Market Beats | New York May Issue $300 Inflation Relief; Nvidia Faces China Antitrust Investigation; Mondelez Considers Acquiring Hershey; 5-Person AI Startup Valued at $200 Million

1. Nvidia Faces China Antitrust Investigation

2. Mondelez Considers Acquiring Hershey

3. 5-Person AI Startup Valued at $200 Million

4. MicroStrategy Buys More Bitcoin

5. OpenAI Launches Sora Video Generator

6. Apollo Plans $25 Billion Private Equity Fund

7. New York May Issue $300 Inflation Relief

1. Nvidia Faces China Antitrust Investigation

oday, the Chinese government issued a statement announcing that the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has launched an investigation into Nvidia over potential antitrust violations related to its 2020 acquisition of Mellanox Technologies.

Four years ago, China approved the acquisition under the condition that Nvidia would not discriminate against Chinese companies. Nvidia had acquired Israeli computer networking firm Mellanox for $7 billion, with China requiring Mellanox to notify authorities within 90 days of selling new products to Nvidia. However, the two companies did not comply.

A week ago, in response to U.S. trade policies targeting China, the Chinese government announced a ban on exporting key technological and military raw materials to the U.S.

Following the news, tech stocks broadly declined, with Nvidia dropping over 2%.

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2. Mondelez Considers Acquiring Hershey

Sources revealed that U.S. snack giant Mondelez is exploring a potential acquisition of iconic American chocolate company Hershey, which currently has a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion.

Hershey’s stock surged up to 19% today, marking its largest gain in over eight years. Meanwhile, Mondelez shares dropped by 2%, with a market cap of approximately $83 billion.

Hershey Trust owns nearly all of Hershey’s Class B shares, giving it 80% of the voting power, meaning the deal would require the trust’s approval.

In 2016, Mondelez had previously offered $23 billion to acquire Hershey but was rejected.

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3. 5-Person AI Startup Valued at $200 Million

Today, WaveForms AI, the research startup behind OpenAI’s voice assistant technology, announced that it has secured $40 million in funding, led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The company is developing AI voice software capable of detecting emotions in human speech for more natural communication.

CEO Alexis Cornu revealed that the company’s valuation has reached $200 million. Cornu previously worked on OpenAI’s AI voice assistant system.

In August, Cornu left OpenAI and started working on WaveForms in September. His goal is to create a more immersive AI voice assistant that goes beyond text recognition by learning to interpret tone and emotions.

Currently, WaveForms is a small company with only five employees.

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4. MicroStrategy Buys More Bitcoin

MicroStrategy announced today that it has purchased an additional $2.1 billion worth of Bitcoin, marking its fifth consecutive Monday of Bitcoin acquisitions. The company’s ongoing strategy of issuing stocks and bonds to buy Bitcoin has drawn increasing criticism.

Over the past four years, MicroStrategy has accumulated more than $41 billion in Bitcoin, shifting from a small software firm to a Bitcoin-focused company.

In October, Chairman Michael Saylor revealed plans to raise $42 billion through stock and convertible bond issuance over the next three years.

Between December 2 and 8, the company purchased 21,000 Bitcoins at an average price of $98,000 per coin.

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5. OpenAI Launches Sora Video Generator

Today, OpenAI officially introduced Sora, an AI-powered video generation system capable of producing realistic videos based on text prompts.

Sora and its competitors aim to revolutionize video production by significantly reducing costs, posing a potential disruption to Hollywood and the broader media industry.

Sora’s competitors include Pika, Haiper, and Runway AI. Recently, Runway AI partnered with a film production studio to train AI models.

Since announcing Sora in February, OpenAI has engaged in discussions with industry executives and talent agencies.

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6. Apollo Plans $25 Billion Private Equity Fund

Sources revealed that New York-based private equity giant Apollo Global Management is planning to launch a $25 billion private equity fund early next year, which would be the largest in its history.

In recent years, private equity deal activity and investor payouts have declined significantly. However, expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts and a recovering IPO market have led firms to raise record amounts of capital, with investors showing increasing interest in private equity opportunities.

In Q3, Apollo liquidated several investments, achieving its highest performance fees since 2021.

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7. New York May Issue $300 Inflation Relief

To help millions of New York residents cope with inflation, Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed a one-time payment of $300 to 8.6 million residents, totaling $3 billion.

If approved, payments could be distributed as early as fall 2025. Hochul announced today that households earning under $300,000 could receive $500, while individuals earning under $1.5 million would qualify for $300.

Hochul stated that inflation has driven up costs, while the state has collected higher sales tax revenues, prompting a decision to return surplus funds to residents.

Critic Richie Torres argued that while Hochul is offering relief with one hand, she has been taking away with the other.

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This content is sourced from Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Real Deal, among other financial news outlets.