Exclusive

Page 32
Nvidia's booth at a trade show in Hangzhou, China in October 2023. Photo by FeatureChina via AP.
Exclusive

Chinese Regulators Tell Local Tech Firms to Buy Fewer Nvidia Chips

By Qianer Liu · May 13, 2024 6:00am PDT
Chinese authorities have a message for the local tech industry: Buy Chinese. Officials with government agencies in recent months have told tech firms, including TikTok parent ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu, to cut back on their purchase of foreign-made artificial intelligence chips in favor of buying more domestically made chips, said two... Chinese authorities have a message for the local tech industry: Buy Chinese. Officials with...
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. AP Photo/Jon Gambrell
Exclusive

OpenAI Develops AI Voice Assistant As It Chases Google, Apple

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · May 10, 2024 3:25pm PDT · 4 comments
In the race to develop artificial intelligence that communicates the way humans do, OpenAI is preparing to demonstrate technology that talks to people—using sound as well as text—and recognizes objects and images. The ChatGPT developer has shown some of these capabilities, which include better logical reasoning than its current... In the race to develop artificial intelligence that communicates the way humans do, OpenAI is...
Art by Clark Miller. Musk via Getty Images
Exclusive

At Tesla, a Wild Week That Defined the Company’s Future

By Steve LeVine and Becky Peterson · May 10, 2024 6:00am PDT
On Feb. 28, Elon Musk used X, the social media service he owns, to make a bold promise about a product from one of his other companies, Tesla. In a post, he said a new version of the Roadster—a successor to the electric car that put Tesla on the map in 2008—would be able to accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than a... On Feb. 28, Elon Musk used X, the social media service he owns, to make a bold promise about a...
Photo by Dinendra Haria/SIPA USA via AP.
Fast-Delivery Survivor Gopuff Burned $400 Million Last Year
By Theo Wayt and Cory Weinberg · May 9, 2024 11:18am PDT · 2 comments
Photo by Dinendra Haria/SIPA USA via AP.
Exclusive

Fast-Delivery Survivor Gopuff Burned $400 Million Last Year

By Theo Wayt and Cory Weinberg · May 9, 2024 11:18am PDT · 2 comments
Instant-delivery pioneer Gopuff is the last speedy-delivery startup left standing in the U.S. after its best-funded competitor, Getir, said last week it would pull out of the country. That’s left Gopuff in the same position it was in 10 years and billions of dollars ago: trying to beat DoorDash. But Gopuff is in a weaker financial position... Instant-delivery pioneer Gopuff is the last speedy-delivery startup left standing in the U.S....
A Community Federal Savings Bank branch in Queens, New York. Photo by Michael Roddan.
Exclusive

As Banks Cut Off Risky Fintechs, a Tiny Lender Leans In

By Michael Roddan · May 9, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment
In Woodhaven, Queens, beneath an elevated subway line an hour’s ride from Manhattan, sits an unremarkable bank branch, squeezed between a shuttered Rite Aid and a children’s events space that moonlights as a venue for $10 adult Zumba dance classes. A plastic banner fastened to the shop front bears the lender’s name: Community... In Woodhaven, Queens, beneath an elevated subway line an hour’s ride from Manhattan, sits...
Art by Shane Burke/Shutterstock.
Exclusive

As TikTok Files Lawsuit, Employees Ponder Their Future

By Juro Osawa, Qianer Liu and Kaya Yurieff · May 8, 2024 6:00am PDT
The day President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it doesn't cut ties with its Chinese parent, ByteDance, within a year, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and other senior executives led an all-hands meeting for staff, reassuring them that TikTok will successfully fight the new law. Chew struck an optimistic tone. At one... The day President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it doesn't cut...
Photo by Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress.
Exclusive

Google Beefs Up AI Sales Effort to Persuade Businesses to Start Buying

By Jon Victor · May 7, 2024 8:00am PDT
Google’s cloud computing unit is adding hundreds of salespeople and engineers to new artificial intelligence–focused teams—including staff moved from other parts of Google Cloud—as it embarks on a major push to get businesses to adopt its Gemini model and other AI software. In recent weeks, the company has been moving... Google’s cloud computing unit is adding hundreds of salespeople and engineers to new...
Shein's warehouse in Whitestown, Indiana. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
Shein to Prioritize Compliance Amid U.S. Forced Labor Crackdown
By Jing Yang · May 7, 2024 7:30am PDT · 2 comments
Shein's warehouse in Whitestown, Indiana. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
Exclusive

Shein to Prioritize Compliance Amid U.S. Forced Labor Crackdown

By Jing Yang · May 7, 2024 7:30am PDT · 2 comments
China-founded fashion giant Shein told employees it is stepping up its efforts to keep products made with forced labor off its site, citing tougher U.S. enforcement to screen low-value parcels that previously received little customs scrutiny. In a memo to senior managers, Shein’s executive chair, Donald Tang, said the company is... China-founded fashion giant Shein told employees it is stepping up its efforts to keep products...
Art by Clark Miller. Photo of BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti via Getty Images
Exclusive

‘It’s Been Painful’: What Jonah Peretti Says Went Wrong at BuzzFeed

By Paris Martineau and Sahil Patel · May 7, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments
In late 2021, Jonah Peretti, CEO of BuzzFeed, logged onto a virtual all-hands meeting to tell the staffers of Complex—a publication BuzzFeed was then in the process of acquiring—how much the media brand meant to him. In an effort to connect with Complex’s coverage of sneaker culture, Peretti recalled a prank he had pulled as a... In late 2021, Jonah Peretti, CEO of BuzzFeed, logged onto a virtual all-hands meeting to tell the...
The Enovix office in Fremont, Calif. Photo via Shutterstock.
Exclusive

Battery Developer Enovix Lays Off Roughly One-Third of Staff

By Steve LeVine · May 6, 2024 12:24pm PDT
A week after reporting a battery development agreement with an unnamed maker of smartphones, silicon battery maker Enovix on Monday laid off approximately 170 workers at its Fremont, Calif., factory. The layoff appeared to be part of a company attempt, announced last week, to reduce annual operating costs by $35 million before the end of the... A week after reporting a battery development agreement with an unnamed maker of smartphones,...
From left: Melanie Perkins, CEO of Canva; Parker Conrad, CEO of Rippling; Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks; Dylan Field, CEO of Figma. Photos by Getty
Exclusive

How Investment Banks Are Helping Canva, Stripe, Figma Stay Private

By Cory Weinberg · May 6, 2024 6:00am PDT
When Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon gathered two dozen tech executives, bankers and investors to a wine and steak dinner in Las Vegas last November, seated next to him was Cliff Obrecht, co-founder of Canva, a $26 billion privately held design software company. Canva is exactly the kind of company Goldman would look to take public one... When Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon gathered two dozen tech executives, bankers and investors to...
Chris Clark and Diane Yoon. Photos via YouTube and Talent Summit.
Two Senior OpenAI Executives Leave Company
By Jon Victor · May 3, 2024 2:33pm PDT · 1 comment
Chris Clark and Diane Yoon. Photos via YouTube and Talent Summit.
Exclusive

Two Senior OpenAI Executives Leave Company

By Jon Victor · May 3, 2024 2:33pm PDT · 1 comment
Two senior OpenAI executives—vice president of people Diane Yoon and Chris Clark, head of nonprofit and strategic initiatives—left the company earlier this week, a company spokesperson said. The two resignations are the latest high-profile changes to OpenAI’s leadership in the aftermath of Sam Altman’s dramatic ouster and... Two senior OpenAI executives—vice president of people Diane Yoon and Chris Clark, head of...
Art by Clark Miller
Exclusive

How Apple Boosts Chinese Suppliers With Know-How From Foreign Companies

By Wayne Ma · May 3, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments
In March at an event in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook mingled with the founders of several major Apple suppliers in the country, including Lens Technology, which makes the protective glass screens for iPhones. “It’s the partnership between Apple and Chinese companies that really makes things happen,” Cook told Chinese state media... In March at an event in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook mingled with the founders of several major...
A Tesla Supercharging station in Austin. Photo by Getty Images
Exclusive

A Tesla Executive Reassured Supercharger Team Days Before Musk Fired Its Staff

By Becky Peterson · May 1, 2024 1:27pm PDT · 5 comments
Earlier this week, Elon Musk laid off a 500-person team overseeing Tesla’s Supercharger Network, a move that stunned many employees and industry observers who consider the electrical charging stations one of Tesla’s key advantages. But just a couple weeks ago, one of Musk’s lieutenants reassured members of Tesla’s energy... Earlier this week, Elon Musk laid off a 500-person team overseeing Tesla’s Supercharger...
Photo via Getty Images/Shane Burke.
Exclusive

As Tech Firms Prioritize AI in News Dealings, Other Deals Get Cut

By Sahil Patel · Apr 30, 2024 6:00am PDT
Google has agreed to pay Wall Street Journal owner News Corp between $5 million and $6 million annually to fund the news organization's development of new artificial intelligence–related content and products, according to a News Corp staffer and another person close to the deal. The new and previously unreported arrangement follows... Google has agreed to pay Wall Street Journal owner News Corp between $5 million and $6 million...
Photo by Getty
Musk Plans More Layoffs as Two Senior Tesla Executives Depart
By Steve LeVine · Apr 29, 2024 9:48pm PDT · 11 comments
Photo by Getty
Exclusive

Musk Plans More Layoffs as Two Senior Tesla Executives Depart

By Steve LeVine · Apr 29, 2024 9:48pm PDT · 11 comments
Frustrated by falling sales and the pace of layoffs carried out by his lieutenants, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is thinning his senior management team and laying off hundreds more employees. In an email late Monday to senior Tesla executives, Musk said Rebecca Tinucci, senior director of the company’s Supercharger group and Daniel Ho, head of new... Frustrated by falling sales and the pace of layoffs carried out by his lieutenants, Tesla CEO...
Art by Mike Sullivan/Midjourney
Exclusive

How Tesla Used a San Francisco Neighborhood to Improve Its Driverless Technology

By Becky Peterson · Apr 29, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment
Last week, Elon Musk told Tesla investors they should think about the electric vehicle maker “almost entirely” in terms of a single goal: figuring out how to make its cars drive themselves, without human supervision. Whether Tesla is successful in that objective could come down to its efforts to perfect autonomous driving in places... Last week, Elon Musk told Tesla investors they should think about the electric vehicle maker...
Elon Musk. Photo by Steve Granitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images.
Exclusive

Musk’s xAI Is Close to Raising $6 Billion from Sequoia, Others

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Becky Peterson and Margaux MacColl · Apr 25, 2024 3:04pm PDT
Elon’s Musk xAI is close to having billions of dollars more in its coffers to make its chatbot Grok a more fearsome competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Musk’s year-old startup is raising $6 billion at a valuation of $18 billion not including the investment, according to two people close to the deal. Sequoia Capital is one of the... Elon’s Musk xAI is close to having billions of dollars more in its coffers to make its...
Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images.
Exclusive

Huawei Leads Chinese Effort to Compete With Nvidia’s AI Chips

By Qianer Liu and Scott Thurm · Apr 25, 2024 6:00am PDT
Huawei Technologies is leading a group of Chinese semiconductor companies seeking memory chip breakthroughs that could help China develop home-grown alternatives to Nvidia’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips, which can’t be sold to the country. The Huawei-led consortium, backed by funding from the Chinese government, aims to... Huawei Technologies is leading a group of Chinese semiconductor companies seeking memory chip...
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Washington in March. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
ByteDance Exploring Scenarios for Selling TikTok Without Algorithm
By Erin Woo, Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Apr 25, 2024 4:59am PDT · 2 comments
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Washington in March. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
Exclusive

ByteDance Exploring Scenarios for Selling TikTok Without Algorithm

By Erin Woo, Qianer Liu and Juro Osawa · Apr 25, 2024 4:59am PDT · 2 comments
ByteDance is internally exploring scenarios for selling a majority stake in TikTok’s U.S. business, preferably to companies outside the tech industry, and without the algorithm that recommends videos to TikTok users, said three people with knowledge of the deliberations. ByteDance’s internal discussions come as President Joe... ByteDance is internally exploring scenarios for selling a majority stake in TikTok’s U.S....