Who says it’s hard for startups to raise capital? Marc Lore’s success in raising $600 million—in addition to $100 million he is contributing—for his restaurant startup, Wonder, is nothing short of stunning. As Lore acknowledged in a CNBC interview today, the fundraising wasn’t easy, given that most startups raising money nowadays are in artificial intelligence. There’s no AI angle to Wonder. In fact, there doesn’t even seem to be a... Read more ›
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The bill that could ban TikTok is in for a slog. After sailing through the House of Representatives last week, the bill’s momentum is slowing in the Senate. It’s too soon to tell whether Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, will bring the bill to the floor for a vote. Even before that, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, whose Commerce Committee could next vote on the bill, has also... Read more ›
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Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence–powered search engine, has become a Silicon Valley startup darling for taking on Google with conversational answers rather than a list of web links. Tech CEOs such as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Dell’s Michael Dell have sung the praises of the startup, and it has raised more than $100 million in venture capital from Nvidia and others. Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity’s CEO, has slammed Google, saying that... Read more ›
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St. Patrick’s Day didn’t bring OpenAI or Apple much luck. Yesterday’s Bloomberg report that the iPhone maker is in talks to license Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence models to power new features for the iPhone was likely a blow to the ego of leaders at OpenAI, not to mention Apple’s own AI teams.It’s not yet clear what kind of valuable generative AI services a deal like this could allow Apple to... Read more ›
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As Chinese shopping site Temu faces mounting hostility toward Chinese companies from U.S. politicians, it is looking to reduce its reliance on the U.S. market. Since it launched in the U.S. less than two years ago, the site, known for its ultralow prices, has caught fire with American shoppers. The U.S. accounted for 60% of total merchandise sales on Temu last year, but Temu is now hoping to reduce that... Read more ›
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Chris Lehane is beginning to look like the weather vane of tech. As we scooped today, the Clinton White House veteran is likely to join OpenAI, giving the ChatGPT creator some political muscle. Notably, Lehane is jumping to OpenAI after two years at crypto-focused venture capital firm Haun Ventures, which he joined in January 2022 as the crypto bubble was peaking. He took that job after six years at Airbnb,... Read more ›
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In the past couple of years, TikTok has spent $1.5 billion and restructured its operations to appease a federal government committee reviewing national security risks posed by the company’s hugely popular app. TikTok has installed cumbersome internal restrictions on its U.S. operations, requiring a separate data security unit to review everything from app updates to creator emails, much to the frustration of employees. The flaw in that strategy is now... Read more ›
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Before we get into this morning’s main funding news, here’s an interesting look into the strategy of Apple, which has caught flack from developers and industry pundits for falling behind Microsoft, Google and Amazon in releasing conversational AI. (That’s likely why it’s in talks with Google to license its generative AI tech for the iPhone, according to a Bloomberg report this morning.) In trying to catch up, the iPhone maker... Read more ›
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OpenAI, coming off months of controversy, is looking to add more political and public relations muscle. Chris Lehane, the former Airbnb policy chief and a veteran of the Clinton White House, is nearing a deal to join the artificial intelligence startup as a senior executive, according to people familiar with the potential move. Read more ›
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Last fall, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sought to capitalize on the raging success of ChatGPT by launching an app store. Similar to the way Apple turned the iPhone into a big business for mobile app developers, OpenAI hoped developers would tap into its artificial intelligence to create and sell their own conversational AI apps to ChatGPT customers. Four months after Altman announced the GPT Store, however, some developers who offer... Read more ›
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In 2021, Western auto and battery companies seemed headed toward a massive convergence: As I reported at the time, major automakers said that by 2025 or 2026 they would each be selling dozens of models of electric vehicles each, many of them powered by next-generation batteries that would cut the price of the vehicles, charge fast and take the cars hundreds of miles on a charge. That would make those... Read more ›
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Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:* How OpenAI’s Sora is transforming everything from Hollywood to videogames to Madison Avenue* Foreign trade and fearsome foes!* A guide to acquiring one of Silicon Valley’s favorite fads: a chief of staff* Plus: The VC and surprise SF mayoral front-runner; the TikToker who can explain why AllBirds lost flight; and the AI that’s raising questions about human identity.You know what’s becoming more predictable than spring... Read more ›
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After filling a cap table with prestige names and an Atherton basement with Screaming Eagle, what does a busy mogul on the rise acquire next? Increasingly these days, a chief of staff. Long a staple in government and the military, the chief of staff role has lately become a faddish fixture in the private sector, too, particularly in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street. Giants like Amazon, American Express and... Read more ›
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Twice in the last month, Mark Farrell, the Thayer Ventures co-founder, former San Francisco mayor and surprise front-runner in November’s mayoral race, has found himself confronting a familiar scene: thieves pilfering items from his local Walgreens as he shopped, undeterred by the shop’s protective shielding around its goods. “That happens daily,” said Farrell, shaking his head as he recalled the memory on a recent early Monday morning. “We should be... Read more ›
0
Let’s talk about something other than TikTok. How about the fact that Apple has agreed to pay $490 million to settle a years-old shareholder lawsuit alleging that CEO Tim Cook misled investors in comments he made on an earnings call in late 2018? It’s not every day you see the iPhone maker settling a lawsuit rather than fighting to the bitter end, as Fortnite maker Epic Games has found with... Read more ›
4
There was a moment in this week's episode when our special guest Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz posed a question that stuck with me. How do we help our kids manage smartphones when we, as adults, don't have a handle on our usage? It prompted an interesting discussion that framed this episode. I hope you enjoy. Apple Spotify YouTube Read more ›
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A month ago, Greg Pilon, a 44-year-old visual effects artist on such films as “Deadpool 2,” thought he heard the tick-tock of a doomsday clock for his industry. What set the gears in motion? His initial glimpse of Sora, OpenAI’s new text-to-video artificial intelligence tool, unveiled by CEO Sam Altman. In a 10-minute demo video, OpenAI showed the tool instantly spinning simple strings of words into realistic footage: a sweeping... Read more ›
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We’ve updated our estimates for several of the biggest spenders in our Cloud Database. The changes show that some companies are trying to hold the line on cloud bills—except when it comes to spending on artificial intelligence. The most significant update in the database is all about AI. ChatGPT developer OpenAI projected last year that it would spend more than $1 billion on cloud computing in 2023, my colleagues Anissa... Read more ›
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Microsoft became the world’s biggest seller of cybersecurity software by bundling it with Office and Teams apps. But after a series of hacks exploited that software in the past year, several of Microsoft’s biggest customers are considering whether their reliance on Microsoft’s software bundle puts their security at risk. The clearest sign that Microsoft may face real consequences for its security lapses can be seen in Washington. After the company... Read more ›
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Let’s start with some good news: today’s successful rocket launch by Elon Musk’s SpaceX (cool video here). This was the third flight test of SpaceX’s Starship, the enormous new rocket the company is building to launch second-generation Starlink internet satellites, among other things. The test lasted an hour (for more details, see here). It was a good reminder that for all of Musk’s nutty behavior, as displayed on X, he... Read more ›
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22.06.2026 00:36
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