Apollo Backs AI Startups in Bid to Bankroll Hardware Boom

Apollo Global Management, known for leveraged buyouts and hefty financing deals, has started investing in AI and related hardware startups with the ambition to lend money to them in the future.

In one previously unreported deal, Apollo has already invested in the low tens of millions of dollars in Mercor’s latest funding round, which is set to value the data-labeling startup at $20 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. It has also invested in chip startup SiFive and in Hadrian, which says it’s building AI-powered factories, in transactions the companies disclosed earlier this year. It expects to make more investments in these categories, the people said.