AI Ecosystem – Starter’s Orders

The race has just begun The contenders are already jostling for position when it comes to ownership of the emerging AI Ecosystem where OpenAI is in the lead, but its internal foibles have given everyone else and especially Meta a leg up. The smartphone ecosystem is already well established where Apple, Google and Tencent are the clear winners, but the...

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Qualcomm vs. Apple – Black Magic pt. II

Apple fails to graduate from Hogwarts. It looks like Apple is giving up on its attempts to design an in-house 5G modem which is a big benefit to Qualcomm not for modem sales but because Apple will not be able to start another fight over royalty rates when its current contract expires in 2026. If Apple is unable to reopen...

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Alibaba – Nadir of fortunes.

Alibaba plumbs the depths. Alibaba has lost its crown as the biggest e-commerce company in China to PinDuoDuo, which combined with a botched restructuring and lacklustre results leads one to think that Jack Ma needs to be much more involved rather than operating from the shadows. PinDuoDuo reported stellar results this week with revenues almost doubling which sent the US-listed...

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Amazon AWS re:Invent – Show stolen.

I would like to pay tribute to Charlie Munger who passed away last night. His acerbic wit and common sense had a profound impact on the way I analyse companies, themes and investments. He will be missed. Jensen steals the show. AWS is holding its annual re:Invent conference where its own silicon chips played second fiddle to Nvidia’s in just...

OpenAI – Reality Test.

The valuation event will speak volumes. Although OpenAI is probably worth more now than it was 2 weeks ago, the share sale is unlikely to go through at $86bn and will serve as a measure of just how strong the AI-everything narrative remains after the Open AI earthquake. Despite the hot mess that became Open AI a few weeks ago,...

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OpenAI – Reboot.

The ecosystem is still in trouble. OpenAI has been put back the way that it was, but the governance will be very different and the damage that has been done to its ecosystem aspirations could greatly impact its long-term future. Mr Altman and his crew have been reinstated at OpenAI and a new board has been formed but how the...

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China vs. USA – Tit for tat pt. II

Reality undermines the restrict strategy. China has resumed exports of Gallium and Germanium in another sign that unless one controls the reserves, restricting access to a mineral is a poor negotiating strategy. RFM Research and Alavan Independent are of the opinion that the USA’s strategy to slow China’s rise as a technological and geopolitical power by restricting semiconductors is reasonably...

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Nvidia FQ3 24 – As good as it gets

Almost perfect with a valuation to match. Nvidia reported another stellar set of results, but it will need to increase its bookings at TSMC in 2024 if it wants to continue growing and I am far from certain that TSMC has the space at these nodes to accommodate the demand. FQ3 2024 revenues / EPS were $18.1bn / $4.02 well...

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OpenAI & Microsoft – Power Play

Microsoft will end up with OpenAI one way or another. The best solution to the hot mess that is OpenAI is to put everything back in its place but with the leverage that Microsoft now has over OpenAI, the acquisition is in full swing. The soap opera continues with Microsoft now keen for the team to return to OpenAI but...

OpenAI – Hot Mess

Looks to have been a fight over profit The absurd goings-on at OpenAI this weekend look to me to have come down to disagreements about money, but the implosion of the company may have just allowed it to fulfil its original mission. Sam Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI was suddenly fired by the board of OpenAI on Friday,...

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