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Younited loses its unicorn status but starts again on new bases
Younited, an online credit specialist, saw its valuation significantly reduced during its IPO, as we indicated in our article last October on this subject. The company, which had reached unicorn status in 2022 thanks to raising 60 million euros from Goldman Sachs, Eurazeo, Bpifrance and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, now has a market capitalization of 622 million euros at the close of trading. markets on January 20, 2025.
Since its creation, Younited has raised more than 483 million euros, to which can be added 152 million euros recently injected by Iris Financial in return for new shares. This financial repositioning strengthens the company’s equity, offering it new room for maneuver to accelerate its international development, particularly in its historic markets: France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
OpenAI teams up with Oracle and Softbank to invest $100 billion in AI data centers
OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank announced a partnership called Stargateaimed at investing 100 billion dollars immediately to build data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence. This project provides for a total of 500 billion dollars of investments over four yearscreating more 100,000 jobs. Supported by partners such as Microsoft, NVIDIA and MGX, Stargate aims to meet the growing demand for AI infrastructure, despite the challenges linked to energy and land constraints.
Microsoft loses its exclusivity with OPEN AI to Oracle
The Stargate project forced Microsoft to modify the terms of its partnership with OpenAI, allowing the latter to diversify its cloud service providers. Although Microsoft retains exclusive rights to integrate OpenAI technologies, such as Copilot, and the OpenAI API remains exclusive to the Azure platform, this relaxation allows OpenAI to collaborate with other partners, including Oracle, for its infrastructure needs.
President Trump plans joint venture for TikTok involving 50% government ownership
President Donald Trump has expressed openness to the idea of Elon Musk or Larry Ellison acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations, in a joint venture that would give the U.S. government a 50% stake.
OpenAI increases lobbying spending to $1.76 million in 2024
OpenAI spent $1.76 million on lobbying in 2024, up from $260,000 in 2023, according to a recent report. The company focused its efforts on two key bills: theAI Advancement and Reliability Act and the Future of AI Innovation Actreflecting its commitment to influencing the growing regulation of artificial intelligence.
Google supports Israel with advanced artificial intelligence tools from the first weeks of the conflict
Google offered Israel early access to its latest artificial intelligence technologies at the start of the conflict with Hamas, according to sources familiar with the matter. These tools were reportedly used by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for strategic and analytical operations.
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Google strengthens its partnership with Anthropic with a new billion-dollar investment
Google has invested over an additional $1 billion in Anthropic, strengthening their strategic collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Anthropic is preparing a nearly $2 billion fundraising round, led by Lightspeed and other investors, bringing its valuation to around $60 billion. This operation confirms the rise of Anthropic as a major player in the sector against competitors such as OpenAI.
Netflix posts record growth in fourth quarter 2024
Netflix closed out 2024 with exceptional financial results, with fourth-quarter revenue of $10.25 billion, up 16% from the previous year. Net profit amounted to $1.87 billion. The streaming platform saw a net increase of 18.9 million subscribers during the quarter, bringing the global total to 301.6 million.
Why not continue this momentum, Netflix will increase subscription prices in the United States, Canada, Portugal and Argentina. The ad-supported plan increases from $6.99 to $7.99 per month, the standard ad-free plan from $15.49 to $17.99, and the premium plan from $22.99 to $24.99.
For the year 2025, Netflix forecasts a turnover of between 43.5 and 44.5 billion dollars. The company also boosted its share repurchase program to $17.1 billion.
Following these announcements, Netflix stock jumped more than 14% in after-hours trading. Over the last twelve months, the stock has increased by 80%, outperforming the S&P 500 index which gained 25% over the same period.
Southeast Asia: startup fundraising falls by 42% in 2024
Southeast Asian startups raised $4.56 billion in 2024, a 42% drop from the previous year, according to DealStreetAsia. The number of transactions also fell, falling to 633 deals, down 10%. This amount represents only a fifth of the 2021 peak, reflecting a significant slowdown in investment in the region.
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To include in your diary:
L’X hosts the scientific portion of the AI Action Summit on February 6 and 7, 2025
On February 6 and 7, 2025, the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) is organizing an international conference entitled “AI, Science, and Society” on the École Polytechnique campus in Palaiseau. This event will bring together researchers, business leaders, policy makers and experts to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on science and society. Speakers include renowned figures such as Michael Jordan (UC Berkeley/Inria), Yann Le Cun (Courant Institute/Meta FAIR) and Bernhard Schölkopf (Max Planck Institute). The conference will serve as a prelude to the AI Action Summit, scheduled for February 10-11, 2025 in Paris.
Today’s job offer with ALTAIDE recruitment firm
The Polytechnic school looking for a Entrepreneurship & Innovation Director (F/M) to manage its innovation and entrepreneurial support strategy. Under the responsibility of the Director of Education and Research, and in conjunction with the presidency, this strategic position will supervise the incubator, prototyping and technology centers, as well as support and communication (20 employees).
Expected profile: scientific or engineering training, significant experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, proficiency in English, and proven skills in team management, strategic partnerships and financing. A key role at the heart of an international and forward-looking environment.
🥐 Previous editions of GOOD MORNING FRENCHWEB:
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- Jean de la Rochebrochard joins Cassius / Trump redraws the contours of tech by decree / Younited goes live on Euronext Paris
- GOOGLE refuses to integrate fact checks despite a new European law / META and Community Notes: a challenge for the content creator economy? / ETORO targets a valuation of $5 billion for its IPO
- Summit for action on Artificial Intelligence, we don’t know more… / François Chollet co-founded NDEA / The TikTok saga continues.
🚀 To read on FRENCHWEB.FR:
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- Stargate: a strategic investment of $500 billion to counter China’s technological rise
- Altares Dun & Bradstreet acquires Companyweb to strengthen its presence on the Belgian market
- Dominique de Villepin, and 17 former European leaders, call for regulating Google.
- The Swedish EasyPark absorbs Flowbird (formerly Parkeon) to find the right place on the chessboard of urban mobility solutions
- Hyperline raises 9.4 million euros to administer customer invoicing for SaaS startups
- 5 essential tools to optimize your customer relations