Marc Andreessen and Vinod Khosla are in a fight.
It’s not a playground fight with name calling or lawsuits. But in the world of venture capital, where investors pride themselves on being mature counselors to brilliant-but-impulsive founders, the public dispute that broke out between Andreessen and Khosla over the past few days qualifies as a remarkable rumpus.
In case you missed it: On Saturday, Khosla tweeted comments supporting OpenAI—the $86 billion startup he invested in years ago—and calling Elon Musk’s recent lawsuit against the company a “massive distraction.” Andreessen then chimed in to accuse Khosla of “lobbying to ban open source.” Before long, the two VCs were in a heated back-and-forth, arguing about the existential dangers of AI (“Would you open source the Manhattan Project?” Khosla asked his critic, to which Andreessen responded by tweeting the image of a naked Robert Oppenheimer sitting on a sofa—an image from the 2023 film—as well as the provocation that OpenAI “must be immediately nationalized.”)
Others, including Musk himself, jumped into the fray. And as of Monday evening, the tweets were still flying.
The play-by-play of who’s-aligned-with-who and who-said-what-to-whom may have the air of a salacious HBO drama, but, naked Oppenheimer tweets aside, this argument would seem to run deeper than a superficial tussle of big egos. At its core, this is an intellectual, even religious, dispute about open source software versus closed source, and what the future of AI should look like—including, to paraphrase Andreessen, whether AI should ultimately be treated like “nukes” or “math.”
The weird thing is that Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures both own shares in OpenAI—Khosla invested at seed, and a16z has bought shares of OpenAI on the secondary market. These guys are on the same team for this one. Why are they squabbling like this? (And also, don’t these guys have each other’s phone numbers? I don’t know about you, but I would, at some point in this process, have probably moved this discussion offline).
One reason for the public spectacle might simply be that we live in a new world, where Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s wild cage match hype, which peaked with the rumor that they’d fight in Rome’s Colosseum, has become the norm. As much as anything else, Khosla and Andreessen could see this as a useful branding exercise. It wasn’t that long ago that many VC firms didn’t believe in doing PR, and valuations on big deals were kept hush-hush. Today, venture firms are as thirsty and image conscious as their portfolio companies.
A more charitable interpretation might be that the public feud isn’t a craven and self-serving branding exercise, but a reflection of the stakes involved. The debate over AGI, guardrails, and regulation within the AI industry is real. Adherents of the different sides are passionate about their cause, which they consider existential, and are eager to win converts.
And then there’s the most sincere interpretation of all—that these two very powerful men are as anxious as we are, if not more, about the future of AI and are unsure as to how it will be shaped, because it’s far bigger than either of them. And this uncertainty highlights a truth: If AI indeed is the sea change it’s generally believed to be, even masters of the universe are worried, as they play what’s likely the most high-stakes game of their lives—and ours.
Elsewhere…Commerce Ventures, which invests in technology seeking to modernize retail and financial services, has raised more than $150 million for its fifth fund. My Fortune colleague Luisa Beltran has the story.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Axonius, a New York City-based provider of cybersecurity asset and SaaS management, raised $200 million in a Series E extension. Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and were joined by Stripes.
- Baseten, a San Francisco-based AI infrastructure company, raised $40 million in Series B funding. IVP and Spark Capital led the round and were joined by Greylock, South Park Commons, Lachy Groom, and Base Case.
- Healthee, a New York City-based AI-powered employee benefits app, raised $32 million in Series A funding. Fin Capital, Glilot Capital Partners, and Group11 led the round and were joined by TriNet.
- Ema, a San Francisco-based developer of an AI employee designed to automate workflows and emulate human employees in specific roles, raised $25 million in funding. Prosus Ventures, Accel, and Section 32 led the round and were joined by Wipro Ventures, Venture Highway, AME Cloud Ventures, Frontier Ventures, Maum Group, and Firebolt Ventures.
- MoeGo, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based software platform for pet care businesses, raised $24 million in Series A funding. Base10 Partners led the round and was joined by Digitalis Ventures, Conductive Ventures, and Uphonest Capital.
- Synctera, a San Francisco-based provider of embedded banking and finance solutions, raised $18.6 million in a Series A extension. Lightspeed and Fin Capital led the round and were joined by NAVentures, Banco Popular, and others.
- Kismet, a Surry Hills, Australia-based startup designed to connect caregivers with health insurance and health care providers, raised $8.2 million in seed funding from Prosus Ventures and Airtree Ventures.
- k-ID, a Singapore-based developer of safety and compliance technology for children and teenagers designed for online games, raised $5.4 million across pre-seed and seed rounds from A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN, Konvoy, and TIRTA Ventures.
- Bone Health Technologies, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of non-invasive bone health products, raised $5 million in seed funding from Esplanade Ventures, Berkeley Catalyst Fund, and Terumo Medical.
- StackOne, a London, U.K.-based embedded integration platform as a service platform, raised $3.6 million in seed funding. Episode 1 led the round and was joined by Playfair Capital, Portfolio Ventures, and others.
- Cambrian Robotics, a London, U.K.-based machine vision company, raised $3.5 million in Seed+ funding. Cybernetix Ventures and KST Invest GmbH led the round and were joined by Yamaha Motor Ventures and Digital Media Professionals.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- AE Industrial Partners acquired Calca Solutions, a Lake Charles, La.-based manufacturer of hydrazine, a liquid used as rocket propellant and for other national security applications. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Cinven acquired a majority stake in Alter Domus, a Luxembourg-based provider of end-to-end tech-enabled fund administration, private debt, and corporate services for the alternative investment industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Cycode, backed by Insight Partners, acquired Bearer, a Cambridge, Mass.-based AI-powered SAST, API discovery, and data leak protection platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Deel, backed by BAM Elevate and Coatue Management, acquired PaySpace, a South Africa-based provider of payroll technology and HR services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Fairbank Equipment, backed by Pfingsten, acquired Big W Sales, a Stockton, Calif.-based distributor and manufacturer of agricultural parts, components, trailers, tanks and equipment. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- General Atlantic acquired a majority stake in Plusgrade, a Montreal, Canada-based provider of ancillary revenue solutions for the travel industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- L Catterton agreed to acquire AmaWaterways, a Calabasas, Calif.-based luxury river cruise line. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Summa Equity acquired STIM, a Leknes, Norway-based supplier of fish health products and services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- WindRose Health Investors acquired CardioOne, a Houston, Texas-based management services platform for cardiologists. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- United Rentals (NYSE: URI) agreed to acquire Yak, a Hattiesburg, Miss.-based matting provider of ground protection and temporary roadway solutions, from Platinum Equity for approximately $1.1 billion in cash.
- Luxium Solutions, backed by Edgewater Capital Partners and SK Capital Partners, agreed to acquire PLX, a Deer Park, N.Y.-based designer and manufacturer of optical assemblies and products for the defense and aerospace industries, from a group of investors including Tinicum, SK Capital Partners, and Edgewater Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Capitol Meridian Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm, raised $900 million for its first fund focused on companies in the government technology, aerospace & defense, government services.
PEOPLE
- Ally Bridge Group, a New York City and Hong Kong-based private equity investment firm, promoted Kevin Reilly, Andrew Lam, and Slanix Paul Alex to managing director.
- Eclipse, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, hired Jiten Behl as a partner. Formerly, he was with Rivian.
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