Charlie Javice, the convicted Frank founder, is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon, with her camp quietly courting people close to the Trump administration, according to the WSJ. So far, her name hasn't turned up on a formal clemency request list at the Justice Department, it adds. That list is growing fast. As the administration reportedly weighs handing out roughly 250 pardons this summer to mark America's 250th birthday, a wave of clemency requests is pouring in from white-collar defendants ' including Sam Bankman-Fried. JPMorgan can't be pleased by any of this. Last September, Javice was found guilty of fabricating millions of customer accounts to inflate her startup's value before selling it to the bank for $175 million. She's now serving more than seven years and is appealing, arguing the case against her was unfair. The bank may have extra cause for concern given its relationship with President Trump. In early 2021, it closed accounts tied to Trump and his businesses shortly after the January 6 Capitol riot, a move that Trump has since called political 'debanking,' suing JPMorgan and CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion. (JPMorgan denies any political motive.)...

Meta has begun dismantling its $2 billion acquisition of Manus, completing an operational separation from the Chinese-founded AI startup and halting data sharing between the two companies. This is the most concrete step yet toward complying with a divestiture order Beijing issued roughly two months ago on national security grounds. Meanwhile, according to May reports, the co-founders of Manus have held preliminary discussions about raising approximately $1 billion from outside investors to reclaim the startup from Meta, a move that could pave the way for a Chinese joint venture structure and an eventual listing in Hong Kong, a venue that has seen a surge in AI listings this year for Chinese AI startups like MiniMax and Zhipu. What was supposed to be a landmark exit for Chinese AI is quickly unraveling. The move underscores Beijing's determination to retain control over strategically sensitive technology, regardless of a company's offshore incorporation. In addition to the forced divestiture, Chinese authorities have since expanded travel restrictions to researchers and executives at private firms, requiring government approval before heading abroad. China is also tightening its grip on foreign capital, with reports indicating that top AI firms, including Moonshot AI, StepFun, and ByteDance, will need government sign-off before accepting U.S. investment, adding another layer to Beijing's sweeping effort to control its AI sector....

Shares of SpaceX closed up 19% on Friday as Elon Musk's space exploration company made its market debut on the Nasdaq in the largest IPO in history. The stock closed at $161.11 after opening at $150, giving the company a market cap of $2.1 trillion at the end of its first day of trading. The IPO caps a remarkable journey for a company that raised nearly $12 billion in private investment since its founding in 2002 to become the world's most valuable venture-backed startup with a most recent private-market valuation of $1.25 trillion. Along the way, SpaceX helped redefine both the space industry and the late-stage venture market. Its long-awaited offering raised some $75 billion and served as an enormous liquidity event for Musk, who became the world's first trillionaire as a result, as well as his close friend and confidant Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners, who reportedly now owns a stake valued at more than $68 billion in SpaceX. It's also a massive and successful exit for early venture and corporate investors including Google, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Craft Ventures and Founders Fund....

Portfolio companies that fit that thesis include LatAm neobank Nubank; fleet safety management startup Motive; WeTravel, which is a tool for travel agents; Happy Robot, which develops agents for enterprises; and coffee chain Blank Street. It is also exploring vision models and world models ' the equivalent of LLMs for visual understanding. If AI could truly understand every pixel and atom in a construction site, that will unlock robotics, Ajao said. The firm invests at seed through Series B. From the early-stage fund, Base10 plans each year to make 10 to 15 seed investments, and two to three at Series A. The Series B fund, roughly equal in size, will make three to four investments each year. 'We might ask what IT support firms look like when you have AI, or what the software stack of the modern restaurant is,' said Ajao. The firm tries to meet every company globally operating in that space. It spends roughly 50% of its time with companies that are not fundraising, with 90% of investments made due to its research....