SoftBank woos OpenAI with $40B, making Microsoft's $13B look quaint

The AI investment landscape is shifting once again, with SoftBank reportedly finalizing a $40 billion stake in OpenAI - pushing its valuation to around $300 billion. If that sounds massive, it is. SoftBank's planned investment dwarfs the $13 billion Microsoft has poured into OpenAI - an alliance that has already attracted …

[elsergiovolador]

Gentle

They should woo me with $40B.

I mean, why not?

[MOH]

Re: Gentle

Woo hoo!

[steviebuk]

Still trying to keep

The AI bullshit bubble afloat as they know they all risk losing billions if they don't, now with DeepSeek out.

[Howard Sway]

an enterprise AI they call "Cristal intelligence"

Did he name it after his favourite type of Meth?

[Like a badger]

$300bn my arse

So a company that makes a product that doesn't actually do anything has a worth equal to more than the entire annual output of New Zealand or Greece? Or a tad under the GDP of Portugal or Finland.

How do I get a piece of this "money for nothing" action?

[xyz]

Is it stargate...

Or starchild they are trying to build? It's an awful lot of money for something that's still a bit ethereal... aka doesn't work.

It's like the "big boys" are trying to create a brain upload thingy before their bodies snuff it and/or communicate with aliens. It's definitely not for economic/business reasons because if it doesn't pan out then everyone will be back to eating rats.

[TimMaher]

Re: eating rats…

Discworld .

Rat-onna-stick. With a beer——>

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: eating rats…

Ketchup 3p extra

[druck]

The next WeWork

Softbank is going to find massively diminishing returns from spunking yet more billions on AI, and are going to be left with something equivalent to the value of their investment in WeWork in a few years.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

So AI is officially dead?

Those whom the Gods would destroy - they first get massive investment from SoftBank

[Hal Woods]

SoftBank’s $40B investment in OpenAI makes Microsoft’s $13B look small, positioning SoftBank as a major AI contender. While Microsoft remains deeply integrated with OpenAI, this new rivalry will shape the AI landscape going forward.