These 8 big deals defined the year in artificial intelligence

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son shakes hands with US President Donald Trump.

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• Nvidia and SoftBank closed major tech deals over the holidays.
• The year saw unconventional tech deals, including Disney's bet on OpenAI and the Stargate Project.
• Nvidia recently signed a licensing agreement with Groq, acquiring talent rather than the company.

While most of the industry was out of office over the holidays, Nvidia and SoftBank's deal teams were grinding.