Things have never been better for Shopify. The e-commerce firm’s stock is trading near all-time highs. And a recent deal with OpenAI has put Shopify in a position to capitalize on AI-fueled shopping by easily allowing its merchants to sell products through ChatGPT. And yet Shopify is seeing the kind of executive turnover normally associated with companies that are struggling. Read more ›
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Today, we’re talking about my favorite topic: sneaky things AI startups do to gussy up their revenue.We previously covered how some AI startups are including non-recurring consulting fees in their annual recurring revenue figures; pitching investors on their “contracted ARR” or “sales pipelines”; and using exploding revenue growth to entice investors without explaining that much of the money is only coming from one or two large customers.Here’s another one. The... Read more ›
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OpenAI has started discounting enterprise subscriptions to its ChatGPT app when customers agree to spend money on additional AI products, according to an OpenAI spokesperson and two executives at large firms that have spoken to the startup in recent weeks. The move has frustrated salespeople at Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest business partner, which sells competing apps and models and doesn’t typically discount them as much. The discounting suggests OpenAI’s pricing power... Read more ›
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At Amazon, the rise of artificial intelligence tools that automate shoppers’ online purchases is raising a question: Should the company fight the startups that make these tools—or join them? The answer it’s leaning toward is maybe a bit of both. Read more ›
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Investors have approached Anysphere, the company behind the popular AI coding assistant Cursor, offering to invest in the company at a valuation of $18 billion to $20 billion in recent weeks, Bloomberg reported. The company might not agree to the offers, according to the report. But if the ... Read more ›
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Salesforce is raising prices for business users of its customer management, customer service, Slack and other products, while also adding new AI features to these offerings. The move comes a few weeks after Salesforce changed its data usage policies to prohibit customers from training AI models ... Read more ›
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The tech industry has spent the past few years telling everyone that the artificial intelligence tools they’re building are about to change the world. But until recently executives at the largest tech firms haven’t been willing to spell out what exactly that means for the hundreds of thousands of white-collar staffers at their own companies. Earlier this year, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told a podcaster his company might not hire... Read more ›
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When venture capitalists first started using artificial intelligence in their own work, I mostly heard about the technology drafting rejection e-mails or helping with quick research. But as many firms look to operate more leanly and efficiently and as AI agents become more adept, I can imagine a new wave of experimentation among venture investors.Alex Robinson, co-founder and CEO of startup Juniper Square, is hopeful that venture capitalists will embrace... Read more ›
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Elon Musk’s xAI is burning $1 billion a month as it spends heavily on building its AI models, Bloomberg reported, citing people briefed on the company’s financials. The company is trying to raise $9.3 billion in debt and equity, according to the report, and plans to spend more than half of that ... Read more ›
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JPMorgan will launch a U.S. dollar token on Base, a blockchain developed by Coinbase, offering an alternative to stablecoins like Tether and Circle’s USDC. The token, called JPMD, represents dollar deposits at the bank. It will allow approved institutional clients to transfer funds between each ... Read more ›
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I’m at Cannes Lions, where I spent the morning with TikTok’s marketing leaders. As YouTube has made expanding on living room screens a top priority, I’ve been curious if TikTok will follow suit. While TikTok tried launching an app for TV screens on Android a few years ago, the ByteDance-owned company hasn’t seemed to put much promotion behind it. And I’ve rarely heard TikTok talk about it. Executives on Tuesday... Read more ›
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OpenAI has told shareholders it wants Microsoft to accept a roughly 33% equity stake in a restructured version of its for-profit business, one of several concessions it wants from its biggest outside shareholder, The Information reported on Monday. The startup is locked in negotiations with ... Read more ›
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Apple is by no means a front-runner in the race to develop world-changing artificial intelligence, and its annual Worldwide Developers Conference last week did little to convince anyone that its Siri assistant would catch up to ChatGPT anytime soon.Still, Apple managed to stir up excitement among mobile app developers who want AI in their apps. Using a new tool called the Foundation Models framework, developers can now tap Apple’s large... Read more ›
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Goldman Sachs is again open to underwriting new deals for special-purpose acquisition companies, Bloomberg reported, after pulling back from SPAC work three years ago amid regulatory scrutiny of blank-check deals. The SPAC dealmaking boom that peaked in 2021 was a gold rush for Wall Street ... Read more ›
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Last night, Sri and I broke the news of some of the latest developments in the negotiations between Microsoft and OpenAI. Chief among them is that OpenAI wants Microsoft to take just a 33% share in its business after the startup completes its conversion to a for-profit entity. That looks like a step down for Microsoft, whose $13.75 billion investment in OpenAI currently entitles it to 49% of OpenAI’s future... Read more ›
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Between 2022 and mid-2024, venture capitalists poured over $32 billion into artificial intelligence startups, despite the disappointing results of some high-profile bets. Not only have investors shrugged off those missteps since then—they have redoubled investments in companies they perceive as winners in their categories. Venture capitalists have led a combined $52.4 billion worth of deals since mid-2024, according to The Information’s Generative AI Database. SoftBank and Thrive Capital have led... Read more ›
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Before the Trump administration’s recent trade talks with Chinese officials in London, U.S. Commerce Department officials weighed new technology export restrictions against China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The officials ultimately didn’t announce the tougher restrictions after the U.S. ... Read more ›
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The head of engineering for Google’s Gemini chatbot, Amar Subramanya, is leaving the company, employees were told in a reorganization announced last week. Separately, Mat Velloso, the head of product for Google DeepMind’s AI developer platform, has also left Google, a Google spokesperson ... Read more ›
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The Department of Defense has awarded OpenAI a $200 million contract to develop AI that addresses “national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,” the agency said in a press release. This is OpenAI’s first defense technology contract and the latest sign of deepening ... Read more ›
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Negotiations between Microsoft and OpenAI over the startup’s plan to restructure its for-profit unit, which requires Microsoft’s approval, have entered their eighth month with no end in sight and new conflicts emerging. OpenAI wants Microsoft, the startup’s biggest outside shareholder, to have a roughly 33% stake in the reshaped unit in exchange for foregoing its rights to future profits, according to a person who spoke to OpenAI executives. OpenAI also... Read more ›
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The days of “No ads! No games! No gimmicks!” are over. That was the slogan coined by one of the founders of WhatsApp, Brian Acton, which the other founder of the messaging app, Jan Koum, used to keep taped to his desk on a sticky note. On Monday, though, WhatsApp’s owner, Meta Platforms, said the app will start showing ads for the first time in the coming months, turning on... Read more ›
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Business Insider
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64% 29 |
Wired
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12% 9 |
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4% 7 |
MacRumors
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4% 2 |
Android Authority
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2% 1 |
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04.11.2025 23:52
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