RAISE

California AG: Amazon Pressured Brands to Raise Rival Prices

California Attorney General Rob Bonta says newly unsealed documents from a 2022 antitrust lawsuit show Amazon pressured vendors including Levi Strauss & Co. and Hanes to inflate prices on rival marketplaces. The filings include communications where Amazon flagged lower prices on Target and Walmart listings and vendors sought to have those prices raised; in one example Hanes contacted Target and Walmart to raise prices, and Allergan reported Amazon temporarily suppressed listings until competitors’ prices rose. Bonta's office has asked a San Francisco court for injunctive relief and an independent monitor; the case is scheduled for trial in 2027. Amazon disputes the claims and says it will respond in court. The filings sit alongside prior federal and state antitrust scrutiny of Amazon’s marketplace practices.

DeepSeek in Talks to Raise $300M

DeepSeek, an AI startup founded by Liang Wenfeng and originally self-funded from his hedge fund High‑Flyer, is reportedly in discussions to raise at least $300 million at a valuation above $10 billion, according to The Information. The company released its R1 model in January 2025 (trained for roughly $5.6 million) but has since faced headwinds: at least five core researchers have departed, its next-generation V4 model has been repeatedly delayed to late April, and hiring for data‑center operations in Ulanqab suggests a shift toward heavier physical infrastructure. The article argues these signals point to a structural tension between operating as a frontier research lab, diversifying chip supply chains, and scaling as a startup — raising the question of whether new capital can resolve identity and operational trade-offs.

Wizz App and AppHarbr Raise In-App Ad Safety Standard

Wizz App and AppHarbr (by GeoEdge) published results after one year of integration, reporting that AppHarbr analysed more than 4 billion in-app ads across Wizz App’s advertising stack and blocked roughly 0.17% as potentially unsafe before delivery. The solution provided continuous, independent verification covering 100% of ad content delivered to Wizz App’s 3 million monthly active users (ages 18–24). AppHarbr operates as a real-time, always-on enforcement layer that evaluates every ad against Wizz App’s community standards and blocks categories such as malvertising, gambling, sexual content, alcohol, drug-related material, and hate speech. Company spokespeople framed the outcome as evidence that scalable ad integrity and community safety can operate alongside advertising monetization.