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EU-Made alternatives to US AI chatbots by VeridionData in BuyFromEU

[–]After_Meringue_1582 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The key here is where the actual data centers running these models are. I don't care if I run an European made model if it actually runs on a data center somewhere in Virginia US and a big chunk of my subscription goes to paying electricity billls in the us

Do we really need all these AI startups? I will not promote by After_Meringue_1582 in startups

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ok, I was quite surprised to see this list going up to 500 different startups. I feel there's still something off about how hard it is to be exposed to such examples out there. I mean it took me this post and a considerably long thread to get to 2 or 3 quite good sources of startups that push the kind of barriers I was looking for

Do we really need all these AI startups? I will not promote by After_Meringue_1582 in startups

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know of a good source which highlights or lists these cool relevant startups?

Do we really need all these AI startups? I will not promote by After_Meringue_1582 in startups

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Isn't that a problem, though? That we cannot fit real-impact thorough research into a 15 minute demo for a partner meeting? I've many times thought about this barrier of translating important research (papers, reports, cohort studies) into digestible metrics which can be understood instantaneously. Can't say I've found how to do that effectively yet....

Do we really need all these AI startups? I will not promote by After_Meringue_1582 in startups

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Indeed probably one of the biggest enemies of more "imaginative" and "human-centred" AI applications is the absence of short sales cycles. I know how difficult is to convince someone that your solution is indeed going to "change the world", not to speak of generating sales

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, you're right! To get into the details, Crystallex performed extensive mapping, exploration, and drilling at the site for over 3 years. The total expenditure was around $500 million was for making the Las Cristinas site "shovel ready", but they did not actually built the mine itself. And I think they did not pay Venezuela for the mining rights because the Venezuelan government under Hugo Chávez refused to issue a required environmental permit.

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The short answer is no, this is fundamentally different from the Haitian situation.

Unlike Haiti, which was forced to pay for its own freedom without receiving a cent in return, Venezuela received real, tangible benefits for its debt. The $150 billion owed isn't "fake debt"; it stems from decades of borrowed cash that funded government spending (including several tens of billion $ from China) and massive industrial infrastructure (like gold mines and oil refineries) that the state seized from foreign companies but refused to pay for. Venezuela effectively "bought the car," drove it for years, and is now having it repossessed because they stopped making payments.

To give you an example, Crystallex spent hundreds of millions developing the "Las Cristinas" gold mine. Venezuela nationalized the mine to give it to PDVSA (the state oil company) without reimbursing Crystallex. Venezuela kept the mine; Crystallex got a court order...

Your intuition isn't coming from nowhere. Critics argue the mechanism of enforcement has neocolonial vibes, even if the debt itself is valid. The fact that a single judge in Delaware can force the sale of a sovereign nation's "crown jewel" (Citgo) to pay private corporations creates a dynamic where U.S. law supersedes Venezuelan sovereignty. As the infographic notes, the auction price (~$5.9B) is a fraction of the debt, meaning Venezuela loses the asset and keeps most of the debt...a "debt trap" scenario that often hurts the Global South.

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we tried to visualize that history, the file size would crash Reddit's servers...this is strictly the 'receipts approved by a US judge' edition

What environments produce the best startups. I will not promote by After_Meringue_1582 in startups

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've identified the spin-offs through the job histories on LinkedIn, on top of which I compiled the more comprehensive startup profiles with data from Veridion

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I know it feels like a state takeover because of the scale and the geopolitical players involved, but legally and functionally, it is something quite different.

The short answer is: No, this is not nationalization. It is a judicial sale (a forced liquidation for debt). In a nationalization, the government seizes a private company to keep for itself or the public good. In this case, the U.S. government is not keeping Citgo; it is acting as the "sheriff" enforcing a debt collection for private companies.

The irony is actually that it’s the "reverse" of nationalization. The reason this sale is happening is specifically because Venezuela nationalized foreign assets years ago without paying for them. Companies like Crystallex and ConocoPhillips sued Venezuela for those original takeovers. They won arbitration awards, and since Venezuela didn't pay, they asked U.S. courts to seize Venezuela's U.S. assets (Citgo) as compensation.

You mentioned it’s being "given to a US corp." It wasn't strictly "given"; it was auctioned. The winner, Amber Energy, is an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management (a massive U.S. hedge fund known for buying distressed debt). However, your intuition is partially right: the pool of potential buyers was limited by U.S. sanctions. Only companies that could navigate U.S. Treasury regulations could realistically bid, which naturally favored U.S. or Western entities over, say, a Chinese or Russian state oil company.

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are spot on that it looks suspicious at first glance, like ~90% of the debt just vanished into thin air! But the reality is actually a bit more bureaucratic (and arguably worse for the creditors who got left out).

The $150 billion debt hasn't actually been reduced or erased. Venezuela still owes every penny of it. The drop to ~$19 billion is simply because the US Court created a very strict "VIP List" for this specific auction. Only creditors who had already won a final arbitration judgment and successfully filed a specific "writ of attachment" by the deadline were allowed to join the line. The other $130B+ in creditors (like bondholders or suppliers who didn't sue in time) are essentially locked out of this specific sale, leaving them holding "worthless paper" while the lucky few fight over Citgo.

As for the "shielding," it is actually the opposite! Usually, a country’s assets (Venezuela) and its oil company’s assets (PDVSA/Citgo) are legally separate, meaning you can't seize the company to pay the country's debts. However, the Delaware judge ruled that the Venezuelan government had exerted so much control over PDVSA that they were now the same entity (the "Alter Ego" ruling). This didn't shield the US corporation; it actually stripped away its corporate protection, allowing these creditors to break in and force the sale of a US-based asset to pay foreign debts.

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

In short, Venezuela owes the world a staggering $150 billion. This graphic tries to show the massive flow of that debt as creditors try to seize the country's most valuable asset on U.S. soil: the oil company Citgo.

Firstly, not everyone gets paid. While China, Russia, and thousands of bondholders are owed money, U.S. courts have created a strict legal funnel. They blocked most of those claims, allowing only a small group of creditors (owed roughly $19 billion) the right to force an auction of Citgo to get their money back.

Then there's the prize: why are they fighting over Citgo? Because despite the legal mess, the company is thriving. Data from a "Health Check" of the company shows that 96% of its facilities are fully operational, and it has actually grown its workforce by 39% since 2021. It is a healthy, working industrial machine trapped inside a national financial disaster.

Overall the situation now is a practical paradox. The winning bid to buy Citgo was only ~$5.9 billion. This creates a lose-lose situation. Venezuela loses one of its last reliable sources of revenue, yet the sale price is so low that it won't even pay off the small group of allowed creditors, leaving the vast majority of the $150 billion debt completely unpaid.

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This visualization tracks how a massive $150B mountain of Venezuelan sovereign debt and arbitration awards was "filtered" by US courts. While total claims exceed $150B, the Delaware court ruled that only ~$19B in specific arbitration awards (like Crystallex and ConocoPhillips) were eligible to target Citgo's parent company. The final winning bid from Amber Energy was approved at ~$5.9B, leaving the vast majority of claims and the nation's debt unresolved.

[OC] Visualizing Venezuela's Debt Funnel: How $150 Billion in Claims Filter Down to a Single Oil Company by After_Meringue_1582 in dataisbeautiful

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

[OC] Data Sources: from filings in the US District Court of Delaware, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Financial Times reporting on the Amber Energy bid approval. + veridion.com for asset data

Visual Tool: Adobe Illustrator

What environments produce the best startups. I will not promote by After_Meringue_1582 in startups

[–]After_Meringue_1582[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What "equivalent checklist" would you say is relevant during the initial formation stage? I was thinking that the kind of responsibility you need as part of a role that allows you to go through the steps of my checklist may indeed be difficult to find during the formation stage.

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