SoftBank's enviable Arm problem, Tesla's Chair comes under more scrutiny, and molecular furniture for tiny homes

According to the WSJ, Capital One plans to buy Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal that would marry two of the largest credit-card companies in the U.S. Discover's market value is $28 billion and the deal value is expected to be somewhere north or that, though the Journal isn't speculating on how far north.

The U.S. Commerce Department today kicked off what is expected to be a series of cash infusions into semiconductor manufacturing projects across a handful of states in the coming weeks, starting with $1.5 billion it today awarded chipmaker GlobalFoundries to build and expand facilities in New York and Vermont. The WSJ has more here.

On this episode of The Distribution by Juniper Square, David Haber, GP at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), shared how his entrepreneurial mindset guides his investment strategy for fintech, how he anticipates GenAI will affect the sector, and why now is a great time to invest in fintech. Listen here now.

Freenome, a 10-year-old South San Francisco-based biotech company focused on developing blood tests for early cancer detection, has raised $254 million in fresh funding led by Roche, with participation from a mix of earlier and new backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, BrightEdge Ventures, ARK Investments, ArrowMark Partners, Quest Diagnostics, Squarepoint Capital, and others. The company has now raised roughly $1.25 billion altogether from investors. Fierce Biotech has more here.

Blueprint Finance, a New York-based developer of an on-chain credit market, raised $7.5 million in funding co-led by Hashed and Tribe Capital, with added participation from SALT, Hypersphere, Lightshift, Awesome People Ventures, Veris Ventures, and others. Fortune has more here.

Avatar Medical, a four-year-old startup with offices in Paris and Mountain View, CA, that a service that turns traditional medical images into 3D visualizations, aiming to help surgeons and patients better understand medical conditions and surgical plans, raised a $5.4 million round led by GO Capital, with additional participation from Acorn Pacific Ventures, Plug and Play, Rives Croissance, and Cenitz. More here.

Exponential Markets, a three-year-old, New York-based developer of financial risk mitigation tools, raised $10.3 million in seed funding. MaC Venture Capital led the round, joined by Citi, Autotech Ventures, and Avanta Ventures. More here.

Silencio, a Munich, Germany-based startup that says it will people with its own Noise Coin tokens for capturing noise levels with smartphones and reporting noise pollution, raised $1 million in pre-seed funding. Borderless Capital led the round and was joined by Moonrock Capital, Master Ventures, and others. More here. (In related news, I'm issuing tokens for anyone who wants to clean my house.)

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iAngels, a four-year-old Tel Aviv VC firm, has raised $70 million for its second fund. The firm typically backs seed companies with checks ranging from $2-4 million.

Xalts, a venture-backed Singapore fintech startup founded just 18 months ago, has acquired Contour Network, a digital trade platform set up by eight major banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered and BNP. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the acquisition price was in the high single millions and composed of cash and stock, reports TechCrunch. More here.

In an apparent effort to spice up its upcoming IPO, Reddit has agreed to let an unnamed AI company train its models on Reddit's data for a reported $60 million per year.

Robyn Denholm, chairman of Tesla, is facing increasing heat for approving Elon Musk's $50+ billion pay package while earning more than $280 million in her role. 

The Washington Post profiles Kathaleen McCormick, the no-nonsense Delaware judge who says she sees through Elon Musk's "phantabulating."

SoftBank Vision Fund’s Lydia Jett, a managing partner in the Americas, is leaving the investment firm, according to Bloomberg. (Aha! This would explain why our upcoming interview with Jett at Upfront Summit in L.A. was recently canceled.)

A new study out of Amsterdam posits that less-attractive VCs are more apt to invest in attractive founders "to align themselves with entrepreneurs who exhibit desirable traits symbolized by their attractiveness." The study adds venture capitalists considered above average in attractiveness showed a more consistent risk-taking behavior irrespective of the entrepreneur’s looks. 🕶️

Tech leaders are heading back to San Francisco after dumping the city during the pandemic.

Selling its stake in Arm could pose real problems for SoftBank.

Attending graduate school or making a TikTok?

That Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial musical is coming to the U.S. Its first stop? Park City, of course.

In case you've given up on X, Mark Zuckerberg got memed this weekend when he showed up to support UFC fighter Alex Volkanovski.

Molecule furnishings.

A modern wristwatch with a Soviet twist.