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Rani Molla7/24/24

Ad companies rejoice after Google's cookie plan crumbles

After tormenting the ad industry for four years with its plan to get rid of third-party cookies, Google did an about-face and finally relented earlier this week. Instead of “deprecating third-party cookies,” it’s introducing a “new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice.” In other words, Google will prompt Chrome users to choose whether to opt out of cookies — something they can already do.

Of course, in that time, many ad tech companies spent tons of time and money trying pivot from cookies, a tracking technology that enabled them to target ads online. And perhaps users will turn off cookies en masse anyway. What ultimately happens with cookies and ad tech in general remains to be seen. Even still, the industry’s stock is looking up.

The AdProfs AdTech Index, which tracks publicly-traded companies that provide advertising technology software and services, is up 5% from Friday.

5%

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Anthropic raises $30 billion, now valued at $380 billion

Anthropic is now valued at $380 billion, after closing on its latest round of fundraising, taking in $30 billion from a wide range of investors. The Series G round was co-led by D. E. Shaw Ventures, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, ICONIQ, and the UAE’s investment arm, MGX.

Some other investors include: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, JPMorgan Chase, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

Anthropic offered a few details on the current state of its business:

Anthropic said that its annual run-rate revenue has reached $14 billion, seeing 10x growth each of the past three years.
“The number of customers spending over $100,000 annually on Claude (as represented by run-rate revenue) has grown 7x in the past year.”
“Claude Code’s run-rate revenue has grown to over $2.5 billion; this figure has more than doubled since the beginning of 2026.”
Business subscriptions to Claude Code have quadrupled since the start of 2026.

In a blog post announcing the round, the company said:

“We train and run Claude on a diversified range of AI hardware — AWS Trainium, Google TPUs, and NVIDIA GPUs — which means we can match workloads to the chips best suited for them. This diversity of platforms translates to better performance and greater resilience for the enterprise customers that depend on Claude for critical work.”

Anthropic raises $30 billion in Series G funding at $380 billion post-money valuation

Anthropic raises $30 billion in Series G funding at $380 billion post-money valuation

Anthropic offered a few details on the current state of its business:

Anthropic said that its annual run-rate revenue has reached $14 billion, seeing 10x growth each of the past three years.
“The number of customers spending over $100,000 annually on Claude (as represented by run-rate revenue) has grown 7x in the past year.”
“Claude Code’s run-rate revenue has grown to over $2.5 billion; this figure has more than doubled since the beginning of 2026.”
Business subscriptions to Claude Code have quadrupled since the start of 2026.

In a blog post announcing the round, the company said:

“We train and run Claude on a diversified range of AI hardware — AWS Trainium, Google TPUs, and NVIDIA GPUs — which means we can match workloads to the chips best suited for them. This diversity of platforms translates to better performance and greater resilience for the enterprise customers that depend on Claude for critical work.”

How to SOLV a problem

SOLV Energy ringing the bell at Nasdaq

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Apple’s smartphone market share is growing in China

Apple is starting 2026 strong in China.

After staging a comeback last year as consumers flocked to the iPhone 17 lineup, the US company is continuing to gain ground.

Apple’s iPhones accounted for 19% of smartphone sales in China in January, up from 14% a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. That marks Apple’s highest January market share in five years, putting it just a fraction of a percentage point behind market leader Huawei.

Last quarter, Greater China revenue made up about 18% of Apple’s total sales as it remains an important region for the company.

Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana says she thinks the company could reach 1 million weekly paid autonomous rides this year, Bloomberg reports. That would be more than double the roughly 400,000 weekly rides the Alphabet subsidiary is currently providing after quadrupling service in 2025.

The company plans to get there by adding new vehicle models to its fleet and expanding into additional markets this year, including Washington, Detroit, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Denver. Waymo currently operates in six cities, having expanded to Miami in January, and has more than 2,500 fully driverless vehicles on the road.

Its biggest competitor, Tesla, says it is operating about 500 robotaxis, which for the most part have human drivers, in two markets: Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area.

tech

Russia blocks Meta’s WhatsApp, the country’s most popular messaging app

The Russian government has fully blocked Meta’s WhatsApp, the country’s most popular messaging app, over what a Kremlin spokesman called the company’s “unwillingness to comply with Russian law.” In a statement, Meta said WhatsApp has more than 100 million users in the country, which would represent two-thirds of the Russian population.

While this represents a major disruption for Russian users, it’s unlikely to be financially devastating for Meta.

The company does not break out revenue from Russia, but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Meta has been labeled an “extremist organization” in Russia, and advertising on its platforms has been banned.

Meta called the move a “backwards step” that “can only lead to less safety for people in Russia.”

Russia fully blocks WhatsApp, talks up state-backed alternative

Russia fully blocks WhatsApp, talks up state-backed alternative

While this represents a major disruption for Russian users, it’s unlikely to be financially devastating for Meta.

The company does not break out revenue from Russia, but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Meta has been labeled an “extremist organization” in Russia, and advertising on its platforms has been banned.

Meta called the move a “backwards step” that “can only lead to less safety for people in Russia.”

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