Cluster Protocol Completes $5 Million Funding Round, Led by DAO5

According to a Wall Street Journal report, AI firms including OpenAI and Anthropic are offering large volumes of free computing credits and discounts to startups to compete for enterprise clients. Silicon Valley startup founders are receiving computing credits, token usage allowances, and bidding-style perks from AI model companies; some early-stage firms have received total cloud computing and token allowances exceeding $3 million, nearly matching the median U.S. seed round funding tracked by PitchBook. AI companies aim to acquire customers in startups’ early stages, so their tools become integral to these businesses as they grow. Cursor offered a 75% discount until July 5; Google Cloud provides up to $500,000 in cloud credits to some startups, plus early access to its Gemini model, and in some cases, support from DeepMind engineers. Microsoft and Amazon Web Services also offer special benefits to startups. OpenAI and Anthropic have particularly targeted Y Combinator startups lately. In May, Sam Altman announced OpenAI would provide each startup in the accelerator program with $2 million in token credits in exchange for equity. Around the same time, Anthropic raised its free allowance for YC startups from $30,000 to $500,000, with no equity requirement. OpenAI later adjusted its plan: it now offers $500,000 in free credits to startups (no equity required), plus an option to exchange equity for an additional $1.5 million in credits. These discounts reflect intense competition among model providers to secure future large-scale clients. Y Combinator runs four cohorts annually, each with around 200 companies recently, meaning OpenAI and Anthropic could collectively offer up to $800 million in AI credits over the next year. Christopher Acker, co-founder of SuperPenguin, said: “The AI world is being driven by OpenAI and Anthropic because they are giving startups money to cover their usage costs.”

Today, Lewis Huang, chief analyst at Bitget CFD, noted during an online livestream themed "Cooling Rate Hike Expectations: Technical Analysis Takes Over Trends" that the global financial market is at a critical juncture where macro narratives and market movements alternate. He emphasized that with the recent release of macroeconomic data, market concerns over the Federal Reserve maintaining an aggressive rate hike path have cooled significantly. Against the backdrop of weakening macro fundamental pressure, capital is reorienting, and market logic is gradually shifting from "news-driven" to "technical analysis-led". Regarding the current market landscape, Huang stated that when macro expectations converge or stabilize, "technical analysis reflects all market information". During the livestream’s practical analysis segment, he thoroughly broke down the latest chart structures of gold, U.S. stocks, and major popular indices. He pointed out that with fading rate hike risks, non-yielding assets like gold and risk assets such as stock indices are showing clearer technical boundaries. He advised CFD traders to temporarily reduce reliance on macro data plays at this stage, shift their trading focus to price action itself, and flexibly capture swing and trend trading opportunities amid shifts in market sentiment by leveraging key support and resistance levels and trend indicators.

Weekly change in US ADP employment for the week ended June 20 came in at 21,000, versus the prior value of 30,750. (Jinshi)

According to Bloomberg, AI legal startup Norm has raised $120 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $1.2 billion. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Blackstone, Bain Capital Ventures, and Coatue Management, among other investors. To date, Norm has secured over $260 million in total cumulative funding. Founded in 2023, Norm is among a growing cohort of startups leveraging AI to assist legal professionals with document drafting, research, and contract review. Other firms including Anthropic and Harvey have also launched AI agents and software tailored for lawyers. Unlike its competitors that sell software to law firms, Norm operates its own law firm, Norm Law, to deliver AI-powered legal services directly to clients. The firm charges clients based on outcomes rather than the hourly billing model prevalent in the legal industry, aiming to better reflect the value of services provided.

Amazon plans to raise at least $25 billion through U.S. dollar bond issuance.

According to BIT (bit.com) market data, in pre-market trading for U.S. stocks, the storage sector led declines: Western Digital (WDC) fell 7.30%, Seagate Technology (STX) dropped 5.97%, Micron Technology (MU) declined 5.34%, and SanDisk (SNDK) fell 5.01%. Semiconductor stocks were broadly lower, with Lam Research (LRCX) down 5.56%, Applied Materials (AMAT) down 5.48%, Marvell Technology (MRVL) down 4.68%, KLA (KLAC) down 4.50%, Arm (ARM) down 4.13%, AMD (AMD) down 3.85%, ASML (ASML) down 3.74%, and Intel (INTC) down 3.54%. Optical communication concept stocks also faced pressure in pre-market trading: Astera Labs (ALAB) fell 3.72%, Ciena (CIEN) dropped 3.63%, Coherent (COHR) fell 3.63%, Lumentum (LITE) declined 3.59%, and Corning (GLW) fell 3.55%.