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☆ How Corporate America is rethinking its sustainability and diversity efforts
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . In today's big story, we're looking at how Corporate America is rethinking its sustainability and diversity efforts amid a push to avoid being labeled "woke." The rallying cry against companies' progressive campaigns is starting to leave a mark on Corporate America. AdvertisementAfter years of big promises and grand plans around social issues like diversity and sustainability, companies have taken a noticeable step back , Business Insider's Emily Stewart writes. The electric car maker axed more than 3,400 job postings in North America down to just three on Wednesday.

Persons: —, let's, wokening Brooks Kraft, Emily Stewart, Emily, ESG, hasn't, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump's, Bud Light, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Rock, Saul Loeb, Chelsea Jia Feng, Wall, Warren Buffett, It's, Justin Sullivan, Elon, Eric Schmidt, Steve Mnuchin, Kevin O'Leary, salespeople, BI's Rob Price, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, wokening Brooks Kraft LLC, Corporate America, Trump Media, Getty Images, of America, Berkshire Hathaway's, People's Bank of China, Chelsea, Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Netflix Locations: America, Beijing, North America, New York, London

☆ Earnings Exchange: Dropbox, ZipRecruiter & Sphere Entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEarnings Exchange: Dropbox, ZipRecruiter & Sphere EntertainmentLee Munson, president and CIO at Portfolio Wealth Advisors, shares outlooks on three trades: Dropbox, ZipRecruiter, and Sphere Entertainment.

Persons: Sphere Entertainment Lee Munson Organizations: Sphere Entertainment, Wealth

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Yelp, Sweetgreen, Akamai Technologies and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The company reported first-quarter earnings of 20 cents a share, surpassing analysts' estimates of 6 cents a share, per LSEG. Sweetgreen — The salad chain popped 5% after Sweetgreen reported first-quarter revenue of $158 million, topping the LSEG consensus estimate of $152 million. Akamai sees adjusted earnings ranging from $1.51 to $1.56 per share on revenue of $967 million to $986 million. Insulet — The medical device company fell 5% even after Insulet posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations. Insulet posted earnings of 73 cents per share, greater than the FactSet consensus estimate of 40 cents earnings per share.

Persons: Sweetgreen, Akamai, LSEG, Array's, FactSet, Dropbox, Insulet, Darla Mercado Organizations: Revenue, Akamai Technologies, Unity Software, LSEG, Gen, Norton

☆ Ali Partovi learned to code in a war zone. Now, he's trying to build a new kind of venture fund.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. But amid the chaos, there was one solid thing in Partovi's life, one thing he knew he could always put in order: computer code. Related storiesNow, Partovi has reached the top echelon of seed investors, ranking 13th on Business Insider's Seed 100 list. 'Neo Scholars'Through his seed-stage fund Neo, Partovi has amassed a formidable portfolio of early-stage investments, including Ramp, Deel, Vanta, MosaicML, and many more. As these "Neo Scholars," as they're known, graduate or drop out to build startups, Neo backs them with money from its investment fund.

Persons: —, Ali Partovi, Saddam Hussein, Partovi's, Hadi, Partovi, Facebook, Uber, There's Erik Goldman, Dropbox, Vanta, There's Ari Steinberg, who's Organizations: Service, Business, Boston University, Sharif University of Technology, Harvard, Microsoft, University, CS, Stanford, Facebook, Airbnb Locations: Tehran, Iran, Iraq, North America, Silicon

☆ Interest rates and the AI-fueled rally remain top of mind for stock investors in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The Fed and economic policy were top of mind this week given the central bank's Wednesday decision to yet again leave interest rates unchanged , as it has since last summer. This week included the conclusion of April's trading month, which marked the first down month of the year for all three major market averages. Indeed, some recent earnings reports have raised doubts about the economy, with brands from McDonald's and Starbucks evidencing signs of strain among consumers. While no new inflation numbers are scheduled for release next week, investors will see reports on March wholesale inventories, March consumer credit and May consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan. AI trade Though interest rates took center stage this week, investors also continued monitoring companies tied to the artificial intelligence boom amid the stocks' recent choppiness.

Persons: they're, Jerome Powell, Larry Tentarelli, David Donabedian, Sam Stovall, There's, Stovall, Tom Hainlin, Tentarelli, CFRA's Stovall, Lyft, Cabot, Aramark, Tempur Sealy, Nikola, Walt Disney, Sally Beauty, Warby Parker, Krispy Kreme, Papa John's Organizations: Federal Reserve, Treasury, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, CIBC Private Wealth, Dow, CFRA, Citigroup, Bank of America, U.S, Bank Wealth Management, University of Michigan, Nvidia, Disney, Spirit Airlines, Tyson Foods, Pharmaceuticals, Lucid, Palantir Technologies, Simon Property, Tech, Lab, Goodyear Tire, Noble Corp, Vornado Realty, Coty, BellRing, Consumer, UBS, BP, Nintendo, Bloomin, Duke Energy, Rockwell Automation, Ferrari, NRG Energy, Electronic Arts, Cirrus, Adaptive Biotech, Arista Networks, Dutch Bros, Holdings, Virgin Galactic, IAC, Rivian Automotive, Brighthouse, Occidental Petroleum, Assurant, Kinross Gold, Labs, Diamond, Reddit, Anheuser, Busch InBev, Embraer, Health, United Parks & Resorts, Emerson Electric, Brookfield , New York Times, Food, Reynolds Consumer Products, Teva Pharma, Uber Technologies, Dine Brands, Liberty Broadband, Fox Corp, Cushman &, Liberty Media, Arm Holdings, Kodiak Gas Services, Solaredge Technologies, AMC Entertainment, Cheesecake, News Corp, Toyota Motors, Fair, US Foods, Hyatt Hotels, Warner Bros, Hilton, Warner Music Group, Unity Software, Insurance, Gen, Honda, AMC Networks Locations: Central, McDonald's, Expeditors, Occidental, Angi, Brookfield , New, Ambev, Cushman & Wakefield, Michigan

☆ Dropbox CEO says employees appreciate remote work more than cushy office perks: 'they value flexibility a lot more than snacks'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewDropbox cofounder and CEO Drew Houston said he views his employees like customers, and that means giving them what they want — which isn't in-person work. Many companies are pushing employees to return to office in a hybrid structure, including giants like Google, Apple, and Amazon. Transitioning to virtual first meant getting rid of the "super vibrant in-person culture" Dropbox had before, the CEO said. But Houston said people voted "voted with their feet that they value flexibility a lot more than snacks in the office." AdvertisementThe CEO said one of the problems with hybrid work is it puts employees on a leash to tied to the nearby office space.

Persons: —, Drew Houston, Houston, Dropbox, Aaron Wojack, would've Organizations: Service, Business, Apple, Dropbox, Michelin, Google, Chicago Locations: San Francisco, Boston, LA, Houston

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says he's committed to cost cutting while investing in AI in shareholder letter
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +41 min

This work diminished short-term revenue, but was best for customers, much appreciated, and should bode well for customers and AWS longer-term. We're also making progress on many of our newer business investments that have the potential to be important to customers and Amazon long-term. Being intentional about building primitives requires patience. Customers building their own FM must tackle several challenges in getting a model into production. Customers' AI models contain some of their most sensitive data.

Persons: Andy Jassy, Jassy, Jeff Bezos, he's, we've, Martha Stewart, Clinique, we're, We've, bode, We're, I've, iterating, We'd, we'd, Fox, affordably, you've, They're, Anthropic, that's, Claude, Dana, debugs, Slack Organizations: Amazon, Services, AWS, Deal, Prime, MGM, Savings, Regions, Citadel, Target, Storage Service, Netflix, Disney, Max, Paramount, CIA, . Intelligence, Amazon Freight, Carrier, Amazon Shipping, Foods, Drones, Amazon Pharmacy, Amazon Clinic, Robotics, Nvidia, Ricoh, NatWest, FMs, Meta, Bridgewater Associates, Farber Cancer Institute, Delta Air Lines, Intuit, KT, Lonely, LexisNexis, Netsmart, Pfizer, PGA, Rocket Companies, Siemens, Media, Inc Locations: North America, U.S, Europe, India, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Middle East, Africa, Malaysia, New Zealand, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Berlin, Hulu, Amdocs, Genomics England, GoDaddy, GenAI

☆ I've been laid off 5 times. The first one was devastating — but I wouldn't have reinvented myself without them.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Charissa Cheong | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementWhen I first started working, I could not have imagined that I'd have to live through layoffs five times over eight years. I've worked in magazine media, startups, and tech. AdvertisementI am very loyal to all of the people that I've worked for and worked with. I started working as a director of marketing content strategy for Dropbox in August 2020. What I've learned after five layoffs in less than eight years is that no industry is immune to instability.

Persons: Betty Wong Ortiz, She's, Ortiz, —, I've, Rocco DiSpirito, I'd, We'd, Meredith, It's Organizations: Service, Fitness Magazine, Meredith Corporation, Blink Health, Dropbox, Blink Locations: Lake George , New York, Dropbox

☆ AI job cuts: Technology will shrink workforces within five years, say company execs
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

AI is emerging “as a great disruptor in the world of work,” Denis Machuel, chief executive of Adecco Group, said in a statement. Some 46% of executives said they would redeploy employees internally if their jobs were impacted by AI. Responses from more than 800 global companies showed that a quarter of them expected AI to cause job losses, while half thought the technology would create new jobs. The WEF said employers expected most technologies, including AI, to be “a net positive” for jobs over the following five years. Still, that offers little consolation to the workers AI has already helped push out.

Persons: ” Denis Machuel, Goldman Sachs Organizations: London CNN, Adecco Group, Oxford, Adecco, World Locations: Swiss, United States, Canada, Germany, Japan

☆ San Francisco’s ‘Twitter Menace’ or True Believer? He Might Be Both.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under cathedral ceilings and soaring stained glass windows, Garry Tan clutched a microphone as he greeted a crowd of political centrists, including San Francisco’s mayor, local prosecutors and police brass. “Welcome to the church of turning San Francisco around!” said Mr. Tan at a fund-raiser he was hosting for local Asian American female political candidates just days before the Super Tuesday elections this month. For a man evangelizing for change in San Francisco, owning a condo that used to be part of a church comes in handy. Last year, he scooped up the $3.95 million space near the city’s palm-tree-studded Dolores Park to hold events like this one — events he hopes will shift San Francisco from its idealistic progressivism toward nuts-and-bolts centrism. Mr. Tan’s day job is chief executive of Y Combinator, the accelerator for tech start-ups that has helped create household names including Airbnb, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart and Reddit.

Persons: Garry Tan clutched, ”, Tan, Y Organizations: Francisco’s Locations: San Francisco, Dolores, Francisco

☆ The Encounter That Put the Pianist Kelly Moran on an Unexpected Path
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Grayson Haver Currin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As spring 2022 bloomed, Irena Wang emailed the pianist Kelly Moran to ask for a mixtape. They had briefly met just days before — at the funeral of Wang’s partner of seven years and Moran’s high-school sweetheart in the little Long Island town where they grew up. “He was my first love, my first heartbreak, my first everything,” Moran remembered one evening after dark in Yamaha’s sprawling Midtown Manhattan piano studio in early February, a week before she turned 36. After the funeral, Wang sent her an email: “I really want to know you, but I need some time. Late last year, they moved in together; with Luka, Wang and Damian’s son, the members of this unorthodox trio have empowered one another past the shadow of grief.

Persons: Irena Wang, Kelly Moran, “, ” Moran, ”, Damian, Moran, Wang, John Adams’s “, —, Luka Organizations: — Locations: Midtown Manhattan, Los Angeles, Big

☆ Google employee charged with stealing AI trade secrets
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A Google employee was charged Tuesday with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the tech giant while secretly working with two Chinese-based companies in the AI industry. Linwei Ding, who also goes by Leon Ding, is charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets. As part of his responsibilities at Google, prosecutors say, Ding helped to develop the software deployed in Google’s supercomputing data centers. Ding was a junior employee, Google spokesperson José Castañeda told CNN, and the company monitors file transfers to cloud storage platforms including Google Drive and Dropbox. “We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets,” Castañeda said.

Persons: Linwei Ding, Leon Ding, “, General Merrick Garland, ” Ding, Ding, ”, José Castañeda, ” Castañeda Organizations: CNN, Google, supercomputing, Justice Department, FBI Locations: America, California, China, United States

☆ The Juggernaut promised to revolutionize South Asian news. But insiders say the company's founder misled investors, struggled to raise money, and left workers 'heartbroken.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Katie Warren | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +33 min

They were gathered for the inaugural summit of The Juggernaut, a digital South Asian news startup that launched in 2019. The Juggernaut spokesperson told BI that "multiple employees have equity in the company," but BI was unable to identify any such employees. "Twenty years ago, you might've struggled to mention a South Asian actor that you've seen in a movie," he said. As of January, the site had about 10,500 subscribers, Sur told investors in an email viewed by BI. Some feel that the publication has strayed from its mission of delivering "untold, smart South Asian stories and news you won't find anywhere else."

Persons: —, Richa Moorjani, Manish Chandra, Anish Melwani, Sadiq Khan, Amitav Ghosh, Roy Rochlin, Jay Bhattacharya, didn't, Sur, Padma Lakshmi, Moorjani, Mira Nair, Oprah Winfrey, she'd, who've, Josh Benson, Bhattacharya, might've, you've, Dev Patel, Priyanka Chopra, Black millennials, Bhattacharya's, Adam Hansmann, Kevin Lin, Albert Ni, Charles Hudson, Steve Jennings, Sur's, Kyle Stanford, Axios, Stanford, Snigdha, Winfrey, MICHAEL TRAN, hadn't, wouldn't, Fariha Róisín, Meghna Rao, Róisín, Rao, Rao didn't, they'd, she's, it's, Hudson, who'd, Reetu Gupta, Aditi Shah, Sean Gupta, Steven Simione, would've, we're, Brian Morrissey, Morrissey, cofounders, Narendra Modi's, Sneha Mehta Organizations: Spring Studios, Netflix, Business, New Yorker, Harvard Business School, Guardian, American, Old Town Media, Athletic, BI, Indian, Yale, McKinsey, Precursor Ventures, Forbes, Getty, TechCrunch, YouTube's Sustainability, YouTube, Paramount Pictures Studios, Immigration Services, Stanford, Digiday, Gannett Locations: York City, chai, Jean's, hasn't, Sur, New York City, South, Asian, India, Madhya Pradesh, Queens, Sur texted, Indian American, AFP, Róisín, Los Angeles , California, South Asia, Silicon

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Coinbase, Roku, Nike, Super Micro Computer and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Coinbase Global — Shares surged nearly 16% after the cryptocurrency exchange reported its first profit in two years. Roku — The streaming service provider slid 24% after posting a larger-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. Dropbox — Shares shed 20% after the cloud storage company issued lower-than-expected first-quarter revenue guidance. Dropbox now forecasts revenue in the range of $627 million to $630 million, versus the $632.5 million expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Super Micro Computer — The information technology company shed 11.6% after Wells Fargo initiated coverage of the stock with an equal weight rating.

Persons: Coinbase's, Yelp, FactSet, Toast, DoorDash, Wells, Carvana, Raymond James, —, Samantha Subin, Sarah Min, Alex Harring, Pia Singh Organizations: LSEG, Revenue, Nike —, Oppenheimer, FactSet, Bloom Energy, Nvidia —, Loop Locations: Carvana's

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Super Micro Computer, Dropbox, DoorDash and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Dropbox — Shares of the cloud storage company pulled back nearly 13% after the company issued lower-than-expected first-quarter revenue guidance. Dropbox now forecasts revenue in the range of $627 million to $630 million, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $632.5 million. The company also announced plans for a $250 million share repurchase, and said it planned to lay off 550 employees . Trade Desk — Shares skyrocketed more than 18% after the company beat revenue estimates in the fourth-quarter and issued higher-than-expected first-quarter guidance. DoorDash reported a loss of 39 cents per share while analysts polled by LSEG called for a 16-cents loss.

Persons: Ingersoll Rand, Ingersoll, Vulcan, FactSet, Roku, DraftKings, DoorDash, LSEG, Coinbase, Wells, Raymond James, Wayfair, Sarah Min, Michelle Fox, Jesse Pound, Alex Harring Organizations: Wall, FactSet, Vulcan, LSEG, Revenue, Bank of America Locations: Wells Fargo

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Nike, Tesla, Coinbase, Arm, Meta, Eli Lilly, UPS, Carvana & more
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Meta as buy Bank of America said it's bullish on Meta adding the Broadcom CEO to its board of directors. Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said it's standing by the stock heading into earnings next week but that a pullback is possible. Baird upgrades UPS to outperform from neutral Baird said in its upgrade of UPS that the risk/reward is too attractive to ignore. Bank of America downgrades Dropbox to underperform from buy Bank of America said the "bull thesis has played out" for the data storage company. Bank of America upgrades Cellebrite to buy from neutral Bank of America said it sees business trends stabilizing for the digital intelligence company.

Persons: it's, Hock Tan, NVDA, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, TD Cowen, Grosvenor, KBW, TTD, Baird, Wells, Tommy Hilfiger, Tommy, Raymond James downgrades Carvana, Raymond James, Wayfair, Oppenheimer, Morgan Stanley, Tesla, Guggenheim, SunPower, Jefferies, Eli Lilly, Roku Organizations: Bank of America, Meta, Broadcom, " Bank of America, Nvidia, Informatica, BMO, Trade, Google, U.S, UPS, JPMorgan, Daiwa, CY2025, UBS, Newell Brands, RBC, Nike, of America, Barclays, Netflix, JPMorgan downgrades Bloom Energy, BE, Pharma Locations: CY24, CY2024, Wayfair, U.S

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: DoorDash, Roku, Applied Materials and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Although revenue rose 27% to $2.3 billion, outpacing LSEG estimates, the loss of 39 cents per share was wider than expected. First-quarter earnings per share of $2.13, excluding items, bested estimates of $1.90 per share, from LSEG. Revenue came in slightly below analysts' estimates at $1.23 billion, versus $1.24 billion expected. Yelp — Shares dropped about10% after the website's first-quarter guidance for both adjusted EBITDA and revenue missed analysts' estimates. Bio Rad Laboratories — The life science equipment company's fourth-quarter earnings per share exceeded analysts' consensus estimates, FactSet said.

Persons: –, Yelp, FactSet, Macheel, Scott Schnipper Organizations: Revenue, Texas, Rad Locations: LSEG, FactSet . Texas

☆ Meta says Broadcom CEO Hock Tan is joining board of directors
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meta said Wednesday that Broadcom CEO president Hock Tan and philanthropist and former Enron executive John Arnold are joining the company's board of directors. Tan has been leading the semiconductor giant since 2006, giving him extensive international experience working in computing infrastructure technology. "As we focus on building AGI, having directors with deep expertise in silicon and energy infrastructure will help us execute our long term vision," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. The technical backgrounds of the incomers contrast with former Meta operating chief Sheryl Sandberg, who recently said she would step down from the company's board. Tan and Arnold join a board that includes former PayPal Executive Vice President Peggy Alford, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, former U.S. deputy secretary of the treasury Robert M. Kimmitt and DoorDash CEO Tony Xu.

Persons: Meta, Hock Tan, John Arnold, Tan, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Sandberg, Zuckerberg, Arnold, Peggy Alford, Marc Andreessen, Drew Houston, Robert M, Tony Xu, Meta's Ray Organizations: Broadcom, Enron, Meta, Google, Arnold Ventures, Grid United Locations: Houston, U.S

☆ 5 things next week that could determine if Wall Street's winning streak continues
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Wall Street wrapped up another positive week, with the S & P 500 closing Friday above 5,000 for the first time ever. It was a pretty light week in terms of economic data releases, though we did get a favorable ISM Services number on Monday. Things will pick up next week with several closely watched macroeconomic updates, including two key government inflation reports. While no Club earnings are scheduled to report earnings in the week ahead, 61 companies in the S & P 500 will deliver their latest quarterly results. Consumer inflation: The main event of the week will come on Tuesday when the January consumer price index (CPI) is released.

Persons: Estee Lauder, Eli Lilly, Price, Bausch, Trimble, Krispy Kreme, Topgolf, Kraft Heinz, Martin Marietta, Owens Corning, WEN, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Spencer Platt Organizations: Nasdaq, Club, GE Healthcare, DuPont, Linde, Ford, Disney, Wynn Resorts, CPI, PPI, Palo Alto Networks, Nvidia, Bausch Health, Arista Networks, WM, Cadence Design Systems, ZoomInfo Technologies, Avis Budget, Brighthouse, Goodyear Tire &, Vornado Realty, Marriott International, Hasbro, Restaurant Brands, Molson Coors Beverage, Holdings, MGM Resorts, MGM, Akamai Technologies, American International Group, AIG, Topgolf Callaway Brands, CME Group, Sony, SONY, Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Martin Marietta Materials, Ryder, Occidental Petroleum, Cisco Systems, Deere, Penn Entertainment, Southern Company, Coinbase, Trade, Materials, Rand, Texas, Housing, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, Getty Locations: Albemarle, ALB, Ingersoll, New York City

☆ The IRL social startup 222 is moving from LA to NYC as it launches an app and raises $2.5 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

For the founders behind the IRL social startup 222, it's all about the "magic of the backyard." The 222 team then organizes a multi-stage meetup, which includes a restaurant as well as another venue like a museum or a bar. At its events, 222 wants attendees to feel comfortable and leave "judgment at the door," said Hashemi, 222 's COO. "A lot more people are coming around to this idea of in real-life social," Hashemi said. Kazemian, Hashemi, and Roshannai, meanwhile, want to help swing the pendulum back to IRL — back to real relationships.

Persons: Keyan Kazemian, Danial Hashemi, Arman Roshannai, — Kazemian, Hashemi, Roshannai, Kazemian, —, Catalyst, Arash Ferdowsi, Cory, Catalyst's Niko Bonatsos, Sydney Bradley Organizations: Business, Scrum Ventures, Dropbox, University of Southern, YC, Tech, IRL Locations: Los Angeles, California, New York, New York City, University of Southern California, SoHo , New York

☆ AI lobbying spikes nearly 200% as calls for regulation surge
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The spike in AI lobbying comes amid growing calls for AI regulation and the Biden administration's push to begin codifying those rules. Until 2017, the number of organizations that reported AI lobbying stayed in the single digits, per the analysis, but the practice has grown slowly but surely in the years since, exploding in 2023. The data showed a range of industries as new entrants to AI lobbying: Chip companies like AMD and TSMC , venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz, biopharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca, conglomerates like Disney and AI training data companies like Appen. Organizations that reported lobbying on AI issues last year also typically lobby the government on a range of other issues. In its Request for Information, the Institute specifically asked responders to weigh in on developing responsible AI standards, AI red-teaming, managing the risks of generative AI and helping to reduce the risk of "synthetic content" (i.e., misinformation and deepfakes).

Persons: OpenSecrets, Biden, ByteDance, Andreessen Horowitz, government's, — CNBC's Mary Catherine Wellons, Megan Cassella Organizations: CNBC, Spotify, Samsung, Nvidia, Big Tech, AMD, U.S . Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards, Technology, NIST Locations: U.S

Activist investor Elliott Management has a "sizable" investment in e-commerce firm Etsy , which announced on Thursday that Elliott partner Marc Steinberg would join the company's board. The activist investor has built a roughly 13% position in the stock, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. The position would make it Etsy's largest investor. Still, the e-commerce company's stock is down about 10% year-to-date. It competes with e-commerce companies including Amazon, which has its own handcrafted products platform.

Persons: Elliott, Marc Steinberg, CNBC's David Faber, Josh, Steinberg, Etsy, Josh Silverman, Silverman Organizations: Nasdaq, Elliott Management, CNBC, Vanguard, BlackRock, Match Group, Philips, Amazon Locations: New York City, Salesforce, Brazil

☆ Lightbeam.ai helps companies manage AI governance. It just raised $17.8 million with this 16-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewLightBeam.ai, a data privacy and security startup, has raised $17.8 million in fresh funds. Founded in 2020, the company wants to help businesses adapt their data security in an increasingly AI-powered world. "In the era of generative AI breakthroughs, organizations are empowered to unlock valuable insights from customer data," Prasad told Business Insider. Advertisement"However, this advancement poses the crucial challenge of ensuring secure and compliant handling of customer data within the evolving landscape of AI governance and privacy regulations." The new funding will go towards scaling the San Francisco-based startup's head count having previously focused predominantly on technology investment.

Persons: —, Priyadarshi Prasad, Prasad Organizations: Service, Business, Vertex Ventures, Dropbox Ventures Locations: Francisco

☆ Zoom is cutting about 150 jobs, or close to 2% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan speaks at the Dropbox Work In Progress Conference in San Francisco on Sept. 25, 2019. Zoom is cutting about 150 jobs, CNBC confirmed on Thursday, the latest tech company to slash headcount this year as investors continue to push for efficiency. A Zoom spokesperson confirmed the cuts amount to less than 2% of the company's workforce. In addition to Zoom, cloud software vendor Okta announced a downsizing on Thursday, telling employees that it's laying off 400 staffers, or about 7% of its workforce. Zoom shares are down about 10% this year and have dropped almost 90% from their record high in October 2020.

Persons: Eric Yuan, Zoom Organizations: Conference, CNBC, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Google, MGM Studios, Okta Locations: San Francisco, layoffs.fyi

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA slew of companies across the tech, media, finance, and retail industries made significant cuts to staff in 2023. Major tech players like Google and Meta, finance giants like Goldman Sachs, and manufacturers like Dow all announced layoffs. Thirty-eight percent of business leaders surveyed by ResumeBuilder think layoffs are likely at their companies in 2024, and around half say their companies will implement a hiring freeze. Major tech companies like Dropbox, Google, and IBM have already announced job cuts as part of a new focus on AI.

Persons: —, Goldman Sachs, ResumeBuilder, they'll Organizations: Service, Google, Meta, Dow, Business, IBM

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