US Pulls List of Tech Firms Linked to China’s Military | Bloomberg Tech 2/13/2026

Pentagon list chaos rattles markets

The Defense Department briefly added Alibaba, Baidu and BYD to the 1260H military-linked blacklist containing 130 Chinese entities, then withdrew the list without explanation, causing immediate drops in US-listed shares.

OpenAI warns Congress on DeepSeek

OpenAI told lawmakers that Chinese AI firm DeepSeek improperly used 'distillation' to copy frontier US models and evade countermeasures, citing national security risks and government-mandated content screening.

Anthropic doubles valuation to $380B

The AI lab finalized a $30 billion funding round (up from initial $10B talks), doubling its valuation while annual run rate surged from $9 billion to $13 billion.

Investors 'double dipping' on AI labs

Venture firms are hedging bets by simultaneously backing competing AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic simultaneously, a new phenomenon reflecting uncertainty about market winners.

Shield AI raises $1B at $12B valuation

The defense tech startup is in talks to raise $1 billion, doubling its valuation in less than a year to $12 billion including the new capital.

Logistics scare trade triggers selloffs

A tiny $6 million valuation autonomous logistics startup named Karaoke triggered sector-wide stock collapses as investors fear AI disruption, adopting a 'sell first, ask questions later' mentality.

Valuation barbell effect emerges

Capital is concentrating in high-growth AI names while solid, profitable SaaS companies see reduced fundraising velocity despite stable fundamentals, creating a split market.

Twilio demonstrates resilience

The communications platform beat earnings with ~14% revenue growth forecast, with the CEO noting its usage-based pricing model insulates it from 'SaaS-pocalypse' fears affecting seat-license software.