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Apple's John Giannandrea. Photo by Getty

Apple’s AI Chief Struggles With Turf Wars as New Era Begins

By Wayne Ma · Apr 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Late last year, a trio of engineers who had just helped Apple modernize its search technology began working on the type of technology underlying ChatGPT, the chatbot from OpenAI that has captivated the public since it launched last November. For Apple, there was only one problem: The engineers no longer worked there. They had left the company to... Late last year, a trio of engineers who had just helped Apple modernize its search technology...

Discord CEO Jason Citron. Photo by Getty.

Discord’s Revenue Growth Slows to 44% in 2022

By Mark Matousek · Apr 26, 2023 11:53am PDT · 5 comments

Many tech firms saw meager revenue growth, or even a decline, last year as the digital ad market stalled and businesses cut back spending on software. Messaging startup Discord was an exception. Discord, which makes money from subscription fees, lifted revenue 44% to $445 million last year, according to an internal presentation viewed by The... Many tech firms saw meager revenue growth, or even a decline, last year as the digital ad market...

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo via Getty

In Google Founder’s Shadow, CEO Pichai Discovered the Limits of His Power

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Apr 26, 2023 6:00am PDT · 11 comments

Since Sundar Pichai became CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in 2019, he has been honest with colleagues about the difficulties of overseeing a sprawling conglomerate that’s under constant strain from internal power struggles, regulators and rebellious employees. In one example of that candor, he said in an internal meeting... Since Sundar Pichai became CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in 2019, he has been...

Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Photo by Getty.

Meta to Bring In Microsoft Exec to Lead Chips Effort as It Evaluates Strategy

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 25, 2023 11:25am PDT

Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Photo by Getty.

Meta to Bring In Microsoft Exec to Lead Chips Effort as It Evaluates Strategy

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Apr 25, 2023 11:25am PDT

Meta Platforms has hired a chip executive from Microsoft to oversee its work developing custom chips for hardware devices, according to two people familiar with the matter. The hire comes as Meta is evaluating the company’s silicon strategy, a move that could spell more layoffs. Jean Boufarhat, who currently serves as corporate vice... Meta Platforms has hired a chip executive from Microsoft to oversee its work developing...

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Picks Fulfillment Veteran as New ‘Shadow Adviser’

By Theo Wayt · Apr 25, 2023 10:25am PDT

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has picked Eric Rimling, a 14-year veteran of the company’s fulfillment operation, as his new technical adviser, according to two people with knowledge of the appointment. The highly coveted position, which involves working directly with the CEO on a daily basis, has been a fast track to promotions for Amazon staffers... Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has picked Eric Rimling, a 14-year veteran of the company’s...

Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Cloud Unit Gains Key AI Chip Team to Compete With Microsoft

By Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Apr 23, 2023 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Google has moved the engineering team responsible for making artificial intelligence chips into Google Cloud, a spokesperson confirmed, in a step that could make the cloud unit more competitive with its bigger rivals, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, in selling AI-powered software to businesses. The move is the latest sign of how Google is... Google has moved the engineering team responsible for making artificial intelligence chips into...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Tiger Global Management’s $12.7 Billion Venture Fund Records 20% Loss

By Erin Woo · Apr 20, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Tiger Global Management’s $12.7 billion venture fund, launched near the peak of the tech stock boom in October 2021, gave the New York hedge fund firepower to back hundreds of startups in under two years. Now the mammoth fund is bearing testimony to the bruising correction in private tech valuations that followed. Tiger has told investors... Tiger Global Management’s $12.7 billion venture fund, launched near the peak of the tech...

Igor Babuschkin and Elon Musk. Photos via TU Dortmund and Wikimedia.

Musk’s Leader for OpenAI Rival Was Recently Arrested for Domestic Violence

By Jon Victor · Apr 19, 2023 3:14pm PDT · 17 comments

Igor Babuschkin and Elon Musk. Photos via TU Dortmund and Wikimedia.

Musk’s Leader for OpenAI Rival Was Recently Arrested for Domestic Violence

By Jon Victor · Apr 19, 2023 3:14pm PDT · 17 comments

Police in northern California last month arrested Igor Babuschkin, Elon Musk’s first known hire for a new company that aims to compete with artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, for domestic battery, public records show. A representative for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, Lisa Buuck, said the office had... Police in northern California last month arrested Igor Babuschkin, Elon Musk’s first known...

SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger speaks to Senators during a hearing that revolved around rival Ticketmaster's competitive practices earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg.

SeatGeek Files Confidentially for IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 19, 2023 12:34pm PDT

Event ticketing company SeatGeek filed confidentially with regulators this month for an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said, adding itself to a long list of firms aiming for IPOs once market conditions improve. Event ticketing company SeatGeek filed confidentially with regulators this month for an initial...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How an Online Pharmacy’s Automation Project Went Awry

By Paris Martineau · Apr 19, 2023 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Last summer, Capsule—an online pharmacy startup that had won attention with its speedy prescription-drug deliveries and quirky practice of addressing customers in emails and over the phone as “dear”—had a crisis on its hands in New York, its most important market. Beginning in August, Capsule customers in the city began... Last summer, Capsule—an online pharmacy startup that had won attention with its speedy...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Microsoft Readies AI Chip as Machine Learning Costs Surge

By Anissa Gardizy and Wayne Ma · Apr 18, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

After placing an early bet on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, Microsoft has another secret weapon in its arsenal: its own artificial intelligence chip for powering the large-language models responsible for understanding and generating humanlike language. The software giant has been developing the chip, internally code-named Athena, since as... After placing an early bet on OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, Microsoft has another secret weapon...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by AP.

OpenAI Wraps Up Tender as AI Talent War Heats Up

By Jon Victor and Erin Woo · Apr 17, 2023 7:31am PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by AP.

OpenAI Wraps Up Tender as AI Talent War Heats Up

By Jon Victor and Erin Woo · Apr 17, 2023 7:31am PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI has told employees it has finalized a tender offer that allowed some staff to cash out their holdings, one person with direct knowledge of the situation said. The move caps a process that began last fall alongside talks to raise billions of dollars from Microsoft. Over the past few months, the San Francisco startup behind artificial... OpenAI has told employees it has finalized a tender offer that allowed some staff to cash out...

Nicola Mendelsohn and Mark Zuckerberg. Art by Shane Burke/Bloomberg

Meta Tries to Lure Advertisers With Reels Discounts, AI Tools

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Sahil Patel · Apr 17, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

After suffering its first-ever drop in ad sales, Meta Platforms has abandoned its once-brash tone with advertisers in favor of a more flexible approach to winning business. Instead of demanding that ad agencies commit to increases in spending of 20% or more, as they typically did in past years, Meta's salespeople are signaling... After suffering its first-ever drop in ad sales, Meta Platforms has abandoned its...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Palo Alto Networks Woos Customers With Years of Free Software as Cloud Security Sales Slow

By Aaron Holmes · Apr 14, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

The slowdown in enterprise software spending is forcing some software firms to go to extraordinary lengths to win business. Palo Alto Networks, for instance, is giving away cloud security service—literally. The company, which is the biggest stand-alone security software firm measured by market capitalization, is offering its cloud security... The slowdown in enterprise software spending is forcing some software firms to go to...

Fraser Kelton, venture partner at Spark Capital. Photo via Fraser Kelton

Former OpenAI Exec Joins Spark Capital as Venture Push Into AI Heats Up

By Kate Clark · Apr 13, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

To gain an edge in the suddenly hot artificial intelligence category, one venture firm is hiring from the startup—OpenAI—that set off the generative AI craze in the first place. Spark Capital has hired Fraser Kelton, the former head of product at OpenAI, as a venture partner, Kelton and Nabeel Hyatt, a Spark general partner, told The... To gain an edge in the suddenly hot artificial intelligence category, one venture firm is hiring...

Photo by Shutterstock.

Cybersecurity Firm Zscaler Loses Coveted Spot in Gartner Ranking Due to ‘Sales Arrogance’

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 12, 2023 5:00am PDT · 4 comments

Photo by Shutterstock.

Cybersecurity Firm Zscaler Loses Coveted Spot in Gartner Ranking Due to ‘Sales Arrogance’

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 12, 2023 5:00am PDT · 4 comments

Competition between the two of the biggest cybersecurity firms selling software monitoring employee access to cloud applications and data is set to intensify after influential market research firm Gartner cut its ranking on the market leader, Zscaler. In a regular update about the best positioned firms, Gartner ranked privately held... Competition between the two of the biggest cybersecurity firms selling software monitoring...

YC CEO Garry Tan. Photo by Getty.

Garry Tan’s First Big Move as Y Combinator CEO Roils Founders

By Kate Clark · Apr 11, 2023 6:00am PDT · 14 comments

The first big change made by Y Combinator’s new CEO and president Garry Tan—to shutter a fund investing in mature startups so it could sharpen its focus on much younger companies—has set off an uproar among founders backed by the esteemed startup accelerator. The first big change made by Y Combinator’s new CEO and president Garry Tan—to ...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Starts Charging for Some UPS Store Returns

By Theo Wayt · Apr 10, 2023 12:33pm PDT · 4 comments

Amazon has started charging fees to make some returns at UPS Stores, marking the latest effort by the e-commerce giant to cut down on costs associated with customers sending back items. Returns have been an expensive headache for e-commerce companies after they skyrocketed during pandemic lockdown and have remained stubbornly high.... Amazon has started charging fees to make some returns at UPS Stores, marking the latest effort by...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

TikTok Struggles to Enlist U.S. Merchants for Shopping Service

By Juro Osawa, Theo Wayt, Ann Gehan and Kaya Yurieff · Apr 10, 2023 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

As TikTok tries to win over U.S. politicians, it may have kneecapped its shopping service, TikTok Shop. Relatively few U.S. merchants are showing interest in signing up for the nascent service, both because they’re more focused on expanding in bricks and mortar and because they’re concerned the app could be banned, merchants say. ... As TikTok tries to win over U.S. politicians, it may have kneecapped its shopping service, TikTok...

Art by Mike Sullivan

AI Developers Stymied by Server Shortage at AWS, Microsoft, Google

By Aaron Holmes and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 7, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

AI Developers Stymied by Server Shortage at AWS, Microsoft, Google

By Aaron Holmes and Anissa Gardizy · Apr 7, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

Startups and other companies trying to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom sparked by OpenAI are running into a problem: They can’t find enough specialized computers to make their own AI software. A spike in demand for server chips that can train and run machine-learning software has caused a shortage, prompting major... Startups and other companies trying to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom sparked by...