Latest news with #ChamathPalihapitiya
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
SPAC King Palihapitiya Returns Nearly Three Years After Retreat
Chamath Palihapitiya is returning to the blank-check game after throwing in the towel in 2022 on a pair of jumbo firms that failed to find targets. The former Facebook executive who became the public face of the SPAC mania during the original boom-and-bust filed late on Monday for a $250 million initial public offering for American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp. A, joining the ranks of sponsors giving special purpose acquisition companies another go. The blank-check firm will seek to bring a company that can benefit from Palihapitiya's 'historical areas of business expertise,' according to the filing.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Chamath Palihapitiya Once Disclosed He Was A Warren Buffett Disciple, But Disagreed With The Investing Legend's 'Wrong, Outdated' Views On Bitcoin
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya has long been a staunch advocate of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and did not mince words when criticizing legendary investor Warren Buffett's scathing remarks about the asset. Palihapitya Defends Crypto Against Buffett's Criticism During a CNBC interview in 2020, Palihapitiya said that Buffett is "completely wrong and outdated" about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. For background, Buffett said in an earlier interview that cryptocurrencies have no value and he will never wager his money on them. Palihapitiya then defined Bitcoin as the only 'uncorrelated hedge' in the world and urged putting 1% of one's portfolio to the apex cryptocurrency. Trending: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — It's Okay To Have Biases, Says Palihapitiya This wasn't the first time Palihapitiya disagreed with Buffett on cryptocurrency. In a May 2018 interview with CNBC, he said, 'It's really unfair to not understand something and then disparage it,' in response to Buffett's remark that Bitcoin is "creating nothing." "I think we have to acknowledge that we all have biases," Palihapitiya added. Despite his criticism, he called Buffett an 'exceptional' person and claimed to be a 'disciple' of the renowned investor. On the date of the interview, Bitcoin closed at $9,325.18 apiece. As of this writing, it is exchanging hands at $121,809.56, marking a massive 1206.24% increase. Read Next: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share. If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it? Photo Courtesy: Kathy Hutchins On Shutterstock This article Chamath Palihapitiya Once Disclosed He Was A Warren Buffett Disciple, But Disagreed With The Investing Legend's 'Wrong, Outdated' Views On Bitcoin originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Copyright Is Dead In The AI Age. But Is It?
Chamath Palihapitiya, former Facebook executive, venture investor and co-host of the All-In podcast, says copyright may soon be unenforceable in an artificial intelligence-driven world and urges companies to build competitive advantages that do not depend on protections that could quickly lose all value. As for artists, he questions whether they need copyright to earn a living, suggesting they can earn income through other means, such as live performances. This is a convenient stance for someone running or investing in businesses that require a massive amount of data for training and develop advanced AI models. The AI Copyright Divide U.S. copyright law holds that only people can be authors. The Copyright Office and courts have said works created entirely by AI don't qualify because they lack human creativity, even if a person wrote the prompt. But when humans use AI tools and add meaningful creative choices, their work may still be protected. Fair use is decided on a case-by-case basis. Judges look at why the material was used, how much was taken, and whether it affects the original's market. AI training on copyrighted works may pass if it transforms the content and avoids undercutting sales. In other situations, courts could find it infringes. There is no blanket rule, and disputes are likely to be settled in court for years. Palihapitiya's perspective, while provocative, reflects a growing skepticism among some technologists about the durability of traditional intellectual property laws in the face of generative AI. The central thesis is that the power of AI to independently create or derive from existing works will render existing legal protections obsolete. Why would a copyright hold up when an AI could theoretically generate a functionally identical or even superior work without ever having copied the original? This line of thinking suggests that the traditional legal framework, built on the premise of human-to-human creative exchange, is ill-equipped to handle the age of machine learning. The idea is that AI models learn patterns and create new material rather than copy existing work. This distinction may be the undoing of copyright as we know it. The counterargument, however, is made by Jason Calacanis, another host of the podcast, and a defender of copyright holders. Calacanis argues that the rights of creators, such as journalists, musicians and filmmakers, must be protected. He believes that AI companies, which are becoming some of the most valuable corporate entities in history, should not be allowed to build their fortunes on the work of others without proper compensation. He envisions a future where licensing agreements become a foundation of the new AI economy. In this scenario, copyright does not die; instead, it evolves into a revenue stream, creating a golden era for content creation by funding more journalists, artists and fact-checkers. Training AI Data: Fair Use Of Copyrighted Material? The debate also centers on the legal and conceptual distinction between training data and output. David Friedberg and David Sacks, the other two podcast hosts, offer a more balanced perspective to bridge the divide. They both favor a fair use interpretation for AI training. Friedberg believes that if information is available on the open internet, an AI learning from it is no different from reading books to learn. Sacks agrees, drawing a clear line between the training process and the final output. They argue that the infringement occurs only if the AI's output is a direct copy or plagiarism of copyrighted material. This approach attempts to strike a balance, allowing AI to improve by learning from a broad pool of sources while still holding the AI and its developers accountable for plagiaristic outputs. This was the perspective defended by President Trump during the announcement of the AI Action Plan, highlighting Sacks' influence as the chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. A Case Study In AI's Copyright Clash A similar debate recently played out in a public dispute between internet infrastructure giant Cloudflare and AI search engine Perplexity. The conflict encapsulates the competing viewpoints. Cloudflare accused Perplexity of using stealth crawling to access websites that had blocked them. Web crawling is a practice where a computer program automatically browses websites to collect information, much like a super-fast, automated visitor. Stealth crawling is when a web crawler hides its identity to bypass restrictions and reach sites that have barred it. Cloudflare's CEO, Matthew Prince, warned that AI models pose an existential threat to publishers' business models, echoing Calacanis's view that creators' livelihoods are at risk. Perplexity, however, pushed back, denying the accusations and characterizing the incident as a misunderstanding of its technology. The company argued that its AI assistants operate on behalf of a user's request and are not systematically crawling the web for training data. This defense reflects Sacks and Friedberg's view that the key issue is the AI's purpose and how it's applied. Perplexity is fulfilling a specific, user-driven function, not stealing to build a new model, which they claim is a fundamentally different action. The dispute highlights the point that traditional rules are becoming fragile. Cloudflare claims its efforts to block certain automated programs, a bedrock of internet etiquette, were circumvented. This situation shows the difficulty of enforcing old rules when new technology can so easily bypass them. It also highlights the different philosophies: is an AI bot an uninvited guest or a helpful assistant working on a user's behalf? This is a clash between two visions of the future. One embraces a world where technology moves faster than the law, forcing us to abandon old notions of ownership in favor of new, more resilient business models. The other sees a future where copyright is not an outdated legal concept but a vital economic engine that can be adapted and monetized in the age of AI. The middle ground points us to a path forward that adapts current laws to fit AI's real-world usage. The future of copyright is unlikely to be a simple binary decision. Instead, it will be a negotiation between creators, tech companies, lawyers, and regulators. What's clear is that the conversation is no longer confined to legal journals but has entered the mainstream, sparking a necessary dialogue about the value of creativity, the nature of intelligence, and the future of the digital economy.
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
If You'd Invested $1,000 in SoFi 5 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today
Key Points SoFi has been a publicly traded company for just under five years, but investors have more than doubled their money. A $1,000 investment in SoFi at the time it went public would be worth about $2,030 today. The financial-technology innovator has posted some incredible growth numbers. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › SoFi (NASDAQ: SOFI) went public through a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, in early 2021 by combining with a blank-check company sponsored by Chamath Palihapitiya. Shares of the blank-check company started trading in late 2020 for $10, and SoFi currently trades for a little more than twice that amount. In this case, a $1,000 investment would be worth about $2,030 today. However, you wouldn't have known you were investing in SoFi back then. The January 2021 announcement of SoFi's SPAC merger caused shares to rise. If you had bought shares on the day of the merger announcement, you'd still be up, but not by nearly as much. SoFi spiked so high on news it was going public that your $1,000 in January 2021 would be worth $1,109 today. There have been plenty of opportunities to buy in the years since. In the 2022 bear market, SoFi traded for less than $5 per share at certain points. It's fair to say that many early SoFi investors, especially those who built their positions over time, have generated strong returns on their investments. Why has SoFi performed better than most SPACs? It's no secret that the majority of 2020-2021 SPAC initial public offerings (IPOs) haven't exactly been good investments, but SoFi is one of the notable exceptions. There are numerous reasons, but the short explanation is that the business has performed incredibly well. About a year after the SPAC announcement, SoFi became a chartered bank and had less than 3.5 million members at the end of 2021. Now, it has more than triple that amount. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) went from $30 million in 2021 to an estimate of nearly $1 billion for 2025. SoFi recently celebrated its first full year of GAAP profitability, a term that sadly hasn't been associated with too many ex-SPACs. Trump's Tariffs Could Create $1.5 Trillion AI Gold Rush The Motley Fool's analysts are tracking a massive shift in U.S. tech. Over $1.5 trillion is already flowing into infrastructure, AI, and advanced manufacturing… and the number keeps climbing. Following a major tariff policy shift, a new AI Gold Rush is taking shape, and we think . It builds the tech infrastructure that Apple, OpenAI, and others suddenly can't live without. We just released a full write-up on this under-the-radar stock — and why now might be the exact moment to move. Continue » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Matt Frankel has positions in SoFi Technologies. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. If You'd Invested $1,000 in SoFi 5 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Is Opendoor Technologies the Next Carvana?
Is Opendoor About to Have Its 'Carvana Moment'? Opendoor Technologies Company Overview Founded a little more than a decade ago in San Francisco, California, Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) is a real estate development company that makes instant cash offers (known as an 'iBuyer') mainly in the residential real estate market. Opendoor leverages a technology-driven platform to find and make offers, purchasing the real estate directly from sellers. Opendoor then makes all the necessary upgrades, renovations, and repairs to relist and sell the real estate for a higher price (the average hold time is ~90 days). In addition to its real estate investment services, the company launched a mortgage services and home loan business. OPEN, which merged with Chamath Palihapitiya's Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp II in 2020, also has a partnership with Redfin. This leading technology-driven real estate brokerage website competes with Zillow Group (ZG). OPEN: Shades of 2023 Carvana? Eric Jackson, founder of EMJ Capital, helped drum up interest in OPEN in July by comparing it to online car website Caravana (CVNA). The comparison resonates with me because the two companies share several similarities, including: · Beaten-down, Turnaround Plays: Carvana's multi-bag stock move started with a company on the brink of collapse. However, several bullish catalysts began to emerge. For OPEN, the company will benefit from lower interest rates, which will likely wake up a sleepy real estate market (betting website PolyMarket gives a 71% chance of an interest rate cut in September). · Digitizing Legacy Markets: Carvana allowsusers to buy or sell cars online, making a normally tedious process much more efficient and enjoyable. Opendoor is doing a similar model for the real estate market. · Meme Stock Cult Following: Similar to CVNA, OPEN is a favorite among retail investors on the wildly popular Reddit (RDDT) message board 'Wall Street Bets.' The surge in Robinhood (HOOD) stock illustrates that retail investors are again interested in trading, potentially suggesting sustained interest in OPEN shares OPEN Regains Nasdaq Compliance OPEN shares rose Monday and broke out of a bull flag pattern on heavy volume (accumulation) after the company announced that it had successfully regained compliance with the Nasdaq's minimum bid price requirement, sustaining a closing bid price of at least $1.00 for 12 consecutive trading sessions. Image Source: TradingView OPEN: Bullish Call Flow & Heavy Short Interest Could Provide Upside Fuel OPEN shares have experienced heavy buying in far out-of-the-money call options over the past few months – a bullish sign. Additionally, 40 million shares or ~38% of the OPEN share float are short. Should the stock keep rising, shorts will be forced to cover, potentially triggering a GameStop (GME)-Esque short squeeze. Bottom Line Opendoor Technologies presents a compelling, albeit speculative investment case. The company may benefit from lower interest rates, the continued digitization of the real estate market, and high short interest. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report GameStop Corp. (GME) : Free Stock Analysis Report Opendoor Technologies Inc. (OPEN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Zillow Group, Inc. (ZG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Carvana Co. (CVNA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Reddit Inc. (RDDT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
