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This column is a look back at the week that was in AI. Read the previous one here.

It鈥檚 hard to write (or read) anything on artificial intelligence and startups right now without a mention of .

We鈥檒l be honest, we鈥檙e no better.

The creator鈥檚 current back-and-forth with everything-everywhere-all-at-once has turned into a never ending soap opera none of us asked for.

However, last week as Musk seemed to place his OpenAI offer on and off the table daily, something else OpenAI-related caught our eye 鈥� reported a net loss of nearly $2.4 billion for its fiscal third quarter.

Yes, the same SoftBank that is planning to invest $19 billion into the White House鈥檚 proposed new $500 billion AI .

And yes, the same SoftBank that also plans to invest $40 billion into OpenAI at a mind-blowing $260 billion valuation.

That is a lot of dough to invest when many of your recent investments haven鈥檛 exactly panned out.

Case in point: During its earnings report, SoftBank said its famed unit 鈥� once known for shrewd investments in startups including and 鈥� lost about $2 billion as shares of companies like and fell.

The Vision Fund loss is not new. In fact, SoftBank said it was pulling back on investments in 2022 鈥� as both the venture market and its portfolio got rocked. However, in a quick turnabout, by mid-2023 founder told investors he would again shift from 鈥渄efense mode鈥� as the firm looks to be a leader in AI and robotics.

SoftBank has been true to its founder鈥檚 words when it comes to AI. In October, the agreed to invest $500 million in 鈥檚 $6.6 billion raise, led by , at a post-money valuation of $157 billion.

In July, the multinational investment holding behemoth co-led robot brain building startup 鈥檚 $300 million Series A along with , and through his . The deal valued Skild at $1.5 billion.

In May, SoftBank led London-based self-driving car startup 鈥檚 round worth approximately $1.1 billion.

The Vision Fund has also participated in:

• AI-powered search startup 鈥檚 $500 million Series D in December;
• AI-powered in-app guidance startup 鈥檚 $125 million Series E in September;
• AI-based search engine software developer 鈥檚 $260 million Series E; and
• 鈥檚 $650 million Series F at a $4 billion valuation.

The fund also made a strategic investment 鈥� of an undisclosed amount 鈥斅� in cloud security startup . Considering the cyber firm locked up $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation in May, it seems safe to assume that deal was not insignificant.

Those are just a sampling of the larger deals SoftBank took part in since its AI announcement 鈥� there are more AI-related investments in their transactions. However, based on recent history, it鈥檚 fair for one to wonder if there should be.

That鈥檚 not to suggest that SoftBank should halt its investments, but it does seem like the firm is repeating its past pattern of investing in the latest venture trends at extremely high valuations.

It didn鈥檛 work out great then. It is more than fair to wonder if the results will be any different this time.

Other things that caught our eye:

Back in September, AI research lab raised $1 billion from a litany of big-name investors including and . Well, five months later, it鈥檚 back for more. The startup is in talks to raise another $1 billion in a round led by that would value the startup at $30 billion, . That鈥檚 a sixfold increase from the $5 billion it was valued at back in September, per . SSI, co-founded by 鈥榮 former chief scientist , is looking to develop safe artificial intelligence systems.

Related 附近上门 Pro list:

Related reading:

• SoftBank Vision Fund Hit With More Losses
• AI鈥檚 Big Day 鈥� Startup Safe Superintelligence Raises $1B At Reported $5B Valuation

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