Readers of The Information are optimistic about the tech sector: More than 62% of respondents to our most recent survey expect conditions to improve over the next six months, the highest such percentage since we began asking that question a year ago. The favorable outlook extends to most of the 14 big tech companies we ask about each month. Optimists outnumbered pessimists for eight of the 14. Sentiment improved for... Read more ›
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For a brief period at the start of this year, it looked like venture capitalists’ hunger for artificial intelligence startups was ebbing, spooked by lofty prices and increasing competition from big companies like Google. But in recent weeks, investors have shown the kind of unbridled enthusiasm that colored much of last year—and startups are looking to capitalize. Scale AI, which labels images or text to teach AI models to recognize... Read more ›
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Sequoia Capital is pushing for one of its most venerated former partners, Michael Moritz, to step down from his personal board position at the “buy now, pay later” company Klarna. Sequoia partner Matthew Miller in recent days asked shareholders at Klarna to remove Moritz from the board of directors, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. Roelof Botha, Sequoia’s chief, also told Klarna shareholders Miller had Sequoia’s full... Read more ›
13
Last November, one of the most important private technology businesses in the world—OpenAI—nearly collapsed overnight over a governance crisis. Its nonprofit board announced to the world that it had lost confidence in CEO Sam Altman’s ability to lead, and it ousted him. Most of the people who worked there threatened to quit. Altman was brought back after a tense negotiation culminating in the decision that there would be a new... Read more ›
2
After Sam Altman’s sudden firing last year, I argued the chaos that followed his short-lived ouster would inject a healthy dose of caution into venture investments in artificial intelligence companies. I figured we’d finally reached the peak of the AI venture capital frenzy when a threatened employee exodus from OpenAI risked sending the value of the $86 billion AI juggernaut almost to zero. There was plenty of other proof that... Read more ›
1
Earlier this week Nielsen, the TV measurement firm, reported that 123.7 million people in the U.S. watched this year’s Super Bowl. The TV broadcast, which aired on CBS, averaged 120.3 million viewers, which made it the largest audience for a single telecast in U.S. TV history. (An additional 2.3 million viewers watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Univision, and 1.2 million tuned into the kid-friendly version on Nickelodeon, which like CBS... Read more ›
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JPMorgan approached Greece’s central bank last year with concerns about “serious governance failings” at Viva Wallet, a Greek fintech company it partly owns, as well as “misconduct” of the firm’s chief executive and co-founder Haris Karonis, according to allegations filed in a U.K. court. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, JPMorgan sued a firm controlled by Karonis and his Viva Wallet co-founder, who between them control 51.5% of Viva Wallet. It... Read more ›
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Readers of The Information are more optimistic about prospects for the technology sector than they have been at any time in the past year, according to our latest monthly survey. More than 62% of respondents to the survey said they expect conditions for technology companies to improve over the next six months, the highest proportion expecting improvement since we began the surveys in February 2023. Fewer than 11% said they... Read more ›
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Contrary to popular belief, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman isn’t raising trillions of dollars for a large project to develop new server chips for artificial intelligence. A Wall Street Journal report last week that implied Altman was seeking up to $7 trillion worth of capital for what sounds like a joint venture to end all joint ventures caused quite a stir. But in reality, Altman privately has told people that figure... Read more ›
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Advertising is no country for small digital media firms. Vox Media, the privately held firm that owns outlets such as New York magazine, The Verge and Eater, saw revenue fall roughly 15% in 2023, dragged down by weaker ad sales, according to people familiar with the matter. Similarly, Bustle Digital Group, which owns Bustle, Nylon and W Magazine, experienced a 15% decline in 2023 due to weaker ad sales and... Read more ›
0
In the 1870s, according to legend, a group of Apache warriors jumped to their deaths from a 4,700-foot cliff in Arizona rather than surrender to U.S. Army soldiers who were closing in on them. Today, descendants of the warriors return to the site—dotted with rock carvings and known as Apache Leap—for sacred rites. But in the early 2000s, Ernest Scheyder writes in his timely new book, “The War Below,” mining... Read more ›
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Good things come to those who wait—including, we now know, Uber shareholders. The ride-hailing firm’s decision to launch a $7 billion stock buyback program sent the already rallying stock up another 15% to around $79.15. Since the stock was trading as low as $40 last October, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi should be pleased. But taking the glass half-empty perspective for a moment, it doesn’t seem ideal that Uber is now... Read more ›
0
Nvidia’s hot streak with artificial intelligence chips, which have been in high demand globally, is also lifting a slew of companies that resell the chips. Together AI, a startup that helps AI developers access Nvidia server chips to train and tweak their AI models, is raising more than $100 million in new funding that values the 20-month-old firm at more than $1 billion, doubling its valuation from a funding round... Read more ›
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We just released a new list for subscribers to The Information Pro that identifies the most likely targets for takeovers in the creator economy this year. We focused on companies that haven’t raised much if any money since inking seed or earlier rounds more than two years ago. These companies are most likely to face a cash crunch and be open to acquisition offers.Some startup founders told us they’re already... Read more ›
1
OpenAI has been developing a web search product that would bring the Microsoft-backed startup into more direct competition with Google, according to someone with knowledge of OpenAI’s plans. The search service would be partly powered by Bing, this person said. Read more ›
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Meta Platforms is reducing payments to news organizations that fact-check potential misinformation on WhatsApp, including around elections, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. The cuts mean fewer fact-checkers will monitor election-related discussions on the global messaging app in a year when around half of the world’s population will go to the polls, including in the U.S. and India, two of those people said. The move could also... Read more ›
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Ali Ghodsi, the CEO of Databricks, a $43 billion-valuation enterprise software firm, had lots to say about OpenAI and the potential challenges it faces in a conference call with The Information subscribers yesterday. (One new challenge it's likely wrestling with is the departure of high-profile researcher Andrej Karpathy, as we scooped yesterday.)But as Ghodsi has has a front row seat to how companies are using conversational AI, we were especially... Read more ›
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Many creator economy startups have found themselves in a precarious position in the aftermath of the pandemic funding boom. Some have laid off staff or cut costs to stay afloat, while others are running on fumes, forcing them to scramble for new capital, find buyers or close altogether. The most vulnerable are those that haven’t raised much if any money since inking seed or earlier rounds two years ago, since... Read more ›
0
A little over a year ago, Brittany Doyle had high hopes for the Taos Motor Lodge, a renovated, 28-room motel in New Mexico’s high desert that she was opening. To help her run the business, Doyle signed a contract with Life House, a hospitality startup that has raised over $100 million from Tiger Global Management, Trinity Ventures and other investors. The startup provides a wide array of management services to... Read more ›
3
Andrej Karpathy, one of the founding members of OpenAI, has left the company, a spokesperson confirmed. Karpathy, a prominent artificial intelligence researcher, was developing a product he has described as an AI assistant and worked closely with the company’s research chief, Bob McGrew. While ChatGPT has been a hit with consumers, OpenAI wants to launch software that can automate complex computer-based tasks, like filling out expense reports and entering them... Read more ›
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Most popular sources
Business Insider
|
24% 1 |
Tech Wire Asia
|
23% 17 |
CNET
|
8% 5 |
Gizmodo
|
5% 2 |
The Verge
|
5% 4 |
| View sources » | |
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28.11.2024 08:41
Last update: 08:36 EDT.
News rating updated: 15:30.
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