CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk’s money can’t buy OpenAI

In January, U.S. consumers didn’t feel as inclined to open their wallets, causing retail sales for the month to fall more than expected, which might weigh on gross domestic product given the heavy reliance of the U.S. economy on consumer spending.

By contrast, in the corporate world, purse strings seem looser. A deal between Intel, Broadcom and TSMC is reportedly in preliminary stages of talks, and might see the storied U.S. chipmaker break up its business into two.

Money was also flowing from Elon Musk. The “special government employee” put forth a $97 billion dollar bid for OpenAI on Feb. 10. However, it was soundly rejected by the artificial intelligence startup on Friday. OpenAI Chairman Bret Taylor said in a statement that the company “is not for sale,” proving that there are some things even money cannot buy.

OpenAI turns down Musk
OpenAI has rejected Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the artificial intelligence startup’s nonprofit parent for $97.4 billion. OpenAI’s attorney, William Savitt, wrote on Friday to Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff that the board concluded the billionaire’s “much-publicized ‘bid’ is in fact not a bid at all.” The “proposal, even as first presented, is not in the best interest of OAI’s mission and is rejected,” Savitt’s letter stated.

TSMC and Broadcom are interested in Intel
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Broadcom are reviewing bids for Intel that would split the chipmaker into two, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Broadcom is interested in Intel’s chip design and marketing business, while TSMC is looking at the U.S. firm’s chip plants, according to the Journal. Neither company is working with each other and the talks are still in early stages.

Mixed markets across Pacific
Major U.S. benchmarks were mixed Friday. The S&P 500 was little changed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.37%. However, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.41%. All indexes ended the week higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat on the release of gross domestic product data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell around 0.3% despite shares of Tencent advancing roughly 2.6%, hitting its highest level since July 2021 during the trading day.

Japan’s economy ekes out growth in 2024
Japan’s economy expanded by 0.7% quarter on quarter in the three months ending December, according to preliminary government data. That’s higher than the 0.3% increase expected in a Reuters poll, and surpassed the 0.4% growth in the third quarter. Exports lifted economic growth, while domestic demand contracted slightly. Full-year GDP slowed to 0.1%, falling from the 1.5% expansion in 2023.

Xi speaks at entrepreneur symposium
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on Monday at a symposium attended by prominent entrepreneurs, such as Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma, Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, according to state media Xinhua. Analysts say Xi’s appearance at the symposium signals stronger state backing for private sector entrepreneurs and could mark a turning point for China’s tech sector.

[PRO] Funds fleeing Chinese stocks
Last September, China introduced stimulus measures designed to boost the country’s economy, which caused the CSI 300 to rally. A second round of initiatives, this time targeted at the stock market, was unleashed in January. So why has funds’ allocation toward China and Hong Kong-listed equities fallen annually over the past five years?

How China’s DeepSeek could boost the already booming data center market

For years now, analysts have forecast exponential growth in data centers — the critical infrastructure required for powering the world’s digital transition and the training of large language models. Data centers often take at least two years to build and orders have largely already been factored in for 2025 — meaning that the launch of DeepSeek’s cost-efficient and disruptive R1 model is unlikely to have any immediate impact.

That said, DeepSeek is unlikely to “substantially reduces demand for power for inference,” Andre Kukhnin, equity research analyst at UBS, told CNBC, referring to the process of running data through an AI model to make a prediction or solve a task. Ryan Cox, head of AI, at consultation firm Synechron, also expects that DeepSeek’s more efficient technology will ultimately lead to more data center demand.