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Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Can OpenAI really go the way of Apple and capture lightning in a bottle?
Gus Carlson is a U.S.-based columnist for The Globe and Mail. After OpenAI's series of embarrassing stumbles – including disruptive outages, pesky glitches in its ChatGTP platform, and the bizarre ousting and rehiring of its chief executive officer in a matter of days – the popular artificial-intelligence platform finally got one right. So right, in fact, that the company has manoeuvred itself into a position to put some blue water between itself and deep-pocketed rivals in the development of AI devices, the way Apple did with rivals in the computer and mobile phone world. The Apple comparison is not coincidental. Late last month, OpenAI said it planned to acquire an AI device company called io in an all-equity deal valued at about US$6.4-billion. Embedded in the purchase is a secret weapon that goes well beyond the technology: the design legend and io co-founder Jony Ive. OpenAI recruits legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive to work on AI hardware in $6.5B deal Mr. Ive is not just another smart techie. He is the design genius responsible for creating Apple's most iconic products, including the iPod, iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. He also helped design Apple's ultra-modern California headquarters. It was Mr. Ive's eye for combining elegant simplicity and functionality that set Apple's products apart from all others, first in the world of PCs and then in handheld devices. Even Apple's packaging reflects Mr. Ives's commitment to reinforcing the brand's sleek beauty in every way it touches customers. So influential was Mr. Ive that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said he considered him to be his 'spiritual partner' who saw things the same way he did. Mr. Ive was among Mr. Jobs's first hires when he returned to Apple in 1997 after being fired from the company more than a decade earlier. Mr. Ive had a direct and unfettered reporting relationship with Mr. Jobs. Few would question Mr. Ive's enormous influence on the devices we all use every day. In a post about the io acquisition on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote that Mr. Ive is 'the greatest designer in the world.' OpenAI needs a win. The acquisition of Mr. Ive and io is a crucial strategic play for OpenAI to stay ahead in the generative AI race, where competitors including Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI are making significant investments and quickly pushing new products to market. The showdown in AI devices is seen as the next big inflection point for the sector that may drive consolidation and some flame-outs – fates OpenAI seems determined to avoid. The purchase of io – OpenAI already owns about 23 per cent of the company – is the latest in a recent shopping spree that has seen OpenAI shore up its hardware assets. Just a few weeks ago, it agreed to buy AI-assisted coding tool Windsurf for US$3-billion. OpenAI also acquired analytics database company Rockset last year. OpenAI has also hired the former head of Meta's Orion augmented reality glasses initiative to lead its robotics and consumer hardware efforts. OpenAI CFO says new structure opens door for potential IPO Despite the asset and talent accumulation, OpenAI has some hurdles to clear with its current offerings, as well some reputation issues that continue to dog its credibility. The company has been plagued by high error rates in its application programming interface (API) and performance problems in ChatGTP. Users have reported a wide range of gremlins, including slow response times, trouble mining information from source documents, contextual problems and generic responses to queries. But perhaps OpenAI's biggest black eye came in November, 2023, when its board ousted Mr. Altman as CEO because of concerns about his leadership capabilities and lack of transparency in his communications with directors. Then, just a few days later, after employees protested the firing and threatened a mass walk-out, Mr. Altman was reinstated as CEO. An independent investigation concluded that the board's initial concerns about Mr. Altman did not rise to the threshold for termination. But the damage was done. The chaos in the governance structure dealt a blow to OpenAI's reputation at a time in its young life when it was breaking new ground and trying to establish credibility in the fast-emerging AI space. If history is any guide, Mr. Ive's eye for the kind of elegant, simple and unique device designs that separated Apple from the pack will give OpenAI an advantage over its bigger rivals. The big questions are: Can he capture lightning in a bottle again, the way he did at Apple, and will he be given the latitude to pursue the unique creative path that has made him a tech legend? Based on OpenAI's past governance bungling, Mr. Altman's biggest job is to keep the board out of Mr. Ive's hair and let him work his magic. If they can manage that, oh, the places they'll go.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Electra completes study for Ontario battery recycling hub
Electra Battery Materials has completed a feasibility-level engineering study for a modular battery recycling facility to be built near its cobalt sulphate refinery in northern Ontario. Aerial view of Electra Ontario Refinery An undated image of an aerial view of Electra Battery Materials' Ontario refinery in Cobalt, Ont. (Supplied/Electra Battery Materials) The facility will use Electra's proprietary hydrometallurgical process to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite from lithium-ion battery scrap and end-of-life batteries. The process was validated during a year-long pilot program treating black mass supplied by an industry partner. Funded in part by Natural Resources Canada, the next phase will test continuous and semi-continuous operations to simulate commercial-scale output. Recovered cobalt will feed directly into Electra's nearby cobalt sulfate refinery, currently under construction, while other materials will re-enter the battery supply chain. Interior view of Electra Ontario Refinery An undated image of an interior view of Electra Battery Materials' Ontario refinery in Cobalt, Ont. (Supplied/Electra Battery Materials) 'We are advancing a clear pathway to a closed-loop, domestically sourced battery materials supply chain,' said Trent Mell, Electra's CEO, in a news release last week. 'This integration strengthens North America's energy security and positions Electra as a first mover in the continent's emerging battery ecosystem.' rent Mell An undated promotional photo of Trent Mell, CEO of Electra Battery Materials. (Electra Battery Materials) The project aligns with Electra's partnership with Aki Battery Recycling, a majority Indigenous-owned joint venture with the Three Fires Group, which will supply shredded battery scrap. 'Through Aki, we are building a robust pipeline to process battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries that can be converted into value-added materials right here in Ontario,' Mell added. Electra plans to share study results with battery manufacturers and automakers to gauge interest in offtake agreements and scale adjustments. The study was conducted with Green Li-ion, whose modular technology forms the basis of the recycling process. Electra black Mass project An updated photo of an Electra employee working on the company's black mass project. (Supplied/Electra Battery Materials) The initiative supports efforts to reduce reliance on foreign critical mineral processing, particularly amid China's dominance. Electra's refinery has received funding from the Canadian and U.S. governments, reflecting its strategic role in military and energy storage applications. Electra 1 Electra Battery Materials south of Temiskaming Shores is North America's first cobalt sulphate refinery capable of producing battery-grade materials for lithium-ion batteries. (File photo/Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario) Aki Battery Recycling is developing a shredding facility to supply black mass, combining Indigenous economic participation with secure feedstock for Electra's operations.
Globe and Mail
4 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Could Nebius Group Be a Sleeper Growth Pick?
When it comes to investing in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, some of the most common opportunities reside in software platforms and semiconductors. But one pocket of the AI realm that is steadily starting to gain some traction is infrastructure. Think of it this way: When cloud hyperscalers such as Amazon, Microsoft, or Alphabet each say they are spending tens of billions of dollars on AI capital expenditures (capex), only some of this spend is allocated toward chipsets and network equipment supplied by the likes of Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, or Broadcom. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » In the background, there are companies that are actually building the data centers and graphics processing unit (GPU) clusters in which they reside. This is where Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) comes into play. Let's explore what Nebius does and how the company is riding the tailwinds of rising AI infrastructure investment. Could Nebius be an under-the-radar opportunity for growth investors right now? What does Nebius do? Nebius operates across four segments. The company's core business is an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) business -- essentially offering customers the ability to access high-performance compute architecture via the cloud. In addition, Nebius has three subsidiaries: Avride, Toloka, and TripleTen. Avride is an emerging force in the autonomous vehicle industry, and recently struck a partnership with global car manufacturer Hyundai. Toloka serves as a data partner for large language models (LLMs) and AI developers including Anthropic, Microsoft, and Shopify. TripleTen is a software platform marketed toward the education industry, which is another budding area where AI could lead to some transformative changes. AI infrastructure is booming While Nebius is a diversified business and positioned to benefit from AI in many different ways, most investors tend to focus on the company's infrastructure segment. The company works closely with Nvidia, allowing its customers to access a series of different GPU architectures. At the end of the first quarter, Nebius' IaaS business was operating at a $249 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) run rate. While this might not seem like much at first, consider this: Management is guiding toward an ARR run rate between $750 million and $1 billion by year-end, as well as positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). How is Nebius going to increase its core infrastructure segment by nearly fourfold over the next six months? For starters, the company's data center footprint is expanding rapidly. In addition to existing projects in France and Finland, the company is also building out new infrastructure in Iceland, Kansas City, and New Jersey. Moreover, these new data centers will be equipped with the most in-demand GPUs on the market -- of course, I'm talking about Nvidia Blackwell, Grace Blackwell, and Blackwell Ultra architectures. When you consider that major hyperscalers are on pace to spend more than $300 billion on AI capex just this year, coupled with industry forecasts calling for $6.7 trillion of infrastructure spend by next decade, Nebius appears to have strong secular tailwinds fueling its long-run growth narrative. Is Nebius stock a good buy right now? When it comes to investing in Nebius, valuation is a little bit challenging, given the company's corporate history. Toward the end of 2024, Nebius was actually spun out of a Russian internet conglomerate called Yandex. As part of the deal structure, Nebius become an independent entity and listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Given the limited financial picture available to investors, I don't find traditional valuation metrics such as price-to-sales (P/S) or other ratios entirely helpful when looking at Nebius. Rather, I'd like to look at the company relative to some peers. NBIS Market Cap data by YCharts One of the closest comparable public companies to Nebius is AI cloud infrastructure provider CoreWeave, which went public earlier this year. As the graph makes clear, not only does CoreWeave boast a much larger market capitalization than Nebius, but its value is actually expanding. Granted, there are reasons for this. CoreWeave is a much larger company than Nebius on the sales front, and the company continues to strike lucrative partnerships with AI's biggest developers. But even so, it's hard to deny CoreWeave's valuation momentum right now compared to the mundane price action in Nebius. To me, Nebius is flying under the radar -- completely overshadowed by CoreWeave's popularity. I see robust growth ahead for Nebius both in the short and long run, and I think the company's relationships with Nvidia and others in the AI landscape could lead to larger, more strategic deals over time. For these reasons, I would encourage investors looking for new growth opportunities in the AI space to consider a position in the infrastructure services pocket -- and particularly in Nebius. Should you invest $1,000 in Nebius Group right now? Before you buy stock in Nebius Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nebius Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to173%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Shopify. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nebius Group, Nvidia, and Shopify. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
