Anthropic settles $1.5B, Lilly launches Tunelab & more (September 9, 2025)

Good morning,

Today’s AI news blends courtroom drama, biotech breakthroughs, and mega-infrastructure deals. From Anthropic’s multibillion-dollar settlement to Lilly’s AI drug discovery push and Microsoft’s latest AI infrastructure tie-up, the headlines show how quickly AI is reshaping industries.

Let's dig in👇

💰 Money Moves

💸 Anthropic $1.5B copyright settlement

Anthropic reached a $1.5B settlement with authors over claims it trained on pirated books. The deal marks one of the largest copyright-related payouts in AI’s short history. It sets a precedent that could reshape negotiations between AI labs and creative industries worldwide.

🏜 Abu Dhabi launches low-cost AI reasoning model

Abu Dhabi launched a low-cost AI reasoning model to challenge OpenAI and DeepSeek. The model is designed to offer cheaper large-scale reasoning capabilities, making AI more accessible to governments and enterprises. If successful, it could pressure leading labs to reduce costs while sparking a new wave of regional competition.

📰 Anthropic Backs California AI Safety Law

Anthropic endorsed California’s AI Safety Bill SB-53, signaling support for tighter oversight. The move gives political momentum to state-level AI governance efforts. If passed, it could become a model for how states regulate AI beyond federal frameworks.

🚀 New Launches

💵 Nebius signs $17.4B AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft

Nebius inked a $17.4B AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft to scale compute resources globally. The partnership deepens Microsoft’s footprint in the AI data center race. With demand for GPUs skyrocketing, this move cements long-term alliances in cloud and infrastructure markets.

💡 Cognition AI reaches $10B valuation with new funding

Cognition AI secured new funding at a $10 billion valuation, solidifying its position among the world’s most valuable AI startups. The funding highlights investor appetite for specialized AI agents capable of reasoning and autonomy. As competition with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral heats up, Cognition is now a top contender in the next wave of AI platforms.

💴 Lilly launches new AI feature

Eli Lilly launched its TuneLab platform to give biotech firms access to AI-enabled drug discovery models. Backed by $1B in research, it accelerates the pace of therapeutic development. This platform underscores how pharma is betting on AI to cut costs and improve drug pipelines.

📈 Still Trending from Yesterday

💰 Europe’s most valuable AI startup secures €1.7bn with ASML as lead investor

Europe’s top AI startup raised €1.7bn led by ASML to boost semiconductor and AI model development. The deal highlights how chipmakers are becoming essential partners for scaling AI infrastructure. With this backing, Europe positions itself as a counterweight to U.S. and Asian dominance in AI hardware.

🧰 Tools of the Day

→ MiniCPM 4.1 - The on-device model for your personal data
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✍️ Prompt of the Day

"Act as my technical due diligence analyst. Review this AI startup pitch [paste text] and identify top 3 red flags in business model, tech stack, and regulatory risks. Suggest specific follow-up questions I should ask the founders. Format as an investor memo with bullet points."

⚡ Quick Hits

→ Helport AI launches helport go app.
→ People-first AI fund: $50m to support nonprofits
→ Ex-google maps, siri executives back $59M European fund for industry-specific AI.
→ Cognition AI reaches $10 billion valuation with new funding.

🧾 TLDR

Anthropic dominated today’s news cycle with a $1.5B settlement and a public policy play in California, while Microsoft and Nebius inked a massive infrastructure pact. Meanwhile, Lilly doubled down on AI for biotech, showing how pharma is leaning on AI to accelerate R&D. Europe’s chip-backed funding wave and new journalism labs show AI’s reach far beyond Silicon Valley. The thread tying it together: AI is no longer just a tech story, it’s a financial, political, and industrial one.

Cheers,
David