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Invest in Talks with SoftBank for OpenAI deal

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SoftBank, Japan’s Investment Group, is in talks to invest up to $25 billion (£2 billion) in Openai, making it the largest financial backer of the startup behind ChatGPT.

According to the Financial Times, the potential investment could range from $15 billion to $25 billion in the San Francisco-based company.

Other investors, including TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, and British chip designer Arm, have already supported Openai and recently participated in a fundraising round that valued the company at $157 billion. Microsoft, currently the largest shareholder of Openai, also joined the round.

Last week, Openai and SoftBank announced the formation of Stargate in collaboration with Oracle, which Donald Trump called “the largest AI infrastructure project in history.” The partnership aims to build AI system data centers with an initial investment of $100 billion.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter quoted by FT said that SoftBank’s potential investment includes a commitment from a Japanese company to Stargate. Elon Musk, the wealthiest person in the world and a prominent figure in the Trump administration, has claimed that Stargate’s supporters may not actually have the funds.

Sam Altman, the CEO of Openai, refuted Musk’s claims on his social media platform X, stating, “This is a great opportunity for the company. I understand that it may not always align with your company’s interests, but in your new role, I hope you will consider it.”

Openai faced competition this month from Chinese rival Deepseek, whose latest chatbot topped the Apple Free App Store charts and impacted AI-related stocks on Monday.

Altman initially acknowledged the competition from Deepseek, stating that “having new competitors keeps things lively,” but later claimed that the Chinese company may be using Openai technology to develop competing products.

The proposal for SoftBank’s investment in Openai, led by CEO Masayoshi Son, is reportedly under review by senior executives and the board of Openai. However, it has not been confirmed.

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Both Openai and SoftBank have declined to comment on the matter.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Elon Musk’s Pro-Trump Backers Invest Millions in Facebook Ads for X: Report

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Elon Musk’s Mr. Pack spends significantly more on advertising on Facebook and YouTube compared to Musk’s own social network, X.

America Pac allocated $201,000 for running numerous ads on X (formerly Twitter) in the past three months. However, the organization spent $3 million on thousands of ads on Facebook and Instagram over a similar timeframe. Musk established the pro-Donald Trump pack in July and provided it with around $75 million, as per filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Based on political advertising disclosures, America Pac invested over $166,000 on 59 ads on X from July 8 to October 1. wired. After Musk assumed control of Pac’s @America handle on October 7, the company spent approximately $34,000 on X ads. bloomberg Reported. These ads were targeted at various battleground states, with a focus on Pennsylvania, generating about 32 million impressions according to Wired.

Contrasting these figures with America Pac’s ad purchases on Facebook, the organization spent over $3 million on 1,910 ads during a 90-day period from July 22 to October 19, some of which were also duplicated on Instagram, as per Meta’s ad library. The ads targeted users in states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona.

Around 12 ads from America Pac received over 1 million impressions, while others garnered hundreds of thousands. The Meta ad library doesn’t provide total impressions for individual advertisers, making direct comparisons with X ads more challenging.

Musk’s Pack also heavily invested in Google, particularly YouTube. According to the Google Ads Transparency Center, America Pac spent $1.5 million on 251 ads with Google and its subsidiaries since early July, which is ten times higher than what was spent on X. A significant portion of the ads were video advertisements, primarily targeting Georgia, as revealed in Google’s disclosure.

With over 200 million followers on X, Musk has a massive audience reach without incurring costs. Musk frequently retweets America Pack’s content, despite Pac having fewer than 7,000 followers.

The increase in Facebook spending signifies Musk’s shifting geographic focus. Audience data from Meta’s ad library indicated that a large percentage of America Pac’s ads in the past 90 days targeted North Carolina. However, in the recent seven days, over 25% of the ads focused on Pennsylvania, where Musk has been actively campaigning in person.

Facebook’s targeting options enable advertisers to reach specific audiences based on interests. America Pac tailored its ads to users intrigued by various subjects like Kelsey Grammer, trophy hunting, Kid Rock, the Boy Scouts of America, and Joe Rogan, among others.

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Since Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X in 2022, he has highlighted its advertising capabilities and app store performance. Even in 2023, advertising constituted 70-75% of X’s total revenue. bloomberg This trend persisted despite Musk introducing Twitter Blue, a subscription product. X’s revenue in 2023 amounted to $2.5 billion, nearly half of the previous year, primarily due to reduced advertising expenditure.

Musk is also focusing on organizing in-person events. He pledged to donate $1 million per day until the election to registered voters supporting America Pac’s petition. Musk has been awarding giant novelty checks at rallies in Pennsylvania over the recent days.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Looking to invest in a startup? Explore 4 ways to begin as a solo GP

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nathan beccord

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sometimes non-traditional The route will lead to the best results. Zack Coeliusis a managing partner at Coelius Capital and started out as an entrepreneur. Over the past 20 years, he has founded many companies and after successfully exiting one of his ventures into the world of angel investing through a syndicate.

and after a while that His connections led him to VC, but not as part of a group. Essentially, Coelius’ connections and reputation allow him to serve as the sole general partner (GP).

In this column, I’ve summarized the takeaways Coelius shared with me about his experience getting his foot in the door, how to leverage favor, and the strategies he found most useful as a solo GP.

Focus on the founders first

If you want to become a VC, you should get involved with some VCs, right? Not necessarily, Coelius says.

That’s the problem largely Entry-level investors go to VCs first. But unless you’re a close friend of the VC, they probably aren’t offering you quality deals. Investors keep the best deals to themselves, so you probably won’t have access to the best unless you start making significant changes.

Not ready to put your trust fund or wealth from a successful exit to work? Coelius has a better and cheaper proposition. It’s about making friends with the founders. Then please help them.

At the end of the day, it all comes back to relationships. The more you support VCs, founders, and the startup community at large, the more prestige you’ll gain.

This requires a lot of networking, but being able to bridge the gap between founders and VCs can be a huge boon for founders. And if you can be helpful at a critical time, you’re more likely to be rewarded and get involved in the deal.

But don’t give it away. No one likes to be bound by strict agreements. Rather, it’s a “you get what you give” situation. Founders don’t want to feel like you’re tying them down, so keep it casual.

This leads to his next big tip.

Source: techcrunch.com