Databricks to raise $10 billion in record-setting VC deal

The list aims to highlight individuals that we believe are on the fast track to become the next generation of Coins2Day 500 CEOs. As you can imagine, quite a few work in technology.

Among them: Ana Corrales, who leads all things Pixel-Nest-Fitbit at Google; John Ternus, the hardware engineering chief at Apple; and Jamil Ghani, the Amazon Prime VP tasked with the service’s global expansion.

But my favorite? Not conventional tech in the least. Leah Anderson runs WinField United, the Land O’Lakes division that tracks in, among other things, data analytics for farmers. Yeah, buddy. —Andrew Nusca

Want to send thoughts or suggestions to Data Sheet? Drop a line here.

Databricks to raise $10 billion in record-setting VC deal

Databricks said Tuesday that it expects to raise $10 billion in one of the largest rounds of venture capital fundraising in history. It has raised $8.6 billion to date.

The funds value the San Francisco AI company at $62 billion. Backers include Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management, among others.

In an interview with Coins2Day’s Allie Garfinkle, CEO Ali Ghodsi said the company had some $18 billion worth of interest. “I probably underestimated the sheer number of investors and the amount of interest,” he said.

Founded in 2013, Databricks sells companies a software platform they can use for data storage and analytics as it relates to building AI services like chatbots. It principally competes with Bozeman, Mt.-based Snowflake.

Ghodsi told Coins2Day he would spend the money on acquisitions and talent. “It’s a war for AI talent right now,” he said, “especially with OpenAI, Anthropic.”

OpenAI employees can cash out shares up to $10 million each

Roughly 400 current and former OpenAI employees are eligible to cash out up to $10 million worth of shares as part of the company’s $1.6 billion tender offer to SoftBank, a source has told Coins2Day. 

The tender offer allows certain OpenAI employees and former staffers to sell their stock to Japan’s SoftBank at $210 per share, according to the source.

The transaction opens an important avenue for insiders to cash out some of the equity they have locked up in the San Francisco AI company, whose valuation has doubled over the past year to $157 billion.

SoftBank plans to purchase up to $1.6 billion worth of stock from eligible shareholders, who must have been issued restricted stock units more than two years ago in order to participate, the source said. 

Eligible OpenAI shareholders have until December 24 to decide if, and how much, they want to sell. Current OpenAI employees will receive preference over former employees in the event that the deal is oversubscribed, according to the source. —Sharon Goldman

Ireland fines Meta for 2018 data breach

The Irish Data Protection Commission, which is Europe’s main privacy watchdog for much of Big Tech, has fined Meta €251 million ($264 million).

The fine is for a severe personal data breach that happened in 2018, when unauthorized third parties exploited Facebook user tokens to scoop up the information of 29 million users around the world, around 3 million of whom were in Europe.

The data included everything from contact details and date of birth to posts and other personal information, including that of children. The bulk of Meta’s fine is for failing to build its systems with data protection in mind, and for processing more personal data than it needed to.

In other EU regulatory news, the European Commission has opened formal proceedings against TikTok for a possible breach of the Digital Services Act, a new law governing content on large online platforms.

This is about foreign (i.e. Russian) interference in the recent Romanian election, where TikTok accounts boosted a far-right relative unknown to the point where he won the first round of the country’s presidential poll. The result was subsequently annulled. —David Meyer

FTC issues rules requiring display of hotel, concert ‘junk fees’

The Federal Trade Commission has announced a long-awaited rule to push back on so-called “junk fees” that hide the full price of concert tickets and hotel rooms.

The rule requires up-front disclosure of total price, including fees, for live-event tickets and short-term lodging. Shipping or taxes may be excluded from an advertised price but be “clearly and conspicuously” disclosed prior to payment.

It also requires that businesses display the total price more prominently than most other pricing information.

“People budgeting for every-day necessities do not deserve the stress of wondering whether the price they see is honest,” said outgoing FTC chair Lina Khan in a statement. “And honest businesses should not be punished for abiding by the law.”

The agency launched the effort in 2022 and proposed a rule the following year; this is its final stop. The rule will become effective 120 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

More data

—EC opens formal investigation into TikTok for role in Romanian presidential election.

—GrubHub pays $25 million in FTC settlement. It allegedly misled customers about fees and added restaurants without consent.

—Grammarly acquires Coda. Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of the acquired collaborative tools firm, will become Grammarly’s CEO.

—Apple adds its “Look Around” feature to Maps on the web.

—CAA, YouTube partner to remove AI-generated content with a client’s likeness from the platform.

—Nima Momeni convicted for the murder of Bob Lee. The Cash App founder was killed last year in San Francisco.

Endstop triggered