Seeking Alpha’s roundup of statements, announcements, and remarks that could impact the technology sector.
- Elon Musk’s xAI (X.AI) is reportedly in merger talks with his space company, SpaceX (SPACE), ahead of that company’s hotly anticipated IPO.
Under the proposed deal, xAI shares would be exchanged for SpaceX shares. The merger is being viewed as a way to help advance SpaceX’s plans to build orbiting data centers, according to Reuters.
SpaceX owns satellite internet provider Starlink (STRLK), while xAI, best known for its AI chatbot Grok, owns X. Both SpaceX and xAI are controlled by Musk, who also runs Tesla (TSLA). SpaceX has reportedly been eyeing an IPO for later this year.
On Wednesday, Tesla announced it had agreed to invest approximately $2B in xAI.
- European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said that Europe needs a digital euro so it can be less dependent on non-European payment providers.
“Today, Europe is significantly reliant on non-European payment systems, and if we don’t do anything, this reliance will increase,” Cipollone said Thursday, according to Bloomberg. “It’s critical infrastructure for the functioning of the economy, and putting it off would mean accepting a structural vulnerability.”
Bloomberg noted that the EU currently relies on providers such as U.S.-based Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), and PayPal (PYPL) to process most retail payments. Issuance of the digital euro could begin as early as 2029.
- Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT) are reportedly in talks to invest up to $60B in OpenAI (OPENAI), according to Reuters, which cited The Information.
Under the deals, Nvidia could invest up to $30B, while Microsoft is considering an investment of under $10B. Amazon’s contribution could be over $20B. Both Nvidia and Microsoft already hold substantial stakes in the company.
Reuters noted that SoftBank (SFTBY) has reportedly been in talks to invest up to an additional $30B in OpenAI, which is best known for the ChatGPT AI chatbot.