zlacker

Where are they getting the $500B? Softbank's market cap is 84b and their entire vision fund is only $100b, Oracle only has $11b cash on hand, OpenAI's only raised $17b total...

>>383toa+(OP)
there doesn't appear to be any timeline announced here. the article says the "initial investment" is expected to be $100bn, but even that doesn't mean $100bn this year.

if this is part of softbank's existing plan to invest $100bn in ai over the next four years, then all that's being announced here is that Sama and Larry Ellison wanted to stand on a stage beside trump and remind people about it.

>>383toa+(OP)
I agree that the numbers are confusing so I've taken $500B out of the title above and replaced it with just data centers.

>>383toa+(OP)
Sleight of hand with the phrasing "up to" $500B.

>>383toa+(OP)
>> Where are they getting the $500B? Softbank's market cap is 84b and their entire vision fund is only $100b, Oracle only has $11b cash on hand, OpenAI's only raised $17b total...

1. The outlays can be over many years.

2. They can raise debt. People will happily invest at modest yields.

3. They can raise an equity fund.

>>383toa+(OP)
Softbank is being granted a block of TRUMP MEMES, the price of which will skyrocket when they are included in the bucket of crypto assets purchased as part of the crypto reserve.

>>Turing+A4
Soooo this isn’t so much ‘announcing an investment’ as ‘announcing an investment opportunity’?

Why not continue:

4. They can start a kickstarter or go fund me

5. They can go on Dragons’ Den

…

>>themag+m5
Altman is pivoting from WorldCoin to TrumpCoin - your retina will shortly be wired into the fascist meme-o-verse.

>>Turing+A4
4. Trump and Altman are both serial liars and it’s utter bullshit.

>>jamesh+v5
6. ??? 7. Profit.

>>jamesh+v5
>> 4. They can start a kickstarter or go fund me

Debt/Equity Fundraising is basically a kickstarter! Remarkably similar.

>>griomn+j6
who isn't at least they upfront

>>themag+m5
how I wish that was a joke...

>>griomn+g6
It's actually wireless, via 5G as part of the AI designed MRNA vaccine.

>>Turing+A4
4. The US government can chip in via grants, tax breaks or contracts.

It's all very Dr. Strangelove. "Mr. President, we must not allow an AI gap! Now give us billions"

>>383toa+(OP)
Oracle's cash on hand is presumably irrelevant- I think they are on the receiving end of the money, in return for servers. No wonder Larry Ellison was so fawning.

Is this is a good investment by Softbank? Who knows.. they did invest in Uber, but also have many bad investments.

>>383toa+(OP)
> Where are they getting the $500B?

BTC

>>383toa+(OP)
from Uncle Sam

>>383toa+(OP)
Quite possibly pulled out of their asses...

If Son can actually build a 500B Vision Fund it can only come from one of two places...

somehow the dollar depreciates radically OR Saudis

Vision Fund was heavily invested in by the Saudis so...

>>383toa+(OP)
MGX has at least $100bn: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/a-100-billion-middle...

This is Abu Dhabi money.

>>philip+Ed
This would be a large outlay even for UAE, who would be giving it to a direct competitor in the space: UAE is one of the few countries outside of the US who are in any way serious about AI.

>>383toa+(OP)
Psst: it’s probably going to end up being a fraction of that but doesn’t make for as good a headline

>>notato+x1
The literal first sentence of the announcement is:

> The Stargate Project is a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years

>>philip+Ed
That's their total fund and I doubt they are going all in with it in the US. Still, to reach $500bn, they need $125bn every single year. I think they just put down the numbers they want to "see" invested and now they'll be looking for backers. I don't think this is going anywhere really.

>>383toa+(OP)
SoftBank's current AUM is $350B [1], and they will likely raise another fund.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoftBank_Group

>>sangno+6c
Is Elon putting on some black leather?

>>383toa+(OP)
I think it's more announce the plan first, then try to find the investors for most of it.

>>mmoust+fE
> AUM ¥347.7 billion

Is that the figure correct figure? Because that's Japanese yen which is more like $2.2B USD?

>>Turing+A4
Maybe it's in Bison Dollars?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPy27XWfAyI

>>383toa+(OP)
Probably from the corrupted financial system, but we need to forword the project, haha

>>HotHot+ut
The project was announced a year ago so "new"

>>notato+x1
Seems like you nailed it.

>>jhalle+cc
> `... they did invest in Uber, but also have many bad investments.`

The one I really don't get is that they funded Adam Neumann's new company after the collapse of WeWork. How stupid do you have to be to give that guy any more money?

>>HotHot+ut
Not the first sentence of the new AP link target, which is much more vague. Kind of annoying for HN to swap it out like this.