Sam Bankman-Fried will not be trialed again / OpenAI reportedly reaches $16B in revenue / SpaceX breaks launch record

Plus: Boeing recommends airlines to inspect 737 planes on possible loose bolt issue

Inside Business

For December 30, 2023

Here are today's top Inside Business stories:

⚖️ Sam Bankman-Fried will not go through a second trial.
💵 OpenAI reportedly reaches $16B in annualized revenue.
🚀 SpaceX broke multiple launch records in 2023.

Thank you.

Arbër
p/Arber

The prosecution has decided not to hold a second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried. The former FTX CEO was found guilty on seven criminal counts earlier this year and faces up to 100 years in prison.

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A second trial was originally planned in March to deal with criminal counts such as conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and substantive securities fraud and commodities fraud.
This plan, however, has been scrapped. According to the letter by Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, holding a second trial would not contribute to exceeding the sentencing range for Bankman-Fried, as all the relevant evidence had already been taken into consideration.
The sentencing decision for this case will be officially announced on March 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
- The statutory maximum sentence is around 115 years, but experts predict a 20-25 year sentencing.

Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has reached $16B in annual revenue, according to a report. The figure has yet to be confirmed by OpenAI's representatives.

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The figure means that the company would have surpassed its estimations by a wide margin, as it previously had expected to have $1B in revenue by 2024.
OpenAI has led the generative AI market, which saw demand skyrocket during 2022 after the launch of ChatGPT.
While the reports have not been confirmed by the company, Reuters claims that the information is reliable and came from sources close to OpenAI.
The generative AI market is expected to be worth $399B by 2030, up from $67B in 2023.

SpaceX has set a new record in 2023, completing 96 successful orbital launches. The company had completed 61 launches in 2022.

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SpaceX landed its 250th orbital rocket booster this year and landed a single rocket 19 times, launching Falcon 9 more times in 2023 than in the entire first decade after it created the rocket.
SpaceX also set a new company record for the shortest time between orbital launches, achieving the feat in under three hours. This is the shortest recorded time between Florida launches since NASA's Gemini 11 mission in 1966.
The company aims to launch around 144 Falcon missions in 2024, which will serve to deploy satellites for Starlink.
- Starlink was recently valued at $180B, with its ever-growing importance becoming a topic of debate.
- The company has played a key role in the Ukraine-Russia war due to its ability to provide internet connection.

Boeing has recommended that airline companies inspect 737 Max planes for a possible loose bolt. The inspection for each plane will take two hours.

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The company recommended the inspections after an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing a routine check.
Boeing claims that the issue in that specific plane has been fixed, but it has led to suspicions that the same error may also be present in other planes.
American Airlines, United Airlines, and Alaska Airlines, who have all purchased 737 Max planes, stated that they do not expect this inspection to lead to a major change in their operations.

China's Central Bank has concluded its regulatory control process on Ant Group, saying that the company does not have a controller. The investigation follows Ant's announcement that Jack Ma would give up a majority of his voting rights.

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Ant Group stated that the corporate governance investigation has been completed, resulting in a positive approval from China's Central Bank.
Following Jack Ma's criticism of the Chinese Government, the Alibaba founder disappeared from public life for an extended time.
Upon his public return, he announced that he would resign from his position as Alibaba's CEO.
The decision to quit his voting rights in Ant Group was announced in January 2023, while this investigation confirmed that Ma wasn't controlling the company's decisions behind the scenes.

Nokia has announced it will fail to meet its annual sales outlook due to issues with license deals. The company expects its negotiations to conclude in 2024.

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The Finnish company stated that it is going to prioritize protecting the value of its portfolio over rushing to reach a deal within a specific deadline.
Earlier this month, Nokia cut its longer-term profitability target after losing a key contract in the U.S. to AT&T and saying its 5G networks business faces challenges over the next two years.
- AT&T chose Ericsson as its telecom network partner, awarding it a $14B multi-year contract.
The company will report its Q4 and full-year results on Jan. 25, 2024.

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BlackRock, VanEck, Ark Investments, and other companies have all filed to be among the first to launch a Bitcoin-based ETF.
Cormac O'Shea will step down from his role at the Telegraph as the company's CFO.
California-based defense company Shield AI has raised a $300M funding round. The funding is structured as $100M equity and $200M debt.
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Arbër Musliu

Writer

Arbër is an Inside analyst who has previously incubated his startup at the largest incubator in Southeastern Europe. He has collaborated with multiple major publications and holds a business degree from XAMK University in Finland.