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OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

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Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#451
post #268

First Windsurf and now this. OpenAI is spending billions like there's nothing else to use this money for while being seemingly cash strapped for model training since they already signaled more investment rounds would be needed to remain competitive. They're trying to become too big to fail before they have a moat which won't work well.

Clearly foundation models don’t make money or a viable business on their own

You can say the same about any piece of software...

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#452

What the other commenters are forgetting is that this is the same Sam Altman who planned and executed the extraction of Reddit from Condé Nast. This acquisition (and the Windsurf acquisition) are all-stock deals, which have the added benefit of reducing the control the nonprofit entity has over the for profit OpenAI entity. How do you extract the for profit entity out of the hands of a nonprofit? - Step 1: you have c…

That is interesting given that reddit has gone from a cultural powerhouse to something most people talk about shamefully, if at all.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article 5 billion of the payment is equity in OpenAI. So they aren't spending cash

This still means 1.5B were paid in cash for a company from what I understood has neither clients nor even a product. Not exactly pocket money.

They previously invested and already owned 23% of the company. So no cash for this Aquisition

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#454

I don't understand all the pessimism and incredulity about the valuation. This is an acquisition to take on and disrupt Apple. Ives + Altman is perceived as a viable successor to the Ives + Jobs partnership that made Apple successful. Apple is weak and doesn't seem capable of innovating anymore, nor do they seem to understand how to build AI into products. There's an opportunity to build an Apple-sized hardware weara…

Altman ain't no Jobs, though.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#455

What the other commenters are forgetting is that this is the same Sam Altman who planned and executed the extraction of Reddit from Condé Nast. This acquisition (and the Windsurf acquisition) are all-stock deals, which have the added benefit of reducing the control the nonprofit entity has over the for profit OpenAI entity. How do you extract the for profit entity out of the hands of a nonprofit? - Step 1: you have c…

That is interesting given that reddit has gone from a cultural powerhouse to something most people talk about shamefully, if at all.

The only people I’ve ever known who actually thought Reddit ever really mattered was people in the HN sphere. Anecdata, but still. In terms of value per minute spent, it’s the same tier of slop as TikTok or Instagram, and I think most ordinary people hold that same view.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is interesting given that reddit has gone from a cultural powerhouse to something most people talk about shamefully, if at all.

The only people I’ve ever known who actually thought Reddit ever really mattered was people in the HN sphere. Anecdata, but still. In terms of value per minute spent, it’s the same tier of slop as TikTok or Instagram, and I think most ordinary people hold that same view.

Yes, TikTok and Instagram...some of the most valuable media, entertainment and communication businesses in history.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#457

What the other commenters are forgetting is that this is the same Sam Altman who planned and executed the extraction of Reddit from Condé Nast. This acquisition (and the Windsurf acquisition) are all-stock deals, which have the added benefit of reducing the control the nonprofit entity has over the for profit OpenAI entity. How do you extract the for profit entity out of the hands of a nonprofit? - Step 1: you have c…

> Sam Altman who planned and executed the extraction of Reddit from Condé Nast

Relevant thread where Sam acknowledges the plan.

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3cs78i/whats_the...

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#459
post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While Sam is being egotistic, the reverence of Jobs to the point nobody is even allowed to assume how he would have thought is also weird imho.

I'm certainly not saying that "nobody is even allowed to assume how he would have thought". What I'm saying actually has very little to do with Jobs at all. I'm saying that as a new partner to someone, it's extremely weird to say that your old dead partner would be extremely proud you teamed up with me. If I were to marry a woman who lost her husband, it would be extremely weird and egotistical for me to tell people…

> If I were to marry a woman who lost her husband, it would be extremely weird and egotistical for me to tell people that her dead ex-husband would be "damn proud" that she married me.

Perfect example. That is exactly what it feels like. What a nasty thing for him to even think, and he goes and says it publicly.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is interesting given that reddit has gone from a cultural powerhouse to something most people talk about shamefully, if at all.

The only people I’ve ever known who actually thought Reddit ever really mattered was people in the HN sphere. Anecdata, but still. In terms of value per minute spent, it’s the same tier of slop as TikTok or Instagram, and I think most ordinary people hold that same view.

I find this perspective bizarre. Though I'm not happy about it all being centralized, the closest thing we have these days to the very niche phpBB forums of the 2000s is various subreddits focused on very specific topics. Scrolling through the front page is slop, sure, but whenever I'm looking for perspectives on a niche topic, searching for " reddit" is the first thing I do. And I know many people without any connection to the software industry who feel the same way.
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