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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

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.

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...

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

By Qianer Liu and Scott Thurm · Apr 25, 2024 6:00am PDT

Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images.

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

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....

Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara. Photo by Getty.

Nvidia to Buy Two Israeli Startups That Make Its AI Chips Cheaper to Use

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 24, 2024 3:13pm PDT · 1 comment

During the artificial intelligence boom, chipmaker Nvidia became one of the most active corporate venture capitalists, investing in over 30 startups last year alone, according to PitchBook. Now it may become one of the most active acquirers of AI startups. Nvidia has recently struck two agreements to buy Israeli AI startups, including one... During the artificial intelligence boom, chipmaker Nvidia became one of the most active corporate...

Rubrik CEO Bipul Sinha. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Inside Rubrik’s Pitch for Its High-Stakes Software IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 24, 2024 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

The next big test of the big IPO market for software firms comes later on Wednesday, when data security firm Rubrik is expected to price its initial public offering. On the surface, the company would be an unlikely IPO success right now. It is small and its business very niche, and it is losing money, which might turn off investors. To get Wall... The next big test of the big IPO market for software firms comes later on Wednesday, when data...

Cognition AI CEO, Scott Wu, and the company's software development assistant, Devin. Screenshots via YouTube.

Six-Month-Old AI Coding Startup Valued at $2 Billion by Founders Fund

By Kate Clark · Apr 24, 2024 8:52am PDT · 1 comment

Cognition AI CEO, Scott Wu, and the company's software development assistant, Devin. Screenshots via YouTube.

Six-Month-Old AI Coding Startup Valued at $2 Billion by Founders Fund

By Kate Clark · Apr 24, 2024 8:52am PDT · 1 comment

The promise of a chatbot that can write and fix code has attracted repeat investments in a six-month-old startup—even after it appeared to flub its product launch. Founders Fund has led a $175 million investment in Cognition, a startup that recently launched an artificial intelligence–powered coding assistant called Devin, according... The promise of a chatbot that can write and fix code has attracted repeat investments in a...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Cybersecurity Takeover List: 6 Unicorns That Could Seek a Sale

By Aaron Holmes · Apr 24, 2024 6:00am PDT

As companies lose faith in the effectiveness of cybersecurity software and reexamine or rein in their spending on it, startups that sell that type of software have struggled to grow. Many of them will have little choice but to look for a buyout, some of their shareholders say, despite having raised record amounts of capital during the... As companies lose faith in the effectiveness of cybersecurity software and reexamine or rein in...

A humanoid robot at an expo in Beijing on April 9. Photo by VCG via Getty Images.

Venture FOMO Hits Robotics, as Young Startup Gets $1.5 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Apr 23, 2024 7:49am PDT · 4 comments

Venture investors are paying a hefty premium to back robotics startups harnessing artificial intelligence, hoping one of them can become the robotics version of OpenAI. In the latest example, Skild, a young firm that has been developing software to power various robots including ones with two or four legs, is nearing a deal to raise nearly $300... Venture investors are paying a hefty premium to back robotics startups harnessing artificial...

Photos via Aero Icarus/Flickr and Getty Images.

Shein’s China-U.S. Imports Boost Flexport

By Theo Wayt and Ann Gehan · Apr 23, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As logistics company Flexport looks to turn itself around after messy executive drama and a broader freight market slump last year, it’s leaning on an increasingly important customer: China-founded fast-fashion giant Shein. As of March, Flexport was arranging two Boeing 747 flights each week filled with goods sold by Shein—known... As logistics company Flexport looks to turn itself around after messy executive drama and a...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

How Investors Are Using SPVs to Buy Stakes in OpenAI and Anthropic

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Apr 22, 2024 6:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan.

How Investors Are Using SPVs to Buy Stakes in OpenAI and Anthropic

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Apr 22, 2024 6:00am PDT

To get a slice of hot artificial intelligence startups like OpenAI and Anthropic, investors have been flocking to investment vehicles that pool money from several parties to back just one company. These structures, known as special purpose vehicles, have long been part of Silicon Valley business but have quietly mushroomed as demand for AI... To get a slice of hot artificial intelligence startups like OpenAI and Anthropic, investors have...

ByteDance's Singapore office. Photo by Bloomberg.

TikTok Owner ByteDance Elevates Executive Leading AI Development

By Juro Osawa · Apr 19, 2024 11:21am PDT · 1 comment

As TikTok owner ByteDance ramps up its efforts to develop artificial intelligence, the Chinese internet giant recently elevated an executive leading the AI development to report directly to CEO Liang Rubo, according to two employees with direct knowledge of the matter. The decision to put the executive, Zhu Wenjia under Liang’s supervision... As TikTok owner ByteDance ramps up its efforts to develop artificial intelligence, the Chinese...

Wiz CEO, Assaf Rappaport. Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images.

Security Startup Wiz in Talks to Acquire Lacework for $200 Million

By Cory Weinberg and Aaron Holmes · Apr 18, 2024 9:51am PDT · 4 comments

Cybersecurity startup Wiz is in advanced talks to acquire Lacework, one of its largest private competitors, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks. The deal values Lacework at between $150 million and $200 million, according to one of the people, a sharp decline from the company’s 2021 valuation of $8.3 billion. The... Cybersecurity startup Wiz is in advanced talks to acquire Lacework, one of its largest private...

Art by Clark Miller

To Unlock AI Spending, Microsoft, OpenAI and Google Prep ‘Agents’

By Aaron Holmes · Apr 18, 2024 6:00am PDT

As many businesses remain cautious about spending on conversational artificial intelligence, AI providers such as Microsoft, OpenAI and Google are racing to make the technology more of a must-have—by introducing new features that can handle complex tasks with little guidance from the customer. Microsoft, for instance, is making software to... As many businesses remain cautious about spending on conversational artificial intelligence, AI...

Bolt co-founder Ryan Breslow. Photo by Getty.

Bolt Co-Founder Pulled Strings on Unusual Stock Buyback, Suit Alleges

By Abubakar Idris · Apr 17, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Bolt co-founder Ryan Breslow. Photo by Getty.

Bolt Co-Founder Pulled Strings on Unusual Stock Buyback, Suit Alleges

By Abubakar Idris · Apr 17, 2024 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

When one-click checkout startup Bolt told investors it would buy back their shares at what amounted to a 97% discount on the company’s late 2021 fundraising, it wasn’t clear why the company would make such an unusual move. After all, Bolt was burning cash as revenue flatlined. A new lawsuit may provide an answer. Bolt co-founder Ryan... When one-click checkout startup Bolt told investors it would buy back their shares at what...

Arthur Mensch, founder of Mistral AI, in Paris on Nov. 17, 2023. Photo by Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Mistral, an OpenAI Rival in Europe, in Talks to Raise Capital at a $5 Billion Valuation

By Kate Clark · Apr 16, 2024 6:39pm PDT · 1 comment

Mistral, a Paris-based startup developing artificial intelligence that is open source, has been speaking to investors about raising several hundred million dollars at a valuation of $5 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge. The company, which has just recently begun to generate revenue, in December raised $415 million at a... Mistral, a Paris-based startup developing artificial intelligence that is open source, has been...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas grand opening party in Austin on April 7, 2022. Photo by Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

Before Tesla Layoffs, Musk Cranked Up Pressure Amid Sales Slump

By Becky Peterson · Apr 16, 2024 3:16pm PDT · 5 comments

When Elon Musk arrived at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory last week to tour an expansion project on the south side of the 10-million-square-foot facility, he was furious. The expansion was part of a high-priority project for Musk: a data center for Dojo, a supercomputer Tesla is developing. Dojo is necessary to make full self-driving... When Elon Musk arrived at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory last week to tour an expansion...

The Shopify retail store in New York City. Photo by AP.

Shopify Employees Go Head to Head for Raises in New Ranking System

By Ann Gehan · Apr 16, 2024 12:42pm PDT · 5 comments

Some companies like to pit workers against each other to encourage them to pull out all the stops. At Shopify, a new employee ranking system rolled out in stages over the past year has, in the view of some employees, put that philosophy into action—by effectively making employees compete for pay rises. In recent months, Shopify has been... Some companies like to pit workers against each other to encourage them to pull out all the...

Art by Mike Sullivan

To Keep Viewers, Disney Plans a New Streaming Concept: Old-Style TV Channels

By Sahil Patel · Apr 15, 2024 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

To Keep Viewers, Disney Plans a New Streaming Concept: Old-Style TV Channels

By Sahil Patel · Apr 15, 2024 8:00am PDT · 1 comment

In television, what’s old is new again. After more than a decade of growth in streaming services that make viewers click on shows they want to watch “on demand,” a growing number of streaming services are offering new “channels” that function more like old-style TV, with a continuous, scheduled stream of shows. ... In television, what’s old is new again. After more than a decade of growth in streaming...