OpenAI

Retro Biosciences, backed by Sam Altman, is raising $1 billion to extend human lifespan

Startups /

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is doubling down on Retro Biosciences, a biotech startup based in San Francisco that wants humans to live 10 years longer than what it calls a healthy human lifespan. Altman previously provided Retro Biosciences’ entire seed round of $180 million. Now, the startup is raising a $1 billion Series A that

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AI companies upped their federal lobbying spend in 2024 amid regulatory uncertainty

AI /

Companies spent significantly more lobbying AI issues at the U.S. federal level last year compared to 2023 amid regulatory uncertainty. According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, 648 companies spent on AI lobbying in 2024 versus 458 in 2023, representing a 141% year-over-year increase. Companies like Microsoft supported legislation such as the CREATE AI Act, which

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Stargate will use solar and batteries to power $100B AI venture

Climate /

The massive $100 billion Stargate joint venture will reportedly be powered, at least in part, by solar and batteries. The renewable power installations will be built by SoftBank-backed SB Energy, according to a report from Bloomberg, though they’re unlikely to be the venture’s sole source of energy. Stargate is a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, and

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How are founders positioning themselves for the next 4 years?

Startups /

As tech titans like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg rubbed shoulders with politicians at President Trump’s inauguration, startup founders were working the D.C. party scene, aiming to secure a spot in the new president’s circle.  Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Margaux MacColl and Anthony Ha are digging into the latest tech and

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OpenAI’s Stargate project reportedly doesn’t have the money it needs

Government & Policy /

Stargate — the massive infrastructure project to build data centers for OpenAI in the U.S. — lacks a fully developed plan and hasn’t secured funding yet, according to a report from the Financial Times. Backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Middle East AI fund MGX, and others, Stargate would funnel around $100 billion — and upward of

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OpenAI says it may store deleted Operator data for up to 90 days

Security /

OpenAI says that it might store chats and associated screenshots from customers who use Operator, the company’s AI “agent” tool, for up to 90 days — even after a user manually deletes them. OpenAI has a similar deleted data retention policy for ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot platform. However, the retention period for ChatGPT is only

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OpenAI and SoftBank are reportedly putting $19B each into Stargate

AI /

We may now know roughly how much money SoftBank and OpenAI are contributing toward Stargate, the massive infrastructure project to build data centers for OpenAI across the U.S. SoftBank and OpenAI each plans to commit $19 billion of capital to Stargate, according to The Information. The two companies would then both own 40% of the

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