This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 380 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our <\/i>donation page<\/i><\/a>, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, PayPal, Clover, or Wise. Read about <\/i>why we\u2019re doing this fundraiser<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>what we\u2019ve accomplished in the last year<\/i><\/a>, and our current goal, <\/i>supporting our new Coffee Break\/Sunday Movie features<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n The western powers seem to be making competing desperate bids to maintain narrative control, and it is very hard to parse the difference between deliberate deception, delusion, and what is just plain dipshittery. <\/p>\n I\u2019ll talk about Europe and the Trump\u2019s administration\u2019s efforts in future posts, but this post will look at Israel\u2019s efforts on what Alistair Crooke calls their \u201c8th front:\u201d<\/a> their battle to control the narrative in the United States. Crooke also insists they are losing in that battle. The Times of Israel agrees<\/a>. <\/p>\n Also a note re the sourcing and quotes in this post. The narrative is being contested online. It\u2019s been my practice to use X.com (formerly Twitter) and YouTube to monitor other social media such as Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, Twitch, etc.<\/p>\n Much of this story is being contested on Twitter so this post features a higher than usual % of Twitter embeds, apologies if that\u2019s inconvenient for you. If you\u2019d like me to quote from the tweets separately please let me know in the comments.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also embedding tweets from a variety of sources, embeds are not endorsements. Some of these accounts are anonymous and none of them (or any source) should ever be trusted implicitly, nor are they necessarily \u201callies\u201d of this community (if there is such a thing). I\u2019ve tried to select relevant sources and well-documented posts that advance the story I\u2019m trying to tell.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s desperate push to maintain narrative control in the U.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n Many are, including the President of Iran<\/a>, anticipating a renewed Israeli attack on Iran and support for Israel plummeting in the U.S., especially among Democrats and young people<\/a>, including young Republicans<\/a>. <\/p>\n Understandably, these two factors have Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu ramping up his efforts to control the narrative in America. <\/p>\n Tucker Carlson went on Glenn Greenwald\u2019s Rumble channel<\/a> and claimed that Netanyahu is \u201cgoing around the Middle East\u201d and bragging that he controls the U.S. and Donald Trump. <\/p>\n This is not the behavior of a secure player, confident in his powers. This is the voice of dangerous desperation, delusion and maybe some dipshittery too.<\/p>\n JUST IN: Tucker Carlson says he knows for 100% FACT that Netanyahu is telling people in the Middle East:<\/p>\n \u201cI CONTROL the United States, and I CONTROL Donald Trump\u201d pic.twitter.com\/VIBhir6XTE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman_) September 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Bibi\u2019s has also been meeting with influencers and bragging openly about Israel\u2019s control of TikTok (via the Oracle acquisition<\/a>) and X.com.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll quote the Aaron Mate tweet<\/a> that he used to introduce the below: \u201cLiberals and many progressives spent years fixated on mythical Russian oligarchs controlling US democracy and equally mythical \u201cRussian interference\u201d flooding our information system. <\/p>\n \u201cAll along, the actual foreign interference was right in front of their dupe faces:\u201d<\/p>\n Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu briefed American influencers on TikTok, calling it the \u201cmost important\u201d weapon in securing support for Israel on the right-wing.<\/p>\n He went on to say, \u201cWeapons change over time\u2026 the most important ones are the social media,\u201d and, \u201cthe most important\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/0gfX9Hikzj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 AF Post (@AFpost) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Influencer Dipshittery<\/strong><\/p>\n While not as important as the TikTok deal, Netanyahu has also embarked on an \u201cinfluencer-heavy\u201d approach to influencing young American public opinion. <\/p>\n Not only do social media influences reach a multiple of Americans under 35 than that reached by the MSM, influencers are also often ignorant of politics and sometimes utterly amoral and therefore happy to sign up to support genocide.<\/p>\n Bibi recently hosted a number of American influencers. The Prime Minister of Israel official X account tweeted Bibi\u2019s trophy shots from the meeting:<\/p>\n Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met, after his UN General Assembly speech, with pro-Israel influencers and spoke with them about the challenges in the new era, and the public diplomacy efforts and the influence of the social networks on the discourse for and against Israel. pic.twitter.com\/SX397fx7hn<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Naturally online critics of Israel were quick to document which influencers Bibi got to, here\u2019s one effort by a right-wing X user (the thread on X includes later additions):<\/p>\n REVEALED: Netanyahu’s Private Meeting of Influencers at the israeli Embassy to help “take over Tiktok and Twitter”<\/p>\n \u25aa\ufe0fYair Netanyahu \u2014 Sam Parker \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\uddef (@BasedSamParker) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Some of these people are real gems:<\/p>\n Emily Wilson aka Emily Saves America attended the secret Hamptons influencer summit with Bill Ackman, and was then flown off to Israel for a propaganda tour<\/p>\n Before Israel recruited her, she declared support for Alabama re-instituting chattel slavery pic.twitter.com\/Q5fGA5UBiR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Different Emily but this one got right to work cranking out real cringe on behalf of Bibi, she\u2019s also hooked up with Hollywood agents: <\/p>\n Emily Austin is represented by Casey Wasserman, a top pro-Israel fundraiser for the Democratic Party https:\/\/t.co\/BxSd6L4GhW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We\u2019ll have more from Max on Israel\u2019s Hollywood moves further down in the post. <\/p>\n But I wanted to share one more seeming fail from another of Bibi\u2019s newly activated influencers, social media is not sending their best:<\/p>\n Her followers weren\u2019t having any of it https:\/\/t.co\/3OaD3VtgEw<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5FKOpI9i2B<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mel (@Villgecrazylady) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n There\u2019s also the very important matter of getting the right person in the Turning Point USA frontman role once filled by Charlie Kirk. <\/p>\n Let\u2019s not forget that Netanyahu was one of the first to post about the death of Kirk, with a very polished tweet, written on a day when Israel was engaged in military attacks on seven neighbors. <\/p>\n Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom. A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization. I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel. Sadly, that visit will not take place. \u2014 Benjamin Netanyahu \u2013 \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05df \u05e0\u05ea\u05e0\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5 (@netanyahu) September 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He\u2019s since gone on to deny that Israel had any role in Kirk\u2019s death:<\/p>\n Charlie Kirk was a great man. He deserves honor \u2013 not lies. pic.twitter.com\/NwEN4B2q7w<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The massively popular libertarian comic Tim Dillon discussed Bibi\u2019s denials with Max Blumenthal:<\/p>\n Tim Dillon: “Can you remember any time in the history of a political assassination the leader of a foreign government has come out to deny that they were behind it?”<\/p>\n Max Blumenthal: “No. And I’ve never seen anything like what Netanyahu was doing after a tragedy\u2026since 9\/11.” pic.twitter.com\/fgdKyyldIt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 James Li (@5149jamesli) September 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Ben Shapiro is running the show at TPUSA. He was quick to announce it, in terms of \u201cpicking up the blood-stained mic\u201d, posting on September 11, the day after Kirk\u2019s death.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been accused of buying that controlling role at the organization, a move that was sewed up by September 15. <\/p>\n Ben Shapiro\u2019s donation of $1M is why they kiIIed Charlie. <\/p>\n Now TPUSA remains Zionist. <\/p>\n Charlie was AGAINST war with Iran. <\/p>\n Ben supports it. <\/p>\n You can bet TPUSA will now push for a war with Iran. <\/p>\n Ben is a Mossad parasite. This is a hostile takeover. \u2014 ADAM (@AdameMedia) September 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Given that Shapiro\u2019s Daily Wire has allegedly been declining in viewership<\/a> (Google trends) since he lost Candace Owens over her opposition to Gaza, but he needs a fresh gentile face to be a credible frontman for the young MAGA crowd:<\/p>\n It is abundantly clear that the RNC is enforcing a controlled Charlie Kirk on Turning Point USA. <\/p>\n Charlie Kirk, who was the only agent of change against the RNC at a grassroots level, is now being replaced by someone nobody had heard of<\/p>\n They say \u201cBrilyn Hollyhand is the next\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/FV2DhBlldb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aidan (@aidanxitter) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Hollyhand also appears backed by staffers for some notorious AIPAC US Congressmen: <\/p>\n You know who\u2019s backing \u201cCharlie Kirk\u2019s protege (who Charlie Kirk never reposted)\u201d?<\/p>\n Staffers for Randy Fine and Ben Shapiro.<\/p>\n Total coincidence the kid who has never mentioned visas or immigration, only Israel is the \u201cnext Charlie Kirk\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/Fl86n7NVU1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3LU63zfsLa<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aidan (@aidanxitter) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And Hollyhand really needs to be seen directly to be believed. He reeks of the cultural tropes of the Old South aristocracy (ie the slave lords), a caste that has wealth and power but hasn\u2019t had significant cultural influence in the U.S. since the Civil War:<\/p>\n The Left\u2019s silence during the protests at Columbia and Yale has made their stance perfectly clear:<\/p>\n Democrats are Anti-Israel and pro “Death to America” chants. <\/p>\n Republicans proudly stand with Israel and condem this hateful rhetoric. pic.twitter.com\/DUxBtk2yj1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Brilyn Hollyhand (@BrilynHollyhand) April 30, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n At the University of Texas we\u2019d describe someone like Hollyhand as \u201cputting off strong Kappa Alpha<\/a>, Birmingham chapter, vibes.\u201d <\/p>\n UPDATE: Hollyhand might be overstating his relationship with TPSUA.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Hollywood Hasbara<\/strong><\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just influencers, there is plenty of work to be done on the MSM side and Israel has been busy there, too. Max Blumenthal tweeted a list of \u201cHollywood hasbara\u201d:<\/p>\n The Hollywood hasbara is coming hard and fast as Israel loses control of the narrative <\/p>\n A Paramount propaganda series on October 7<\/p>\n A (postponed) AppleTV show glorifying the ADL<\/p>\n The new season of AppleTV\u2019s news-focused Morning Show demonizes Iran while ignoring Gaza pic.twitter.com\/FYYddwEOGR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Paramount is all in, there\u2019s this documentary:<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/o1omvQKu8j<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) September 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And a new mini-series on October 7, per The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>:<\/p>\n Paramount+ has released the harrowing first trailer for an upcoming four-part limited series depicting the Oct. 7, 2023 tragedy in Israel.<\/p>\n The project is titled Red Alert and it portrays the largest and deadliest massacre in Israel\u2019s history, when more than 1,200 concert-goers, families and individuals near the Gaza border were murdered and 250 were kidnapped by Hamas. The show\u2019s production credits include Pulp Fiction producer Lawrence Bender and Homeland producer Keshet Media Group.<\/p>\n Red Alert is \u201cdraws from the true experiences of those who survived and weaves their courageous personal stories into a cinematic narrative of the devastating terrorist attack that turned southern Israel into a war zone, testing humanity and forging heroism through chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Kirk\u2019s death has slowed at least one Hollywood hasbara effort, per the New York Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n Apple TV+ has postponed the release of its show \u201cThe Savant,\u201d starring Jessica Chastain as an undercover investigator who infiltrates online hate groups to stop mass shootings. The show was set to begin streaming its first two episodes on Friday.<\/p>\n Apple did not give a reason for its postponement, which it announced on Tuesday, saying in a brief statement only that the decision was made after \u201ccareful consideration.\u201d It did not announce a new release date.<\/p>\n Two people with knowledge of the discussions said that the company was reluctant to release the show in the current political climate, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk this month.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The most important of all: Oracle, Paramount, and TikTok<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ll close with what I opened with, the importance to Netanyahu and Israel of the new TikTok ownership.<\/p>\n Israel is currently being blamed for the wave of anti-Chinese propaganda that provided the ostensible reason for last year\u2019s U.S. Congressional vote to ban TikTok unless it changed owners:<\/p>\n Did You Know Zionists Were Behind the TikTok CCP Narrative<\/p>\n 1) Oct-Dec 2023, TikTok was top app for Israel truth<\/p>\n 2) Dec 2023, Zionist tech investor Anthony Goldbloom commissioned NCRI (Israeli funded\/managed NGO) to produce a report claiming China\u2019s CCP controls TikTok. After\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/adlraAQOTA<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/nm41Xm8Wjg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 GenXGirl (@GenXGirl1994) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We also must discuss the role of Larry Ellison, David Ellison and the new Oracle nepo-ownership of Paramount in pulling that off.<\/p>\n Wired<\/a> is quoting \u201ca Trump advisor\u201d who calls Larry Ellison, a \u201cShadow president\u201d:<\/p>\n In an age where human attention is perhaps the world\u2019s most valuable commodity, the Ellisons could be in charge of almost everything a modern-day pseudo robber barron could want by the end of this year or soon after. I spoke with sources who have dealt with Ellison\u2014as well as others who know his son, David\u2014to get a sense of how he operates. And he operates a lot lately\u2026<\/p>\n There\u2019s his pending dominance over vertical video with a key role in the proposed new ownership consortium for the US version of TikTok, for which Oracle\u2019s servers already provide hosting. There\u2019s airwave domination, with a news and entertainment behemoth under his son\u2019s control following the merger of David\u2019s Skydance and Paramount\u2014which might possibly include the keys to not only CBS, but also CNN, if Skydance actually puts in a bid and succeeds in a potential acquisition of Warner Brothers-Discovery. The empire spans from the sweaty floor of the octagon after acquiring US broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (also under Paramount) all the way to the clay soil of Abilene, Texas, home of OpenAI\u2019s Stargate data center project led by Oracle and Softbank. Oracle is also linked to a $100 billion deal with Nvidia and OpenAI announced Monday.<\/p>\n The Ellison family is cornering the market on attention and data the way the Vanderbilts did railroads and the Rockefellers did oil.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve posted previously about Ellison, Oracle, Paramount, Israel, and the Trump administration.<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019ve also previously posted<\/a> about the role of the Trump administration in pressuring Paramount\u2019s previous owner Shari Redstone to sell to the Ellisons.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also cited the work of The MMA Draw which explained the role of Ellison ally Ari Emanuel in getting Trump to support that move<\/a>. <\/p>\n Emanuel is a top Trump insider<\/a>, a combat sports multi-monopolist (mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, and moving to take over boxing), Hollywood power broker, and brother of Democratic presidential aspirant Rahm Emanuel<\/a>. <\/p>\n Emanuel is also at the center of a web of financiers that is deeply involved in the new Paramount, per Zach Arnold at The MMA Draw<\/a>: <\/p>\n Ari Emanuel is focused entirely on controlling the politics and the plumbing of media pipes. He has deep ties to ESPN & Netflix. There are still ties with NBCUniversal. And now Paramount is on the table.<\/p>\n Since the take-private of Endeavor, Gerry Cardinale of Redbird Capital has emerged as Ari Emanuel\u2019s key financial muscle. Redbird Capital is a principle investor in Skydance, the Larry & David Ellison shop that is taking over Paramount from Shari Redstone.<\/p>\n Guess who is now going to be running management in Paramount? Guess who\u2019s going to be on Paramount\u2019s Board of Directors?<\/p>\n Andy Gordon, former heavyweight from Goldman Sachs, is now COO and Chief Strategist (Redbird) at Paramount. Justin Hamill, Chief Legal Officer of Silver Lake, is going to be on Paramount\u2019s BOD. Silver Lake and Mubadala are the main financiers behind Endeavor.<\/p>\n Heads, Ari wins; tails, you lose. That\u2019s how this works.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mubadala is the UAE\u2019s financial vehicle<\/a> and Silver Lake (which owns most of WME Group, the parent company of Emanuel\u2019s fight empire TKO) is reportedly to be Oracle\u2019s new partner in the TikTok acquisition<\/a>:<\/p>\n A group of three investors, including Oracle and private-equity firm Silver Lake, will take a roughly 50% stake in TikTok U.S., a source familiar with the deal said on Thursday.<\/p>\n A group of existing shareholders in TikTok\u2019s Chinese parent, ByteDance, will hold a roughly 30% stake, the source said. Among ByteDance\u2019s current investors are Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic and KKR. MGX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the CNBC report.<\/p>\n MGX is an artificial intelligence investment firm and a partner of Silver Lake, and falls under the purview of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates\u2019 national security adviser and brother of the President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The AI and surveillance delusions of Larry Ellison<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s fairly well established that Israeli PM Netanyahu is delusional on many topics whether it\u2019s Israel\u2019s status as a world power<\/a>, Israel\u2019s ability to cut off trade with Egypt<\/a>, or his vision of Israel as a autarkic \u201cSuper-Sparta.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n I do want to highlight the fundamental desperation that is driving Netanyahu, as Imran Khalid ably described in May<\/a>: <\/p>\n By now, it should surprise no one that Benjamin Netanyahu prefers the echo chamber of his own making to the international chorus demanding accountability. The Israeli prime minister, clinging to office as tenaciously as he clings to delusion, has managed to place himself among the most cynically manipulative leaders of our time, a man who governs not by vision, but by vindictiveness.<\/p>\n Once vaunted as a statesman in the mold of Churchill, Netanyahu now more closely resembles a bunker-dwelling autocrat, lashing out at allies and adversaries alike as his credibility collapses under the weight of his own contradictions. But I\u2019d rather focus on some of the delusions and desperation that may be driving Larry Ellison. <\/p>\n First, he\u2019s becoming quite well known as one of the leading spokesmen (alongside Palantir\u2019s Alex Karp and Peter Thiel<\/a>) for a vision of security through surveillance:<\/p>\n The man behind the digital ID push is Larry Ellison, owner of Oracle, CBS, CNN, and, soon, TikTok. He wants data centralization and total surveillance. “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re constantly watching & recording everything that’s going on.” Terrifying. https:\/\/t.co\/mb05XvnOAx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cUx45ORy2F<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The above may be deception rather than delusion, but if so, Ellison is revealing a great deal about himself to the public and its being widely used against him and his allies<\/a> (I\u2019ll discuss the backlash to Oracle\u2019s role in the UK\u2019s just announced Digital ID plan<\/a> in my next post tomorrow morning). <\/p>\n As for the desperation, well Oracle is taking out billions of dollars in debt to pay for their AI aspirations, per Yahoo Finance on Sept. 24<\/a>:<\/p>\n Oracle Corp. sold $18 billion US investment-grade bonds on Wednesday, the market\u2019s second-largest deal this year, as the software maker ramps up its spending to meet the needs of the artificial intelligence boom.<\/p>\n Demand peaked at nearly $88 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.<\/p>\n The technology giant \u2014 which has nearly doubled in value this year \u2014 is issuing debt in six parts, including a rare 40-year bond, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private details. That note will yield 1.37 percentage points above similarly dated Treasuries, compared with initial price talk of about 1.65 percentage points.<\/p>\n A floating-rate tranche was dropped during syndication.<\/p>\n The debt raise comes as Oracle begins to fulfill massive cloud infrastructure deals with customers like OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc., which are boosting the company\u2019s expenses. Over the next several years, it is projected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rent and power data centers.<\/p>\n It is also the cloud provider to TikTok in the US, and under a new framework outlined by the White House earlier this week, it would help oversee the development of a new US-only version of the social media giant\u2019s algorithm.<\/p>\n The software company spent years trailing the top three vendors \u2014 Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.\u2019s Google \u2014 in the competitive cloud infrastructure market. Now that it has struck serious cloud deals, it\u2019s on the hook for upfront costs. Oracle\u2019s cash flow flipped negative this year for the first time since 1992. Analysts anticipate the metric will be in free fall over the coming years before returning to positive in 2029.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Oracle and OpenAI announced a $300 billion cloud deal on September 10 (that was truly a historic day) that initially goosed Oracle\u2019s stock price significantly.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal had the scoop<\/a>:<\/p>\n OpenAI signed a contract with Oracle to purchase $300 billion in computing power over roughly five years, people familiar with the matter said, a massive commitment that far outstrips the startup\u2019s current revenue.<\/p>\n The deal is one of the largest cloud contracts ever signed, reflecting how spending on AI data centers is hitting new highs despite mounting concerns over a potential bubble.<\/p>\n The Oracle contract will require 4.5 gigawatts of power capacity, roughly comparable to the electricity produced by more than two Hoover Dams or the amount consumed by about four million homes.<\/p>\n Oracle shares surged by as much as 43% on Wednesday after the cloud company revealed it added $317 billion in future contract revenue during its latest quarter that ended in Aug. 31. Chief Executive Safra Catz told analysts that it had signed contracts with three different customers during the quarter.<\/p>\n The share price surge increased Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison\u2019s wealth by more than $100 billion, pushing him into the range of Elon Musk as the world\u2019s richest person, with a net worth of almost $400 billion.<\/p>\n The OpenAI and Oracle contract, which starts in 2027, is a risky gamble for both companies. OpenAI is a money-losing startup that disclosed in June it was generating roughly $10 billion in annual revenue\u2014less than one-fifth of the $60 billion it will have to pay on average every year. Oracle is concentrating a large chunk of its future revenue on one customer\u2014and will likely have to take on debt to buy the AI chips needed to power the data centers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Ed Zitron ripped the deal<\/a>, calling it \u201cfull of crap\u201d:<\/p>\n Analysts fawned over Oracle \u2014 again, as it missed estimates \u2014 with TD Cowen\u2019s Derrick Wood saying it was a \u201cmomentous quarter\u201d (again, it missed) and that these numbers were \u201creally amazing to see,\u201d and Guggenheim Securities\u2019 John DiFucci said he was \u201cblown away.\u201d Deutsche Bank\u2019s Brad Zelnick added that \u201c[analysts] were all kind of in shock, in a very good way.\u201d<\/p>\n RPOs, while standard (and required) accounting practice and based on actual signed contracts, are being used by Oracle as a form of marketing. Plans change, contracts can be canceled (usually with a kill fee, but nevertheless), and, especially in this case, clients can either not have the money to pay or die for the very same reason they can\u2019t pay. In Oracle\u2019s case, it isn\u2019t simply promising ridiculous growth, it is effectively saying it\u2019ll become the dominant player in all cloud compute.<\/p>\n Oracle claims that it will make $18 billion in cloud infrastructure revenue in FY2026, $32 billion in FY2027, $73 billion in FY2028, $114 billion in FY2029, and $144 billion in FY2030. While all of this isn\u2019t necessarily OpenAI (as it adds up to $381 billion), it\u2019s fair to assume that the majority of it is.<\/p>\n This means \u2014 as the $300 billion of the $317 billion of new contracts added by Oracle, and assuming OpenAI makes up 78% of its cloud infrastructure revenue ($300 billion out of $381 billion) \u2014 that OpenAI intends to spend over $88 billion fucking dollars in compute by FY2029, and $110 billion dollars in compute, AKA nearly as much as Amazon Web Services makes in a year, in FY2030.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Now that stock price froth is beginning to fade with a 16% drop in Oracle\u2019s share price last week, per Technobezz<\/a>: <\/p>\n Sometimes the market\u2019s most beloved darlings get hit the hardest when reality comes knocking. Oracle just learned this lesson the hard way, watching its stock price plummet 16% from recent highs as analysts started asking uncomfortable questions about those sky-high AI promises.<\/p>\n The damage started this week when Rothschild & Redburn analyst Alex Haissl dropped a bombshell coverage initiation, slapping Oracle with a rare \u201cSell\u201d rating and a $175 price target. That\u2019s not just pessimistic \u2013 it\u2019s predicting roughly 40% downside from current levels. According to The Motley Fool, shares that were trading above $308 just days ago have already tumbled to around $291, and according to multiple analyst reports, this might just be the beginning.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what\u2019s got Wall Street spooked: Oracle has floated aggressive targets for cloud growth, with executives outlining a path for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure revenue to reach about $18 billion this fiscal year and scale toward $144 billion by fiscal 2030. That\u2019s ambitious against the company\u2019s most recent quarter showing total revenue of $15.9 billion and cloud services and license support of $11.7 billion.<\/p>\n The numbers tell a more nuanced story than Oracle\u2019s executives might prefer. While the company did post respectable 11% revenue growth in Q4, with cloud services jumping 14% to $11.7 billion, the valuation has gotten completely divorced from fundamentals. According to Seeking Alpha analysts, Oracle now trades at a forward P\/E ratio of 41-46 \u2013 compare that to the industry median of 29, or even Nvidia\u2019s 50 (despite Nvidia\u2019s 50%+ revenue growth rate).<\/p>\n That disconnect becomes even more stark when you consider the broader context. A recent MIT study found that 95% of companies investing in generative AI have yet to see any financial returns. Yet Oracle\u2019s stock had been riding high on promises of triple-digit growth in its multicloud revenue, with CEO Larry Ellison boasting about building 47 new data centers in the next 12 months.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The confluence of the AI bubble, the rot economy, what I\u2019ve called \u201cThe Interregnum of Unreality<\/a>\u201d with Israel\u2019s desperate, deceptive, delusional attempts to control the American political system shows how the polycrisis impacts everyone.<\/p>\n\n
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CNBC reported earlier<\/a> that Abu Dhabi-based MGX, Oracle and Silver Lake are poised to be the main investors in TikTok U.S. with a combined 45% ownership, citing sources.<\/p>\n\n
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Netanyahu thrives in crisis, not to resolve it but to prolong it, using chaos as a shield against the ever-looming specter of his own political demise. With corruption charges still dogging him and public opinion slipping, he has fashioned Gaza into both a battlefield and a diversion.
\u2026
He is a leader in free fall, dragging his country with him, increasingly abandoned by allies, and yet still believing himself the indispensable man. The tragedy is not only his. It belongs to Israel\u2014and to all those, Palestinian and Israeli alike, who must live with the consequences of his delusions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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