Morning Scan

OpenAI is negotiating an equity stake for the US government, SpaceX is either building an AI device or it isn't, and Samsung just committed $90 billion to one region of South Korea.

5% — The equity stake OpenAI has discussed offering the US government to smooth its path to full nonprofit conversion and keep the Trump administration onside. (Financial Times)

Connected World

OpenAI Has Discussed Giving the US Government a 5% Stake (paywall)

Trading equity for political cover is a new genre of regulatory strategy, and OpenAI appears to be inventing it in real time. (Financial Times)

White House in Advanced Talks With AI Companies on Voluntary Standards (paywall)

"Voluntary" is doing a lot of work here — an announcement could come as soon as next week, giving this more urgency than the word implies. (Financial Times)

SoftBank Reopens Talks for $10B Loan Against Its OpenAI Stake

SoftBank is now offering to personally guarantee repayment if the OpenAI collateral falls short, which tells you something about how badly they need the liquidity. (Reuters)

Alex Karp Calls US Reliance on AI Labs for Military Tech "Effing Insane"

Karp also panned the practice of charging businesses API fees, which is an interesting posture for a man whose competitor just offered equity to the federal government. (Forbes)

OpenAI Hiring Points to Image and Video Ads Coming to ChatGPT

Job listings suggest native, conversational, and video ad formats are in the pipeline — the freemium flywheel needs fuel eventually. (Search Engine Journal)

Connected World

Samsung Details $90B Plan for South Korea's Chungcheong Region

Chips, batteries, and OLED displays across a single region — Samsung is essentially building an industrial nation-state inside South Korea. (The Next Web)

Nvidia Will Financially Backstop Young Cloud Providers in Exchange for Revenue Share

Nvidia is becoming the landlord of the AI compute economy: front the capital, clip the ticket on every dollar of revenue the tenant generates. (The Information)

Data Center Operator Switch Seeks ~$2B Round at ~$50B Valuation (paywall)

a16z is anchoring with $400M — the infrastructure land grab is still very much on, holiday weekend or not. (Bloomberg)

Quantum Systems Raises $1.2B at ~$8B Valuation (paywall)

The German surveillance drone maker whose hardware is actively deployed in Ukraine just more than doubled its valuation — defense tech fundraising is operating on a different clock. (Bloomberg)

Bending Spoons Surges 40% on First Day of Trading After $18B IPO

The Italian company that acquired and revived AOL, Evernote, and Vimeo just became the IPO market's most surprising vindication of the year. (TechCrunch)

Connected World

Chanel Is Buying Charvet, the World's Oldest Shirt Maker (paywall)

A Parisian shirtmaker founded in the 1830s now belongs to Chanel — luxury consolidation claims another institution, this one built entirely on buttonholes and heritage. (The New York Times)

Busan's Tram Concept Ditches Overhead Wires for Korea's First Catenary-Free Transit

Removing the cobweb of overhead wires from a city skyline sounds minor until you see a render without them — it's a genuinely clean look. (Yanko Design)