SoftBank is back, and the AI hype cycle is eating itself

Equity

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4.2 • 365 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

SoftBank and OpenAI announced a new 50-50 joint venture this week to sell enterprise AI tools in Japan under the brand "Crystal Intelligence." On paper, it's a straightforward international expansion deal. But SoftBank’s role as a major investor in OpenAI is raising questions about whether AI's biggest deals are creating real economic value or just moving money in circles. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha and AI editor Russell Brandom break down why this deal has people skeptical, and what it signals about the sustainability of AI's current investment model. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Andreessen Horowitz’s move to shut down its Talent x Opportunity fund, and the Equity crew’s take on the firm's explanation What former FTC chair Lina Khan’s role in NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's transition team could mean for Big Tech, ride-hailing, and AVs What Box CEO Aaron Levie had to say about whether we're in an AI bubble at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, and why the shift from training to inference might actually be reassuring Beta Technologies' successful $1B IPO and what it signals about the thawing public market — even though massive M&A deals are still going through Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a paid ad by Fidelity Private Shares.
0:03.2	A messy or missing cap table might not just slow you down.
0:05.8	It could cost you your next fundraising round.
0:07.8	Hello and welcome back to Equity TechRunch's flagship podcast about the business of startups.
0:13.8	Today is Friday, November 7th.
0:16.5	And I'm Kirsten Koresak, Transportation Editor here at TechRunge.
0:20.0	And I'm joined by Weekend editor Anthony Haugh and a newcomer and new AI editor, Russell Brandom, welcome you to.
0:28.7	I'm really interested before we get into deals to talk about the big news, the biggest news in your hometown in New York City, which is the mayoral election. And there is a bit of a tech hook, right, Anthony? Yeah, absolutely. And I should say that, you know, since we believe in transparency here on equity, I should, I should say that as a New Yorker, I was definitely a big supporter of the Mamdani campaign, but I'm going to do my best to be objective and not annoying about it. And the worlds did kind of collide. After Mondani was
0:55.8	announced as the mayor elect, he announced his transition team. And one of those names is going to
1:01.2	be familiar to equity listeners, namely Lena Khan, the former FCC chair, who I think it's fair to
1:07.1	say a lot of people in the industry perceive as having a pretty adversarial relationship
1:11.6	with big tech.
1:12.7	Yeah.
1:13.3	And I mean, one of the other interesting things about Mondani is he's been very outspoken
1:17.9	about ride hailing, you know, Uber and Lyft drivers, even sort of before the campaign, the
1:25.4	transition from like New York's medallion system, which was not great,
1:30.1	but did have a lot of wealth, like tied up in purchasing a medallion. And the transition from
1:36.0	that to ride hailing was very rocky. So yeah, I don't know how much antitrust action is going to be
1:43.3	coming out of the New York mayor's office.
1:45.6	But it's definitely an interesting signal.
1:48.4	I think he sees himself on the side of progressives like Lena Khan.
1:53.2	Yeah.
	...

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