Son Sets Sights on OpenAI

Every day, we handpick the 5 Top Stories stock market investors need to know. In 5 minutes, you’ll learn the stocks, CEOs, and money managers moving markets.

Son Sets Sights on OpenAI

SoftBank [SFTBY] is set to invest $500m in OpenAI as part of a $6.5bn fundraising round, valuing the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up at $150bn. The investment will come from SoftBank’s second Vision Fund, the Financial Times reported, which now primarily consists of CEO Masayoshi Son’s personal wealth. Other investors include Thrive Capital and longstanding backer Microsoft [MSFT]. The deal is expected to close this week.

Tesla Lawsuit Dismissed

A shareholder lawsuit alleging that Tesla [TSLA] overstated the effectiveness and safety of its autopilot and full self-driving technologies, misleading investors and inflating its stock price, has been dismissed. Investors claimed they incurred losses when safety issues related to these technologies impacted Tesla’s stock. US district judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin ruled that shareholders failed to prove Tesla and CEO Elon Musk were liable.

SAP CEO Warns EU on AI

“I’m totally against regulating the technology, it would harm the competitiveness of Europe a lot if I can better test my AI models here,” Christian Klein told the Financial Times during a visit to Silicon Valley. EU regulations, such as the Artificial Intelligence Act and Digital Markets Act, aim to impose strict controls on data use and large language models. However, the CEO of Europe’s largest software firm [SAP] noted that US companies enjoy more freedom in AI development.

Nio Partners with AI Start-up

Chinese automaker Nio [NIO] is joining forces with Monolith, a UK-based AI software start-up, to enhance electric vehicle (EV) battery pack testing. Testing will begin soon in five European markets, with plans to expand into China, Reuters reported. Monolith, which already collaborates with the likes of BMW [BMWYY] and Honda [HMC], uses machine learning to accelerate battery development, helping Western automakers catch up with Chinese competitors.

Chinese Automakers: September Data

Li Auto [LI] has delivered 53,709 vehicles in September 2024, a 48.9% year-over-year (y-o-y) increase, and 341,812 units year-to-date, Seeking Alpha reported. The company reported Q3 deliveries of 152,831, up 45.4% y-o-y; this included record numbers of new EVs. Meanwhile, XPeng [XPEV] saw record deliveries of 21,352 vehicles in September, a 39% y-o-y rise, with Q3 deliveries totaling 46,533, up 16% y-o-y. For the first nine months of 2024, XPeng delivered 98,561 smart electric vehicles, marking a 21% increase y-o-y, including over 10,000 units of its Mona M03 in September.