Malicious and hateful online attacks on China’s diving queen Quan Hongchan, including one which likened her to a “pig”, will form part of a major investigation into an organised cyberbullying campaign against the Olympic athlete. Other hurtful attacks said the gold medal winner “looks like a man” and even questioned her right to be a champion, saying she only won because “the judges were biased”. ...
Malicious and hateful online attacks on China’s diving queen Quan Hongchan, including one which likened her to a “pig”, will form part of a major investigation into an organised cyberbullying campaign against the Olympic athlete. Other hurtful attacks said the gold medal winner “looks like a man” and even questioned her right to be a champion, saying she only won because “the judges were biased”. Another online bully said Quan looked “countrified” while others called on her to “retire...
The software problem roiling private markets is about to face a big new test. A wall of debt maturities is looming for the industry just as artificial intelligence threatens to upend entire businesses in what’s been dubbed the SaaSpocalypse. More than $330 billion of high yield, leveraged loan and business development company-linked software and technology debt is coming due for repayment through ...
The software problem roiling private markets is about to face a big new test. A wall of debt maturities is looming for the industry just as artificial intelligence threatens to upend entire businesses in what’s been dubbed the SaaSpocalypse. More than $330 billion of high yield, leveraged loan and business development company-linked software and technology debt is coming due for repayment through 2028, a chunk of it tied to firms owned by private markets. As companies look to refinance in the coming months, they face numerous headwinds, from fears about AI devaluing or replacing their products to the risk of higher borrowing costs spurred by the war in the Middle East. Some private credit funds are turning away software borrowers outright as they seek to shrink their exposure to the sector, according to people with knowledge of the matter. And a number of software company sales planned by private equity have already stalled. “Software borrowers from private-credit funds are more highly leveraged and more dependent on future growth expectations than borrowers in other industries, making them more sensitive to adverse shocks,” according to researchers at MSCI Inc. The following charts highlight the stress facing private equity and credit markets as their big bet on software sours. Private market managers allocated hundreds of billions of dollars to software over the last 15 years, betting that software-as-a-service (SaaS) business models would generate high growth and reliable cashflows. That focus became increasingly concentrated during the period, with software and technology services accounting for about half of all private equity deals in recent years, far surpassing any other industry. For almost two decades that concentration risk was justified by market-beating returns for funds that marketed themselves as investing in technology among other industries. In recent years, however, the premium has been shrinking as more and more funds piled into the industry. Priv...
Strategy demonstrates unwavering corporate conviction by resuming its aggressive acquisition of digital assets as global markets prepare for supply changes.
Strategy demonstrates unwavering corporate conviction by resuming its aggressive acquisition of digital assets as global markets prepare for supply changes.
Scott Olson/Getty Images News OpenAI ( OPENAI ) expects to generate about $2.5B in advertising revenue this year, with projections rising to as much as $100B annually by 2030, Axios reported, citing a source familiar with recent presentations to investors. An early ad pilot has already generated roughly $100M in annual recurring revenue in under two months, underscoring strong initial traction. Op...
Scott Olson/Getty Images News OpenAI ( OPENAI ) expects to generate about $2.5B in advertising revenue this year, with projections rising to as much as $100B annually by 2030, Axios reported, citing a source familiar with recent presentations to investors. An early ad pilot has already generated roughly $100M in annual recurring revenue in under two months, underscoring strong initial traction. OpenAI has told investors it expects ad revenue to scale rapidly, reaching $11B in 2027, $25B in 2028, and $53B by 2029, according to the report. The projections assume OpenAI’s products expand to about 2.75B weekly users by the end of the decade, allowing the company to capture share in a global advertising market currently dominated by Google, Meta Platforms, Amazon, and TikTok. The advertising push is also part of OpenAI’s broader effort to convince investors it has multiple scalable revenue streams ahead of a potential initial public offering. More on OpenAI Nadella's Flip-Flop OpenAI's Dilemma Wall Street Lunch: ChatGPT Tops 800M Weekly Active Users OpenAI plans staggered rollout of new model over cybersecurity risk: report OpenAI plans retail IPO share allocation, CFO says