Hertz Lost $2.9 Billion After EV Gamble Didn’t Pay Off Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s Friday, February 14, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know. Read more…

Banks Sell $4.7 Billion of X’s Debt, in a Sign of Investor Demand The social media company is attracting investor interest because of Elon Musk’s close ties to President Trump and a recent jump in revenue.

Honda and Nissan cancel their proposed $60 billion merger Honda and Nissan have announced they are calling off a $60 billion plan to merge their two companies. The pair were in talks for just over a month trying to join forces, a plan that was especially important for Nissan, since it reportedly would only survive another year due to nosediving profits. The merger could

Honda and Nissan Scrap $50 Billion Merger Plan The Japanese companies’ decision to call off negotiations highlights the challenges legacy automakers face in partnering to tackle new technologies.

SoftBank posts surprise loss of $2.4 billion in third quarter as Vision Fund investments go into red SoftBank Group posted a surprise quarterly loss Wednesday and the Japanese company’s revenue also missed analysts’ estimates.

QUEEN’s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ Surpasses One Billion Streams On SPOTIFY submitted by /u/Edm_vanhalen1981

Super Micro ‘confident’ it will meet SEC deadline and reach $40 billion next fiscal year Super Micro expressed confidence it will meet a key SEC deadline this month and hit $40 billion in revenue in fiscal 2026.

California’s FAIR Plan Gets $1 Billion Bailout After L.A. Fires The move will likely lead to higher costs for households across the state, and may push more insurers to leave, intensifying a home insurance crisis.

OpenAI Swiftly Rebuffs Musk’s Surprise $97.4 Billion Buyout Attempt Elon Musk on Monday led a consortium of investors in making a $97.4 billion unsolicited offer to acquire ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s nonprofit arm – only to face immediate rejection from CEO Sam Altman. The Wall Street Journal reports that the bid included backing from Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI and prominent investors like Valor Equi…

China’s ‘Ne Zha 2’ Shatters Box Office Records With $1.2 Billion The runaway success of “Ne Zha 2” is another sign that Chinese audiences are choosing domestic movies over Hollywood blockbusters.

Elon Musk just offered to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion In a dramatic escalation of Silicon Valley’s most heated AI rivalry, Elon Musk just announced that he’s leading a $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit arm, according to The Wall Street Journal. The bid was reportedly delivered to the board Monday morning. The offer brings together a powerful coalition of backers, including Musk’s own

Elon Musk Leads Bid to Buy OpenAI for $97.4 Billion The billionaire is leading a group of investors in the unsolicited offer, which complicates the start-up’s plan to raise more money.

Trump Plans to Send $8 Billion in Arms to Israel, Bypassing Some Lawmakers President Biden announced the arms sales at the end of his administration, and President Trump is pushing it soon after his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Anduril in talks to raise money at $28 billion valuation as defense-tech booms Anduril has signed a term sheet to raise up to $2.5 billion at a valuation of $28 billion, according to sources close to the company.

OpenAI Close to Deal that Values Company at $300 Billion The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank would invest up to $40 billion in the maker of the chatbot ChatGPT.

Softbank set to invest $40 billion in OpenAI at $260 billion valuation, sources say Part of the funding is expected to be used for Stargate, the joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle announced by President Donald Trump.

Amazon plans to spend $100 billion this year to capture ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ in AI Amazon said Thursday it plans to boost its capital expenditures to $100 billion in 2025, as it continues its spending spree on AI services.

The ‘Star Trek’ Franchise Has Made $2.6 Billion for Streaming Services submitted by /u/indig0sixalpha

Ford lost $5 billion on EVs in 2024, teases new models Ford’s electric vehicle and software business lost $5.1 billion in 2024, up from $4.7 billion lost in 2024. And the automaker doesn’t anticipate any relief this year, when it predicts it will lose as much as $5.5 billion on its EV business. Ford reported its fourth quarter and full-year earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street

Streamers Will Spend More on Content Than Broadcasters in 2025 for the First Time Ever (Streamers will spend a combined $95 billion on content this year, or 39 percent of the total global investment) submitted by /u/indig0sixalpha