. Mercor's own account.
- [Nominal Triples Its Valuation to $3B in Eight Months as Investors Back AI for Hardware Testing](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/nominal-240m-series-c-3b-valuation-hardware-ai-anduril) — Nominal raised a $240M Series C at a $3B valuation led by Lightspeed, tripling its March valuation. It sells AI and data software for testing complex hardware.
- [Banks Grow Wary of More AI Debt, Even With Anthropic or Google Behind It, Reuters Reports](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/banks-credit-investors-wary-ai-debt-selloff-reuters) — Reuters: some banks are reluctant to fund more AI deals even with Anthropic or Google backstops, per unnamed sources. Lenders now probe contract exit terms.
- [Sand.ai Raises $200 Million Series A+ Ahead of a Full MAGI-2 Video Model, TechNode Reports](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/sand-ai-200m-series-a-unicorn-magi-2) — TechNode, citing Jiemian: Sand.ai announced a $200M Series A+ led by Cornerstone Capital and Wangsu, and plans a full MAGI-2 video model.
- [Palo Alto Networks Is in Talks to Buy AI-Agent Access Startup Clutch Security for About $500 Million Cash](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/palo-alto-networks-clutch-security-500m-talks) — TechCrunch: Palo Alto Networks is in talks to acquire Clutch Security for $500M cash plus milestones. Neither company commented; the talks may not close.
- [Dropbox Agrees to Buy Tigris for About $350 Million Cash and Launches DBX Agent Cloud](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/dropbox-tigris-350m-acquisition-dbx-agent-cloud) — Dropbox 8-K: ~$350M cash for Tigris, close expected Q4 2026. DBX Agent Cloud starts with S3-compatible object storage; 70,000+ teams on new AI experience.
- [Meta Buys Conductor, the App for Running Coding Agents in Parallel, and Gives Its Cloud Users Until November 20](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/meta-acquires-conductor-parallel-coding-agents-cloud-shuts-nov-20) — Meta bought AI coding startup Conductor. Sign-ups are closed, Conductor Cloud goes read-only Nov 13 and shuts Nov 20; terms were not disclosed.
- [Anthropic Struck Its First Publisher Licensing Deal, With the AP, Before the Midterms, Adweek Reports](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/anthropic-first-publisher-licensing-deal-ap-election) — Adweek reports Anthropic licensed AP content and election data before the midterms, its first publisher deal. Terms undisclosed; neither side confirmed.
- [Nooks Gets $500M From General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, a Revenue-Share Deal Rather Than Equity, and Launches a Sales Assistant](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/nooks-500m-general-catalyst-customer-value-fund-node) — General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund committed $500M to Nooks as non-dilutive, revenue-share capital. Nooks also launched Node, an AI assistant for sales reps.
- [Meta Sells $15 Billion of Dollar Bonds and Pays More Than in April to Borrow, With Its First Euro Notes Due Next](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/meta-15b-bond-sale-wider-spreads-first-euro-notes) — Meta sold $15 billion of dollar bonds on Nov. 3 at wider spreads than in April, with its first euro notes expected next, to fund AI infrastructure.
- [Trajectory Raises $45M From Sequoia to Let Lawyers and Analysts Retrain Open Models Themselves](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/trajectory-45m-series-a-sequoia-continual-learning-post-training) — Sequoia led a $45M Series A at a $300M valuation in Trajectory, which retrains open models from user feedback. Harvey and Rogo are customers, TechCrunch says.
- [Kuaishou's Kling AI Closes a 19.8 Billion Yuan Round After Two Investors Fail to Pay, With a GPU Maker and Kingdee Filling the Gap](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/kling-ai-completes-19-8b-yuan-round-kingdee-metax) — Kuaishou's Kling AI completed an RMB19.8B round after two investors failed to pay. Kingdee and GPU maker MetaX took over commitments; Kuaishou keeps control.
- [Seoul and Taipei Both Fall 3.59% as the AI Chip Selloff Reaches Memory Makers; SK Hynix Drops 5% and Nanya Hits Its Daily Limit](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/asia-chip-stocks-kospi-taiex-fall-3-59-percent-ai-spending-doubts) — KOSPI and Taiex each fell 3.59% on Nov 3 as AI-spending doubts hit memory makers: SK hynix -5.03%, Samsung -4.15%, Nanya -10%, Yonhap and CNA report.
- [Robot Training-Data Startup GenRobot Raises $100 Million From SAIC, Baidu and Galbot Among Others](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/genrobot-ai-100m-series-a-plus-robot-training-data) — Beijing's GenRobot AI raised a $100M Series A+ from SAIC Motor, Baidu, Galbot and others to sell human-demonstration data for training robots. No valuation.
- [Fractile Raises $720 Million at a $7 Billion Valuation, With Britain's Sovereign AI Fund Among Its Backers](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/fractile-series-c-filings-sovereign-ai-fund-6-5b-round) — London AI-chip startup Fractile raised a $720M Series C led by Thrive, Founders Fund, Lightspeed and Redpoint at about $7B, with UK state backing. First chip next year.
- [Aramco Closes Its 49% Stake in Saudi AI Company HUMAIN, Putting In $2.6 Billion of Cash Plus Its AI Assets](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/aramco-closes-49-percent-humain-stake-2-6b) — Aramco now owns 49% of Saudi AI company HUMAIN, contributing about $2.6B in cash in 2026 plus AI assets. PIF keeps 51%. No valuation was disclosed.
- [Toyota Will Build Waymo Robotaxis on Its Own Line, Starting With a bZ4X Test Fleet in Japan in 2027 and the UK Later](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/waymo-toyota-bz4x-robotaxis-japan-2027-uk) — Toyota will build autonomous bZ4X vehicles with Waymo hardware at its Takaoka plant, starting a Japan test fleet in 2027 with the UK planned later.
- [Sebastian Thrun and Adrian Aoun's Dulo Raises a $130M Seed to Build Foundation Models for Hardware Design](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/dulo-130m-seed-thrun-aoun-hardware-design-models) — Dulo, co-founded by Sebastian Thrun and Adrian Aoun, raised a $130M seed to build foundation models for hardware design. Valuation was not disclosed.
- [AI Law Firm Crosby Bids for Weil Gotshal's Name, Brand and Some Internal Data as the Wall Street Firm Prepares to Vote on Dissolving](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/crosby-bids-for-weil-gotshal-brand-data) — AI-first law firm Crosby has bid for Weil Gotshal's trademark, brand and some internal data and is hiring some of its lawyers as Weil prepares to dissolve.
- [AI Selloff Hits the Suppliers Hardest: Intel Closes Down 28.6% and the Chip Index Falls 7.2% While the Hyperscalers Slip 1% to 2%](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/ai-chip-selloff-oct-30-nasdaq-100-worst-day-since-june-intel-29pct) — Intel closed down 28.6% (AP) and the chip index fell 7.2% (NBC News) on Oct. 30, while Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet fell only 1% to 2% (Reuters).