Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI?

#11

Post by paulryanrogers » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:10 PM UTC

sharadov wrote: post #8

This is becoming standard operating procedure for this administration - talk big investments with companies, trade and tariff deals with Japan,EU. All this is talk, aimed at pleasing the MAGA crowd. And they have learned that all that Trump loves are deals. As long as they talk big, he laps it up and so does his base.

Trump is becoming much like his father when the latter developed dementia: going through the motions of fake work to please himself alone. Meanwhile others run the actual organization.

Re: Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI?

#12

Post by Havoc » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 11:48 PM UTC

Maybe Altman wasn’t crazy enough for SB

Re: Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI?

#13

Post by iFire » Tue, Jul 29, 2025, 4:23 AM UTC

It would make sense to sell when openai still has leadership and diversify

Re: Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI?

#14

Post by jpppj » Tue, Jul 29, 2025, 12:05 PM UTC

I can't help but wonder if the reason most comments are about Trump and not Sam Altman, suggesting the usefulness of such an unreasonable sum, isn't related to the domain this website is run on?

The trillions, or $500B, etc claims from Altman were obviously ridiculous from the start. The fact that Son would latch on isn't surprising given his performance outside of a few early investments. The fact that Trump would latch on isn't surprising given politics is about media making.

This is all on Altman right?

Re: Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI?

#15

Post by fundad » Tue, Jul 29, 2025, 12:33 PM UTC

eightysixfour wrote: post #7

Maybe I have different priors than the author but I never saw the $500b Stargate as anything "real" in the first place. It seemed pretty obvious this was a way to give an authoritarian president with a love for big numbers and a vindictive streak a win while OpenAI was taking away attention from him. Same as Foxconn's LCD factory. I don't like it, I don't respect the companies that do it, but I also understand it.

What’s significant is professional journalists at publications with the resources to vet the information didn’t. They just performed stenography because they didn’t want a militia at their doors. Pretty bleak.

Re: Is SoftBank still backing OpenAI?

#16

Post by eightysixfour » Tue, Jul 29, 2025, 10:31 PM UTC

jpppj wrote: post #14

I can't help but wonder if the reason most comments are about Trump and not Sam Altman, suggesting the usefulness of such an unreasonable sum, isn't related to the domain this website is run on? The trillions, or $500B, etc claims from Altman were obviously ridiculous from the start. The fact that Son would latch on isn't surprising given his performance outside of a few early investments. The fact that Trump would l…

No, it has nothing to do with this being hacker news and everything to do with us being realists. Sam is overselling, we all "get" that at this point.

Trump is what we're talking about because this was such a transparent attempt for OpenAI to give Trump a talking point/win around AI in the US. Everyone knows if you are big enough and don't give him a win, he'll eventually come after you, so they're just playing the game. None of us like the game, but we're honest that it exists.