US venture capital investment is increasingly going to AI

About half of all US VC investment went to AI companies last quarter.

Watch AI eat the VC world in one chart

Nearly half of US venture capital investment went to AI companies last quarter

7/17/24 1:11PM

The share of artificial intelligence venture capital investments in the US has tripled in the last few years, according to data from PitchBook’s Venture Monitor Report that published last week. At $27 billion last quarter, investment in AI and machine learning startups made up nearly half of all investment, up from 15% in 2017.

That’s as venture capital investment overall, which peaked in 2021, has been on the decline in recent years.

But this year, thanks in part to interest in AI and the general hype around the technology, VC spending might get out of its funk. Overall spending is on pace to reach $187 billion in the US in 2024, up about 12 percent from last year.

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Report: OpenAI won’t pay a dime in cash for its 3-year licensing deal for Disney IP

More financial details behind the landmark deal that will grant OpenAI three years of access to Disney intellectual property are coming out, and they’re pretty surprising.

The deal will reportedly see OpenAI pay zero dollars in licensing fees, instead compensating Disney in stock warrants. It was previously reported that Disney would invest $1 billion into OpenAI as part of the agreement.

It’s very abnormal for Disney to grant anyone access to its massive IP library without a cash payment, and the entertainment juggernaut has been known to strike down even crocheted Etsy Yodas for infringing on its turf. In its fiscal year 2025, Disney booked more than $10 billion in revenue from licensing fees across merchandising, television, and theatrical distribution.

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Ford says it will take $19.5 billion in charges in a massive EV write-down

The EV business has marked a long stretch of losing for Ford, and today the automaker announced it will take $19.5 billion in charges tied, for the most part, to its EV division.

Ford said it’s launching a battery energy storage business, leveraging battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to “provide solutions for energy infrastructure and growing data center demand.”

According to Ford, the changes will drive Ford’s electrified division to profitability by 2029. The company will stop making its electric F-150, the Lightning, and instead shift to an “extended-range electric vehicle” that includes a gas-powered generator.

The Detroit automaker also raised its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes outlook to “about $7 billion” from a range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.

Ford’s write-down is one of the largest taken by a company as legacy automakers scale back on EVs, giving EV-only automakers a market share boost.