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A worker checks Tesla Model Y electric vehicles loaded onto a freight trailer at the Tesla Inc. Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany, on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. Tesla CEO Elon Musk played down how much impact his tweets have on the company’s stock price as he defended himself at a trial in San Francisco federal court on Friday over his 2018 tweet about taking the electric car-maker private. Photographer: Liesa Johannssen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Tesla after it received two complaints that steering wheels detached in 2023 Model Y vehicles while people were driving. 

The preliminary evaluation covers more than 120,000 vehicles, according to an agency filing

Shares of Tesla were down 3% in premarket trading Wednesday.

Both incidents occurred at low vehicle mileage, and both cars received an end of line repair requiring removal and reinstallation of the steering wheel. Regulators said the steering wheels came off when the force exerted on them overcame the resistance of the friction fit while the cars were in motion. 

“Both vehicles were delivered to the owners missing the retaining bolt which attaches the steering wheel to the steering column,” the NHTSA said.

The investigation will assess the “scope, frequency, and manufacturing processes associated with this condition,” the agency said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In one complaint filed with the NHTSA, a driver said he bought his Model Y on Jan. 24, and that the steering wheel fell while he was driving it with his family in Woodbridge, New Jersey on Jan. 29.

He said he was “lucky” there was no car behind him and that he was able to pull on the divider, according to a tweet he included in the complaint.

In a follow-up tweet, the driver said he “lost trust” in Tesla and did not feel safe driving his car home. He later said the Tesla dealership called him and apologized, and the driver shared a photo of a replacement Model Y that he received on Feb. 23.

The investigation into Tesla is a first step before the NHTSA could demand a vehicle recall.

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Cramer slams Amazon for considering a circular AI deal reminiscent of the dotcom bubble

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Cramer slams Amazon for considering a circular AI deal reminiscent of the dotcom bubble

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Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead ‘AGI’ group

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Amazon says AI chief Rohit Prasad is leaving, Peter DeSantis to lead 'AGI' group

Rohit Prasad, Senior VP & Head Scientist for Alexa, Amazon, on Centre Stage during day one of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ben McShane | Sportsfile | Getty Images

Rohit Prasad, a top Amazon executive overseeing its artificial general intelligence unit, is leaving the company at the end of this year, the company confirmed Wednesday.

As part of the move, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company is reorganizing the AGI unit under a more expansive division that will also include its silicon development and quantum computing teams. The new division will be led by Peter DeSantis, a 27-year veteran of Amazon who currently serves as a senior vice president in its cloud unit.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

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Oracle stock dips 5% on report Blue Owl Capital won’t back $10 billion data center

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Oracle stock dips 5% on report Blue Owl Capital won't back  billion data center

Blue Owl decided not to pursue Oracle’s $10 billion Michigan data center, source familiar

Oracle stock dipped about 5% on Wednesday following a report that discussions with Blue Owl Capital on backing a $10 billion data center in Michigan had stalled, although the cloud company later disputed the report.

Blue Owl had been in talks with Oracle about funding a 1-gigawatt facility for OpenAI in Saline Township, Michigan, according to the Financial Times.

However, the plans fell through due to concerns about Oracle’s rising debt levels and extensive artificial intelligence spending, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes as some investors raise red flags about the funding behind the rush to build ever more data centers.

The concern is that some hyperscalers are turning to private equity markets rather than funding the buildings themselves, and entering into lease agreements that could prove risky.

Blue Owl did look into the project, but pulled out due to unfavorable debt terms and the structure of repayments, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans who asked not to be named in order to discuss a confidential matter.

Blue Owl is still involved in two other Oracle sites, the person said.

The person added that Blue Owl was also concerned that local politics in Michigan would cause construction delays.

Oracle later responded to the FT report, saying the project was moving forward and that Blue Owl was not part of equity talks.

“Our development partner, Related Digital, selected the best equity partner from a competitive group of options, which in this instance was not Blue Owl. Final negotiations for their equity deal are moving forward on schedule and according to plan,” Oracle spokesperson Michael Egbert said in a statement.

The cloud company did not name the firm involved in current equity talks for the project.

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CNBC has reached out to the FT for comment.

The FT said that Blackstone is in discussions to potentially replace Blue Owl Capital as a financial partner for the data center, although no deal has been signed yet.

Blue Owl Capital has been the primary investor in Oracle’s data center projects in the U.S., including a $15 billion center in Abilene, Texas, and an $18 billion site in New Mexico, the FT said.

“This appears to be a case where the deal simply wasn’t the right one, and seasoned investors understand that success does not require winning every transaction,” Evercore ISI analysts wrote in a note on Wednesday.

The bank added that digital infrastructure remains a “core growth vertical” for the Blue Owl, noting an upcoming digital infrastructure fund in 2026 that would add to its $7 billion fund announced in May.

Oracle has $248 billion in lease commitments for data centers and cloud capacity commitments over the next 15 to 19 years as of Nov. 30, the company said in its latest quarterly filing. That is up almost 148% from August.

In September, the cloud computing giant raised $18 billion in new debt, according to an SEC filing. That same month, OpenAI announced a $300 billion partnership with Oracle over the next five years.

By the end of November, the company owed over $124 billion, including operating lease liabilities, according to the filing.

Oracle shares are down about 50% from the high of $345.72 reached in September.

Read the full FT story here.

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