Alphabet lines up rare 100-year sterling bond amid record AI spend

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

1.

Century tech: Alphabet is looking to raise about USD15 billion ($21.2 billion) from a US high-grade dollar bond sale, according to reports citing people familiar with the matter. The company is selling bonds in as many as seven parts, with the longest portion, maturing in 2066, reportedly indicated at around 1.2 percentage points above Treasuries in initial price discussions. Alphabet has also lined up banks for potential sterling and Swiss franc bond offerings, including a rare 100-year sterling note for the first time, the Financial Times reported. Century bonds remain rare in tech, with the last issued by Motorola in 1997, according to Bloomberg. The move comes as Alphabet and other major tech companies increase borrowing to fund AI infrastructure. Last week, Alphabet reported annual revenue above USD400 billion for the first time and said it plans to spend up to USD185 billion this year. In November, it raised USD17.5 billion in US bonds, including a 50-year note, and EUR6.5 billion in European markets. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are managing the new bond offerings. (Bloomberg)(FT)(Reuters)

2.

Utility unicorn: Sydney‑based startup Neara raised more than USD60 million ($85 million) reaching unicorn status in a Series D funding round led by US investor TCV, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company was valued at about $1.1 billion, the paper said citing a person familiar with the transaction. Neara builds physics-enabled 3D digital models of electricity networks that allow utilities to identify unused capacity, plan new infrastructure and prepare for events such as storms or fires. Its customers include Southern California Edison and CenterPoint Energy, as well as utilities in Australia, the UK, Europe and the US. Founded in 2016, Neara has now raised roughly $180 million. It has about 200 employees and wants to grow that by 50 to 100 over the next year, with chief commercial officer Jack Curtis saying the funding was brought forward amid a “tidal wave” of demand from data centres. “Our biggest challenge is getting enough talent so we can take advantage of these growth opportunities,” he told the Journal. Asked how Neara plans to use the new funding, Curtis said, “The primary priority is people.” (WSJ)

3.

Epstein fallout: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer moved to shore up his leadership after Scotland’s Labour leader publicly called for his resignation, triggering a rapid show of support from his cabinet amid fallout from the Peter Mandelson-Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Scotland’s Anas Sarwar said on Monday that “the distraction needs to end” and that leadership in Downing Street had to change, becoming the most senior Labour figure to demand Starmer’s resignation. The intervention followed the release of US Justice Department files detailing Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein. Mandelson, appointed UK ambassador to the US in 2024, was dismissed in September after emails showed he had maintained ties with Epstein after his 2008 conviction. The crisis has been compounded by the resignations of Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who said he took responsibility for advising on the appointment, and of communications director Tim Allan, who resigned Monday. Meanwhile, in the US, Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions from lawmakers, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights. (FT)(Bloomberg)(AP)(Reuters)(WSJ)

4.

AI island: EY is helping clients move from AI experimentation to embedding the technology across systems, decision-making and service delivery and demand has ramped up for advice on enterprise-grade AI transformation. EY global chief innovation officer Joe Depa told Capital Brief the consulting firm is advising clients to start preparing for future growth, which will require AI. The current thinking at the big four firm is that the world is moving from a global AI economy to so-called "AI islands" where each country has its own rules, infrastructure and standards for how the technology can be used and deployed. This is also known as sovereign AI. EY says while companies with fully embedded AI have secured a 65% increase in revenue, only half of Australian companies currently have an AI plan. EY Oceania chief technology and innovation officer Katherine Boiciuc believes Australia has all the “right ingredients” to become one of the most competitive sovereign AI producers. (Capital Brief)

5.

Beast fintech: MrBeast, the YouTube superstar, is pushing into financial services, with his company Beast Industries set to acquire teen-focused banking app Step Mobile, The Information reported ahead of an expected announcement. The deal expands Beast Industries beyond media, restaurants and packaged food. Step Mobile, founded in 2018, offers a federally insured, fee-free bank account and a secured Visa card designed to help users establish credit before turning 18. Investors led by General Catalyst valued the company at USD920 million in 2021, though the companies declined to disclose the terms of the transaction. Beast Industries, last valued at USD5.2 billion, plans to continue operating Step as a stand-alone business and has outlined broader financial services plans, including filing a trademark for “MrBeast Financial” and disclosing plans for a mobile phone service called Beast Mobile. CEO Jeffrey Housenbold said the company wants to direct its audience and trust towards its consumer products and services. Separately, MrBeast’s Salesforce Super Bowl ad sparked a USD1 million puzzle contest that remains unsolved. Donaldson told Good Morning America that no one is “even close” to winning, despite about 60 million people visiting the contest website, and said he will announce the winner on social media once the hidden code is found. (The Information)(ABC)

6.

Road block: eSafety put online game platform Roblox on notice on child grooming and sexual exploitation by announcing its intention to test the platform’s safety commitments made last year. In September 2025, Roblox made nine commitments to support compliance under the Online Safety Act to keep Australians, and in particular children, safe. It informed eSafety it had delivered on these commitments. However, eSafety said it has been monitoring the delivery of the commitments and it remains highly concerned by ongoing reports of child exploitation. eSafety can seek penalties of up to $49.5 million for non-compliance and will start assessing Roblox from 9 March. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that eSafety notified Roblox that it will be directly testing the implementation of its commitments including: Making accounts for users aged under 16 private by default and introducing tools to prevent adult users from contacting under 16s without parental consent. Communications Minister Anika Wells is also seeking an urgent meeting with Roblox following the reports. (Capital Brief)(SMH)(The Australian)(The Guardian)

7.

Price(y) spectrum: Telstra warned the federal government it must intervene with the telco regulator's pricing plans or risk undermining productivity and curtailing investment. In a rare step for the ASX-listed telco, Telstra made a pre-budget submission to Treasury late last week protesting the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)’s proposed spectrum licensing fees. This plan could see Telstra slugged with billions of dollars in extra costs. In the three-page submission, seen by Capital Brief, Telstra stresses the proposal is "flawed", warns the fees risk stifling network upgrades and "puts ongoing investment in jeopardy". It ties the fees directly to the cost of living crisis and warns additional expenses “cannot be absorbed without creating difficult trade-offs”, which could also include cutting staff. Optus and TPG Telecom are equally concerned by the move and have raised their own concerns in a pre-budget submission via the Australian Telecommunications Alliance and directly through ACMA consultation. (Capital Brief)

8.

Trial de Novo: Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is suing telehealth company Hims & Hers Health for mass marketing unapproved versions of Novo’s new Wegovy obesity pill and injection in the US. Novo said it asked a Delaware court to permanently ban Hims from selling unapproved, compounded drugs that infringe its patents and is seeking damages. The legal action escalates the ongoing feud between the two drugmakers, after Hims said it would stop offering the new copycat obesity pills after legal threats from Novo and scrutiny from federal US regulators. Last week, Hims announced plans to offer the pills for USD49 ($69.4) for the first month, significantly undercutting Novo’s approved Wegovy pill. Novo’s new lawsuit also targets Hims’ plans to launch weight loss injections that mimic its Wegovy and Ozempic treatments. It alleges that Hims products including its weight-loss injections are compounded forms of semaglutide and therefore infringe on Novo’s patent. (Capital Brief)(Novo Nordisk)(WSJ)(Bloomberg)(CNBC)