AI Infrastructure Financing & Compute Convergence

Massive capital flows into AI compute (NVIDIA $500B, CoreWeave $104B backlog, hyperscaler $1.2T capex) face regulatory headwinds from data center moratoria and local resistance. New chip startup Velaura AI raises $110M at $1B. Etched doubles to $21B, validating specialized inference silicon. OpenAI voluntarily halts Astra training, signaling alignment risks and potential shift in VC sentiment. Anthropic CEO argues centralization is inherent, challenging open-source narrative. Overinvestment risks flagged with correction expected late 2026/early 2027.