Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang refuted reports that his company was scaling back its planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Huang addressed the rumors on Saturday, calling them "nonsense," after a Wall Street Journal report suggested Nvidia was reconsidering its financial commitment and Huang had privately criticized OpenAI's business strategy.
In September, Nvidia and OpenAI announced a plan for Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and build 10 gigawatts of computing infrastructure for the AI company. The Wall Street Journal reported that Huang had begun emphasizing the nonbinding nature of the deal and expressed concerns about competitors like Anthropic and Google. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies were rethinking their relationship, though not necessarily ending it entirely.
Terrence O'Brien of The Verge reported that Huang told reporters in Taipei that Nvidia still planned to make a "huge investment" in the ChatGPT maker. Huang's denial comes amid other developments in the tech world, including SpaceX's filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a constellation of up to 1 million solar-powered satellites intended to serve as data centers for artificial intelligence. SpaceX described the planned satellites as the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power and a step toward becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization, according to TechCrunch. The Verge suggested the FCC is unlikely to approve the 1 million satellite request outright and it is likely a starting point for negotiations.
Meanwhile, a16z partner Kofi Ampadu, who led the firm's Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, left the firm after it paused TxO and laid off most of its staff, according to an email obtained by TechCrunch. Ampadu led the program, which launched in 2020, for over four years until its pause last November, taking over for the initial leader, Na. "Identifying out-of-network entrepreneurs and supporting them as they sharpened their ideas, raised capital, and grew into confident leaders was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career," Ampadu wrote in the email.
In other news, Selina Tobaccowala, former president and CTO of SurveyMonkey, launched HomeBoost, an app designed to help users save on their utility bills. Tobaccowala told TechCrunch she was inspired by her daughter's efforts to conserve energy at home. "I saw the kids and thought, Let me see if theres something there on the sustainability and climate side," she said.
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