The Information

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Cloud Computing Startup CoreWeave Prepares for 2025 IPO

By Cory Weinberg · May 29, 2024 10:38am PDT

Cloud computing startup CoreWeave, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom, has been on a fundraising spree over the past year from some of the deepest pockets on Wall Street. Now it’s planning an initial public offering. The startup has started early preparations to go public by the first half of next... Cloud computing startup CoreWeave, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial...

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. Photo by Getty

Apple’s Plan to Protect Privacy With AI: Putting Cloud Data in a Black Box

By Wayne Ma · May 29, 2024 6:38am PDT · 2 comments

When Apple executives appear at its annual developer conference in mid-June, they are expected to unveil details of how it will integrate AI in its Siri virtual assistant and other products. One of the big questions is how it will do so while still honoring its promises to protect the personal data of its users. The answer? Apple plans to... When Apple executives appear at its annual developer conference in mid-June, they are expected to...

Elon Musk. Photo by Variety via Getty.

Musk Plans xAI Supercomputer, Dubbed ‘Gigafactory of Compute’

By Anissa Gardizy · May 25, 2024 8:00am PDT · 3 comments

Elon Musk has said publicly that his artificial intelligence startup xAI will need a whopping 100,000 specialized semiconductors to train and run the next version of its conversational AI Grok. To make the chatbot smarter, he’s recently told investors xAI plans to string all these chips into a single, massive computer—or what... Elon Musk has said publicly that his artificial intelligence startup xAI will need a whopping...

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Meta Is Working on a Paid Version of Its AI Assistant

By Kalley Huang · May 23, 2024 3:59pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Getty

Meta Is Working on a Paid Version of Its AI Assistant

By Kalley Huang · May 23, 2024 3:59pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms is considering charging users for a more advanced version of its artificial intelligence-powered assistant, called Meta AI, according to an internal post reviewed by The Information. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic each offer $20-per-month subscriptions to their chatbots. The subscriptions let people use those... Meta Platforms is considering charging users for a more advanced version of its artificial...

David Luan, co-founder and CEO of Adept. Photo via YouTube/General Catalyst.

AI ‘Agent’ Startup Adept Has Talked to Potential Buyers, Including Meta

By Amir Efrati and Natasha Mascarenhas · May 22, 2024 6:45pm PDT · 1 comment

The leaders of Adept, a 2-year-old artificial intelligence startup run by former OpenAI and Google AI developers, held talks in recent months about a possible sale or strategic partnership with large tech companies, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversations. One company Adept spoke to was Facebook owner Meta... The leaders of Adept, a 2-year-old artificial intelligence startup run by former OpenAI and...

Jonathan Ross, CEO & Founder, Groq. Screenshot via YouTube

Nvidia Challenger Groq Enlists Morgan Stanley to Raise $300 Million

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Cory Weinberg · May 22, 2024 10:51am PDT · 4 comments

Groq, an Nvidia rival that develops specialized server chips and software for artificial intelligence, has told investors it wants to raise about $300 million, according to two people who spoke to the company’s leaders. It has tapped Morgan Stanley to help with the fundraising, according to one of the people and a third person. The new... Groq, an Nvidia rival that develops specialized server chips and software for artificial...

An Amazon Flex driver in Tampa, Fla. Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images.

Amazon’s Next Potential Threat to UPS: Using Its Own Drivers for Returns

By Theo Wayt · May 22, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Over the past decade, Amazon has assembled a vast network of delivery drivers to reduce its reliance on shippers like United Parcel Service. Now, Amazon wants those drivers to start tackling another task that has become a major problem: returns. In a new pilot program, Amazon drivers will pick up returns from customers’ houses and bring... Over the past decade, Amazon has assembled a vast network of delivery drivers to reduce its...

TikTok's headquarters in Singapore. Photo by Getty

TikTok Plans Layoffs of Operations and Marketing Employees

By Erin Woo and Kaya Yurieff · May 21, 2024 3:34pm PDT

TikTok's headquarters in Singapore. Photo by Getty

TikTok Plans Layoffs of Operations and Marketing Employees

By Erin Woo and Kaya Yurieff · May 21, 2024 3:34pm PDT

TikTok has told employees it plans significant layoffs in its operations and marketing teams this week, according to current employees. The precise number of job cuts could not be learned, but the employees said the layoff will affect a large percentage of the roughly 1,000 people working in TikTok's global user operations, content and... TikTok has told employees it plans significant layoffs in its operations and marketing teams this...

Krishna Rao. Photo via Fanatics.

Anthropic Hires Airbnb Vet as First CFO

By Cory Weinberg · May 21, 2024 10:38am PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic, the maker of artificial intelligence chatbot Claude, has hired Airbnb veteran Krishna Rao as its first chief financial officer, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The executive hire, which the company plans to announce this week, is a sign the three-year-old startup is bolstering its executive ranks as it tries to... Anthropic, the maker of artificial intelligence chatbot Claude, has hired Airbnb veteran Krishna...

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey in December 2023.

Anduril Seeks $12.5 Billion Valuation After Doubling Revenue

By Cory Weinberg · May 20, 2024 3:08pm PDT

Military defense startup Anduril has had early discussions to raise what would be one of the largest venture capital rounds of the year so far, seeking about $1.5 billion of fresh funds that would value the company at $12.5 billion or more, two people who have spoken to the company said. The potential funding round would be an increase from... Military defense startup Anduril has had early discussions to raise what would be one of...

Screenshot of Moonshot's AI chatbot, Kimi

Tencent, Alibaba Place Bets on Startups Racing to Become China’s OpenAI

By Juro Osawa and Qianer Liu · May 20, 2024 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

In China, dozens of startups have been competing to develop conversational artificial intelligence for the Chinese market. Now some are starting to pull ahead, in part due to backing from tech giants with large cloud operations like Tencent and Alibaba. Among them is Moonshot AI, developer of a chatbot that can process millions of Chinese... In China, dozens of startups have been competing to develop conversational artificial...

An iPhone 15 on display. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images.

Apple Plans a Thinner iPhone in 2025

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · May 17, 2024 9:17am PDT · 1 comment

An iPhone 15 on display. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images.

Apple Plans a Thinner iPhone in 2025

By Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu · May 17, 2024 9:17am PDT · 1 comment

Apple is developing a significantly thinner version of the iPhone that could be released as early as 2025, according to three people with direct knowledge of the project. The slimmer iPhone could be released concurrently with the iPhone 17, expected in September 2025, according to the three people with direct knowledge and two others familiar... Apple is developing a significantly thinner version of the iPhone that could be released as early...

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Stability AI in Talks to Raise Money From Group Including Sean Parker

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 16, 2024 6:42pm PDT · 3 comments

A group of investors including Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president, has discussed making an investment in Stability AI, a startup developing products that run on open-source image generator Stable Diffusion, according to a person directly involved in deal conversations. The deal would represent a lifeline for Stability, which... A group of investors including Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president, has...

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Stability AI, Facing Cash Crunch, Discusses Sale

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 15, 2024 4:51pm PDT · 2 comments

Stability AI, which has emerged as a poster child for investors’ rush to back unproven artificial intelligence startups, has talked to at least one potential buyer in recent weeks about a sale as its faces a cash crunch, according to a person involved in the conversations. The four-year-old startup raised at least $101 million from marquee... Stability AI, which has emerged as a poster child for investors’ rush to back unproven...

Elon Musk, left, and Larry Ellison. Photos via Getty Images.

Musk’s xAI Nears $10 Billion Deal to Rent Oracle’s AI Servers

By Anissa Gardizy · May 14, 2024 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

Elon Musk’s 1-year-old artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has been talking to Oracle executives about spending $10 billion to rent cloud servers from the company over a period of years, according to a person who has been involved in the talks. The deal would make xAI one of Oracle’s largest customers as Musk tries to catch up... Elon Musk’s 1-year-old artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has been talking to Oracle...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo via Shutterstock.

TPG, General Atlantic Back Saudi Startups After Taking Kingdom’s Money

By Kate Clark · May 14, 2024 6:00am PDT

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo via Shutterstock.

TPG, General Atlantic Back Saudi Startups After Taking Kingdom’s Money

By Kate Clark · May 14, 2024 6:00am PDT

The Middle East’s giant sovereign wealth funds have poured money into dozens of U.S. private tech funds with the expectation that some of those petro dollars will funnel back to the region’s startups. Now there are signs that venture capitalists and private equity funds are responding by scouting for investments in local startups. In... The Middle East’s giant sovereign wealth funds have poured money into dozens of U.S....

Food and beverage startups can struggle to finance inventory and other costs to get their products on shelves. Photo via Adobe Stock.

A Lender to Buzzy Brands Is Scrambling, Highlighting Consumer Crunch

By Ann Gehan · May 13, 2024 11:54am PDT

Ampla, a consumer startup-focused fintech that has loaned money to buzzy food and beverage brands like Carbone Fine Food pasta sauces and MrBeast-backed snack brand Feastables, is trying to find a buyer after failing to raise a fresh equity round, a person who has participated in deal talks said. The sale attempts highlight how a pullback in... Ampla, a consumer startup-focused fintech that has loaned money to buzzy food and beverage brands...

Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images.

Meta Explores AI-Assisted Earphones With Cameras

By Kalley Huang and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · May 13, 2024 9:30am PDT

Meta Platforms is exploring developing artificial intelligence–powered earphones with cameras, which the company hopes could be used to identify objects and translate foreign languages, according to three current employees. Meta’s work on a new AI device comes as several tech companies look to develop AI wearables, and after Meta... Meta Platforms is exploring developing artificial intelligence–powered earphones with...

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

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

OpenAI Develops AI Voice Assistant As It Chases Google, Apple

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · May 10, 2024 3:25pm PDT · 4 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. AP Photo/Jon Gambrell

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...