From theinformation.com
Why Many AI Startups Are Consultancies Posing as Software Businesses
0 0
There are plenty of reasons generative artificial intelligence hasn’t taken off with businesses as much as pundits expected, including high costs and errors (i.e. hallucinations). One less-discussed reason is that conversational AI is simply hard to use. Big companies outside of tech can’t often ...
on Apr 19
From theinformation.com
Bolt’s Fanatics Partnership Goes South, Adding to Growth Woes
0 0
Bolt, the checkout startup that rocketed to an $11 billion valuation during the pandemic e-commerce boom, is embroiled in another legal battle with a high-profile retail partner: sports apparel company Fanatics, which signed a deal in 2022 to offer Bolt’s speedy payment buttons across several of ...
on Mar 28
From theinformation.com
TikTok Spent Years Developing Data Security Plan: Washington Ignored It
0 0
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, ...
on Mar 21
From theinformation.com
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 21
From theinformation.com
Microsoft Agreed to Pay Inflection $650 Million While Hiring Its Staff
0 0
Microsoft doesn’t want its plan to hire two of Inflection AI’s co-founders and most of its 70-person staff to be seen as an acquisition. But it’s still writing a hefty check to the two-year-old artificial intelligence startup. The software giant has agreed to pay Inflection approximately $650 ...
on Mar 21
From theinformation.com
0 0
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 Amazonin releasing conversational AI. (That’s likely why it’s in talks with Google to ...
on Mar 18
From theinformation.com
Political Veteran Lehane Nearing Deal to Join OpenAI
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 18
From theinformation.com
OpenAI’s Chatbot App Store Is Off to a Slow Start
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 18
From theinformation.com
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 16
From theinformation.com
Could a Venture Capitalist in Chief Finally Fix San Francisco’s Toxic Politics?
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 16
From theinformation.com
Hartz and Minds and TikTok w/ Special Guest Julia Hartz
0 0
There was a moment in this week's episode when our special guest Eventbrite CEOJulia 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 framedthis episode. I hope ...
on Mar 15
From theinformation.com
The Sora Saga Has Only Just Started
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 15
From theinformation.com
Pro Weekly: Tighter Reins on Cloud Spending—Except for AI
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 15
From theinformation.com
Microsoft Security Breaches Rile U.S. Government Customers
0 0
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 ...
on Mar 15
From theinformation.com
Why TikTok’s Own Investors Won’t Defend It; A Robotics Renaissance
0 1
Legislation headed for the Senate that could ban TikTok is putting some U.S. venture capitalists in an uncomfortable position. Those with stakes in TikTok’s parent ByteDance could lobby in support of TikTok, prioritizing future returns. Or they could stay quiet, protecting both their ...
on Mar 14
From theinformation.com
The Electric: Investors Remain Interested in Commercial EVs
0 0
Amid increasing Wall Street skepticism toward the makers of passenger electric vehicles, investors are still funding companies making commercial EVs. Among them, California-based Harbinger Motors last week delivered the first of its stripped-down electric chassis to recreational vehicle ...
on Mar 14
From theinformation.com
Busting Myths on Foreign Media Ownership as TikTok Ban Looms
0 0
It’s taken four years, but the push to ban TikTok is moving at lightning speed—which will continue until it comes to a dead halt sometime in the near future. Today’s lopsided vote in the House of Representatives on the ban-or-sell TikTok bill moves the battle to the Senate, where its prospects ...
on Mar 14
From theinformation.com
How Instagram Reels Could Benefit From a TikTok Ban
0 1
Is TikTok’s pain Instagram’s gain? In the past, employees at the Meta Platforms app certainly thought so.Instagram’s short-video feature, Reels, has come a long way since its bumpy start in 2020. But it’s hard to imagine any Instagram exec isn’t intrigued by the reprise of Washington’s efforts ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
How Stalking and Harassment Allegations Fractured a Semiconductor Startup
0 0
In March last year, the former girlfriend of Erik Hosler—then the CEO of semiconductor manufacturing startup xLight—applied for a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing Hosler of stalking and harassing her. A judge in California had already granted a temporary order, and when ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
TikTok Ban Bill Spotlights Open Secret: App Loses Money
0 0
TikTok, facing a growing threat of a U.S. ban, has been a global juggernaut over the past few years, drawing more than a billion monthly users and prompting rivals to launch similar services. But what is an open secret among investors is that the app loses money. TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
A Shakeout is Coming for Inference Startups
0 0
If you tuned into Nvidia’s and Microsoft’s recent quarterly earnings calls, you probably heard their leaders discuss how inference—a fancy word for operating an artificial intelligence model—is becoming a bigger part of the computing workloads in their data centers. In other words, chatbots like ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
Amazon, Google Quietly Tamp Down Generative AI Expectations
0 0
In the past year, major technology firms have championed generative artificial intelligence as the next big thing, boosting the stock market to new highs. But behind the scenes, representatives of major cloud providers and other firms that sell the technology are tempering expectations with ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
Blackstone-Founded E-Commerce ‘Roll-Up’ Firm Shuts Down
0 0
How bad is the slowdown in e-commerce growth? Ask Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms. Two years ago, a division of Blackstone that invests in consumer brands such as Supergoop and Spanx joined a second investor to commit $200 million to an e-commerce startup they had founded ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
Another Joe Takes Reins at Allbirds; Latest on TikTok
0 0
We’re in one of those news cycles where everything makes way for one dominant story, which right now is TikTok. Don’t worry—if you’re not fascinated by the to-ban-or-not-to-ban debate, it will eventually fade from the headlines. But not just yet: Instead, over the next few days, TikTok will ...
on Mar 13
From theinformation.com
What Five Hours With Alex Cooper’s Fans Say About Podcasting
0 1
I’ve spent the past few days at South by Southwest, the annual tech and arts festival in Austin. The most memorable part of my experience was embedding myself with the screaming fans of “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper, who threw multi-day events to celebrate the launch of the Unwell ...
on Mar 12
From theinformation.com
As TikTok Faces Ban Bill, Investors Distance Themselves From App
0 0
When the Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, investors in its parent, ByteDance, mobilized to support the app. Now, as a bill to force a ban or sale of TikTok winds its way through Congress, the company is mostly on its own. With the possible exception of Susquehanna International ...
on Mar 12
From theinformation.com
Healthcare Startup Tempus Hires Morgan Stanley for IPO
0 0
Tempus, a medical lab testing and data company started by a former co-founder of Groupon, has hired Morgan Stanley to run an initial public offering in the coming months, people close to the process said. The Chicago-based startup, which has raised more than $1.3 billion in private funding from ...
on Mar 12
From theinformation.com
Where Have All The AI Returns Gone?
0 0
For all the hype around generative AI, we have yet to see much evidence that this new technology is lifting the top lines of customers who are spending money on it. That’s left many buyers to wonder: When will we see those long-touted returns from AI?My colleagues and I tackled that question in ...
on Mar 12
From theinformation.com
TikTok Owner Boosts China Ties, Invests in State-Backed Chip Firm
0 0
As the Chinese government races to catch up in advanced computer chips, it has found anally in ByteDance, the owner of TikTok. The Chinese tech company has quietly bought a stake in InnoStar Semiconductor, a Shanghai-based memory chip firm backed by the Chinese government, according to corporate ...
on Mar 12
From theinformation.com
0 0
We’re in for a long few weeks as the ban-or-sell TikTok bill winds its way through Congress. The few moments of action we’re likely to see—such as this week’s vote in the House of Representatives—will be overwhelmed by lots of rhetorical shadowboxing between the various combatants. Today, for ...
on Mar 12
From theinformation.com
Morgan Stanley Was Counting on $150 Million in Twitter Deal Fees
0 0
When Morgan Stanley first worked on Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter acquisition in April 2022, bankers estimated fees on the deal could reach $150 million or more, according to two people who saw the terms. But that wasn’t the only payoff the bank saw from its involvement in the deal: Morgan ...
on Mar 11
From theinformation.com
What To Make of OpenAI’s New Board; The Startup Tackling Karpathy’s Vision
0 0
OpenAI’slate-Friday announcement of three new board members, as well as the reinstatement to its board of CEO Sam Altman, is a pivotal moment for the ChatGPT-creator, valued most recently at $86 billion. It’s now clear that the board has shed its origins as a quirky group of academics and ...
on Mar 11
From theinformation.com
The Electric: Why Tesla Veterans Dominate the EV and Battery Industries
0 0
In 2013, Landon Mossburg, then 29, was hired by Tesla to work on its supply chain team. Tesla threw him into negotiations with the senior executives of cellphone, internet and tech companies to secure internet connectivity deals that would feed Tesla’s over-the-air software updates. Mossburg had ...
on Mar 11
From theinformation.com
Why Tesla Veterans Dominate the EV and Battery Industries
0 0
In 2013, Landon Mossburg, then 29, was hired by Tesla to work on its supply chain team. Tesla threw him into negotiations with the senior executives of cellphone, internet and tech companies to secure internet connectivity deals that would feed Tesla’s over-the-air software updates. Mossburg had ...
on Mar 11
From theinformation.com
A Rising Star Investor's Polarizing Plan
0 0
Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:The Silicon Valley rising star who angered AndreessenHow a white-collar pirate pilfered the richA million-dollar strawberry that venture capitalists cravePlus—Oscars weekend! A digital shortcut to enjoying this year’s biggest films and what the Academy ...
on Mar 9
From theinformation.com
Altman Is More Powerful Than Ever; Trump’s TikTok Reversal
0 0
If you’re one of those people who was obsessed with last November’s OpenAI drama, you can wipe it from your memory. The ChatGPT creator put CEO Sam Altman back on its board late Friday, we scooped (the company later confirmed the details in this blog post). You may remember, unless you’ve ...
on Mar 9
From theinformation.com
OpenAI Board Reappoints Altman and Adds Three Other Directors
0 0
In a surprise move, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is rejoining the board of directors of the non profit that oversees the artificial intelligence developer, the company told staff on Friday. The decision to reinstate Altman to that positioncomes four and a half months after the board fired and rehired ...
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
TikTok’s Latest Crisis, Elon’s Emails, AI Monopolies
0 0
A potential TikTok ban is back in the news—and this attempt feels different. Plus, Musk on the attack and more on this week's More or Less. Hope you enjoy!
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
JPMorgan Sees Mixed Results From Silicon Valley Push
0 0
A few months after JPMorgan Chase bought the collapsed First Republic Bank last year, Eric Bahn decided he needed a new home for his money. The general partner and co-founder of Hustle Fund, a $130 million fund that invests in pre-seed and seed companies, had been a First Republic customer for ...
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
Pro Weekly: The Many Ways to Run a Software Company
0 0
Fresh off Sridhar Ramaswamy’s appointment as CEO of Snowflake, we published an Org Chart for the cloud database software company this week, highlighting the 41 top executives. Snowflake is the latest software company added to our Org Charts catalog. We published ServiceNow and MongoDB earlier ...
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
The Startup Investor Who Earned Andreessen’s Ire
0 0
The inner sanctum of one of Silicon Valley’s most intriguing investorsis a small, bland roomin Los Altos Hills, Calif., filled on a recent morning by little more than a marble-top conference table, a whiteboard and a stack of bagged spicy chili potato chips. The home office belongs to General ...
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
How You Fight Back Against Elon Musk
0 0
There was a moment last summer when Elon Musk had challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a mixed martial arts fight, and I, for once, had sympathy for Meta Platforms’ public relations team. The owner of X was proposing he settle his differences with Zuckerberg by fighting him in the Roman Colosseum.It ...
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
What Monzo’s Monster Fundraise Says About Fintech
0 0
For much of the past year, most articles about fintech startups have sounded alike: A once high-valued startup struggles to live up to its lofty valuation after interest rates spike, making it difficult to fund expansive growth plans. (I wrote about one, Chipper Cash, earlier this week.) But an ...
on Mar 8
From theinformation.com
TikTok Reactivates Creator Lobby as Ban Bill Clears House Panel
0 1
A bipartisan bill to ban TikTok unless it cuts ties with its Chinese owner, ByteDance, cleared a crucial hurdle in the House of Representatives on Thursday when the House Energy Committee approved it with a unanimous vote. The vote signaled that a long-simmering threat to the app may be boiling ...
on Mar 7
From theinformation.com
Here's How Big Tech Is Tackling Deepfakes
0 0
Here’s an increasingly familiar feeling: You see an image and you can’t tell if it was made or manipulated using artificial intelligence. It’s a big problem, given the potential of fake images to influence elections, among other things. Fortunately, many of the companies whose technology makes ...
on Mar 7
From theinformation.com
Amazon Pumps the Brakes on Global Domination
0 0
Less than two years ago, Amazon had big plans to continue its march into the sizable areas of the world where it hadn’t yet officially opened an online store for business. In 2022, it planned to launch local versions of its store that year in at least three new European countries—Ireland, ...
on Mar 7
From theinformation.com
Exclusive From The Electric: A Battery Startup Proposes Souped-Up CT Scans to Prevent Fires
0 0
Two Tesla veterans have formed a startup to apply X-ray technology to one of the biggest problems for the makers of electric vehicle batteries: finding defects in the batteries as they’re made—and before they cause bigger problems.
on Mar 7
From theinformation.com
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan Discussed OpenAI Board Role
0 0
Y Combinator CEOGarry Tan, a longtime venture capitalist, early this year talked with directors of OpenAI about joining the board that governs the artificial intelligence startup valued at more than $80 billion, according to a person who has spoken to board members. The talks were preliminary, ...
on Mar 7
From theinformation.com
The Talent Battle Behind Musk’s Feud With OpenAI
0 0
Elon Musk seems to enjoy getting into verbal fisticuffs with other CEOs (as Bob Iger of Disney can attest). But his attacks on OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in a lawsuit last week may have a strategic purpose. In artificial intelligence, talent has long been a priceless commodity. And it’s a ...
on Mar 7