Bloomberg Tech — "OpenAI Nears Deal for $100B in Funding"

Date: February 19, 2026
Hosts: Caroline Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)
Main Theme: In-depth analysis of OpenAI's monumental funding round—set to exceed $100 billion—its implications for the AI and tech landscape, and coverage of major tech legal battles, infrastructure, and company earnings.

Episode Overview

This episode delivers a high-stakes look at OpenAI's history-making $100B funding round, breaking down the key investors, strategic technology partnerships, and the likely industry impact. It also explores the infrastructure race underpinning AI’s growth, the competitive global context, Microsoft’s evolving relationship with OpenAI, and landmark legal challenges facing tech platforms like Meta. The hour is packed with insight on AI's energy needs, legal accountability around teen social use, and earnings from company standouts like DoorDash and Figma.

1. OpenAI’s $100B Funding Round: The Details and Stakes

Timestamps: 02:02 – 07:57
Guests: Shereen Ghafari (Bloomberg reporter)

Key Points

• Massive Funding & Valuation
  • OpenAI is finalizing a funding round that could surpass $100B, boosting its valuation to $850B (post-money).
  • Major strategic investors: Amazon (up to $50B), SoftBank (up to $30B), Microsoft, Nvidia, and others.
• Funding Structure
  • "Phase one are the major companies that are going to be partners investors in OpenAI ... Amazon, SoftBank, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others." — Shereen Ghafari [03:31]
  • After strategics, the round is expected to include VCs and sovereign wealth funds.
• Amazon Partnership
  • Includes expanded cloud compute agreements and the use of Amazon’s Trainium chips by OpenAI.
  • This marks Amazon’s first large-scale strategic investment with OpenAI.
• Valuations in Flux
  • Pre-money valuation is $730B; post-money could easily hit $850B depending on allocations and finalized investors.
  • "There have been a lot of numbers out there and ... things kind of can shift, but ... the pre money valuation being discussed for OpenAI [is] $730 billion." — Shereen Ghafari [05:03]
• Purpose: Hardware & Compute Constraints
  • OpenAI has ambitious plans to build out infrastructure (Project Stargate) and train advanced models.
  • Intense competition (Anthropic, Google X) fuels ongoing rapid investment in compute capacity and model development.

Memorable Moment

• Discussion of global desire to get a piece of this deal: "There's probably a line around the corner ... of people who want an allocation here." — Christina Raffini [04:01]

2. OpenAI in India: Tata Partnership & Global Expansion

Timestamps: 06:58 – 07:59

Key Points

• Tata Group Partnership
  • Joint development of a massive 100MW data center (potentially expandable to 1GW).
  • Aim: Accelerate OpenAI’s enterprise adoption, infuse AI throughout Tata operations, and collaborate on agentic solutions for industries.
  • Announced during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's India visit; strong AI leadership ambitions for India.
• AGI Timelines
  • Sam Altman: "We believe we may be only a couple of years away from early versions of true superintelligence." [07:57]
  • Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis echoes that AGI may be five years out.

Memorable Moment

• Tense photo op: Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei awkwardly refuse a handshake at Indian Prime Minister Modi’s AI event, highlighting industry rivalry.

3. AI’s Infrastructure and Energy Arms Race

Timestamps: 09:21 – 14:34
Guest: Rob Dumble (Tortoise Capital, Senior Portfolio Manager)

Key Points

• Infrastructure Boom
  • AI’s exponential growth is driving fundamental infrastructure investment—data centers, cabling, liquid cooling, and especially energy.
  • "You need more data storage ... you're going to need more data centers ... Then you're going to build more of those ... companies that have electric generation where these data centers are going to be built are going to win." — Rob Dumble [09:21]
• Energy as Key Bottleneck
  • Debated whether large-scale data center build-out could raise electricity rates.
  • Innovative solutions, such as direct contracts between energy providers and “hyperscalers”, are designed to prevent cost burden from falling on everyday consumers and driving inflation.
  • "The goal is to not have this build out ... be paid for by the retail consumer ... the cost ... is going to be put upon the hyperscalers, not the retail consumer." — Rob Dumble [10:52]
• Meeting Demand
  • Invest in "all of the above" — solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, natural gas, even some coal.
  • "The US ... is going to win this global air race because it can provide low cost electricity ... by this all of the above approach." — Rob Dumble [14:09]

4. How Tech Earnings Reflect Expanding AI Integration

Timestamps: 15:51 – 19:59
Guests: Natalie Long (Bloomberg, Consumer Apps & Gig Reporter), Brody Ford (Bloomberg, Enterprise Tech)

Key Points

• DoorDash
  • Record order growth forecast, expanding via recent acquisitions (Deliveroo, Wolt).
  • Major investment in upgrading and unifying backend systems, expected to affect profits in the short term.
  • "It’s a painful but necessary exercise ... they are having to invest a lot into it that could weigh on profits." — Natalie Long [16:29]
• Booking Holdings
  • Focused on reinvestments, particularly in AI-powered customer service.
• Figma
  • Strong revenue forecast; reassured investors its new AI tools (Figma Make) and net dollar retention rates position it well against SaaS competitors.
  • "If I gave them a dollar last year, I'm giving them $35 this year. That clearly shows that the amount of products customers are buying is expanding." — David Gura [18:44]

5. ByteDance and China’s AI Expansion

Timestamps: 23:25 – 25:10
Guest: Alex Levine (Bloomberg, Social Media Reporter)

Key Points

• ByteDance is building a significant AI talent base in the US, mainly in California and Washington—over 100 new roles spanning R&D, data, and drug discovery.
• Heightened US concern as ByteDance evolves from social media to a dominant AI force, with new video/image generation models raising alarms in Hollywood.
  • "To this point in the US we've really thought about ByteDance as a social media company. It is also a dominant AI company ... That turning point has really been over the last week since ByteDance unveiled ... new AI models." — Alex Levine [24:26]

6. Landmark Legal Battle: Mark Zuckerberg Testifies

Timestamps: 26:53 – 38:16
Guests: Riley Griffin (Bloomberg, On the Ground at Trial), Marianne Franks (GWU Law), Minda Smiley (eMarketer)

Key Points

• Zuckerberg Testimony
  • Faced intense questioning about Meta's handling of underage users and the impact of "addictive" features on youth mental health.
  • Emphasized the difficulty of age verification: "For the youngest users, particularly those without driver's license, it's really hard to verify age ... phone makers ... should do a little bit more to help with that age verification process." — Riley Griffin quoting Zuckerberg [28:07]
  • Meta’s internal documents show awareness of risks but slow response in making effective policy changes.
• Legal & Policy Implications
  • "This is a bellwether trial ... If it looks as though things are going badly for the defense, that could really have an effect on settlements and ... agreements going forward." — Marianne Franks [33:55]
  • 3,000+ similar lawsuits in play; heavy parallel scrutiny by dozens of state attorneys general.
• Business/Audience Impact
  • Teens are a minority segment of Instagram (approx. 11% of users, per eMarketer), but pivotal as future long-term users.
  • TikTok dominates time spent by teens; TikTok and Snap have settled prior similar suits.
  • Lawmakers increasingly considering stricter regulations, but big tech lobbying and challenges in enforcement pose barriers.

7. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership: The New Era

Timestamps: 39:53 – 42:15
Guest: Brad Smith (Microsoft President)

Key Points

• Partnership Evolution
  • No longer exclusive, but remains "critically important" for both firms.
  • Microsoft is diversifying by partnering with Anthropic, open source, and developing their own models.
  • "Would any of this generative AI sector even exist if the two of us had not come together? ... OpenAI could never have created that without Microsoft's compute ... that we built something special." — Brad Smith [40:45]
• Copilot Traction
  • Microsoft’s Copilot AI suite is growing in adoption and advancing features.
  • "It's gaining ground. It's getting better every week. It's getting better every month ... I personally think it is an important part ... of our future." — Brad Smith [41:36]

8. Warner Brothers Discovery, Netflix, and the Streaming Shakeup

Timestamps: 44:00 – 46:17
Guest: Geetha Ranganathan (Bloomberg Intelligence)

Key Points

• Netflix examining a Warner Brothers Discovery bid—seen as risky due to potential debt, Hollywood dependency, and integration headaches.
• International expansion is key to Netflix’s growth; deeper Hollywood ties could compromise that.
  • "Netflix is really acquiring a business that they always wanted to stay away from ... they have not just depended on Hollywood for content ..." — Geetha Ranganathan [44:00]

Notable Quotes & Highlights

• On OpenAI’s Ambition:
  "We believe we may be only a couple of years away from early versions of true superintelligence."
  — Sam Altman, paraphrased by Christina Raffini [07:57]
• On AI's Infrastructure Needs:
  "It’s data and it’s energy. Those are the two core pieces."
  — Rob Dumble [09:21]
• On Microsoft–OpenAI’s industry legacy:
  "None of this generative AI sector would even exist if the two of us had not come together."
  — Brad Smith [40:45]

Summary Table of Key Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Key Speaker(s) | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------| | OpenAI Funding Round Details | Christina Raffini, Shereen Ghafari| 02:02 – 07:57 | | Tata Group & India AI Expansion | Christina Raffini, David Gura | 06:58 – 07:59 | | AI Infrastructure & Energy Buildout | Rob Dumble | 09:21 – 14:34 | | Tech Earnings (DoorDash, Figma) | Natalie Long, Brody Ford | 15:51 – 19:59 | | ByteDance’s US AI Hiring | Alex Levine | 23:25 – 25:10 | | Zuckerberg Trial Reactions | Riley Griffin, Marianne Franks, Minda Smiley | 26:53 – 38:16 | | Microsoft on OpenAI | Brad Smith | 39:53 – 42:15 | | Netflix/Warner Bros Drama | Geetha Ranganathan | 44:00 – 46:17 |

Conclusion

This episode underscores the next phase of AI's global impact—OpenAI’s juggernaut funding round is more than numbers; it is about shaping power dynamics in tech and energy, global alliances, and the latent risks and rewards of putting AI at the center of everything. Alongside, courtrooms and regulators challenge the pace and consequences of tech progress, while big names in software and media jockey for position in a mutating market.

For listeners seeking a pulse on the current and future high-stakes tech power plays in AI, infrastructure, regulation, and competition, this Bloomberg Tech episode delivers clarity, on-the-ground reporting, and essential context.