DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Man Behind California Forever, Silicon Valley's City of the Future
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Hugh Langley | Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

He sees California Forever. And if he can't undo the damage, there may never be a California Forever. California Forever may be a subdivision, but it's precisely the kind of subdivision America needs right now. But here's the thing: California Forever may be a subdivision, but it's precisely the kind of subdivision America needs right now. Places like California Forever aren't being opposed by the people who are desperate for a place to live.

Persons: Jan Sramek's, Goldman Sachs, Sramek, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Marc Andreessen —, They've, Christie Hemm, Peter Thiel, Jan Sramek, Jan, Thiel, Goldman, CheatSheet, Sramek's, hadn't, Jonas Rave, who's, —, Guy Saidenberg, Evernote, Marc Andreessen, Jane Jacobs, He's, he'd, Robert Moses, growth.y Christie Hemm, Flannery, Bronson Johnson, David George, Andreessen Horowitz, Marilyn Farley, Farley, Solano County's, Kathleen Threlfall, Bill Mortimore, California Forever's, Jessica Christian, he's, Lyle Lanley, Solano, Sam Houston, weren't, Gabriel Metcalf, You've, John Garamendi, Garamendi, isn't, they'll, latte, Christie, Travis, I've, aren't, They're Organizations: Silicon, California, BI Development, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, Party, Rising Star, Facebook, York, Sramek's, BI Sramek, Google, American, Planners, Sacramento -, Travis Air Force Base, Area, titans, Farmers, councilwoman, California Forever, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Air Force, Flannery Associates, Disney, San Francisco, Vallejo Naval, Historical Museum, Rep, BI, Solano, Sierra, Goldman Locations: San Francisco, It's, Sramek, California, Rio Vista, Solano County, Napa, Sacramento, Silicon Valley, America, London, Zurich, England, Czech Republic, Dřevohostice, York, British, Eastern Europe, Cambridge, Bay Area, Hayes Valley, America's cutest, Atlanta, Phoenix, Copenhagen, Barcelona, New York, Sacramento - San Joaquin, San Francisco Bay, Lake Tahoe, Toledo , Ohio, Silicon, Google's, Toronto, Big Tech, China, Calif, Springfield, Vallejo, He's, Atherton, Foreverville, Fairfield, Austin, Solano, Valley, Europe

☆ Disney World theme parks are becoming remote working hotspots
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Increasingly more people are choosing to work remotely from Disney theme parks. The trend began in the wake of the pandemic, as remote working became more popular and parks reopened. Writers and social media workers are among those heading down to work in Orlando. AdvertisementMore and more people are choosing to work remotely from Disney World theme parks — and it's not just Disney bloggers. Writers, techies, and social media workers are just some of those heading down to Orlando and sharing their experiences online.

Persons: —, it's Organizations: Service, Disney, Workers, Business Locations: Orlando

☆ I moved to Montana after getting priced out of California. I work in the trades — not all transplants are rich remote workers buying up property.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Baylon said not all Montana transplants are remote workers buying property and driving up prices. AdvertisementThis is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with 34-year-old Ian Baylon, a tradesman who moved from California to Montana in April 2022. Here in Montana there's a huge shortage of labor too. While it was very competitive in California, there's a lot of demand for the trades up here, but nobody up here really wants to learn the trades. A lot work in tech or finance, and there's no need for them to work locally.

Persons: Ian Baylon, Baylon, —, Jacob Boomsma, they're, Boz Angeles, United States Gordon Calhoun, Montanans, I've, chokehold, It's Organizations: Service, Crockett, That's Locations: Montana, Bay, California, Bay Area, San Francisco, Crockett, Area, Vallejo, West Yellowstone, Bozeman, Downtown Bozeman , Montana, Mexican, Berkeley, Gallatin, Sky , Bozeman, United States, Washington , New York , Texas, West Coast

Steve Bowsher, In-Q-TelSteve Bowsher, president and CEO of In-Q-Tel. He made an early bet on Palantir, blowing the doors open for Silicon Valley techies to go after federal contracts. The son of a federal employee who grew up devouring spy novels, Bowsher has always been interested in the work of the government but actually cut his teeth in Silicon Valley. After graduating from Stanford, he worked for three startups and spent eight years at venture fund InterWest Partners. By combining Silicon Valley's swashbuckling ethos with a government agency's mission-driven mentality, Bowsher has helped shepherd some of the biggest defense tech success stories of the past two decades.

Persons: Steve Bowsher, Bowsher Organizations: Magazine, Stanford, InterWest Partners Locations: Menlo Park , California, Silicon Valley

☆ Laid-off techies face 'sense of impending doom' with job cuts at highest since dot-com crash
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Alex Koller | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Last month's job cut count was the highest of any February since 2009, when the financial crisis forced companies into cash preservation mode. CNBC spoke to a dozen people who have been laid off from tech jobs in the past year or so about their experiences navigating the labor market. Additionally, some listings required applicants to have advanced degrees or professional experience in machine learning and artificial intelligence, a new development in Croisant's experience on the job market. "It is a combination of how well you brand yourself, about your access through networking to any given position — to the hidden job market." Still, Powers said she's trying to stay optimistic, "because giving up is not going to get me a job."

Persons: Ed Jones, Allison Croisant, Croisant, Roger Lee, Layoffs.fyi, Lee, I'm, Powers, who's, Tayfun, Christopher Fong, Fong, Michael Kascsak, Kascsak, It's, Lee of Layoffs.fyi, Amit Mittal, Amit Mittal Amit Mittal, Mittal, he's, Bill Vezey, —, Vezey, She's, would've, she's, Jennifer Elias Organizations: Afp, Getty, PayPal, Meta, Microsoft, eBay, Unity Software, SAP, Cisco, Wall, CNBC, Google, Anadolu Agency, Nationwide Locations: New York, Omaha , Nebraska, Comprehensive.io, Natchez , Mississippi, View , California, United States, Austin , Texas, U.S, who's, India, Chicago, Santa Cruz , California

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’ Gives Sci-Fi-Obsessed Silicon Valley a Reason to Party
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a top-floor atrium in downtown San Francisco on Thursday evening, tech workers from Google, Slack, X and Mozilla mingled next to a pair of cardboard cutouts of Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. Alex Stamos, the former head of security at Facebook, was also spotted. “Do you think they’ll let me take home one of the freaky sandworm popcorn buckets?” someone in the crowd tittered. The techies were all there to celebrate Silicon Valley’s newest obsession: “Dune: Part 2,” the latest movie adapted from the Frank Herbert-authored science-fiction saga, which helped inspire many of them to become interested in technology. The film, which follows the 2021 installment “Dune,” sold an estimated $81.5 million in tickets in the United States and Canada over the weekend, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film since “Barbie.”

Persons: Zendaya, Dustin Moskovitz, chatted, Tim O’Reilly, Alex Stamos, Frank Herbert, ”, “ Barbie Organizations: Google, Mozilla, Facebook Locations: San Francisco, United States, Canada

☆ Kara Swisher warns news organizations need to ‘reinvent’ themselves amid existential crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

We spoke to Swisher on Monday to get her insight on some of the challenges facing the media and tech landscape today. And they didn’t anticipate that these tech companies were going to get into media. If so, why haven’t legacy media companies been able to lure in top tech talent to improve their products? Media companies do not get to live by the same anti-gravity rules that tech companies have been able to. But media companies didn’t offer the same kind of upside.

Persons: New York CNN — Kara Swisher, ” Swisher, Swisher, it’s, BuzzFeed, they’ve, Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch, “, Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden’s, It’s, You’ve, Elon Musk, Bill Ackman, I’m, Elon, Tyler Perry, Sora, everyone’s, Adrian Chen, …, AllThingsD, Uber, We’ve, haven’t Organizations: New York CNN, Craigslist, . Media, Big Tech, New York Times, Harvard, The New York Times, Google Locations: New York

☆ There was a Vision Pro party in San Francisco — complete with people dancing and pinching the air
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's the latest example of people using the Vision Pro in public. Apple released the Vision Pro on February 2, billing it as an immersive "spatial computing" experience with both productivity and entertainment applications — and a $3,499 price tag. AdvertisementThe AI collective Cerebral Valley hosted an event to celebrate the release of the Vision Pro. AdvertisementNick Linck, founder of the Residency, a live-in fellowship for startup founders, shared a post on X showing two guests at a crowded dinner party wearing the Vision Pro. Reibman told The Standard that he has also seen people wearing the Vision Pro at several recent dinners.

Persons: It's, —, San Francisco aren't, partygoers, haven't, they've, Insider's Jordan Hart, Nick Linck, Linck, Reibman Organizations: Service, Apple, San Francisco Standard, Vision, Twitter Locations: San Francisco, California's, San Diego

☆ The Vision Pro's scary side effect
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The reviews are in, and the tech press is lauding the Apple Vision Pro headset for delivering on the company's promises. Apple and Meta are hoping that this virtual world will be so compelling that you won't just visit. Apple Vision Pro AppleThese are all, as the IT people say, known issues. When people adapt to a perceptual change for long enough, the real world starts to look wrong in the opposite direction. In the meantime, while he's doing his work, maybe don't forget to take that Vision Pro off once in a while.

Persons: It's, They're, you'll, Jeremy Bailenson, You've, That's, they're, techies, Bailenson's, passthrough, Bailenson, doesn't, I've, William Gibson, We've, he's, Adam Rogers Organizations: Apple, Meta, Stanford, Honda, Business

☆ Don't forget your Apple Vision Pro password or else
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewDid you forget the passcode to your Apple Vision Pro? "Is there a method to reset the Vision Pro when the login password is forgotten?" Apple didn't immediately respond when asked if a future software update would allow Vision Pro users to reset their passcode on their own. These issues with the Vision Pro appear to be the first ones that have come to light since Apple's splashy release. AdvertisementAround 200,000 Vision Pro headsets were reportedly sold when preorders opened in mid-January.

Persons: —, Reddit, Apple didn't, Insider's, Jordan Hart, preorders Organizations: Service, Apple Vision, Apple, Bloomberg, Business, Vision, Pro

☆ The Apple Vision Pro is blowing users away during their demos. But there's one issue.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

🥹🥹🥹 what a day can’t believe Vision Pro is out pic.twitter.com/p0JCkuZ7Z1 — Linda Dong 🥽 (@lindadong) February 2, 2024The excitement grew as Apple Store visitors tried the Vision Pro. AdvertisementWent to Apple Store to do the Vision Pro demo and I can’t articulate what exactly I just saw. @peach.mcintyre COME WITH PEACH 🍑 TO THE APPLE STORE TO DO A FREE DEMO OF THE APPLE VISION PRO: APPLE PRO REVIEW ♬ original sound - Peach.McIntyreBut not everyone expressed total enthusiasm for the headset. Opinions on the weight of the Apple Vision Pro — which some early testers complained crushed their face — varied. Whether or not those who demoed the Vision Pro in-store ended up purchasing their own, customer interest in Apple's flashy product seems to be strong.

Persons: —, techies, Du, flo o, Hal l, arie, ava Organizations: Service, Vision, Apple, Business Locations: SION, sion

☆ The AI explosion has made machine learning jobs hot commodities. But do you really need a Ph.D. to get one?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"I don't wanna get a Ph.D. but wanna work as a Machine Learning Engineer," an X user wrote, kicking off a debate. I don't wanna get a PhD but wanna work as a Machine Learning Engineer. AdvertisementOne respondent said a doctorate is only relevant for research, not machine learning engineering. The discussion comes as employers and would-be workers assess which skills and education are most useful as the AI job market booms. One X user's response to the original post pointed out that a Ph.D. is just one way to become a machine learning engineer.

Persons: —, Tanay Mehta, Cristian Garcia, X Garcia, Garcia, Chris Foltz, Lindsey Duran, Alex Shapiro, Jasper AI Organizations: Service, Business, Google, IBM, Jasper

☆ The eating habits of tech execs: From Mark Zuckerberg's 'kill what you eat' routine to Elon Musk's Diet Coke obsession
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-22 | by ( Grace Kay | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Some of the richest people in tech have some pretty bizarre eating habits. Elon Musk Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC ImagesJust because billionaires have the money to pay for pricey personal chefs or high-end healthy foods doesn't mean they're adhering to diets that are good for them. While some experiment with the latest health fads —like the Paleo diet and veganism — there are other tech billionaires who enjoy eating chocolate for breakfast or skip eating altogether for days at a time. So when it comes to wealth, you may want to follow the lead of these techies, but think twice when it comes to health.

Persons: Elon Musk Gilbert Carrasquillo

☆ How Sam Altman's OpenAI drama highlighted the debate splitting Silicon Valley: Are you an e/acc or decel?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-07 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewSam Altman's brief ousting as OpenAI CEO didn't just thrust the company further into the global spotlight amid reported personality clashes. It's also highlighted a bigger ethical debate in Silicon Valley: how fast companies should move when pushing out AI technology. Broadly speaking, the debate lies in whether you think that moving full-speed ahead on AI technology will save the world or you think the industry needs to slow down. One key Silicon Valley backer of the idea is veteran venture capitalist Marc Andreessen . His advice to Silicon Valley: "I would encourage any watchers of the industry to not get stuck in a divisive set of rhetoric."

Persons: —, Sam Altman's, didn't, It's, Altman, he's, you've, Marc Andreessen, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sam Bankman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Toner, McCauley, Altman's, EAs —, Sriram Krishnan, Andreessen Horowitz, — Sriram Krishnan, Gaurab Bansal Organizations: Service, Business, acc, EA, Elon, Wall Street Journal, EAs, Labs, US Department of Commerce, Innovation Labs Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon

☆ Opinion: In Gaza, my 71-year-old mom watches over the rubble encasing her family
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Opinion Hani Almadhoun | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Writer Hani Almadhoun with his family in Gaza, during a visit over summer. They mourn the departed, yet there have been so many loved ones lost, leaving very little time to properly grieve. This news struck me deeply – I’m grappling with a crisis of faith witnessing a genocide unfold, while my mother living under bombs and burying her loved ones still clings to her spirituality. I wondered: who will step into the shoes of those gifted doctors, caring nurses and compassionate medical staff lost in Gaza? Hani AlmadhounThese are irreplaceable individuals, not merely statistics or collateral damage but people cherished deeply by their loved ones.

Persons: Hani Almadhoun, Read, CNN —, Majed, Safaa, Ali, Omar, Lucky, Hani, Mom, won’t, Joe Biden, Hani Almadhoun's Organizations: United Nations Relief, Works Agency, CNN Locations: Gaza, Greece, Siwar, breadlines

☆ The world is splitting between those who use ChatGPT to get better, smarter, richer — and everyone else
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There is growing evidence that artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT can make you more efficient and capable at work. And the effect will be particularly noticeable if no one else in the company is using AI in this way. All said that outsourcing time-consuming, small jobs to AI tools freed up their time. AI at work still needs careful handlingThere are obvious caveats to using AI to do your work for you. Some companies also have specific rules for AI tools due to fears around copyright or data security.

Persons: ChatGPT, —, OpenAI's, techies, Google's, Matt Calkins, Appian, It's, Shakespeare, Shona Ghosh Organizations: Service, Harvard Business School, Boston Consulting, Developers, Microsoft, Workers

☆ Stock futures open little changed to start the shortened Thanksgiving holiday week
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. equity futures opened little changed on Sunday evening, heading into the shortened Thanksgiving holiday week with all of the major averages coming off of their third straight winning performance. S&P 500 futures were down by about 3 points, or nearly 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were lower by 34 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 closed last week higher by 2.2% and the Dow added 1.9%, marking the first three-week streak for the indexes since July. Ahead of the Thanksgiving Day-shortened week, traders are awaiting Nvidia's earnings and forward guidance out Tuesday. Trading around the Thanksgiving holiday has been choppy in recent years, but November is still the best-performing month for the S&P 500, according to the Stock Traders' Almanac.

Persons: Bill Baruch, CNBC's, Friday's, OpenAI's, Sam Altman Organizations: Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Dow, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Blue, FactSet, Microsoft, Stock Traders

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 16, 2023. "Sam and OpenAI were the catalyst that showed the world what AI tech is capable of," Jannsen said. Silicon Valley's high-profile startup CEO firings typically involve wrongdoing, rather than just philosophical differences about where the company is headed. "Sam Altman is a hero of mine," former Google CEO and investor Eric Schmidt said in an X post. — CNBC's Lora Kolodny contributed to this report WATCH: OpenAI says Sam Altman exiting as CEO because 'board no longer has confidence.'

Persons: Sam Altman, Carlos Barria, OpenAI, Steve Jobs, Altman, —, Jobs, U.S . Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Brockman, Ron Conway, Greg, Brian Chesky, Matt Schlicht, Schlicht, Sam, Ryan Jannsen, Jannsen, Patrick Moorhead, They're, Moorhead, Josh Wolfe, Wolfe, he'd, Eric Schmidt, Tom Williams, Airbnb's Chesky, what's, Chesky, Satya Nadella, Zachary Lipton, Carnegie Mellon's Lipton, Lipton, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny Organizations: Economic Cooperation, Reuters, ChatGPT, Apple, U.S ., Amazon, Tesla, Microsoft, Tiger, Sequoia Capital, CNBC, Google, Lux Capital, Cq, Inc, Getty, Carnegie Mellon University, Industry Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California, U.S, Silicon Valley, OpenAI, what's, —

☆ The tech world reacts in shock to Sam Altman's departure from OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ex-CEO Sam Altman has left OpenAI — and the tech community is freaking out. AdvertisementOpenAI just sent shockwaves through the tech industry by announcing that Sam Altman is out as CEO — and members of the tech community are freaking out. In response to Altman's departure, members of the tech community are turning to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their shock. Some techies are even reacting to Altman's departure in sheer disbelief. OpenAI referred Insider to its announcement of Altman's departure when reached for comment.

Persons: Sam Altman, —, Mira Murati, OpenAI, ChatGPT, Altman —, Altman, Pietro Schirano, Matt Wolfe, Eric Schmidt, Kara Swisher, may've, Kambha Organizations: Tech, Service, Google, Arizona State University

☆ Ruzwana Bashir Is Quietly Connecting the Tech World
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Story by Melia RussellPhotography by Lelanie FosterRuzwana Bashir is ransacking her kitchen cabinet for just the right tea. Bashir wears an Erdem floral-printed bra top, Erdem skirt, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Old Jewelry earrings along with her own bracelet and ring. "Part of building a business was going out and sharing what you were doing with the world," Bashir says. For years Bashir's startup had been building muscle around these capabilities; now it had an eager audience. Eating at acclaimed restaurants is fine, but Bashir prefers the more-intimate affairs at tech executives' homes because, she says, "you can stay longer."

Persons: Melia Russell, Lelanie Foster Ruzwana Bashir, Peek, She's, she's, Andy Warhol, Picasso, Bashir, I'm, Andreessen Horowitz, Jack Dorsey, Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs, Giuseppe Zanotti, Lelanie Foster, Bashir isn't, Elon Musk, Ronan Farrow, Roelof Botha, Mustafa Suleyman, we've, Bennett Miller, Capote, " Miller, —, doesn't, didn't, Madeleine Albright, Tom Ford, Jared Cohen, Oskar Bruening, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg, I've, Bashir wasn't, Travis Kalanick, Adam Neumann, Ty, Emily Weiss, Bashir refashioned, Donald Trump, Bruening, Laurence Tosi's, Miller, Beyoncé, shrugs, Anna Wintour, Anna, we're, Taylor Swift, Katie Haun, Marc Benioff, Reid Hoffman, Marissa Mayer, Dick Costolo —, Cohen, Katherine Maher, Maher, Daniel Kahneman, It's, Radel, Becky Akinyode, Elaine Winter, Tiffany Bloomfield, Dela, Chad Hilliard, Enmi, Kenny Aquiles Ulloa, Cyrenae, Madison Perez, Aidan Lapp, Bashira Webb, Bryan Erickson, Jinyoung Chang, Rodriguez, Rebecca Zisser, Claire Landsbaum, Emma LeGault, Joi, Marie McKenzie, Conner Blake, Kyle Desiderio, Victoria Gracie, Nicole Forero, Virginia Alves Organizations: Google, Museum of, Business, Elon, Vogue, Roelof, Oxford University, Oxford Union, Blackstone Group, Harvard Business School, Studios, Web, Young, Organization, Dela Revoluciøn, Enmi Yang Digital Tech Locations: Manhattan, SoHo, Bahamas, United States, Balthazar, England, Israel, Petra, Istanbul, Elle, Utah, COVID, Salt Lake City, Costa Rica, Atlanta, WestCap

☆ A tech investor was fired after making offensive remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Shona Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Investor Kenneth Ballenegger was suspended from his firm Oyster Ventures after offensive posts on X.Ballenegger wrote on X that Israel should sterilize Gaza's population, among other remarks. AdvertisementAdvertisementVenture capitalist Kenneth Ballenegger has been suspended from the US investment firm he cofounded, Oyster Ventures, after making offensive remarks on X on the Israel-Hamas conflict. According to screenshots shared with Insider, Ballenegger wrote on Sunday: "After the war, Israel should handle Gaza like China handles Xinjiang. "Any employee's personal or political opinion does not reflect the values of Oyster Ventures or myself. The blowback over Ballenegger's comments also reflect ongoing tensions in the tech world.

Persons: Kenneth Ballenegger, Ballenegger, sterilize, —, Yashar Ali, Ballenegger's, Sophie Liao, Liao, I've, Bolt, Dealroom, Crypto, Paddy Cosgrave Organizations: Oyster Ventures, Service, Ventures, Summit Locations: Israel, Gaza, China, Xinjiang, San Francisco, Asia, Pitchbook

☆ Bill Gates thinks AI could spell the end of tedious life admin
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AI assistants are on their way. Bill Gates and Sam Altman spoke this week about the future of AI lying in "agents." This past week has made that much clear as big-name techies like Bill Gates and Sam Altman touted the future of AI as one of "agents." He reckons AI agents can change that within the next five years. A store leaderboard will even help you identify the most useful AI assistants.

Persons: Bill Gates, Sam Altman, —, Gates, Altman, OpenAI's, ChatGPT, OpenAI, Clippy, you've Organizations: Service, Microsoft Locations: San Francisco

☆ Humane's Ai Pin has some in the tech world scratching their heads
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Humane's wearable Ai Pin is finally here — and some tech workers don't seem to be impressed. The criticisms come as techies debate whether Humane's Ai Pin will be the iPhone of the AI era. AdvertisementAdvertisementHumane's highly anticipated Ai Pin is finally here — and some people in tech don't have nice things to say about it. Humane's Ai Pin isn't the only AI gadget getting attention. As for whether AI devices like Humane's Ai pin will create a sea change in the tech industry — only time will tell.

Persons: Humane's Ai, —, Imran Chaudhri, Bethany Bongiorno, Ai, It's, Casey Newton, he'd, didn't, zB2taCCmZ6 — Casey Newton, Avi Schiffmann, Ai Pin's, Ben Kylak, what's, doLIcfU060, Liron Shapira, Joseph Tsar, Steve Jobs, — Joseph Tsar Organizations: Service, Apple, Meta Locations: @CaseyNewton

☆ Google researchers deal a major blow to the theory AI is about to outsmart humans
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The race to build AI as smart as humans, or AGI, looks like it suffered a major blow. Google researchers found the transformer technology behind AI isn't very good at generalizing. AdvertisementAdvertisementGoogle researchers may have just given a major reality check to the ambitions of CEOs in chase of AI's holy grail. As it stands, AI is pretty good at specific tasks but less great at transferring skills across domains like humans do. AdvertisementAdvertisementTransformers' opacity and the scale of the data they're pretrained on gave some the illusion that they generalize beyond it.

Persons: —, Steve Yadlowsky, Nilesh Tripuraneni, they've, Pedro Domingos, AGI, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Arvind Narayanan, Jin Fan, G5mBuX6O36, Jim Fan, Domingos, it's, — Pedro Domingos, @pmddomingos, Sharon Zhou Organizations: Service, University of Washington, Microsoft, Nvidia, Google Locations: LLMs, Princeton, AGI

☆ 'Bracing for the impact': Founders who built on ChatGPT find out the hard way Big Tech can torpedo their work
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One founder building ChatGPT add-ons says he's "bracing" for other changes from OpenAI. Little-guy developers building complementary services to OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot have just found this out the hard way. As several techies noticed, that's pretty much killed off a bunch of startups that build "ChatGPT wrapper" apps that did precisely that. Other wrapper apps can create ad copy, sales materials, and social media posts. As one anonymous venture capitalist, who has backed a ChatGPT wrapper startup put it to Insider: "Just wait until ChatGPT has an outage and see which emperors have no clothes."

Persons: —, Sam Altman, Kevin Dietsch, Dominik Lohle, Joel Liu, Liu, Claude, Damon Chen, PDF.ai, h9KnROaWtI — Damon Chen, Nvidia's, Jin Fan, ChatGPT Organizations: Service, Google, Boston, Microsoft

Search resuls for: "techies"

25 mentions found