Sam Altman’s Business Buddies Are Getting Stung
Investors are now questioning the ChatGPT maker’s dominance.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
As investors start to take sides in the AI race, Sam Altman’s buddies are getting burned.
SoftBank Group Corp.’s shares have tumbled 40% from late October, while Oracle Corp.’s stock has given up all gains made since early September, when the legacy database software company all of a sudden got an AI halo after announcing a $300 billion computing deal with OpenAI Inc. The trio are partners in the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project, which aims to build data centers across the US. In addition, in March, SoftBank’s Chairman Masayoshi Son managed to strike a venture capital deal with Altman, promising to invest $30 billion by year-end.