Almost every day, Grant Lee, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, hears from investors who try to persuade him to take their money. Some have even sent him and his co-founders personalized gift baskets. Mr. Lee, 41, would normally be flattered. In the past, a fast-growing start-up like Gamma, the artificial intelligence start-up he helped establish in … Read more
Nikola, an electric vehicle start-up that had once hoped to become the Tesla of heavy trucks, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday. Founded in 2015, Nikola promised to develop long-haul semi trucks powered by hydrogen and electricity, and listed itself on the stock exchange in 2020 before it had sold a single vehicle. Its share … Read more
Elon Musk’s growing power in government appears to be making some of his businesses more of a magnet for investors. Case in point: Banks have managed to sell off most of the $12.5 billion worth of debt owed by X, his social network, to eager buyers. Investors are essentially betting that the company’s future is … Read more
The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund are racing to reshape their plans to combine their rival golf circuits, emboldened by President Donald J. Trump’s eagerness to play peacemaker for a fractured sport, according to four people familiar with the matter. Since the start of secret talks in April 2023, PGA Tour executives … Read more
Humane, the ambitious start-up behind the Ai Pin device that aimed to one day replace smartphones, agreed to sell parts of its business to HP for $116 million, the companies said on Tuesday. HP said it planned to buy Humane’s “A.I. capabilities,” including its software platform, intellectual property, patents and some employees. The Ai Pin … Read more
Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer of OpenAI who unexpectedly left the company in September, has helped found a new artificial intelligence start-up called Thinking Machines Lab, adding to the wave of young companies that have been formed in the race to lead A.I. Thinking Machines Lab aims to “make A.I. systems more widely … Read more
Turo, a car rental start-up in San Francisco, has been trying to go public since 2021. But a volatile stock market in early 2022 delayed its listing. Since then, the company has waited for the right moment. Last week, Turo pulled its listing entirely. “Now is not the right time,” Andre Haddad, the company’s chief … Read more
European defense stocks continued their rally on Tuesday, as President Trump’s threats to reduce American military support to the continent and NATO raised the prospect that Europe’s governments will increase military spending. The flurry of trading helped push the Pan-European Stoxx 600 index to a record high; the Stoxx Europe Total Market Aerospace & Defense … Read more
After decades of dominating China’s market for high-performance cars with precision engineering, German automakers are losing out to Chinese rivals that have shifted the definition of a high-end car to one that is electric, smart and affordable. Many new Chinese vehicles resemble their German rivals, like the wildly popular Xiaomi SU7, which mimics Porsche’s Taycan. … Read more
In the early 1970s, the madcap advertising executives Ron Travisano and Jerry Della Femina were struggling to find a gimmick to sell an undistinguished brand of pet food. Watching interminable and unremarkable footage of cats eating, Mr. Travisano and an editor, Joe Lione, spotted one that kept opening and closing its mouth in a manner … Read more