Alphabet’s Google and DeepMind Pause Grudges, Join Forces to Chase OpenAIRead More

Briefing
media/telecom

Spotify Acquires Live Sports Talk App

By
Jessica Toonkel
· · Source: The Wall Street Journal

Spotify is jumping into the live audio business, acquiring Locker Room, an app where sports fans chat about games and sports news. Live audio has become increasingly popular over the past few months with apps like Clubhouse gaining millions of users. And to some level it makes sense for Spotify, which paid about $50 million for the app and its creator, to test the waters with live audio given its...

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
The Weekend culture ai
Fear and Longing in the AI Wars
By Jon Steinberg · April 1, 2023 7:00 AM PDT
Fear and Longing in the AI Wars
Hi, welcome to your Weekend! This is Abe filling in for Jon, who returns as Weekender-in-Chief next Saturday.If the cars, brain implants and spaceships don’t pan out, Elon Musk has a promising future as a fear-monger. His was the leading name attached to a widely discussed open letter published this week that urged a halt in artificial intelligence research, warning that AI poses “profound...
Latest Briefs
 
Twitter Releases Ranking Source Code Ahead of Verified-Check Removals
By Erin Woo · March 31, 2023
Meta Tells Managers to Temporarily Stop Hiring Remote Workers
By Mark Matousek · March 31, 2023
Fidelity Marks Down Twitter Stake Another 7.9%
By Martin Peers · March 31, 2023
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
From left, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Google Brain chief Jeff Dean. Photos by Getty, Bloomberg
Exclusive google ai
Alphabet’s Google and DeepMind Pause Grudges, Join Forces to Chase OpenAI
By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati
OpenAI’s success in overtaking Google with an artificial intelligence–powered chatbot has achieved what seemed impossible in the past: It has forced the two AI research teams within Google’s parent, Alphabet, to overcome years of intense rivalry to work together.
Art by Clark Miller.
Opinion startups
Don’t Build the Wrong Kind of AI Business
By Ben Parr
At a catch-up coffee a few weeks ago, a founder friend asked me, “What AI thing should we build?” It was the third time that week a founder had asked me the same question.
Orlando Bravo, co-founder of Thoma Bravo LLC. Photo by Bloomberg.
DEALS enterprise
Private Equity Firms’ Secret Weapon for Big Software Buyouts
By Rachel Graf
When Thoma Bravo was drawing up the financing of its $8 billion acquisition of Coupa Software last year, the private equity giant didn’t turn to a bank, and it didn’t get a traditional loan.
Art by Clark Miller.
Opinion entertainment media/telecom
The Streaming Business Model Is Hitting Its Half-Life
By Andrew A. Rosen
Sign up for Rosen’s newsletter, Parqor, part of The Information’s newsletter network.
Org Charts microsoft ai
The People Who Make OpenAI Run Fast
By Jon Victor
Sam Altman has been the face of OpenAI as it quickly outmaneuvered rivals such as Google to launch cutting-edge artificial intelligence to the public.
Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.
markets
Musk Puts $20 Billion Value on Twitter
By Erin Woo and Martin Peers
Elon Musk offered Twitter employees stock grants at a valuation of roughly $20 billion, said a person familiar with an email Musk sent to staff, less than half what he paid to buy the company.