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Nvidia is set to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply it with data center chips, in a deal that gives the chipmaker a financial stake in the world’s most prominent AI company, which is already an important customer. Investments in systems powering AI have surged since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, on expectations that companies across sectors will integrate the technology into their products and services. Here is a list of multi-billion dollar AI, cloud and chip deals signed recently: Nvidia and Intel Nvidia will invest $5 billion in Intel, giving it roughly 4% of the company after new shares are issued. Oracle and Meta Oracle is in talks with Meta for a multi-year cloud computing deal worth about $20 billion, underscoring the social media giant’s drive to secure faster access to computing power. Oracle and OpenAI Oracle is reported to have signed one of the biggest cloud deals ever with OpenAI, under which the ChatGPT maker is expected to buy $300 billion in computing power from the company for about five years. CoreWeave and Nvidia CoreWeave signed a $6.3 billion initial order with backer Nvidia, a deal that guarantees that the AI chipmaker will purchase any cloud capacity not sold to customers. Nebius Group and Microsoft Nebius Group will provide Microsoft with GPU infrastructure capacity in a deal worth $17.4 billion over a five-year term. Meta and Google Google struck a six-year cloud computing deal with Meta Platforms worth more than $10 billion, Reuters had reported in August. Intel and SoftBank Group Intel is getting a $2 billion capital injection from SoftBank Group, making the Japanese tech investor one of the top-10 shareholders of the troubled U.S. chipmaker. Tesla and Samsung Tesla signed a $16.5 billion deal to source chips from Samsung Electronics, with the EV maker’s CEO Elon Musk, saying that the South Korean tech giant’s new chip factory in Texas would make Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. Meta And Scale AI Meta took a 49% stake for about $14.3 billion in Scale AI and brought in its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to play a prominent role in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence strategy. Google and Windsurf Google hired several key staff members from AI code generation startup Windsurf and will pay $2.4 billion in license fees as part of the deal to use some of Windsurf’s technology under non-exclusive terms. CoreWeave and OpenAI CoreWeave signed a five-year contract worth $11.9 billion with OpenAI in March, before the Nvidia-backed startup’s IPO. Stargate datacenter project Stargate is a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle to build data centers. The project was announced in January by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said that the companies would invest up to $500 billion to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence. Amazon and Anthropic Amazon.com pumped $4 billion into OpenAI competitor Anthropic, doubling its investment in the firm known for its GenAI chatbot Claude. Juby Babu, Reuters
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I’ve been out of school for decades, but I still take tests. Sometimes I take actual tests, like when I took the three-hour Class A Contractor’s License test last year. More often they’re “tests”: talking to event organizers considering me for a keynote, a potential ghostwriting clients, or making important decisions, etc. (And even to self-testing, since research shows testing yourself when you’re trying to learn is a great way to improve retention and recall.) So yeah: like you, I take plenty of “tests.” But I rarely think about when I should take them, which, according to a study just published in Frontiers in Psychology, is a mistake. The researchers analyzed the results of over 100,000 oral exams conducted at an Italian university and found a clear bell curve in pass rates that peaked at noon, regardless of the test taker’s chronotype. (More on that in a moment.) Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. is the sweet spot; any earlier or later and the chances of passing significantly decreased. In fact, the earlier or later in the day students took a test, the less likely they were to pass. Why? Partly that’s because your cognitive performance improves over the course of the morning, and then declines in the afternoon. Falling energy levels are also to blame. And if you have a “test” scheduled for late afternoon, you probably stress about it during the day, and stress inevitably leads to poorer performance. And then there’s the person who evaluates you. As the researchers write: The progressive decline in passing rates observed in the afternoon may be due to ego depletion, as students’ and assessors’ cognitive resources become fatigued by the examination stress, which is known to impair self-control, ultimately leading to reduced passing rates. Specifically, the growing rigidity or reduced flexibility associated with cognitive resource depletion may result in a higher rejection bias in assessors, consistent with findings suggesting judges in a state of ego depletion were more likely to make decisions that were less favorable to defendants. The peak in passing rates around midday may reflect the optimal balance between chronotype alignment and mental depletion, according to the explanations provided above. The last sentenceespecially the “chronotype alignment” partadds an interesting twist, because the cognitive performance and fatigue level of the person who “grades” your test also matters. A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that prisoners who appeared before a parole board first thing in the morning had their parole granted about 70% of the time . . . but as the day went on, and even though it did spike back up for the first case or two after lunch, the rate of favorable rulings fell to almost zero. That’s another reason the mid-day hours are best for taking “tests.” You’ll be at your peak level of performanceand so will the person who evaluates you. All of which means deciding, whenever possible, when you’ll take a testwhether an actual test, or an important meeting, or an interview with a job candidate, a sales or investor pitch, etc.could be the difference between passing and failing. By Jeff Haden This article originally appeared on Fast Company‘s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
The long history of bourbon production at Buffalo Trace Distillery has been connected to the Kentucky River summed up as a blessing and curse by a plaque on the grounds. In the 1800s, long before the Buffalo Trace name was attached to the distillery, the river served as a floating highway to bring in grain and other production essentials and to transport barrels of whiskey to markets along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Even today, river water cools down production equipment. But the river flowing past the distillery flashed its destructive side in April. A massive flood, caused by days of unrelenting rain, sent the Kentucky River surging over its banks, inundating most of the 200-plus-acre distillery grounds on its main campus in Frankfort. Nearly every phase of production was impacted, as were several warehouses where whiskey is aged. It was just something that was hard to process, but we knew we couldnt take too much time to process it,” said Tyler Adams, a distillery general manager. He said they had much to do to recover from the reservoir of murky water that swamped the bourbon-making campus. Whiskey production bounces back Five months later, production at the distillery is back to normal, including some of the most sought-after bourbons. Its lineup includes the namesake flagship brand, Buffalo Trace, as well as Eagle Rare, W.L. Weller, and Blanton’s. Pappy Van Winkle bourbons are distilled and aged at Buffalo Trace while the Van Winkle family remains in control of the coveted brand. The distillery recently filled its 9 millionth barrel of bourbon since Prohibition, just two and a half years since filling the 8 millionth barrel. It has also introduced new whiskeys to its catalogue and is renovating a campus building into a cafe and events center. The cleanup enlisted hundreds of plant employees and contract workers. Buffalo Trace fans swamped the distillery with offers to pitch in, Adams said. The distillery politely declined and suggested they might assist area residents instead. Crews removed debris, sanitized equipment and pumped out what was left after floodwaters receded. Bourbon barrels swept into the parking lot caught some attention, Adams said. No chance for sneak samples, though the barrels were empty. Few visible reminders remain of that mud-caked, debris-strewn mess. Some filled whiskey barrels touched by floodwaters were still being cleaned and tested, but the meticulous task of examining thousands of barrels was nearly complete, the distillery said. Quality control assessments found only small amounts of aging whiskey were impacted. High water marks are etched into some buildings and tour guides casually remind visitors of the epic event. Danny Kahn, a master distiller for Buffalo Trace’s parent company, says he still experiences “a little PTSD when recalling those frantic days. River flooding has been a sporadic part of the distillery’s history including big ones in 1937 and 1978, but in early April, the floodwaters surged to previously unseen heights. Buffalo Trace had also just completed a decade-long, $1.2 billion expansion to double distilling capacity. It actually looked kind of calm, but I knew that it was not calm because we could see buildings were under 10 feet (3 meters) of water,” Kahn said. “It was really quite overwhelming. Activating their flood plans, workers shut down the distillery and did what they could to safeguard equipment. After that, all they could do was watch and wait. Distillery officials observed the devastation from higher ground and via drone footage. Once the river crested, it took a few days for the floodwaters to fully recede, but operations gradually sprung back to life. Finished whiskey shipped out the day after the rain stopped. Bottling soon resumed and a makeshift gift shop opened until the visitors’ center was repaired. Tours eventually resumed. But bourbon production halted for about a month as the cost for cleanup and repairs surpassed $30 million. Several storage tanks shifted off their foundation. Some were repaired, others replaced. Dozens of electrical control panels were destroyed. About three-fourths of gift shop inventory was lost. It was just defeating to watch all this flooding and to realize that were going to be down for a while,” Kahn said. Just the apprehension of how much work this is going to be to fix. And when we finally got it done, it was really a sigh of relief and we get back to business as normal.” Hard times in the whiskey sector For the American whiskey industry as a whole, it’s been anything but business as usual. After years of growth, prospects turned sour for the sector amid sluggish sales and trade uncertainties as President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs. In 2024, American whiskey sales in the U.S. fell nearly 2%, the first such drop in supplier sales in more than 20 years, the Distilled Spirits Council said. Initial data for the first half of 2025 showed a continued decline, it said. American whiskey exports dropped more than 13% through July of this year compared to the year-ago period, it said. The American whiskey category includes bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey. Lower domestic sales stem from a mix of market challenges, including supply chain disruptions and changes in consumer purchasing trends, said Chris Swonger, the council’s CEO. While theres ongoing debate about whether these are temporary headwinds or signs of a more fundamental shift in consumer behavior, large and small distilleries across the country are under pressure, Swonger said in a statement. Kentucky distilleries producing such prominent brands as Buffalo Trace, Jim Beam, Makers Mark, Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey and Four Roses can weather downturns better than small producers. Heaven Hill Brands, another large producer, recently celebrated its new $200 million distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, taking a long view of market prospects by significantly boosting bourbon capacity. As an independent, family-owned company, we dont have to chase quarterly trends; were building for the next generation,” said Kate Latts, co-president of Heaven Hill Brands, whose brands include Evan Williams and Elijah Craig. This distillery reflects that philosophy. At Buffalo Trace, its future is entrenched alongside the Kentucky River, realizing that more floods could come in the years ahead. The distillery learned lessons to be even better prepared next time. This area being a National Historic Landmark, being right on the river, theres only so much you can do to hold back that water,” Adams said. “Your best bet is to prepare for it, do what you can. But holding back that water? Its really inevitable its going to make it into some spaces. Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
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