Defense Tech Expert / Analyst (2:47)

Well, there is at least some sign of engagement, at least through intermediaries. The US had sent its 15 point plan through Pakistan. It was promptly rejected. And it contains some of the familiar provisions, limits on Iran's missile program, a role back of its nuclear efforts, and then also international guarantees for access through the Strait of Hormuz. And now we have seen Tehran respond with its own five point plan or its conditions, if you will, that include actually a halt of hostilities, a demand for reparations from the devastating assault by the US and Israel on its cities and critical facilities, but also very important sovereignty recognized internationally over the Strait of Hormuz. So that is emerging, is a sticking point. And that's actually something we heard discussed during the proceedings yesterday at Hill and Valley. During your interview with Palantir's chief technology officer, he brought up the importance of the Strait as an access for critical materials that are needed globally.

Bloomberg Tech Host (3:50)

Right. Well then that's why you see markets doing what they are, right? Technology stocks up oil a little lower. Even when those headlines from Iranian state TV hit, pushing back on the state of affairs with negotiations apart from an algo move, status quo resumed. Let's go to that conversation with Sham Sankar. We talked about where the conflict in Iraq sits in the history of war, frankly, and the role that technology has played. Listen to this.

Defense Tech Expert / Analyst (4:15)

The current, current operations are ongoing. But I think people reflect back and

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (4:19)

say this is the first large scale

Defense Tech Expert / Analyst (4:21)

combat operation that was really driven, enhanced, made substantially more productive with technology, with AI.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (4:28)

And

Bloomberg Tech Host (4:31)

the first AI driven war, Palantir, a name a little higher today. What else do we do?

Defense Tech Expert / Analyst (4:37)

We take from that Palantir is really front and center in this question of AI's role in warfare because it is their maven system that is being used as the mission control for a lot of the US combat operations. And it has really accelerated in the view of combat commanders, the way that they process information, enormous amounts of incoming information on the battlefield. And when you think back to prior conflicts in the region, the current one is so vastly different. And it's simply because of the enormous amounts of data that they now have coming in from satellites and other surveillance equipment scattered around the region that commanders have to assess. But they simply don't have the personnel all in one place at a time. They really do need that machine learning and artificial intelligence capability to be able to sort all of that. I think another critical point that also came up in the conversation not only with Shyam during your interview, but during his remarks in the panel yesterday was just the need to accelerate US procurement and make it more agile so that the US government and its allies can develop for the battlefield more quickly, these drones, for instance, the low cost drones, but other technology that could be brought to bear very quickly against an adversary. And he like he looked back to World War II when there were more than 100 different airframes developed by industry by the US industrial base. Only a handful of them proved critical, but he made the point that look, we have to be trying harder and really spreading a lot of this.

Bloomberg Tech Host (6:16)

A path towards ending the war in Iran is what's pushing technology shares higher this morning. Blue as Mike shepherd, thank you very much. From defense tech to space, some stocks moving off on news around Space X's IPO, EchoStar, Rocket Lab, AST, Space Mobile, many others, all rallying as the information reports reports that SpaceX aims to file a prospectus for an IPO as soon as this week. That follows a previous Bloomberg report that Space X is paying to list this month or file the documents at the end of this month, which by the way, if you look at your calendar is fast approaching. Let's get out to Bloomberg's Kyle Porter. We've been over this. This is likely to be the biggest IPO of all time, either on a dollar raised perspective or on a valuation perspective. Let's talk about the latest. Carl.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter Kyle Porter (7:04)

Indeed, the more recent reporting suggests that they are on target for a June ipo, which as you correctly point out would be the largest IPO by both valuation and by amount of capital raised. The current record was held by Saudi Arabia Aramco. They raised around $29 billion. This would be according to recent reports, at least double that. So you've got to look at a huge range of institutional and retail mix to get this sort of an IPO

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (7:32)

done

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (7:34)

and real demand at a time of real market volatility and big deals being done, that is that still buttoned up. Of course it was only recently that that SpaceX consumed Xi.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter Kyle Porter (7:46)

Indeed it wasn't only very recently. And you know that's a business that has a huge cash burn attached to it, but it doesn't seem to have dented any enthusiasm for this ipo. You've really got a situation where institutions are looking at Space X as a monopoly and the retail component are looking at it as you know, Mast Elon strikes again. Of course they're going to want to get into this. He's made spectacular returns for his investors over the past 20 years.

Bloomberg Tech Host (8:11)

We we're just showing a chart call that is the kind of anticipated IPOs and the valuation of SpaceX like 1.75 trillion. It's worth reminding the audience that that Post merger Space xi, that private market transaction valued the company, the combined entity at 1.25 trillion. That this, this is big. There's a lot at stake here, right? Like there's a reason that all of these space and Space X adjacent stocks are pushing higher. This is one that the world wants to get in on. And there are a long list of creme de la creme investors that are already on the cap table. Just go over the basics of what we know of the existing backing the SpaceX has.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter Kyle Porter (8:51)

I mean the existing backing includes people, blue chip funds like the likes of Fidelity. You have dedicated space infrastructure or telecom infrastructure like Echo Star is in the, Google is in the bank of America is in there. Given the amount of fundraising that's happened and how long SpaceX has been public, there's been a very private. Sorry, there's been a very long tail of people who've wanted to get into this and that's going to raise real questions over how they go get out of it. Typically an IPO doesn't allow much in the way of individual investors to sell their shares. Given how long some of these people have been locked up, there may be more of a push to do that sooner than the typical 12 month local period.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (9:35)

It is going to be one for the record books. Bloomberg's Car Porter, we so appreciate your reporting on it. Look, let's go to a publicly traded name already that has some big moves. Today we're watching aam. That's after the company announced plans to sell its own chips for the first time. Not just design them, not just license the technology. ARM CEO Rene has sat down with Bloomberg Tech Europe's Tom MacKenzie.

ARM CEO Rene Haas (9:57)

It is a very big day for AAM, there's no doubt about that. We've been an IP provider since we started. We started selling compute subsystems a few years ago, which was sort of the next step, but it's not a physical thing. But as we grew into the CSS business, we had customers that kept asking for more and more and more and, and here we are today with ARM's first chip product, ARM AGI CPU, which Metta is our lead partner for. And Metta asked us to do it with them. So we did.

Bloomberg Tech Host (10:26)

Talk to me about Matter and the partnership.

ARM CEO Rene Haas (10:28)

Then one one of your customers, OpenAI also, also a customer. What are the commitments from Matter from Open Air to take this chip on board? When do you start shipping? So as Mohamed said, it's available now and we'll start shipping at the end of this year. We're not saying anything publicly about the, the volumes associated with it, but they are material enough that we have to start talking about the product because it's going to start showing up on our revenue this year. The revenue is not showing up this year. And in your presentation earlier here in

Bloomberg Tech Host (10:58)

San Francisco, you talked about potentially just

ARM CEO Rene Haas (11:00)

this one revenue stream, just this one part of the business, potentially $100 billion by 2030. Talk us through how you get to that $100 billion. So we're looking here then, Tom, at the general purpose CPU jam, which today in 2026 is about $60 billion, $70 billion depending on your, your maths. I talked about Agentic AI driving a Forex CPU workload even today. So $60 billion going to $100 billion by the end of the decade in terms of market opportunity is not really that much of a stretch.

Bloomberg Tech Host (11:36)

ARM CEO Rene Haas there, speaking with Bloomberg's Tom MacKenzie. Now coming up on the program, a conversation with Congressman Suhas Subrahmanian of Virginia on the future of AI data centers. This next this is Bloomberg Tech.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (11:53)

Apple, well, it's set to unveil a new standalone Siri app featuring a redesigned interface and an Ask Siri capability that works across its software ecosystem. Now that's according to sources. The app is expected to debut at this year's WWDC in June. For more Bloomberg's Apple and Consumer Tech editor, it's Mark Gurman joins us with the breaking news that you brought. And I think for many it will be a finally feeling if this happens.

Bloomberg Apple and Consumer Tech Editor Mark Gurman (12:18)

Finally, indeed. Apple is revamping Siri for iOS 27, Mac OS 27 and iPados 27, launching in September. This is going to be quite significant. This is going to include a Siri app. It's going to include many of the features that originally were supposed to launch last year, personal contacts. So being able to tap into your personal data on your screen to fulfill queries. The idea is to transform Siri from just a voice assistant to an AI agent that you can use sort of like a co pilot throughout your day to help you get things done and to solve queries. So this is a really big deal for Apple and the hope internally and the belief internally is they'll be able to pull it off in time for the iPhone 18 Pro.

Bloomberg Tech Host (13:03)

The other story that you broke is Amazon has been pretty active in M and A on the field of robotics. What do we need to know?

Bloomberg Apple and Consumer Tech Editor Mark Gurman (13:10)

Amazon is acquiring a company called Fauna Robotics, which makes this adorable, I should say humanoid robot. It's about three and a half feet tall it could dance, it could hold hands, it could respond to being called out by name. It could pick things up, it could take things from the kitchen and bring it to you. This is a big deal. And what's really clear here from what I'm hearing is that this is not meant for deliveries or for manufacturing or anything within their fulfillment centers or operations. The idea here is to learn about humanoid robots and to get the technology and the right people to potentially build a consumer grade humanoid robot. So they'd be obviously going into toe to toe here with companies like Tesla, Boston Dynamics, figure, you name it.

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (13:58)

Right.

Bloomberg Tech Host (13:59)

Mark it down. 11:12 Eastern On March 25, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman used the word adorable. Thank you very much. Now here in Washington, the Trump administration says it's working to cut red tape around AI and the build out of critical infrastructure. But that push is facing fresh resistance. On Capitol Hill, Senator Bernie Sanders leaders and Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio Cortez are set to introduce legislation that would impose a moratorium on new data centers until stronger safeguards are in place. That debate is especially relevant in Virginia, home to one of the largest concentrations of data centers in this country. Joining us now is Representative Suha Subramanian, Democrat from Virginia. Your reaction, I suppose, to that initiative and we can then talk about the scale of footprint of data centers in your state.

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (14:49)

Yeah, it's important to understand where it's coming from. I don't support a full data center moratorium at all, but I do think there's a lot of frustration in communities like mine when it comes to data center steamrolling communities and having siting issues where they create power problems in those communities. And so if we did a comprehensive look at where we should be siting data centers across the country, what would be best for industry, what would be best for the communities? I think you would actually allay a lot of the concerns that people who are supporting data center and have about these data centers.

Bloomberg Tech Host (15:20)

You represent a region that you cannot understate the footprint there. 70% of the world's Internet traffic flowing through servers inside what are essentially tin cans.

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (15:32)

But if my district were a country be one of the top five countries in terms of number of data centers and the amount of Internet running through it.

Bloomberg Tech Host (15:38)

What therefore is your position and how you represent your constituents? Because there is, there is a split, right? NIMBY is one pocket, there is job creation, there is economic value created from the build out that we're seeing.

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (15:53)

Well, the data centers don't create a lot of jobs, but the local Government likes it because they create a lot of revenue for local government and state government. They also don't create a lot of jobs, which means less traffic through those communities, less schools you have to build, less roads you have to build. So the local government loves it, which is why they keep approving them. But it's shortsighted because then you start to create energy problems. You start to have to build energy infrastructure through communities that weren't expecting it, didn't sign up for it. You lower home values and people get angry about it, and rightfully so. It's more than just NIMBYism. I think people have legitimate concerns. But we can do this as a country. We can build out the data centers we need to build out in this country. We don't need to do a moratorium, but we have to deal with the buy in of communities across the country. Because I know there's communities that want data centers that are coming to ours right now. If we had, you know, all our data centers, you know, it takes up more power than the city of D.C. and we're doubling the number of data centers so we have too many in one spot. That's a national security concern as well. What we really need to do is just start spreading out the data centers across the country and getting it in places where community buy in is there.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (16:51)

How can we hear from communities simultaneously? Clearly we're hearing from leadership of big tech. Look today, yet another technology council, the president is creating one at the moment where we understand Jensen Huang is going to be part of it. Mark Zuckerberg is going to be part of it. Larry Ellison, people very committed to datacenter build out, to compute build out. So how do you ensure that at the same time the voices of constituents are heard about these anxieties about jobs, about what's happening in terms of energy prices?

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (17:20)

We need to give them a voice in Congress at the state level, at the local level, every level of government needs to give their constituents a voice. And we don't have to be adversarial all the time to tech. We can work together and we can solve this together. But certainly we have to make sure the constituents voices do have a say, do have a seat in the table. Because otherwise there's going to be a huge backlash towards data centers. You're starting to see it more prominently now. Right now you've got members of Congress introducing these moratoriums. You're going to see it even more prominently if they continue to steamroll these communities.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (17:48)

We have the N scale CEO on to Start this week, which already feels a little time ago. It was on Monday talking about how they're thinking vertical integration and they're bringing electricity and infrastructure to the bear. We had Crusoe, the CEO on earlier yesterday talking about how they're also thinking about infrastructure and building it out. Are there innovative ways in which you can still have data centers being built near you without suddenly a price push, without a national security risk, without any detriment to your property prices?

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (18:15)

Yes and no. I'd like to see exactly what they mean by that because you know, a lot of times there's people talk about smart small modular nuclear reactors. Essentially you need three or four of them for each data center. And who wants those nuclear reactors next to their homes, for instance, using gas provisions via how innovative.

Bloomberg Tech Host (18:35)

That is what it comes down to, Congressman. You know, on the industry side they would argue they take on the capital burden of grid modernization, they buy electricity in bulk and that they would argue there's a deflationary impact for everyday people, people's energy prices. There's also a lot of Bloomberg reporting and investigation that shows in zip codes where there's a high concentration of datacenter electricity prices have gone up and energy prices have gone up. What do you see the real on

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (19:02)

the ground view my, my home in Ashburn, Virginia, our electricity prices have gone up and it's because we had to pay for that infrastructure. They're not taking that cost into account. So yes, you bring more energy infrastructure at long term lower costs but when we have to pay upfront for that energy infrastructure, it raises our utility prices. So that needs to change. We need to make sure that communities aren't subsidizing the data centers energies and again, we can do this. A lot of companies are actually volunteering to do this to be able to pay for their own energy infrastructure. I like that idea. That's going to help a lot and that's the type of thing we need to be doing when it comes to getting community buy in.

Bloomberg Tech Host (19:37)

What is your view of your constituents and the American people's relationship? Relationship with. I think Caroline and I have had a lot of conversations in the last 24 hours where I doesn't have very much good PR at the moment with everyday Americans. One thing that Shawn Sankar, he's the CTO at Palantir, put to us is that, you know, there's a distinction between what is a slop, what people see in their social media feeds and how they actually might benefit from it in their working and at home lives.

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (20:05)

You know, I worked at the White House as a tech advisor 10 years ago. I was exciting to people. They couldn't wait to use it, they couldn't wait to adopt it, but they've seen the job displacement. It's hard to love AI when they're, when companies are putting out announcements saying because of AI, we're laying off jobs, congratulations to us, right? People don't like to hear that. They don't like to hear about data centers coming to community and making them pay for the energy costs and energy infrastructure. So AI has a PR problem, but they've earned it because of the way they've talked to communities about AI. And so what we need to do is work collaboratively with government. I think Congress needs to get more involved than it has already when it comes to safety, national security, and communities.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (20:45)

Representative Suhas Subramaniam, Democrat of Virginia, it's wonderful to have time with you today. Thank you very much indeed. Now coming up, Striker still reeling from a March 11 Iran linked cyber attack that stalled global operations. We'll discuss the cyber landscape amid the continuing war in Iran. That's next. This is Bloomberg Tech.

Adobe Marketing Representative (21:03)

Effective marketing is smarter, not louder. Cutting edge technology alone won't deliver better experiences or outcomes. Adobe helps marketers use data and AI to drive smarter engagement, reduce noise, and use AI effectively and responsibly. The brands winning in the AI era aren't the ones chasing every trend. They're the ones with the right systems and strategy. It's time to lead with insight, agility, and innovation. It starts with Adobe.

IBM Representative (21:35)

The thing about AI for business, it may not automatically fit the way your business works. At IBM, we've seen this firsthand. But by embedding AI across hr, IT and procurement processes, we've reduced costs by millions, slash repetitive tasks, and freed thousands of hours for strategic work. Now we're helping companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business. IBM.

Cigna Healthcare Podcast Host (22:05)

For many men, mental health challenges aren't recognized until they've already taken a toll. Work pressure, financial stress, changing relationships, and traditional expectations around masculinity can quietly wear men down, often without clear warning signs. In season three of the Visibility Gap, Dr. Guy Winch and his guests explore how these pressures show up, how to spot them earlier, and how men can access meaningful support. Listen to the new season of the Visibility Gap, a podcast presented by Cigna Healthcare.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (22:43)

Stryker, when it says a March 11 cyber attack that stalled global operations is likely contained. Sustained, but disruptions persist. More than 10 days after the event. That's according to the 8K filing from the company just yesterday. Bloomberg Cyber editor just joins us with more. What is keeping it so long from being able to really ascertain operations?

Bloomberg Cyber Editor Jeff Stone (23:00)

Again, this is a really complicated, intense, complex attack carried out, excuse me, by a nation state against a company that just wasn't expecting this kind of thing. You know, these hackers exploited an old vulnerability to get in. They somehow had access to, you know, pretty deep confines within the, in the corporate systems and then they wiped data from their kind of perch in there. So it just takes a lot of investigation. It takes a lot of cleanup.

Bloomberg Tech Host (23:29)

You know, we started this segment talking about how, you know, 10 days after the initial attack, this is still causing an issue. We've also talked a lot on the show this past week with experts in industry about the sophistication and competence of Iran's cyber threat. Right. Where does this rank, Jeff, in sort of historic attacks at the nation state level against the United States of America?

Bloomberg Cyber Editor Jeff Stone (23:54)

This is not the kind of threat that, you know, national security officials have warned about from the likes of a Russia or China. Iran is a little more specialized. They are a little more opportunistic. What they do is, is they try to inflict pain and project power in any way they can. So they saw an opportunity here to go against the US Healthcare sector. Right. And cause some economic pain for this company. They've disrupted some surgeries. We know that some facilities around the country have pushed back procedures as a result of this. It is not the level of a big kind of blackout or electrical failure like you see in the movies,

Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at Ronald Reagan Institute (24:35)

Jeff.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (24:35)

We are seeing hopes, maybe dash for many, but hopes that maybe there's a de escalation in the current conflict with Iran. But are you feeling that the ongoing conflict from a cyber perspective is still happening? What are companies currently being affected by?

Bloomberg Cyber Editor Jeff Stone (24:51)

Briefly, we know that companies have to have the defenses up against things like phishing attacks. I don't expect that to subside. U.S. national Security officials, officials, European officials have said, don't, don't rest on this because this is a, this is a reliable means for Iran to try to even the playing field.

Bloomberg Tech Host (25:11)

Bloomberg's Jeff Stone with the reporting. Thank you very much. Coming up on the show, we speak with Rachel Hoff, policy director at the Ronald Reagan Institute on key takeaways from the Hill Valley Forum where we were yesterday. But also the growing prominence of the defense tech sector sector and its relationship with the administration and government here in Washington, D.C. it is half time in the program this is Bloomberg Tech. Welcome back to Bloomberg Tech. This is what financial markets look like. Technology stocks in particular pushing higher. Oil coming down a little bit bit. The market is weighing up the prospects of a cease fire, of a plan towards peace. In the context of the war in Iran, America has put out some proposals. What we've seen throughout the morning is lines principally via Iran's state television, pushing back actually on their interest in engaging with the US but at least in the technology sector, we haven't seen the NASDAQ 100 or the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index change directory. You see still see Brent Crude. That's the global benchmark for oil hold above $100 a barrel. And a lot of focus on supply chain, particularly the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz in the context of energy, but other things as well. That's what we've been talking about for

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (26:33)

24 hours straight because we've been talking about how technology intertwines with defense and how it all aligns. Here in Washington, we were at the Hill and Valley Forum and it held a spotlight really on defense tech tech in the age of AI. But NSIB data shows just how early that shift still is. While Pentagon spending on defense tech has more than doubled from about 1.8 billion in fiscal year 2023 to 4.3 billion for fiscal year 2025, it still makes up, get this, less than 1% of total contract dollars. Here to discuss more on this is Rachel Hoff, Policy director that Ronald Reagan Institute which issued the report and its stark warnings. Basically, you not only highlight how little in the grand scheme of things money is going to defence tech for all the amount that we talk about it, but you also try and outline ways in which it could be adopted faster. First and foremost, why do we get so much excitement about defense tech? Why is the VC community pouring in money when the end client isn't putting money in as much?

Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at Ronald Reagan Institute (27:28)

Well, it's a great question and I think you've got to look at, you know, not just the end client, but the threat environment, the world that you were just speaking about in which that client is operating. And simply put put, it's a dangerous world. It's getting more complex and complicated as we see tension on the rise, as we see conflicts erupting in different corners of the world. And that means that protecting American national security is good business and it's important business. And so we're seeing those private dollars flow, those that private capital from the venture capital community. But those investors are going to need to see the Public dollars line up in terms of Pentagon spending. If it's going to continue in, if they're going to continue to take that risk.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (28:07)

The reporting that ad and team and woman continue doing, Andrew, now looking at an overall market cap of $61 billion, raising another $4 billion. And yet we're just talking that less than that is how much has been directed towards defense tech from the Pentagon? What your policy prescriptives to get the government even more comfortable with aligning that money.

Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at Ronald Reagan Institute (28:28)

There's a lot of work that we've done at the Reagan Institute with regard to, to this national security innovation base, kind of thinking about how public investments but, but public policy can help tackle this problem that we're seeing the private sector stand up to solve. Right now they're operating at two different speeds where the private sector is in the lead. We're really seeing innovation, we're seeing progress and the government is struggling to keep up. It's improving. You mentioned at the top, defense tech spending has doubled. That's great. And yet, yet it's still less than 1%. And so I think continuing to improve the demand signal that government, and that's not just the Pentagon, that's also Congress. Political leaders at the White House level and beyond are sending to private sector partners the clarity with which they're communicating their policy priorities, their technology priorities and then the spending to back up those acquisition pathways.

Bloomberg Tech Host (29:19)

I want to define what that spending is. What we've looked at on the show historically, Rachel, is unclassified or declassified missile spending. And to hammer home the point largely it goes to Lockheed Martin and others of that legacy prime ilk. The question I suppose at this juncture is does what's happened with the war in Iran change that? You know, we've done a lot of covering the use of drones, lower cost autonomous technology. The question is for your report is, is the trajectory different now?

Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at Ronald Reagan Institute (29:51)

It's becoming different. It is changing. I think what we're seeing with the conflict in Iran and Operation Epic Fury is really driving home the point that defense tech matters, that these low cost systems are going to be an important part of ensuring America's national security. But the fact remains that most of the platforms, the weapon systems and platforms that we've used in Operation Epic Fury are from the Reagan administration or before 40, 60, 80 year old systems. And those are important platforms. Right. Aircraft carriers moving into the region are an important part of projecting American strength. But the fact that only one weapon system, the Lucas drone, is being used in Operation Epic Fury, that's been developed in the last 15 years. Only one system in this operation that's, that's less than 15 years old really shows how we need to, to keep up to meet those, those challenges that you're speaking to.

Bloomberg Tech Host (30:42)

The word procurement comes up quite a lot when you're somewhere like Hill and Valley Forum and this there's a bit of an exasperation from industry about how that works. PowerPoint presentations is something that they, they stress over. Is this administration better than prior administrations and this Pentagon better than than prior iterations of it at dealing with more nimble small technology companies?

Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at Ronald Reagan Institute (31:07)

Well, politics aside, at the Reagan Institute we've developed a report card to look at exactly this. And we've seen improvements in some grades that matter in this defense innovation ecosystem over time and we've seen some grades moving in the other direction. But the biggest year on year jump that we've ever seen, biggest improvement in grade is something we call customer clarity. That demand signal that the government's signaling to private sector partners. And we see that not, not, not just through spending and acquisition pathways but some of the reforms that this administration has pursued. The acquisition transformation strategy, streamlining technology priorities. They've said a fewer number of technologies are important and then sent that signal to private sector partners. In terms of what the administration wants to focus on and from what we hear from those private sector partners, that's helping, helping them align to national security priorities.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (31:58)

I want to talk about talent for a minute because Chris Power Hadrian joined us yesterday from the Hill Valley Forum and his point was talent is a real issue and that's why in many ways they've got this novel way of training people up because there's a huge retirement block.

Bloomberg Tech Host (32:11)

That's it. The average age of work in that industry was 65. Yeah, something like that. Not everyone works until the generational thing in the school. Sorry.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (32:19)

No, but what's so great about your national security basically innovation based report card is it reads like a school report and you're saying talent base D plus in America. What do we need more? Look, I sit as a British person

Bloomberg Tech Host (32:34)

who luckily enough also a British person working in America.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (32:37)

But do we need more immigration? What is it that's needed to boost the D plus?

Rachel Hoff, Policy Director at Ronald Reagan Institute (32:41)

It's all of the above. We need to attract foreign born talent here to the United States to work on some of our hardest problems with appropriate controls of course in place for national security. But we also have to be be channeling our domestic talent toward STEM careers, toward not just high skill but also skilled trades. Companies like hadrian are doing some very interesting and innovative things in that regard and also thinking about how technology itself, AI and beyond, can make our workforce more productive even in smaller numbers. That it's not just about maintaining the workforce of the past, but preparing for the workforce force of the future. And Arlo Grade I think in the talent and workforce domain shows that there's a lot to be done both with private sector and public sector collaboration here to really get at that challenge.

Bloomberg Tech Host (33:30)

Rachel Hoff, Ronald Reagan Institute it's great to have you on Bloomberg Tech. Thank you very much. Now coming up, 54 year old VC firm kind of Perkins makes its largest raise ever, $3.5 billion. We'll discuss next with partner Ilya Fuschman. This is Bloomberg Tech, so there's a

IBM Representative (33:50)

lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises, so let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need. Now a global workforce of 300,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94% of common questions, not noise proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business.

Cigna Healthcare Podcast Host (34:18)

IBM for many men, mental health challenges aren't recognized until they've already taken a toll. Work pressure, financial stress, changing relationships and traditional expectations around masculinity can quietly wear men down, often without clear warning signs. In season three of the Visibility Gap, Dr. Guy Winch and his guests explore how these pressures show up, how to spot them earlier, and how men can access meaningful support. Listen to the New Season of the Visibility Gap, a podcast presented by Cigna Healthcare.

Adobe Marketing Representative (34:50)

Everyone has been there. Your team's feedback is scattered across emails, chats and sticky notes. It's a mess, but PDF spaces in Adobe Acrobat gives you one collaborative workspace to streamline every file and comment. So if you need six departments to finally agree on a proposal, do that with Acrobat. Need to turn a mountain of feedback into one plan of action? Do that with Acrobat. Want to stop searching for files and finally get everyone on the same page? Do that, do that do that with Acrobat. Learn more@adobe.com do that with Acrobat.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (35:34)

Kleiner Perkins, the half century old venture capital institution has raised three and a half billion dollars to make bets on startups and current portfolio stars. Innovating, cross autonomy, transportation, professional services and space, for example. Kind of Perkins partner Ilya Fishman, I'm pleased to say, joins us for more. And look, you've got one billion dedicated to what is your 22nd early stage fund. You then got two and a half billion going in the growth at areas. Just tell us about what excites you. Why this amount of money? Why now?

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (36:04)

Well, we're really at the early innings of probably the biggest transformation in technology that any of us have witnessed. We see companies growing at big scale faster than ever before. We see AI penetrate all facets of our lives, whether it's on the consumer side with search media, we have video models that are still on the come. And then on the work side, we see companies fully transform how they operate, rate, whether it's across legal and professional services with Harvey, health care with Open Evidence, transportation and autonomy with Waymo. And we're still very much in the early innings of all of this. If we look at how some of the leading AI forward companies operate and we compare that to the more traditional companies, the opportunity to penetrate the enterprise with AI is just infinite from where we sit. And that's reflected in the funds. And

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (36:58)

where excites you the most. Is it putting the money into fresh new startups that haven't even been designed now, or is it backing, say a star performer? Anthropic we know is looking to be ipo and you've got standout names like Space X on the books as well. But where are you thinking about where you can follow on your capital?

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (37:17)

So our model is pretty simple. We try to back companies as early as possible out of our venture funds and as they hit and inflection as they hit escape velocity to really concentrate and double down with our growth funds. Sometimes we see things a little bit later and so we come in with a very high conviction, big check out of our growth funds straight away. But the really exciting thing we're seeing in the market today is that as companies hit really large scale, like in the case of Anthropic that we've really never seen before, the opportunity to back these as they progress to escape velocity is near infinite. And so that really is reflected in the fund structure. So the venture fund, we're looking for application layer companies, we're looking for infrastructure companies, we're looking for autonomy. And as models cheaper and more performance, the physical economy becomes an opportunity. But as these companies then hit scale, hit growth, we really concentrate with our growth funds.

Bloomberg Tech Host (38:13)

We see extreme teams at both ends of the spectrum. Wrote a few weeks ago about the seed round now being more like the coconut round, the avocado seed round, where you are putting huge checks into a collective of a few individuals and you're basically betting on their intellectual power. What are you seeing in that early stage? I'm really interested you've dedicated those funds to that part of the market.

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (38:39)

Well, what we're really seeing is just the opportunity again to transform industries with AI business models is again near infinite. I mean everything is really up for grabs. We're kind of past the what I would call the hype buying part of the cycle where folks just wanted AI. And we've seen companies like Harvey, for example, in market with customers, with data around engagement and growth and performance to inform how we should think about these opportunities. At the early stage, there is a novel case of structure of companies where you have sort of the formation of next generation labs which could be the next inflection in itself. And those are very interesting. But then you have really runaway successes that are helping people do their work better, that are helping consumers get answers around health care. And so we try to balance our investing across all of those because there is another frontier to be unlocked here. And those are the model companies of the future. But then you have the model companies of today like Anthropic, which are growing faster at a scale that's never been seen before. And I think that's still early in their trajectory.

Bloomberg Tech Host (39:50)

At the other end of the spectrum, Bloomberg also reporting today that Space X could seek to raise $75 billion in an IPO confidential filing this week targeting June. The valuation 1.75 trillion to 2 trillion. Kleiner Perkins has participated in some prior Space X rounds. What's going to happen? How is that going to impact the world? Space is a domain that you want to go after in the new funds that you've raised.

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (40:21)

I think we want to go after many domains. Spaces is a really good example of bringing communication to the world in the. That's incredible. Connectivity that lifts everything. If you think about technology, the Internet was the big unlock and getting more of connectivity throughout the world is important, but it's also a testament to the fact that you now can build companies that are truly transformational when it comes to both the physical world and the digital world. And that's something that we will focus on quite a bit. And that's autonomy. That's autonomy maybe in the defense tech sector, that's also autonomy. On the consumer side side, we have a position in Waymo as well. And so we just see a really, really large scale opportunity across everything.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (41:03)

Elia, according to people familiar, I'm told that you managed to raise this amount of money Pretty fast and it was oversubscribed And I imagine LPs were excited because of the opportunity and the delivery of liquidity. Unlike a lot of other funds that you've delivered. When it comes to, when it comes to the Figma ipo we saw the Windsurfax acquisition. We might see enormous returns if Space X and indeed Anthropic and maybe even a databricks or away may do go public. Is that what locked in the LP base? How do you think about the need for the markets to open in 2026?

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (41:37)

We're very fortunate to have an incredibly supportive LP base and we're very thankful for that. And ultimately it's all a testament to the entrepreneurs that we back because they're the ones building the these incredible companies. But if you look at the public markets and if you look at what's really driving value, it's technology companies. And if you look at the private markets, you know there's a public market mag7 and there's probably a future private market mag7 that's on the come. And that's really the interest that we're seeing from limited partners because these companies are getting to again revenue scales that we've never seen before faster and compounding at those scales faster than ever before. And there's probably a next level of the future future max 7 and these could be the application companies like Harvey, like an open evidence which are then going to be the next generation. It's really just a testament to the fact that tech is driving pretty much most of the value you see today. LPs recognize that, recognize that and we think that's the really big opportunity here.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (42:33)

Eliot, we've talked about this. But public market sentiment, sentiment might be at an all time high for tech. Public sentiment is not certainly when it comes to I fearful they're worried about jobs, they're worried about energy prices and from your portfolio companies are you trying to get across that the opportunity Here you talk about the infinite possibilities but for many listening at home it feels like infinite worries and concerns.

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (42:58)

I think one byproduct which will be pretty straightforward is quality of life will improve for everyone.

Congressman Suhas Subramanian (43:02)

Everyone, right.

Kleiner Perkins Partner Ilya Fishman (43:03)

We will have better access to information, better access to health care, better access to surface services, better more performant world around us. Really if you think think about Waymo. The ability to have very safe transportation on demand is incredible. On the flip side there is a very clear worry because these changes are happening on a timescale that's faster than ever before. And one of the things we do think about quite a bit is how do we, we help folks upskill? How do we help folks learn and transition into this world? It's going to be a world of abundance. But what we have to be thoughtful of as I think the industry is making sure that the abundance is accessible

Bloomberg Tech Host (43:41)

and distributed kind of Perkins partner freshman, great to have you on Bloomberg Tech. Thank you very much. Now coming up on the program, OpenAI nears an $850 billion valuation as it's also close on a deal to raise raised $10 billion more in its latest funding round. We have the details next. This is Bloomberg Tech. OpenAI is nearing a deal to raise about $10 billion from venture investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi's MGX and Microsoft. That's according to sources. Sources that would bring its total haul from its latest funding round to $120 billion, boosting its valuation to $850 billion. Bloom Bloomberg's Shereen Ghafari is with us, part of the team that, that broke the story. Okay, so let's just be like very clear about what this is. It's basically an extension or expansion of the round they were already doing. So they did $110 billion from corporates basically and now they're adding a little bit more. But it's the VCs that are getting in. What else do we need to know?

Bloomberg Reporter Shereen Ghafari (44:50)

That's right. So this is sort of the second part of the round. We're heading into the final close, you know, as soon as end of month, which could be next week. And we're seeing some, you know, big names, traditional VCs as well as others, other funds like D Shock or two. And we are seeing one more company investor jump in on this part of the round, which is Microsoft.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (45:13)

And that maybe raised a few eyebrows, Shereen, because there's been much questioning of that relationship. What does that participation look like? What does it signal?

Bloomberg Reporter Shereen Ghafari (45:24)

Yeah, I think there's been a lot written about OpenAI and Microsoft's UPS and downs. Of course, Microsoft being the biggest sort of early corporate backer of OpenAI critical to their expansion into this GPT era. However, in recent times we've seen OpenAI diversity diversify its cloud, you know, it's, it's compute based, diversify its corporate partner base. And so I think this signifies that Microsoft still in OpenAI now how much and how deep and are they the kind of sole corporate partner is in early days? No, but we are seeing a continuation at least on the funding side here.

Bloomberg Tech Host (45:56)

Shreen, another Big headline on Open Air is its discontinuing support for Sora and winding down a deal that it had with Disney. I remember when that deal hit, we broke it on this show and made a pretty big deal of it, pardon the expression. Why are they winding down Sora and why did Disney and that relationship fall apart?

Bloomberg Reporter Shereen Ghafari (46:17)

That's right. It was sort of an abrupt ending. So if you remember, Sora launched an app not so long ago and it sort of had a viral beginning and was topping charts. But as viral apps do sometimes, kind of user activity on that app seemed to die down in recent months. And remember that producing videos, especially AI videos, it's an expensive business. It can cost a lot more to produce even a 10 second video clip than it does, you know, a paragraph of text in a chatbot. So you have to think about the cost benefit ratio for a company like OpenAI when it's facing stiff competition from anthropic on enterprise, when it's facing stronger Google Gemini models models. Is it the right decision to go all in on video when there's limited compute, limited resources? I think is probably the question the company was thinking now the dynamics with Disney. You know, I think there's going to probably be more about this story. We're going to look into exactly what happened there more. But I think that, you know, we're seeing this pushback on video front from a major lab is very significant

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (47:23)

and it really does seem part of this broader strategy shift honing in on where to win that Fiji Semo is really bringing over Open Air as well. Bloomberg. Shereen Ghafari, great reporting as always. Thanks so much for bringing it to us. And look, we've got to talk a little bit more and about what this means for Disney. What a first week for just a momra at the moment. Like the unraveling of the story that many people thought would be the next experience we were going to get with Disney. Plus in the last like. And now also there's issues with Epic Games.

Bloomberg Tech Host (47:50)

So Josh Tomorrow became CEO last Wednesday the 18th at the annual shareholder meeting. He's seven days in and Disney put money into this open air relationship. It was supposed to yield things. They also have an investment in Epic Games video game maker, a company that's doing big layoffs. So hard start to that tenure.

Bloomberg Tech Reporter (48:10)

Welcome to the role of CEO. It would feel like massive. Well, that does it for this extraordinary edition of Bloomberg Tech right here from the heart of Washington.

Bloomberg Tech Host (48:18)

Yeah, lots to recap on tech and politics. Do it on the podcast. You know where to find it online Apple, Spotify, and iHeart from Washington, D.C. this is Bloomberg.

Cigna Healthcare Podcast Host (48:28)

For many men, mental health challenges aren't recognized until they've already taken a toll. Work pressure, financial stress, changing relationships, and traditional expectations around masculinity can quietly wear men down, often without clear warning signs. In season three of the Visibility Gap, Dr. Guy Winch and his guests explore how these pressures show up, how to spot them earlier, and how men can access meaningful support. Listen to the new season of the Visibility Gap, a podcast presented by Cigna Healthcare.

WISE Advertisement Narrator (48:58)

This podcast is brought to you by WISE the smarter way to manage your money Internationally if you're getting a headache from juggling different currencies and different bank accounts in different countries, there's a better way to receive money in the currency you need without the slow trans times or hidden fees. Meet Wise, the savvy way to handle your money internationally. Hold balances in up to 40 currencies with the mid market exchange rate on every conversion. Whether you're receiving payments from tenants abroad, earning as a digital nomad, or converting dividends from your international investments, the WISE Multi Currency account is for you. Be Smart. Get Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com Terms and Conditions apply. With volley from iShares, you get access to both monthly Inc Income and growth potential in one simple etf. It's the best of both worlds. Discover Bali Ishares Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF iShares the market is yours. Visit www.ishares.com to view a perspective for investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses and other information that you should read and consider carefully before investing. Risks include principal loss and the use of derivatives, which could increase risks and volatility. Monthly income is not guaranteed. Prepared by BlackRock Investments, LLC.