Mercor Raises $750 Million at a $20 Billion Valuation

Key Takeaways

• Criteo says advertising could help AI platforms cover operating and development costs; it works with OpenAI on ChatGPT ads in 89 countries, and about 3,600 brands have tested AI campaigns.
• Microsoft and Perplexity already run ads in some AI products, while Google is considering ads for Gemini; Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski is skeptical that users will delegate important purchases to AI agents.
• Arrive AI and Ottonomy plan to deploy 50 delivery robots at Hancock Regional Hospital, with scope for further expansion.
• MEGA plans to spend $30 million from its reserves on MegaETH products, starting with an AI inference marketplace targeted for December 2026.
• Cisco’s AI-spending dashboard tracks token use and costs across teams; internal tests found a lower-cost model scored 96%, compared with 99% for a flagship model.
• Mercor raised $750 million at a $20 billion valuation, with NVIDIA and Salesforce among the investors, to expand AI evaluations, post-training, research and infrastructure.
• Suzhou TFC Optical Communication, a supplier to AI data centres, reports CN¥4,751.1 million in revenue and an approximately 44% net income margin; the report also flags questions about demand and SMIC factory utilization.
• Anthropic is seeking a major IPO later this month, but uncertainty is weighing on its expected price; the report does not specify the uncertainty or price.
• SMX targets an internal launch of its AI materials research platform in Q1 2027 and a limited commercial edition in Q2, conditional on successful development and testing.
• Bitget Wallet says its AI identified 90.2% of newly blocked risky domains in early Q4; it is making GetShield protections free to all users and plans further AI threat detection under human oversight.

Criteo chief expects AI platforms to turn to advertising

Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski said many AI platforms may adopt advertising to help cover the high cost of developing and running AI systems. He made the comments at the Web Summit in Lisbon and said ads could become more suited to conversations with AI tools. OpenAI is testing ChatGPT ads and rolling them out worldwide with Criteo, while Microsoft and Perplexity already use ads in some AI products and Google is considering them for Gemini. Criteo works with OpenAI in 89 countries, and about 3,600 brands have tested AI ad campaigns. Komasinski doubts people will let AI agents make important purchases on their own.

Criteo CEO sees ads helping AI platforms cover rising costs

Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski said many AI platforms may eventually use advertising to earn revenue and cover the high costs of developing and running AI systems. He spoke at the Web Summit in Lisbon as investors weigh whether AI can become profitable amid inflation and high interest rates. OpenAI is gradually expanding ChatGPT ads worldwide with Criteo, while Microsoft and Perplexity already run ads in some AI products and Google is considering ads in Gemini. Criteo works with OpenAI in 89 countries, and about 3,600 brands have tested AI advertising campaigns. Komasinski said brands have modestly increased ChatGPT spending, but he is skeptical that people will let AI agents make purchases on their own.

Criteo CEO expects more AI platforms to add ads

Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski expects more AI platforms to introduce advertising as they seek revenue and a path to profitability. The report says about 3,600 brands are testing campaigns on Criteo's platform, including campaigns connected with ChatGPT. It points to ChatGPT's ability to create human-like responses as one reason brands are interested in using it for advertising. The report says AI advertising may continue to grow as platforms add similar technologies.

Arrive AI invests in Ottonomy and plans 50 hospital delivery robots

Arrive AI announced a strategic investment in Ottonomy to help expand autonomous delivery networks. Under their agreement, Arrive AI will deploy 50 ground robots at Hancock Regional Hospital, with the possibility of adding more. The deployment builds on Arrive AI's existing live operations and testing of its autonomous delivery technology at the hospital.

Arrive AI and Ottonomy plan to expand hospital robot deliveries

Arrive AI announced a strategic investment in Ottonomy to support expansion of its autonomous delivery network, which already operates at Hancock Regional Hospital. Their agreement calls for deploying 50 ground robots, with the potential for further expansion. The companies say the partnership will focus on improving the efficiency, safety, and reliability of delivery operations. The hospital is expected to benefit from the expanded network.

MegaETH rebrands as MEGA and commits $30 million to AI

The MegaETH Foundation has become the MEGA organization and will use $30 million from its reserves to build products on the MegaETH network. Its first planned product is an AI inference marketplace, expected to launch worldwide in December 2026. The team chose AI inference after several months of research and plans to expand use of the MEGA token while continuing work on the blockchain. MegaETH is an Ethereum layer 2 network focused on fast transaction processing. Details about the marketplace’s technology, providers and supported AI models have not been announced.

Cisco dashboard tracks AI token costs across company teams

At AI Engineer NYC 2026, Pratyusha Duvvuri presented a Cisco dashboard designed to help companies track AI token use, costs and adoption. It draws on company structures, provider API keys and finance data, and shows spending by employee, job family, model and other measures. Duvvuri said the dashboard helps engineers, managers and finance teams understand different parts of AI spending. Reconciling bills is difficult because providers can revise usage totals and charge different rates. Internal tests found a lower-cost model scored 96% on evaluations, compared with 99% for a flagship model.

Mercor raises $750 million to evaluate and train AI models

Mercor raised $750 million in a Series D round at a $20 billion valuation on November 11, 2026. Investors included Benchmark, Felicis, General Catalyst, NVIDIA, Salesforce and other firms, and the round also included an employee tender. Founded in 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, the company uses human expertise to train and evaluate AI. It says more than five million experts help it assess models on professional work. Mercor will use the funding to grow its evaluations and post-training business, research and infrastructure, including realistic settings where AI agents can learn work tasks.

China’s AI chip export boom puts focus on three infrastructure stocks

The article examines AI infrastructure companies connected to China’s chip exports and raises questions about demand and profitability. Suzhou TFC Optical Communication supplies optical subassemblies and optoelectronic packaging used in high-speed AI data centers and networking equipment. Nearly all of its CN¥6 billion in revenue comes from optical communication products, and its stock is valued at about CN¥137.9 billion. The company has reported CN¥4,751.1 million in revenue and a net income margin of about 44%. The article also asks how easing demand pressure on Semiconductor Manufacturing International’s factories could affect its margins.

Uncertainty weighs on Anthropic’s expected IPO price

Anthropic and its CEO, Dario Amodei, are hoping to complete one of the largest initial public offerings ever later this month. The article’s headline says uncertainty is weighing on the company’s price. It provides no further details about the source of that uncertainty or the expected IPO price.

SMX targets 2027 launch for AI material research platform

SMX plans to introduce its AI powered material research platform internally in the first quarter of 2027. The company expects full operations and a limited commercial edition in the second quarter, if development and testing succeed. It has not provided a revenue forecast or shown customer adoption. The next step is completing development and testing.

The environmental cost of AI data centre hardware

Data centres use servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems, all of which require resources to make and electricity to run. Mining metals, minerals and rare earth elements can harm local ecosystems and communities, while electricity use adds to greenhouse gas emissions. Old equipment often goes to landfills or incinerators. Google says its data centre design uses 50% less energy than traditional centres, while Microsoft uses recycled materials and energy efficient equipment. The article says companies are working on ways to reduce the industry’s environmental impact as the global data centre market is expected to reach $600 billion by 2025.

Bitget Wallet expands free AI security tools to all users

Bitget Wallet is expanding its AI security tools after weekly phishing related signing risk detections rose from about 5,000 in Q2 2026 to 37,000 in Q3. COO Alvin Kan said the increase may reflect improved detection as well as changes in attack activity. The company said its AI identified 90.2% of newly blocked risky domains in the first four weeks of Q4, compared with 70.2% in Q3 and 36.3% in Q2. Its GetShield system combines AI analysis, rules and human review to check websites, DApp connections and transactions, and its protections are free for all users. Bitget Wallet plans to expand AI threat detection and explore AI assisted incident response under human oversight, but did not disclose its false positive rate or where its AI analysis runs.

Sources

• Many AI companies will adopt advertising: ad chief Criteo
• Many AI companies will adopt advertising: ad chief Criteo
• Criteo CEO Expects More AI Platforms To Introduce Ads: Report
• Arrive AI Announces Strategic Investment in Ottonomy to Accelerate Autonomous Delivery Network Expansion
• Arrive AI Announces Strategic Investment in Ottonomy to Accelerate Autonomous Delivery Network Expansion
• MegaETH Foundation Announced a Rebrand and Allocated $30M to Develop AI Products
• Cisco Maps Token Bills Nobody Can Agree On
• AI Evals and Post-Training Company Mercor Raises $750M Series D at $20B Valuation
• 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks Riding China’s Chip Export Boom
• Uncertainty weighing on Anthropic price
• SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited (SMX) Plans AI Platform Launch in 2027
• What will become of all the hardware used in AI data centres?
• Bitget Wallet rolls out expanded AI protections to all users amid phishing surge