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These days, it seems like everyone has an AI browser.
OpenAI released its GPT-integrated browser, Atlas, in late October. Perplexity made its Comet browser free for all users in early October after launching it in July. The Browser Company released Dia, its AI-centric browser, in June—and then was promptly acquired by Atlassian for $610 million.
As AI fundamentally alters how we interact with the internet, investors say there’s now a rare opportunity to dethrone big tech incumbents who have built empires on search and advertising.
“This feels like the first time in a very long time where there’s an opportunity to unbundle it all, that there’s this path to take on companies like Google directly,” said Gustav von Sydow, partner at EQT Ventures, which most recently invested in the AI agents-centric browser startup Strawberry.
AI is driving the emergence of a new internet ecosystem, according to investors. It’s disrupting the old models of search engine monetization and web surfing—and investors want a piece of what comes next.
I'm Jacob Robbins, and this is The Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at jacob.robbins@pitchbook.com or on X @JacobERobbins.
“From navigation to collaboration, AI is rewriting the economics of the internet,” said Zeynep Yavuz, a partner at General Catalyst, which also recently backed Strawberry. “This is a generational shift in how we interact with the internet.” |
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| Whitepaper: How Loan Tape Cracking Works in Asset-Based Finance |
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From bid to settlement, loan tape cracking shapes every decision in asset-based finance. Yet inconsistent formats, manual reconciliations, and fragmented systems make it one of the most time-consuming and error-prone processes in private credit. This whitepaper breaks down the full loan tape lifecycle and shows how leading firms are using automation and unified data to transform operational complexity into a competitive edge.
Read Arcesium’s whitepaper to discover how you can:
- Decode the end-to-end process of loan tape cracking
- Identify and address key operational pain points
- Automate validation and normalization to improve accuracy and speed
- Integrate loan tape data with accounting and risk systems for greater transparency
Read the whitepaper |
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VC funding for China's AI sector is stalling. Driven by weaker economic conditions and restricted foreign investment, private market funding for Chinese AI companies has fallen. How much capital has been invested in these startups so far this year?
A) $7.8 billion
B) $25.1 billion
C) $10 billion
D) $6 billion
Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch! |
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Private capital decouples
from public markets
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Correlations between public and private markets have eased in recent quarters, signaling a return to the independence long expected of private strategies.
As public equities react to shifting global trade and tariff policies, private market performance is showing a greater degree of autonomy.
According to our Q2 2025 Private Capital Indexes, the rolling five-year correlation between private capital and the S&P 500 has declined notably since late 2024.
That partly reflects a statistical reset—recent periods are now outside the pandemic-era's extreme volatility window, which temporarily lifted correlations across nearly all asset classes. |
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VC, PE are still betting on medtech
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AI is on the forefront of the medtech's industry's next growth wave.
Long-standing applications in imaging, diagnostics and neurology are converging with new device-level integrations—from smart implants to surgical navigation systems, according to our recent report on the sector.
But amid this progress, funding for the medtech market is increasingly polarized. |
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| (Josie Doan/PitchBook News) |
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"The dominant issue in this campaign has been the cost of living, and you can definitely say data centers fall under that."
—Chaz Nuttycombe, founder and executive director of State Navigate, a nonpartisan nonprofit that collects data on state governments and elections across America, speaking to PitchBook's Jacob Robbins on the effect data centers have had on races up and down the ticket in Virginia. The data center capital of the world is poised for a shift in policy with the incoming administration. |
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Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week:
- Q3 2025 US VC Valuations and Returns Report
- Q3 2025 Carbon and Emissions Tech VC Trends
- Analyst Note: AI in Drug Development
- Q4 2025 Quant Perspectives: Private Equity
- Q3 2025 Medtech Comp Sheet
- Q3 2025 Foodtech Comp Sheet
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Answer: D.
Across 574 deals, $6 billion has been invested in Chinese AI startups in 2025, a significant drop from last year's annual total of $10 billion. You can read more about what's driving the trend by reading Leah Hodgson's latest here. |
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