Oracle hit hard in Wall Street’s tech sell-off over its huge AI bet

Company falls more than rivals over its borrowing and reliance on OpenAI contracts.

Oracle has been hit harder than Big Tech rivals in the recent sell-off of tech stocks and bonds, as its vast borrowing to fund a pivot to artificial intelligence unnerved Wall Street.

The US software group founded by Larry Ellison has made a dramatic entrance to the AI race, committing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in the next few years on chips and data centers—largely as part of deals to supply computing capacity to OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

The speed and scale of its moves have unsettled some investors at a time when markets are keenly focused on the spending of so-called hyperscalers—big tech companies building vast data centers.

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Cities: Skylines upheaval: Developer and publisher announce “mutual” breakup

Paradox subsidiary Iceflake Studios will take over work on the storied city simulation.

For well over a decade now, the Cities franchise has done its best to pick up the urban simulation ball that EA’s SimCity famously dropped. Going forward, though, that ball will be handed off from longtime developer Colossal Order to Finnish studio Iceflake (a subsidiary of Cities publisher Paradox Interactive).

The surprise announcement Monday morning on Paradox’s official forums says that Cities‘ developer and publisher “mutually decided to pursue independent paths” without going into many details as to why. “The decision was made thoughtfully and in the interest of both teams—ensuring the strongest possible future for the Cities: Skylines franchise,” the announcement says.

“Both companies are excited for what the future holds while remaining deeply appreciative of our shared history and grateful to the Cities’ community,” the statement continues. Colossal Order “will work on new projects and explore new creative opportunities,” Paradox wrote in an accompanying FAQ.

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When recreating a famous SUV stunt in China goes wrong

The EV failed to match the 2018 stunt, damaging the stairway in the process.

Be careful with your marketing stunts around national landmarks. That should be the take-home message from Chery Automobile’s recent attempt to measure itself up against Land Rover, an attempt that went sadly wrong.

In 2018, Land Rover and Chinese racing driver Ho-Pin Tung drove a Range Rover Sport up the 999 steps that make up the “Stairway to Heaven” that climb China’s Tianmen mountain. It was a dazzling stunt, for driving up a staircase that ranges between 45–60 degrees is no simple task, and one that’s certain to have left an impression with any acrophobics out there.

A YouTube screenshot of an SUV sliding backwards into some railings A screenshot of the attempt gone wrong. Credit: Youtube

Chery certainly remembered it. The brand—which in fact is a long-time collaborator with Jaguar Land Rover and next year even takes over the Freelander brand from the British marque—has a new electric SUV called the Fulwin X3L and decided that it, too, was made of the right stuff. The SUV, which costs between $16,500–$22,000 in China, features a plug-in hybrid powertrain, boxy looks, and a whole bunch of off-roading features, including the ability to do tank turns.

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