FTX estate selling majority stake in AI startup Anthropic for $884 million, with bulk going to UAE
In this photo illustration, Anthropic logo is seen on a smartphone screen.
Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has struck a deal with a consortium of buyers to sell the majority of its stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic for $884 million, according to a filing submitted late Friday to a Delaware court.
The document, dated March 22, lists a mix of buyers, with the largest stake going to ATIC Third International Investment Co., an enterprise aligned with Mubadala, a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates. That group is purchasing nearly $500 million worth of Anthropic shares.
Multiple sovereign wealth funds were reportedly clamoring for a piece of FTX’s Anthropic stake. Sources told CNBC on Friday that Saudi Arabia was specifically ruled out over national security concerns. The kingdom has been sinking billions of dollars into tech investment funds to try to capture talent from the UAE and to diversify away from oil.
The second-biggest buyer in the Anthropic transaction is Jane Street, the quantitative trading firm where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried worked before venturing out on his own. Caroline Ellison, the ex-CEO of FTX’s sister hedge fund Alameda Research, also previously worked at Jane Street. The firm is purchasing shares worth almost $100 million.
Jane Street’s head of quantitative research, Craig Falls, has also proposed to personally buy around $20 million worth of shares.
Venture fund HOF Capital, the Ford Foundation and funds managed by Fidelity Management are others on the list of nearly two dozen buyers.
The sales are not yet final and must be cleared by Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing FTX’s bankruptcy case in Delaware. Should it be approved, the sale would collectively account for nearly two-thirds of FTX’s shares in Anthropic.
In November, Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven criminal counts tied to the collapse of FTX. His sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, and prosecutors are recommending a sentence of 40 to 50 years.
Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the U.S. Courthouse in New York City, July 26, 2023.
Amr Alfiky | Reuters
Under Bankman-Fried’s leadership, FTX invested $500 million in Anthropic, which was founded by ex-OpenAI employees in 2021, before the boom in generative AI. The company’s valuation hit $18 billion in December 2023, which would put FTX’s roughly 8% stake at about $1.4 billion.
For months, the bankruptcy estate has been looking to sell its shares in Anthropic, as it attempts to pay back clients that lost money when FTX collapsed in late 2022. Anthropic raised $7 billion in the past few years from Big Tech companies like Amazon and Alphabet. Meanwhile, rival OpenAI’s valuation tripled to $80 billion in less than 10 months.
Under new CEO John Ray III, FTX has been clawing back cash, luxury property and crypto, as well as tracking down missing assets. His team has already collected more than $7 billion, not including valuables like $26 million in gifts and property to Bankman-Fried’s parents, or the $700 million handed over to K5 Global and founder Michael Kives, who invested FTX cash in companies like SpaceX. Some of those investments have seen a precipitous rise in value.
Lawyers representing the bankruptcy estate told a judge in Delaware last month that they expect to fully repay customers and creditors with legitimate claims. Bankruptcy attorney Andrew Dietderich, who works with FTX’s new leadership team, said, “There is still a great amount of work and risk” ahead in getting all the money back to clients, but that the team has a “strategy to achieve it.”
FTX had been negotiating with bidders about a potential reboot of the company, but those efforts were scrapped in January.
We are finally getting a look at Kia’s sporty new electric SUV. With starting prices under $30,000, the 2025 Kia EV5 GT Line looks ready to compete with the best in China.
Kia unveils the new 2025 EV5 GT Line electric SUV
Kia unveiled the new 2025 EV5 GT Line at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show, giving the already impressive electric SUV a stylish upgrade.
After introducing the EV5 last summer, Kia claimed it “brings a new era of electric mobility to the compact SUV sector.” The smaller electric SUV includes much of the advanced new tech and software in Kia’s flagship EV9 but in a more affordable package.
At 4,615 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,715 mm tall, the EV5 is a direct rival to Tesla’s Model Y (4,760 mm long x 1,921 mm wide x 1,624 mm tall).
Kia launched the EV5 in China last November, starting at just $21,000 (149,800 yuan), undercutting top-selling rivals like the Tesla Model Y.
Powered by a BYD Blade battery, the base EV5 is rated with 329 miles (530 km) CLTC range. The longer-range model, with an 88.1 kWh battery, gets up to 447 miles (720 km) CLTC range.
Now, we are finally getting a look at the upgraded 2025 EV5 GT Line model. As you can see, the GT Line treatment includes a sleek blacked-out exterior design with 20″ aluminum alloy wheels.
The AWD powertrain boasts up to 316 hp (233) kW for a 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/hr) sprint in about six seconds. Kia’s new GT Line model gets up to 360 miles (580 km) CLTC driving range with fast charging (30% to 80%) in 27 minutes.
Kia upgraded the interior with a leather-wrapped two-tone steering wheel and other blacked-out elements. It also includes Kia’s next-gen ccNC infotainment system with dual 12.3″ center and driver display screens.
What do you think of the new EV5 GT Line? Should Kia launch it in the US? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Source: TheKoreanCarBlog, AutoSpy
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As part of Zero Motorcycles’ new approach to affordability, the California electric motorcycle maker is increasingly relying on strategic partnerships in the industry to help lower costs and leverage production experience. Now we’re getting word that one of the company’s key partners, Hero MotoCorp, is closing in on its first Zero-enabled electric motorcycle model.
It’s giving a whole new meaning to “from Zero to Hero.”
Last year, Zero joined forces with India’s largest motorcycle maker, Hero MotoCorp, to develop a new electric motorcycle model. Zero obviously eyed Hero’s massive manufacturing footprint and decades of production experience, and it looks like that partnership is closer than ever to revealing the fruits of its labor.
“As far as EV motorcycles, as we have talked about, that we are developing in partnership with Zero Motorcycles. And that’s something that while we have not given out the timeline, but the work is in progress. And it will be coming in the middle-weight segment. I would say it’s in the advanced stage. We haven’t announced the timeline as yet, but we would be looking at something which would not be too far off,” explained Hero MotoCorp CEO Niranjan Gupta during the company’s Q2 earnings call with analysts.
While targeting the more sought-after middleweight market, Hero confirmed that the company would also produce a version for the more performance end of the motorcycling market.
Hero has massive production chops to its name, but the company is relatively inexperienced with electric two-wheelers. Hero has just two models of electric scooters currently available under its Vida brand, and no fully-fledged electric motorcycles of the style for which Zero is known.
Zero and Hero have yet to provide specifics about where such a motorcycle might land in the international market, but recent moves by the company could provide a few clues.
Last month, Zero announced that it had partnered with Chinese motorcycle maker Zongshen to produce its new Zero XE and XB electric motorcycles. The move comes as part of Zero’s recently announced “All Access” initiative, which is built around adding more affordable models to the Zero lineup. Priced at just US $6,494 and $4,195, the Zero XE and XB are the most affordable Zero bikes we’ve seen yet.
There’s more where those came from, too. Zero claims that it will have six unique models, all priced at under US $10,000, in the next two years.
Based on the advanced state of the Hero partnership bike, it’s likely that such a model could be revealed as part of Zero’s All Access program.
via Fortune
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California has proposed offering $7,500 state EV tax rebates to residents if Trump kills the federal EV tax credit, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced today.
Trump has repeatedly said that he would eliminate the $7,500 EV tax credit for new vehicles and $4,000 for used vehicles created by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act if he won the election.
In response, Newsom today proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which launched in 2010 and was phased out in 2023. California started with a $5,000 rebate for EVs and increased to $7,500. During its lifetime, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program funded more than 594,000 vehicles and saved more than 456 million gallons of fuel.
Newsom’s announcement says that funding for the state EV tax rebates could come from the “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program.”
Newsom said in a statement:
We will intervene if the Trump administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California.
We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future – we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.
Newsom’s announcement didn’t say how the rebates would work, but he’s expected to share more details during an appearance today. The governor would need the backing of the state legislature to revive the rebate program.
California continues to lead the US in zero emissions vehicle adoption, surpassing 2 million electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen-powered vehicles sold across the state. By 2035, all new cars and light trucks sold in California must be zero-emissions vehicles, along with 50% of all new heavy trucks.
Read more: New CA smart grid law will help solar and fix the grid by… simply replacing wires
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