Table of Contents

• Blackstone

• Safe Superintelligence

Top Stories Today

Economy & Finance

Blackstone

Blackstone is set to acquire Australian data center operator AirTrunk in a landmark transaction valued at approximately A$24 billion ($16.10 billion), marking it as the largest investment by Blackstone in the Asia-Pacific region and the most significant leveraged buyout in Australia this year. This acquisition, part of a partnership with Canada's Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), is from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. The deal, still pending approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board, underscores the heightened global interest in data centers driven largely by the increasing demand for digital infrastructure necessary for artificial intelligence applications. CPP Investments will own a 12% stake in AirTrunk, highlighting the continuous growth in the data center market within the Asia-Pacific, fueled by advanced digital and AI technologies.

Technology

Safe Superintelligence

Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder of OpenAI, launched a new venture, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), after leaving the company in May. With $1 billion raised from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and SV Angel, SSI aims to develop AI safely and responsibly. Sutskever, alongside Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy, focuses solely on advancing superintelligence in alignment with safety standards, operating out of Palo Alto and Tel Aviv. This initiative reflects a broader concern in the tech community about ensuring AI technology advances do not compromise human safety.

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