Quiz: How Fast Can You Match the Disney Princess to Her Enemy?
Every Disney protagonist has their villain, and some are far more memorable than others. For…
Every Disney protagonist has their villain, and some are far more memorable than others. For…
Apr 9, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN;Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (86) plays the puck during the second period of the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images When the Tampa Bay Lightning host the New York Rangers in their regular-season finale Wednesday, they know a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens is ahead in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Whether or not the series begins in the United States or Canada remains in question.
Occupying second place in the Atlantic Division, Tampa Bay (50-25-6, 106 points) will be home for Game 1 this weekend if it defeats New York or if Montreal loses in regulation on Tuesday at Philadelphia.
The Lightning is tied in the standings with the Canadiens, with the teams awaiting their fifth all-time matchup in the playoffs. They last met in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, in a matchup that was derived out of realigned divisions because of the pandemic.
The Lightning hold the home-ice tiebreaker over the Canadiens because of a 40-34 advantage in regulation victories.
The Rangers (33-39-9, 75 points) will finish a dreadful campaign last in the Eastern Conference and are 1-1-0 against the Lightning.
The previous matchups have been blowouts. New York won 7-3 at Tampa on Nov. 12, while the Lightning returned the favor in a 4-1 win on the road against the Rangers on Thanksgiving weekend.
Darker times were ahead for the Rangers after Black Friday.
Coach Mike Sullivan’s crew fell out of the wild-card race after going 10-17-5 during a three-month stretch in December, January and a truncated February due to the Winter Olympics.
On Monday, the Rangers celebrated the career of retiring goaltender Jonathan Quick, who was starting his final game. However, they lost 3-2 as the Florida Panthers played a defensive-minded game and cashed in three times in their 16 shots and beat the 2011-12 Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
“I thought Quicky played well for us,” said Sullivan, whose group all wore the goalie’s No. 32 sweater in warmups. “Obviously, tonight was about a celebration for him. … He’s an inspiration to all of us, just in his example and how he carries himself. In a lot of ways, he personifies what we hope to become as a group.
“His work ethic, his attention to detail, just incredible attitude. His professionalism is second to no one’s. … We’re all better that we’ve had the opportunity to work with him.”
The Lightning’s 4-3 overtime victory Monday over Detroit helped them keep pace with Montreal after they squandered a two-goal lead entering the third period.
Nikita Kucherov scored 27 seconds into overtime on his team’s first possession by finishing a give-and-go created by Brayden Point, leading to a two-on-one rush that produced the victory.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper thinks Kucherov should be awarded a second Hart Trophy after winning his first for the 2018-19 season. He leads Tampa Bay in goals (44), assists (86) and points (130).
“There are some fabulous players in this league. … He’s pretty darn important to us,” said Cooper after his team put itself in position to control its playoff destination this weekend. “Could you make a case for a bunch of guys? Yes. But I think it’s pretty evident that Kuch has made a name for himself this year, that he should be the guy.”
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy got a toe on Alex DeBrincat’s breakaway try on the first shot in overtime, keeping the match alive and leading to Kucherov’s winner nine seconds later.
A strong Vezina Trophy candidate, Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins and owns a 39-15-4 record. The 2018-19 Vezina winner boasts a 2.31 goals-against average (second-best in the league) and a .912 save percentage (tied for third).
–Field Level Media
Apr 9, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN;Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (86) plays the puck during the second period of the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images When the Tampa Bay Lightning host the New York Rangers in their regular-season finale Wednesday, they know a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens is ahead in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Whether or not the series begins in the United States or Canada remains in question.
Occupying second place in the Atlantic Division, Tampa Bay (50-25-6, 106 points) will be home for Game 1 this weekend if it defeats New York or if Montreal loses in regulation on Tuesday at Philadelphia.
The Lightning is tied in the standings with the Canadiens, with the teams awaiting their fifth all-time matchup in the playoffs. They last met in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, in a matchup that was derived out of realigned divisions because of the pandemic.
The Lightning hold the home-ice tiebreaker over the Canadiens because of a 40-34 advantage in regulation victories.
The Rangers (33-39-9, 75 points) will finish a dreadful campaign last in the Eastern Conference and are 1-1-0 against the Lightning.
The previous matchups have been blowouts. New York won 7-3 at Tampa on Nov. 12, while the Lightning returned the favor in a 4-1 win on the road against the Rangers on Thanksgiving weekend.
Darker times were ahead for the Rangers after Black Friday.
Coach Mike Sullivan’s crew fell out of the wild-card race after going 10-17-5 during a three-month stretch in December, January and a truncated February due to the Winter Olympics.
On Monday, the Rangers celebrated the career of retiring goaltender Jonathan Quick, who was starting his final game. However, they lost 3-2 as the Florida Panthers played a defensive-minded game and cashed in three times in their 16 shots and beat the 2011-12 Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
“I thought Quicky played well for us,” said Sullivan, whose group all wore the goalie’s No. 32 sweater in warmups. “Obviously, tonight was about a celebration for him. … He’s an inspiration to all of us, just in his example and how he carries himself. In a lot of ways, he personifies what we hope to become as a group.
“His work ethic, his attention to detail, just incredible attitude. His professionalism is second to no one’s. … We’re all better that we’ve had the opportunity to work with him.”
The Lightning’s 4-3 overtime victory Monday over Detroit helped them keep pace with Montreal after they squandered a two-goal lead entering the third period.
Nikita Kucherov scored 27 seconds into overtime on his team’s first possession by finishing a give-and-go created by Brayden Point, leading to a two-on-one rush that produced the victory.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper thinks Kucherov should be awarded a second Hart Trophy after winning his first for the 2018-19 season. He leads Tampa Bay in goals (44), assists (86) and points (130).
“There are some fabulous players in this league. … He’s pretty darn important to us,” said Cooper after his team put itself in position to control its playoff destination this weekend. “Could you make a case for a bunch of guys? Yes. But I think it’s pretty evident that Kuch has made a name for himself this year, that he should be the guy.”
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy got a toe on Alex DeBrincat’s breakaway try on the first shot in overtime, keeping the match alive and leading to Kucherov’s winner nine seconds later.
A strong Vezina Trophy candidate, Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins and owns a 39-15-4 record. The 2018-19 Vezina winner boasts a 2.31 goals-against average (second-best in the league) and a .912 save percentage (tied for third).
–Field Level Media
Apr 9, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN;Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (86) plays the puck…
Feb 25, 2026; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners outfielder Rob Refsnyder against the Kansas City Royals during a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners placed infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder on the paternity list Tuesday and selected the contract of infielder Patrick Wisdom from Triple-A Tacoma.
The Mariners designated right-hander Blas Castano for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Wisdom.
Refsnyder, 35, signed a one-year contract with Seattle in December. He is hitless in eight games and 16 at-bats this season, and is a career .252 hitter with 33 homers and 154 RBIs in 549 games with the New York Yankees (2015-17), Toronto Blue Jays (2017), Tampa Bay Rays (2018), Texas Rangers (2020), Minnesota Twins (2021), Boston Red Sox (2022-25) and Mariners.
Wisdom, 34, signed a minor league deal with Seattle in January after he was in the Chicago Cubs’ organization since 2020. He leads all minor leaguers with nine home runs in 15 games at Tacoma. At the major league level, he has a .209 average, 88 homers and 207 RBIs in 455 games with the St. Louis Cardinals (2018), Rangers (2019) and Cubs.
Castano, 27, has made just one career major league appearance, allowing three runs on four hits over three innings in a 9-0 loss to the Washington Nationals on May 28, 2025.
–Field Level Media
Feb 25, 2026; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners outfielder Rob Refsnyder against the Kansas City Royals during a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners placed infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder on the paternity list Tuesday and selected the contract of infielder Patrick Wisdom from Triple-A Tacoma.
The Mariners designated right-hander Blas Castano for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Wisdom.
Refsnyder, 35, signed a one-year contract with Seattle in December. He is hitless in eight games and 16 at-bats this season, and is a career .252 hitter with 33 homers and 154 RBIs in 549 games with the New York Yankees (2015-17), Toronto Blue Jays (2017), Tampa Bay Rays (2018), Texas Rangers (2020), Minnesota Twins (2021), Boston Red Sox (2022-25) and Mariners.
Wisdom, 34, signed a minor league deal with Seattle in January after he was in the Chicago Cubs’ organization since 2020. He leads all minor leaguers with nine home runs in 15 games at Tacoma. At the major league level, he has a .209 average, 88 homers and 207 RBIs in 455 games with the St. Louis Cardinals (2018), Rangers (2019) and Cubs.
Castano, 27, has made just one career major league appearance, allowing three runs on four hits over three innings in a 9-0 loss to the Washington Nationals on May 28, 2025.
–Field Level Media
Feb 25, 2026; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners outfielder Rob Refsnyder against the Kansas City…
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz reacts during a World Cup match against the United States in Doha, Qatar in 2022. Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach Ghana completed its shakeup ahead of this summer’s World Cup by naming Carlos Queiroz as head coach.
Queiroz, 73, has World Cup head coach experience with Iran in 2014, 2018 and 2022, as well as with Portugal in 2010. The Portugal native led his home country to the Round of 16 in the 2010 event at South Africa, where it lost to Spain.
Ghana fired former head coach Otto Addo late last month in advance of the country’s opening game of the World Cup against Panama on June 17 at Toronto. Ghana also will face England and Croatia in Group L play.
At the time of Addo’s dismissal, Ghana was on a five-game losing streak that included a recent 5-1 loss to Austria and a 2-1 loss to Germany. While Ghana did qualify for the World Cup, it did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations this upcoming winter.
Before the World Cup begins, Ghana will have a pair of friendlies under Queiroz at Mexico on May 22 and at Wales on June 2.
A coach for nearly four decades, Queiroz also had head coaching stops with the national teams of the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar. At the club level, he was head coach at Sporting CP in Portugal, the New York/New Jersey Metrostars in MLS and Real Madrid in Spain.
Queiroz was the assistant manager under Alex Ferguson for two different stints at Manchester United of the English Premier League from 2002-2003 and again from 2004-2008.
–Field Level Media
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz reacts during a World Cup match against the United States in Doha, Qatar in 2022. Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach Ghana completed its shakeup ahead of this summer’s World Cup by naming Carlos Queiroz as head coach.
Queiroz, 73, has World Cup head coach experience with Iran in 2014, 2018 and 2022, as well as with Portugal in 2010. The Portugal native led his home country to the Round of 16 in the 2010 event at South Africa, where it lost to Spain.
Ghana fired former head coach Otto Addo late last month in advance of the country’s opening game of the World Cup against Panama on June 17 at Toronto. Ghana also will face England and Croatia in Group L play.
At the time of Addo’s dismissal, Ghana was on a five-game losing streak that included a recent 5-1 loss to Austria and a 2-1 loss to Germany. While Ghana did qualify for the World Cup, it did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations this upcoming winter.
Before the World Cup begins, Ghana will have a pair of friendlies under Queiroz at Mexico on May 22 and at Wales on June 2.
A coach for nearly four decades, Queiroz also had head coaching stops with the national teams of the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar. At the club level, he was head coach at Sporting CP in Portugal, the New York/New Jersey Metrostars in MLS and Real Madrid in Spain.
Queiroz was the assistant manager under Alex Ferguson for two different stints at Manchester United of the English Premier League from 2002-2003 and again from 2004-2008.
–Field Level Media
Iran coach Carlos Queiroz reacts during a World Cup match against the United States in…
Jan 9, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) drives to the basket past Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic took different paths to the same record this season.
On Wednesday night, they’ll be occupied with the same high-stakes task when the 76ers host the Magic in an Eastern Conference play-in tournament game.
Both teams finished 45-37 during the regular season, but Philadelphia finished in seventh place in the East and earned home-court advantage Wednesday by virtue of winning two of three games against Orlando.
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to the main bracket as the seventh seed and will play a best-of-seven series against the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
The loser will play again Friday night, hosting the winner of Tuesday night’s game between the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets and the 10th-place Miami Heat for the right to earn the eighth seed and a first-round date with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
Orlando appeared likely to secure the home-court advantage when it entered Sunday’s regular-season finale with a one-game lead over the 76ers. But the Magic’s comeback bid came up short in a 113-108 loss to the Celtics, who sat their top seven scorers, while Philadelphia beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-106.
The surprise loss continued a discouraging trend of inconsistency for the Magic. They were expected to emerge as an Eastern Conference contender after reaching the playoffs for a second straight season last year despite the quartet of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner combining to play just 171 games.
While Franz Wagner (high ankle sprain) and Moritz Wagner (recovery from a torn ACL) combined to play only 70 games this season, the trio of Banchero, Suggs and offseason acquisition Desmond Bane missed a total of just 35.
Yet Orlando won more than three straight games just twice this year and lost six straight immediately after a season-long seven-game winning streak from March 3-14. The Magic had a five-game winning streak snapped Sunday.
“I think collectively, we just have to have more urgency,” Banchero said Sunday. “We can’t expect to win just because (opponents’) guys are out.”
Expectations were lower for the 76ers, who went 24-58 last year and entered this season still built around the aging duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George.
Embiid, 32, lost 44 games due to a variety of injuries and illnesses and will miss Wednesday’s tilt following an emergency appendectomy last week. George, 35, was limited to 37 games following left knee surgery last offseason and a 25-game drug suspension.
But the 76ers, keyed by emerging star point guard Tyrese Maxey, 25, and 20-year-old rookie VJ Edgecombe, won their first four games of the season and never slipped back to .500. Maxey averaged 28.3 points per game while playing a league-high 38 minutes per contest. Edgecombe averaged 16.0 points and 5.6 rebounds over a team-high 75 games.
In addition, George has averaged 21.0 points per game since returning March 25.
“We’ve got a lot of ceiling to go yet,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said. “So hopefully, we get to play a bunch of games and keep improving.”
–Field Level Media
Jan 9, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) drives to the basket past Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic took different paths to the same record this season.
On Wednesday night, they’ll be occupied with the same high-stakes task when the 76ers host the Magic in an Eastern Conference play-in tournament game.
Both teams finished 45-37 during the regular season, but Philadelphia finished in seventh place in the East and earned home-court advantage Wednesday by virtue of winning two of three games against Orlando.
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to the main bracket as the seventh seed and will play a best-of-seven series against the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
The loser will play again Friday night, hosting the winner of Tuesday night’s game between the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets and the 10th-place Miami Heat for the right to earn the eighth seed and a first-round date with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
Orlando appeared likely to secure the home-court advantage when it entered Sunday’s regular-season finale with a one-game lead over the 76ers. But the Magic’s comeback bid came up short in a 113-108 loss to the Celtics, who sat their top seven scorers, while Philadelphia beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-106.
The surprise loss continued a discouraging trend of inconsistency for the Magic. They were expected to emerge as an Eastern Conference contender after reaching the playoffs for a second straight season last year despite the quartet of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner combining to play just 171 games.
While Franz Wagner (high ankle sprain) and Moritz Wagner (recovery from a torn ACL) combined to play only 70 games this season, the trio of Banchero, Suggs and offseason acquisition Desmond Bane missed a total of just 35.
Yet Orlando won more than three straight games just twice this year and lost six straight immediately after a season-long seven-game winning streak from March 3-14. The Magic had a five-game winning streak snapped Sunday.
“I think collectively, we just have to have more urgency,” Banchero said Sunday. “We can’t expect to win just because (opponents’) guys are out.”
Expectations were lower for the 76ers, who went 24-58 last year and entered this season still built around the aging duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George.
Embiid, 32, lost 44 games due to a variety of injuries and illnesses and will miss Wednesday’s tilt following an emergency appendectomy last week. George, 35, was limited to 37 games following left knee surgery last offseason and a 25-game drug suspension.
But the 76ers, keyed by emerging star point guard Tyrese Maxey, 25, and 20-year-old rookie VJ Edgecombe, won their first four games of the season and never slipped back to .500. Maxey averaged 28.3 points per game while playing a league-high 38 minutes per contest. Edgecombe averaged 16.0 points and 5.6 rebounds over a team-high 75 games.
In addition, George has averaged 21.0 points per game since returning March 25.
“We’ve got a lot of ceiling to go yet,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said. “So hopefully, we get to play a bunch of games and keep improving.”
–Field Level Media
Jan 9, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) drives to…
इंदौर शहर में साइबर ठगी के मामले जिस तेजी से बढ़ रहे हैं, उसने पुलिस…
Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Justin Thomas tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images Fans are about to see a lot more of the PGA Tour’s star players.
The Masters kicked off a stretch of two major championships and three signature events in a six-week stretch that culminates with the PGA Championship May 14-17. The RBC Heritage is played this week in its traditional post-Masters slot, and the newly added Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in early May makes for a more congested part of the calendar.
Justin Thomas, speaking to reporters Tuesday before he attempts to defend his RBC Heritage title, said it’s “not how (he) would prefer to draw it up,”
“The season is important,” Thomas said. “Obviously it’s very important for your FedEx Cup standing, how your season is going, getting into events, not in events, whatever it may be. But majors are kind of what guys will generally build their schedule off of, in a sense, of what they need to do to prepare for a major, and it’s also how kind of your legacy in the game is remembered for a lot of people.
“Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys, but it’s one of those things that it’s obviously — we’ve had some changes and probably will continue to see some in the next, I don’t know, couple years until it gets — it’ll never be perfect, but at least something that’s maybe a little more ideal for guys in their eyes.”
Thomas was alluding to the expected changes to the sport’s calendar being planned by the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee.
Instead of eight or nine “signature events” with elevated purses, fixed fields and no cuts, the tour is looking into a two-track system that would ensure the best players are playing similar schedules of 21-26 events over the course of the season. A lower track would feature tournaments that help less-accomplished players qualify for the upper tier.
As it stands now, the PGA Tour’s elite are expected to play the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, the Cadillac at the “Blue Monster” and the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in the run-up to the PGA Championship, the second major of the year.
Doral and Quail Hollow are especially challenging, while this week’s event has been won with scores of 17 or 19 under par four of the past five years. Thomas beat Andrew Novak in a playoff last year after they tied at 17-under 267. Many golfers see the South Carolina-based tournament as a place to unwind with family after the Masters.
“It is tough, but I mean, at least for me, I’ve found that using (Monday) as just a day off helps,” Thomas said. “We stay Sunday night, just drive here yesterday and just take the day off. I came and saw my physio and hung out, but just really need a day of rest and to decompress and kind of get back to it today has been a pretty decent recipe for me the last however many years.”
One thing going for Harbour Town: It is a far easier walk than hilly Augusta National.
“The physio room yesterday afternoon was pretty busy,” Thomas said. “I think a lot of guys with hips and quads, everything like that, very, very sore. It feels like you kind of are floating and running around here a little bit.”
–Field Level Media
Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Justin Thomas tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images Fans are about to see a lot more of the PGA Tour’s star players.
The Masters kicked off a stretch of two major championships and three signature events in a six-week stretch that culminates with the PGA Championship May 14-17. The RBC Heritage is played this week in its traditional post-Masters slot, and the newly added Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in early May makes for a more congested part of the calendar.
Justin Thomas, speaking to reporters Tuesday before he attempts to defend his RBC Heritage title, said it’s “not how (he) would prefer to draw it up,”
“The season is important,” Thomas said. “Obviously it’s very important for your FedEx Cup standing, how your season is going, getting into events, not in events, whatever it may be. But majors are kind of what guys will generally build their schedule off of, in a sense, of what they need to do to prepare for a major, and it’s also how kind of your legacy in the game is remembered for a lot of people.
“Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys, but it’s one of those things that it’s obviously — we’ve had some changes and probably will continue to see some in the next, I don’t know, couple years until it gets — it’ll never be perfect, but at least something that’s maybe a little more ideal for guys in their eyes.”
Thomas was alluding to the expected changes to the sport’s calendar being planned by the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee.
Instead of eight or nine “signature events” with elevated purses, fixed fields and no cuts, the tour is looking into a two-track system that would ensure the best players are playing similar schedules of 21-26 events over the course of the season. A lower track would feature tournaments that help less-accomplished players qualify for the upper tier.
As it stands now, the PGA Tour’s elite are expected to play the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, the Cadillac at the “Blue Monster” and the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in the run-up to the PGA Championship, the second major of the year.
Doral and Quail Hollow are especially challenging, while this week’s event has been won with scores of 17 or 19 under par four of the past five years. Thomas beat Andrew Novak in a playoff last year after they tied at 17-under 267. Many golfers see the South Carolina-based tournament as a place to unwind with family after the Masters.
“It is tough, but I mean, at least for me, I’ve found that using (Monday) as just a day off helps,” Thomas said. “We stay Sunday night, just drive here yesterday and just take the day off. I came and saw my physio and hung out, but just really need a day of rest and to decompress and kind of get back to it today has been a pretty decent recipe for me the last however many years.”
One thing going for Harbour Town: It is a far easier walk than hilly Augusta National.
“The physio room yesterday afternoon was pretty busy,” Thomas said. “I think a lot of guys with hips and quads, everything like that, very, very sore. It feels like you kind of are floating and running around here a little bit.”
–Field Level Media
Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Justin Thomas tees off on the 12th hole during…
Should this deal come to fruition, it would more than double Fluidstack’s valuation in a matter of months.
In December, the company was reportedly raising around $700 million at a $7.5 billion valuation, sources told Bloomberg at the time, although it didn’t formally announce the close of that round. That round was said to be led by Situational Awareness, an AGI-focused fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, and backed by Stripe’s Collison brothers, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and the AI investor and entrepreneur Daniel Gross.
Talks were apparently still ongoing for this round in February, at least with Google, which was considering kicking in $100 million to the round, The Wall Street Journal reported.
There’s good reason for the hype over Fluidstack. In November, Anthropic announced that it had signed a $50 billion deal with the startup to build data centers custom-designed for its needs in Texas and New York. Unlike hyperscalers like AWS, which serve all kinds of computing needs, Fluidstack’s infrastructure is built specifically for AI.
The deal was a huge vote of confidence for Fluidstack, a company that was relatively unknown in the U.S. Anthropic primarily uses AWS and Google Cloud to serve Claude (though it also has a partnership with Microsoft to supply Claude to that software giant’s customers). But just like rival OpenAI, Anthropic is growing so fast that it needs more capacity, and this deal gives Anthropic more control over its own cloud infrastructure.
This partnership is so significant to the startup that Fluidstack — which was spun out of Oxford and had been a rising star in Europe’s AI scene — relocated its headquarters from the U.K. to New York. Last month, it also pulled out of a key €10 billion AI project in France, Bloomberg reported, to focus on U.S. opportunities.
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In addition to Anthropic, it counts Meta, Poolside, Black Forest Labs, and others as customers. Prior to the deal with Anthropic, Fluidstack was probably best known for providing infrastructure to Mistral.
Fluidstack did not respond to a request for comment.
Fluidstack, a startup that builds specialized data centers for AI companies, is in talks to raise a $1 billion round at an $18 billion valuation, potentially led by Jane Street, Bloomberg reports.
Should this deal come to fruition, it would more than double Fluidstack’s valuation in a matter of months.
In December, the company was reportedly raising around $700 million at a $7.5 billion valuation, sources told Bloomberg at the time, although it didn’t formally announce the close of that round. That round was said to be led by Situational Awareness, an AGI-focused fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, and backed by Stripe’s Collison brothers, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, and the AI investor and entrepreneur Daniel Gross.
Talks were apparently still ongoing for this round in February, at least with Google, which was considering kicking in $100 million to the round, The Wall Street Journal reported.
There’s good reason for the hype over Fluidstack. In November, Anthropic announced that it had signed a $50 billion deal with the startup to build data centers custom-designed for its needs in Texas and New York. Unlike hyperscalers like AWS, which serve all kinds of computing needs, Fluidstack’s infrastructure is built specifically for AI.
The deal was a huge vote of confidence for Fluidstack, a company that was relatively unknown in the U.S. Anthropic primarily uses AWS and Google Cloud to serve Claude (though it also has a partnership with Microsoft to supply Claude to that software giant’s customers). But just like rival OpenAI, Anthropic is growing so fast that it needs more capacity, and this deal gives Anthropic more control over its own cloud infrastructure.
This partnership is so significant to the startup that Fluidstack — which was spun out of Oxford and had been a rising star in Europe’s AI scene — relocated its headquarters from the U.K. to New York. Last month, it also pulled out of a key €10 billion AI project in France, Bloomberg reported, to focus on U.S. opportunities.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026
In addition to Anthropic, it counts Meta, Poolside, Black Forest Labs, and others as customers. Prior to the deal with Anthropic, Fluidstack was probably best known for providing infrastructure to Mistral.
Fluidstack did not respond to a request for comment.
Fluidstack, a startup that builds specialized data centers for AI companies, is in talks to…
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