Business news in brief
By The Associated Press
ChatGPT maker OpenAI raises $6.6B in funding
OpenAI says it has raised $6.6 billion in venture capital investments as part of a broader shift by the ChatGPT maker away from its nonprofit roots.
Led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, the funding round is backed by tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and SoftBank. That’s according to a source familiar with the funding who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.
OpenAI said Wednesday the funding will give it a market value $157 billion and “accelerate progress on our mission.”
EU urged to rethink deforestation regulation
JAKARTA, Indonesia | A growing number of governments, international trade organizations and businesses are urging the European Union to reconsider a deforestation regulation set to take effect in December.
Critics of the EU Deforestation Regulation say it will discriminate against countries with forest resources and hurt their exports. Supporters say it will help combat forest degradation on a global scale. Several commodity associations say they concur with the regulations’ objectives but worry that gaps in its implementation could harm businesses.
Environmental organizations say the regulation will help slow global deforestation, which is the second-biggest source of carbon emissions after fossil fuels.
Tesla posts first quarterly increase in deliveries, but shares slump
Low interest financing, sweet lease deals, price cuts and free charging boosted Tesla’s global deliveries in the third quarter, the first increase this year for the electric vehicle maker.
The Austin, Texas, company said Wednesday that it delivered 462,890 vehicles from July through September, bolstered by loans as low as 1.99%, and $299 monthly leases on the Model 3, its least expensive vehicle. It delivered 435,059 vehicles during the same period last year.
The figures for July through September came in slightly higher than analyst estimates of 462,000 for the period, according to data provider FactSet.
However, shares of Tesla Inc. dropped sharply in morning trading, down nearly 4%.
—From AP reports
