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☆ OpenAI's investors include Silicon Valley's most prolific bubble chasers. Is that a bad sign for the company's future?
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementOpenAI has officially closed a historic funding round. AdvertisementTiger Global is also one of the firms that backed OpenAI in this latest funding round. AdvertisementNotably absent from the list of OpenAI investors was Apple, which is said to have dropped out of the deal at the 11th hour. Apple's inclusion in OpenAI's funding round may have gone a long way toward quieting doubts about OpenAI's palace intrigue and general chaotic vibe. A few weeks ago, this funding round was being talked about as the arrival of the adults in the room.

Persons: OpenAI, —, Adam Neuman, Masayoshi Son, Neuman, SoftBank, Morningstar, You'd, Goldman Sachs, Tim Cook, Cook, Elon Musk Organizations: Nvidia, United, United Arab Emirates, Service, SoftBank's, Business, Ark Venture, BI, Apple Locations: United Arab, Silicon, Silicon Valley

☆ OpenAI's latest funding round could be a bargain or a bust for investors
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . The high-profile startup announced the closing of a $6.6 billion funding round that valued it at $157 billion. And more exits could be coming since OpenAI is reportedly working on allowing its employees to sell their shares in the company . Win McNamee and Didem Mente/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/InsiderIt's important to remember OpenAI's eye-popping valuation is just that … a valuation. Which gets us back to $157 billion OpenAI.

Persons: —, Elon Musk's, Josh Kushner's, Cathy Wood's, Chase, Here's, Mira Murati, Kevin Weil, Rob Price, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Win McNamee, Didem, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, Brad Gerstner, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, Milan Sehmbi, Amanda Yen Organizations: Business, Service, Elon, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Venture, Microsoft, Nvidia, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Big Tech Locations: Silicon Valley, New York, London

☆ Cathie Wood's Ark is doubling down on OpenAI with at least $250 million in its new funding round
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Melia Russell | Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund invested at least $250 million in this new round. OpenAI is now Ark Venture Fund's third-largest holding, accounting for about 5% of its total assets. AdvertisementCathie Wood's Ark Venture Fund has agreed to invest at least $250 million in OpenAI's latest funding round, three people familiar with the round said. OpenAI is now Ark Venture Fund's third-largest holding, accounting for about 5% of the fund's total assets, according to its website. On Wednesday, a retail investor shared a screenshot of what appears to be an email she received from Ark Venture Fund informing her of its new OpenAI investment.

Persons: OpenAI, —, Ark, Musk Organizations: Ark Venture Fund, Ark Venture, Service, Microsoft, Tiger Global, Nvidia, Khosla Ventures, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: Abu Dhabi, United Arab, xAI

OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding raise attracted some big names across the industry. The $6.6 billion round gave OpenAI a $157 billion post-money valuation and minted it into one of the most valuable startups in the world. MicrosoftMicrosoft invested a little under $1 billion into OpenAI's latest funding round, according to The Wall Street Journal report. FidelityFidelity also participated in OpenAI's latest funding round. AdvertisementAltimeter Capital ManagementAltimeter Capital Management also contributed to OpenAI's latest funding round, according to reports.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Here's, Anderson Cooper, Josh Kushner, Instagram, Kushner, Altman, josh, SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, Son, Marco Bello, Wood, Morningstar, Bing, Jensen Huang, Sam Yeh, Elon Musk's, Brad Gerstner, Gerstner, Vinod Khosla, Vaughn Ridley, Khosla, MGX Organizations: Service, Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, Getty, Capital, Business, VC, Wall Street, Reuters, Vision Fund, Venture, ARK Invest, ARK Venture Fund, SpaceX, Microsoft Microsoft, Wall, Rival Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia Nvidia, Nvidia, Tiger Global Management, Fidelity Fidelity, Elon, Elon Musk's xAI, Fidelity, Capital Management, . Khosla, Getty Khosla Ventures, Sun Microsystems, United Arab, Bloomberg Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley, OpenAI ., Tokyo, Saudi, ARK, AFP, IPOs, America, United Arab Emirates

☆ Tiger Global is backing OpenAI in new $6.6 billion investment round
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Ben Bergman | Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI announced it raised $6.6 billion in new funding at a $157 billion post-money valuation. Tiger Global Management is part of this round, according to two sources familiar with the matter. AdvertisementTiger Global Management is doubling down on OpenAI, investing in the ChatGPT maker's massive new funding round, according to a source familiar with the matter. OpenAI announced Wednesday it raised $6.6 billion in new funding at a $157 billion post-money valuation. AdvertisementThe closure of OpenAI's new funding round comes just a week after three of its top leaders suddenly resigned.

Persons: OpenAI, Tiger, —, couldn't, Chase Coleman, Mira Murati, Bob McGrew, Barret Zoph Organizations: Tiger Global Management, Service, Global Management, Bloomberg, ARK Venture Fund, Microsoft, Nvidia, Fidelity, Tiger Global, Research, Post

☆ OpenAI's rivals are on the prowl after an exodus of high-level executives
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Melia Russell | Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Investors are flocking to OpenAI, but it's losing high-level executives at an alarming rate. Suddenly, it's open season for OpenAI employees. Rivals like Anthropic and Perplexity are signaling to workers that they put mission over profits. Suddenly, it's starting to feel like open season for OpenAI employees. A recruiter said his search firm has fielded more interest from current OpenAI employees since the board's ouster of Sam Altman a year ago.

Persons: —, Mira Murati, Ilya Sutskever, Andrej Karpathy, John Schulman, Greg Brockman, Alex Klein, he's, Dan Miller, Tim Tully, Sam Altman, Jason Redmond, weren't, Klein, OpenAI, Jack Guez, Anthropic, Jan Leike, Schulman, Durk Kingma, Kingma, Matt Murphy, Arvind Jain, Jain, Matt Hoffman, Johnny Ho, Ho Organizations: Rivals, Service, OpenAI, LinkedIn, Menlo Ventures, Ark Venture Fund, Business, Getty, Google, Anthropic, Employees, Engineers Locations: OpenAI, AFP, Bay

☆ Now you can invest in Elon Musk's xAI through Cathie Wood's ARK Venture Fund
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest has taken a stake in Elon Musk's startup xAI as she deepens her big bet on artificial intelligence. ARK Venture Fund has invested in xAI as of Sunday, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based asset manager said in an email to clients Tuesday evening. The xAI startup is also not the only Musk-led company Wood's venture fund bets on. The venture fund, launched in September 2022, targets smaller investors who can access the venture capital market through it with as little as $500. The xAI startup is reportedly planning to build a supercomputer to power the next version of its AI chatbot Grok.

Persons: Catherine Wood, Musk, Wood, Tesla Organizations: ARK Investment Management LLC, ARK Venture Fund, SpaceX, X Corp, Twitter, Microsoft, Google, Innovation Locations: Miami , Florida, U.S, Elon Musk's, xAI, St . Petersburg , Florida, OpenAI

☆ ‘This is a unique time’: ARK Invest’s chief futurist tackles tech innovation from AI to robotics
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Meredith Mutter | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

ARK Invest's chief futurist lists five groups that should give tech investors an edge. "We believe that this is a unique time in technological economic history," he told CNBC's "ETF Edge" this week. Winton collaborates with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood to maintain the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), which allows investors to buy into the private technology space. "That's a real challenge a lot of public market investors don't have that long-term view," Winton added. The ARK Venture Fund is down more than 7% so far this year.

Persons: ARK, Brett Winton, CNBC's, Winton, Cathie Wood Organizations: ARK, ARK Venture, Epic, Therapeutics

☆ Why ARK Invest thinks it’s an 'amazing time' to invest in cutting-edge tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Emily Glass | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

ARK Invest is betting big on private tech companies. "It's an amazing time to invest in innovation," the firm's chief futurist, Brett Winton, told CNBC's "ETF Edge" this week. Winton worked with the ARK Invest team to create the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), a closed end interval fund, in September 2022. Closed-end interval funds allow investors to invest in private companies at their net asset value at any time, regardless of market volatility. As of Thursday's close, the ARK Venture Fund was up 29% since its inception date.

Persons: Brett Winton, CNBC's, Winton, ARK, … Organizations: Invest, ARK Invest, ARK Venture, Games, SpaceX

☆ The world of investing in private companies
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe world of investing in private companiesBrett Winton, Ark Investment chief futurist, joins CNBC’s Bob Pisani to discuss the ARK Venture Fund, investing in private companies and the advantages it holds.

Persons: Brett Winton, Bob Pisani Organizations: Ark Investment, ARK Venture Fund

☆ Cathie Wood takes a stake in OpenAI, saying it's at the forefront of a 'Cambrian explosion' in AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest has taken a stake in OpenAI, the popular artificial intelligence player that's behind ChatGPT. In a Thursday email to clients, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based asset manager said her ARK Venture Fund has invested in OpenAI as of Wednesday. Wood's firm launched the venture fund in September 2022, giving small investors access to the venture capital market with as little as $500 . The widely followed Wood has been a big AI bull, saying it's the most important catalyst in every corner of her disruptive innovation strategy. Wood has also spoken highly of DeepMind, an AI intelligence research lab acquired by Google in 2014, calling it "one of the best AI companies in the world."

Persons: that's, Ark, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Wood Organizations: ARK Venture Fund, SpaceX, Google Locations: OpenAI, ChatGPT, St . Petersburg , Florida

☆ Nintendo stock could rise by 30% on Switch 2 success, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNintendo stock could rise by 30% on Switch 2 success, analyst saysDavid Gibson, senior research analyst at MST Marquee, has predicted that the shares of Nintendo could increase by up to 30%. Gibson sees the stock rerating thanks to the Japanese company's new theme park venture in Florida, which is expected to bring in more revenue. Additionally, the launch of Nintendo's next-generation device later this year could result in a migration of its existing 120 million users from the current Switch console.

Persons: David Gibson, Gibson, Nintendo's Organizations: Nintendo Locations: Florida

☆ 16 VCs that are funding the future of entertainment by backing generative AI and other disruptive tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

AdvertisementAfter a period of "wild west" investing in AI, Blank believes activity will favor AI companies that respect artists' consent and compensation. It recently co-led a $1 million seed round in Conduiit, which centralizes entertainment companies' production finance operations. Endeavor Venture InvestmentsEndeavor Venture Investments is the venture arm of entertainment and sports behemoth Endeavor. SWaN & LegendThe Virginia-based VC firm has a broad consumer portfolio that includes a number of entertainment investments. With Hollywood in contraction, SWaN has largely hit pause on new entertainment investments to get its portfolio companies on a strong footing.

Persons: Michael Blank, Blank, Jon Miller, Miller, Slack, Garnet Heraman, BDMI, Urs Cete, Michael, TMRW, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Elysian Park Ventures Jay Adya, Grant Lamos, Tom Brady, Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan, Jay Adya, Morgan, Kushaan Ahuja, Drew Glover, Glover, Alex Harris, they've, Noah Doyle, Payback India, Jed Katz, Rich Greenfield, Rich, Ilya Pozin, Jamie Seltzer, LightShed, Steve Cohen's, it's, Sri Chandrasekar, Tripp Shriner, Ishan Sinha, That's, Wondery, Ian Doody, Raine, Gordon Rubenstein, Joe Ravitch, Jeff Sine, ‐, Fred Schaufeld, SWaN, that's, Oscar, Jose, Schaufeld, Sam Wick, Alex J, Investcorp, Paul Yoo, Edgar Bronfman Jr, Daniel Leff, Waverley, Leff Organizations: Service, Creative Artists, Connect Ventures, Business, Hollywood, Veteran, TPG, Integrated Media Co, Advancit, CAA, Bertelsmann, Waverley, Octopus Ventures, Accel, Facebook, Venture, Aperture Venture, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Fremantle, Connect, CAA Connect Ventures, New Enterprises Associates, TMRW Sports, Disney, Universal, Elysian Park Ventures, Elysian, Sports, Endeavor Venture, Endeavor Venture Investments, behemoth Endeavor, Dapper Labs, Fiat Ventures, Fiat Ventures Fiat Ventures, Fiat, Payback, Rent, LightShed, Rich Greenfield Influential, LightShed Ventures, Pluto, Apple, Octopus Ventures Octopus Ventures, Investments, Corp, Etsy, Re, Point72 Ventures New York Mets, Range Media Partners, Point72 Ventures, Sri, Powerhouse, Athletic, The New York Times Co, Evolution Media, Creative Artists Agency, Astro, Rave Digital Media, Accel Entertainment, Jose Andrés Media, Berliner, UTA Talent, UTA, UTA Ventures, Ventures, VR, Amazon, PFL Locations: blockchain, —, Conduiit, fintech, London, Australia, Papercup, Los Angeles, Virginia, UTA.VC

☆ The founders of The Gist and Just Women's Sports describe what it's like to run a women-focused media company in a male-dominated industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Margaret Fleming | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ellen Hyslop cofounded in 2017 The Gist, a sports media company geared toward female fans. Three years later, Haley Rosen founded Just Women's Sports, making Instagram content about, well, just women's sports. In the male-dominated sports media industry, these female founders have built sustainable and successful businesses around women in sports. In 2022, women's sports received 15% of all sports media coverage, a study by Wasserman's The Collective found. "Every single person at Just Women's Sports adds so much value and is so influential and impactful in the company," Rosen said.

Persons: Ellen Hyslop, Gist, Haley Rosen, They're, Rosen, Billie Jean King, Hyslop, The Gist, That's, King, Kevin Durant, Allyson Felix, Abby Wambach, Sam Kerr, Kelley O'Hara, Elena Delle Donne, Haley, Michele Kang, Wasserman's, We're Organizations: Sports, Nike, Media, Comcast, Labs, King's Enterprises, Elysian Park Ventures, State, Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington

In the sports world, betting and gambling startups have started the last two years raising fewer and fewer funding dollars. While funding is harder to come by, startups are also facing changes in the world of sports business and technology. Insider recently released a list of the top VCs investing in sports and asked their founders, CEOs, partners, and directors what they would tell startups trying to break through. Chris GroveKey investments: Acies Investments and EKG Ventures are focused on sports, gambling, and technology. When we invest in a tech company, we have four criteria.

Persons: Tom Loverro, Cole Van Nice, Chris Grove, Chris, you've, There's, Courtside, Tom Brady, Michael Strahan's, Meredith McPherron, Alex Rodriguez, Topgolf Callaway, Brad Farkas, Steve Ahern, Lance Dietz, Craig Thompson, Michael Proman, Proman, Wayne Kimmel, SeventySix, It's, Lloyd Danzig, Sharp Organizations: Elysian Park, Acies Investments, EKG Ventures, Courtside Ventures, of Sports, Elysian Park Ventures, Club, Kinetics, PGA of America, HBSE Ventures, KB Partners, Mindspring, Scrum Ventures, Ventures, Japanese, Boom Entertainment, SeventySix, Vegas Sports Information, Inc, Entrepreneurs, Sharp Alpha Advisors Locations: Chris Grove, Chicago

☆ ARK Venture forecasts market for A.I. software to reach $14 trillion by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailARK Venture forecasts market for A.I. software to reach $14 trillion by 2030William Summerlin, ARK Venture co-lead, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss ARK's Tesla holding and Musk's comments to CNBC's David Faber after Tesla's shareholder meeting.

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Y Combinator alum Careerist, a tech career training and job placement startup, used to raise $8 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Careerist is an edtech startup that helps train and recruit workers for open tech jobs. Now, the team has grown to over 100 employees and just raised $8 million in venture capital funding. Careerist also offers tech recruiting help, automating the job application process to help users find viable leads for new roles. The accelerator helped the Careerist team get in touch with investors for the company's seed round and also many employer partners, and was very helpful in figuring out how best to grow the business, Tysbaev said. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck Careerist used to raise $8 million:

☆ How Ark Invest's Cathie Wood is investing behind the artificial intelligence boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood said Wednesday said artificial intelligence is the most important catalyst in every corner of her disruptive innovation strategy. "Many people say data is the new gold as they were talking about the cloud and other movements in technology, I think that's ever more true now with artificial intelligence," Wood said on CNBC's " Squawk Box ." "I think there's going to be a lot of commoditization in in this industry, in the whole artificial intelligence movement." In September, Ark Invest launched a new venture capital fund, targeting individual investors with a minimum investment of just $500. The actively managed Ark Venture Fund invests in 70% private firms and 30% public companies focused on technologically enabled innovation.

☆ Google's ex-CEO Eric Schmidt tapped for federal biotech commission that allows members to keep biotech investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

On Dec. 30, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees announced the selection of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and 11 others to serve on a new federal commission on biotechnology. The appointment, however, doesn't require commission members to divest their own personal biotech investments — even as they help shape U.S. policy overseeing the industry. The person didn't say when Schmidt made the decision to donate profits, adding that he hasn't yet named any recipient charities. The new federal commission will likely have a say in steering such investments over the two years of its lifetime. Schmidt's biotech investments are relatively recent.

Parafin, launched in 2020, works with so-called platform partners, or companies that other small businesses sell their products through. All the cofounders knew was that they wanted to build technology that would help small businesses. And they may not get their first contract payment from the government for as long as 120 days," Reed, the startup's CEO, told Insider. Helping small businesses manage their taxesComplYant's founder Shiloh Jackson wants to help people be present in their bookkeeping. HoneyBookWhile countless small businesses have been harmed by the pandemic, self-employment and entrepreneurship have found ways to blossom as Americans started new ventures.

☆ Cathie Wood's new fund gives small investors access to the VC market for just $500
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Ark Invest, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 2, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. Cathie Wood's Ark Invest launched a new venture capital fund, targeting individual investors with a minimum investment of just $500. "We are doubling down on innovation," Wood said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Tuesday. The ARK Venture Fund charges a flat management fee of 2.75%, and does not charge any carried interest or load fees. Ark's flagship Innovation Fund (ARKK) has been under water all year as Wood's disruptive darlings have been some of the biggest victims of rising interest rates.

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