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OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding raise attracted some big names across the industry. The $6.6 billion round gave OpenAI a $157 billion post-money valuation and minted it into one of the most valuable startups in the world. MicrosoftMicrosoft invested a little under $1 billion into OpenAI's latest funding round, according to The Wall Street Journal report. FidelityFidelity also participated in OpenAI's latest funding round. AdvertisementAltimeter Capital ManagementAltimeter Capital Management also contributed to OpenAI's latest funding round, according to reports.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Here's, Anderson Cooper, Josh Kushner, Instagram, Kushner, Altman, josh, SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, Son, Marco Bello, Wood, Morningstar, Bing, Jensen Huang, Sam Yeh, Elon Musk's, Brad Gerstner, Gerstner, Vinod Khosla, Vaughn Ridley, Khosla, MGX Organizations: Service, Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, Getty, Capital, Business, VC, Wall Street, Reuters, Vision Fund, Venture, ARK Invest, ARK Venture Fund, SpaceX, Microsoft Microsoft, Wall, Rival Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia Nvidia, Nvidia, Tiger Global Management, Fidelity Fidelity, Elon, Elon Musk's xAI, Fidelity, Capital Management, . Khosla, Getty Khosla Ventures, Sun Microsystems, United Arab, Bloomberg Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley, OpenAI ., Tokyo, Saudi, ARK, AFP, IPOs, America, United Arab Emirates

☆ Mate XT: China’s Huawei set to launch new tri-fold smartphone, its answer to Apple’s iPhone 16
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Successful sales of the Mate XT tri-fold smartphone, which began pre-orders on Saturday, would be another indication of the company’s sustained resurgence. It also comes after Chinese smartphone makers dominated the top five spots domestically on a quarterly basis for the first time ever, she said, pushing Apple to sixth place. “The close timing of Huawei and Apple’s product launches signals the start of a new competitive wave in the Chinese premium market,” Liu told CNN. Apple said that generative AI, like ChatGPT, on its iPhone 16 would allow users to create text and images with natural-language prompts. Last year, it launched an electric sedan to take on Tesla’s Model S. And it has big ambitions in AI.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Richard Yu, ”, Amber Liu, ” Liu, Apple, Liu, Yu, It’s Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Huawei, Apple, CNN, Counterpoint Research, Google, Nvidia Locations: China, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Washington, Beijing, Weibo

☆ Podcast: Samsung bets on the Galaxy Ring and AI as its next big thing
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +42 min

Along with its S24 series of smartphones, foldable devices, smartwatches and now the Galaxy Ring, Samsung is hoping to lock users into its world of products held together with its suite of artificial intelligence features, known as Galaxy AI. Arjun KharpalOne of the things Samsung said was look, the ring is one product, but we've got the watch, we've got the smartphone. I think that's the right approach for Samsung, I don't think they have unrealistic expectations for volumes on this. And you'd feel like if there was some sort of Apple ring, it would do pretty good volumes. Do you think Samsung is seriously looking at ways to monetize this via subscriptions or other kinds of service business model?

Persons: aren't, Tom Chitty, Ben Wood, Meta's Ray, Arjun, Tom Chitty I've, I've, we've, Arjun Kharpal, let's, It's, That's, it's, you've, they've, there's, they're, someone's, I'm, that's, you'll, Ben Wood It's, smartwatch, Arjun Kharpal Apple's, Ben Wood They've, Tim Cook, He's, who'd, Tom Chitty Diamond, somebody's, who've, wasn't, Samsung hasn't, we'll, Ben, they'll, Will, wearables, Kharpal, Arjun Kharpal Tom, Tom, Tom Chitty We'll Organizations: Samsung, South, Galaxy, CNBC, CCS Insight, Mobile, Apple, Garmin, Apple Watch, U.S, Vision, Samsung Electronics, Google, MWC Locations: South Korean, Paris, France, beyondthevalley@cnbc.com, There's, Finland, London

☆ Samsung launches the Galaxy Ring — a first-of-its-kind product for the tech giant
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Samsung Galaxy Ring has the ability to track various health metrics such as heart rate. Arjun Kharpal | CNBCPARIS — Samsung launched the Galaxy Ring on Wednesday, its first foray into "smart rings." Exercise: The Galaxy Ring can detect the kind of workout or activity a person is doing. The Samsung Galaxy Ring will be available on July 24 and starts at $399.99. Samsung ecosystem playOn Wednesday, Samsung also took the wraps off its latest smartwatches — the Galaxy Watch7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Persons: Arjun Kharpal, —, Paolo Pescatore, Pescatore, Kharpal, Francisco Jeronimo, Apple, Ben Wood Organizations: Samsung, CNBC PARIS, Apple, PP Foresight, CNBC, Galaxy, Wednesday, Galaxy Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Korean, IDC, CCS Insight Locations: Paris, France, Europe, East, Africa

☆ How Google CEO Sundar Pichai shook up his leadership team for the AI era
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

It came almost 12 months after Google combined two key AI groups, DeepMind and Google Brain. Google's AI MVPGoogle DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis GoogleDemis Hassabis might be the most important person at Google right now. Then, in April last year, Pichai announced he would merge DeepMind with Google's in-house AI unit, known as Brain, into a supergroup named Google DeepMind. Reid reports directly to Raghavan, the ads and search senior vice president, and is shepherding a dramatic transition of Google Search. Fears of chatbots eating into Google's search dominance have yet to be realized, giving Google time to reinvent its most hallowed product.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Susan Wojcicki, Demis, Hassabis, Larry Page, DeepMind, OpenAI, it's, accrues, ED JONES, Rick Osterloh, Sameer Samat, he'll, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Osterloh, Prabhakar Raghavan, Siri, Tim Cook, Hiroshi, SAJJAD HUSSAIN, Liz Reid, Reid, Raghavan, Pandu Nayak, Venkatachary, It's, chatbots, Bernstein, Mark Shmulik Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Google's, BI, Research, Hassabis, Android, Apple, Apple's Vision, CNBC, Google Local Locations: Raxium

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urged in a speech to more than a thousand Indian computer code developers on Thursday that they use the company's artificial intelligence tools being deployed across its products. Nadella said Microsoft Corp. expects that use of AI can help achieve 10%, or $500 billion, of India’s GDP target for 2025. Microsoft is building its fourth data center in India near the city of Hyderabad, where Nadella grew up. Nadella boasted in a speech in Mumbai on Wednesday that his company is still ahead on most benchmarks. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Nadella during a visit to the U.S. last June.

Persons: Satya Nadella, ” Nadella, Nadella, ”, “ We’re, It’ll, Narendra Modi, ___ O'Brien Organizations: Microsoft Corp, Microsoft, Hyderabad, OpenAI, Google, Nadella, Apple Inc, Microsoft's, Indian, U.S Locations: BENGALURU, India, Bengaluru, Silicon, United States, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nadella, Microsoft's India, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ Microsoft's market cap hit $2.89 trillion as it overtook Apple as the world's most valuable public company
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft's market cap hit $2.89 trillion on Friday as it knocked Apple off the top spot. Meanwhile, slower iPhone sales in China have made life trickier for Apple. AdvertisementMicrosoft closed out Friday as the world's most valuable publicly traded company, pushing its long-time rival Apple off the top spot. The tech giant hit a market cap of $2.89 trillion while Apple's fell slightly to $2.87 trillion. The first downgrade by UK bank Barclays wiped out more than $100 billion in market cap in a single day.

Persons: Apple, —, Sam Altman's OpenAI, Minerva, Kathleen Brooks, hasn't Organizations: Apple, Service, Microsoft, CNBC, NASDAQ, Apple Watch, Barclays, Huawei, Jefferies Locations: China, San Francisco, California

☆ China's Huawei borrowed a trick from its rival Apple by designing its own processors for new superfast smartphone, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Huawei used its own chip designs for its new 5G smartphone, The FT reported. It's a sign that the Chinese firm can implement its own designs in the same way as Apple. Huawei's phone led to panic in Washington amid fears over the effectiveness of China's export controls. The findings suggest a significant step forward in technical capabilities for Huawei as it begins to implement its own chip designs in smartphones in much the same way Western smartphone makers such as Apple have done for years. There are questions, though, about how successful Huawei would be in scaling the production of smartphones with advanced chips.

Persons: Gina Raimondo Organizations: Huawei, FT, Apple, Service, ARM, Financial Times, US government's Commerce Department, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, Bloomberg, Reuters Locations: Washington, Wall, Silicon, China

Analysts say its new product launches could mark a first step in the company's come-back efforts to rival Apple. "It (Huawei) can manage the psychological expectations of the target consumer group before Apple's press conference," said Ivan Lam, an analyst at Counterpoint. Sino-U.S. friction has worsened in recent years as Washington tries to restrict China's access to key technologies including cutting-edge chip technology, and Beijing looks to reduce its reliance on American tech. The U.S. Commerce Department said late Thursday it's working to obtain more information "on the character and composition" of the new Huawei chip that may violate trade restrictions. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One the U.S. government is trying to get more information about the Huawei chip.

Persons: Ann Wang, Ivan Lam, Jake Sullivan, Rick Meckler, Taiwan's TSMC, Ben Blanchard, Jeanny Kao, Brenda Goh, Jason Xue, Yelin, Sam Nussey, Miyoung Kim, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, REUTERS, Rights, Huawei, Apple, U.S, China's, Analysts, Reuters, Bank of America, Street, Washington, U.S . Commerce Department, National, Air Force, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Texas, Cherry Lane Investments, Tokyo, ASE Technology, Luxshare Precision Industry, Semiconductor, Technology, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, Thomson Locations: Hsinchu, Taiwan, Rights TAIPEI, U.S, Beijing, China, Asia, Japanese, iPhones, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Yelin Mo, Tokyo

Some analysts feel the Huawei moves could be a first step in comeback efforts by China's "national champion" to rival Apple. By contrast with the hit for Apple suppliers, Huawei's extended recent gains. Reuters GraphicsSCOPE OF CURBS UNCLEARIt was not immediately clear how wide China's iPhone curbs are, but one employee at an affected state-owned enterprise (SOEs) in the capital said they extended to visitors. However, Canalys analyst Nicole Peng said Huawei could present a greater threat to domestic peers, such as Honor, which had benefited from Huawei's woes. The U.S. Commerce Department is seeking more information on the "character and composition" of the new Huawei chip that may violate trade curbs, it said on Thursday.

Persons: Ann Wang, chipmaker TSMC, China's, Ivan Lam, Ming, Chi Kuo, Nicole Peng, TechInsights, Jeanny Kao, David Kirton, Jason Xue, Yelin Mo, Ellen Zhang, Sam Nussey, Miyoung Kim, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, REUTERS, Rights, Huawei, Apple, Largan, Industry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, Reuters, Bank of America, TF International Securities, Street, Washington, U.S . Commerce Department, Shanghai Newsroom, Thomson Locations: Hsinchu, Taiwan, Rights SHANGHAI, TAIPEI, U.S, Beijing, Taipei, TW, iPhones, China, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Tokyo

People walk past a Huawei store with advertisements for the Mate 60 series smartphones, at a shopping mall in Beijing, China August 30, 2023. REUTERS/Yelin Mo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies' new high-end smartphone contains more China-made chip components than previous models in a sign of Beijing's advances in the semiconductor sphere, according to research firm TechInsights, which is taking the device apart. That's another really big advance they've made," Dan Hutcheson, an analyst with TechInsights, told Reuters. "The significance is that it shows that China has been able to stay 2-2.5 nodes behind the world's best (chip) companies. "China's been buying tools like crazy so they probably have the capability to do this and yield ok with it."

Persons: Yelin, they've, Dan Hutcheson, TechInsights, chipmaker SMIC, Hutcheson, Gina Raimondo's, it's, China's, Brenda Goh, Joyce Lee, David Kirton, Miyoung Kim, David Evans Organizations: Huawei, REUTERS, Rights, Huawei Technologies, Reuters, The, HK, U.S . Commerce, SMIC, Apple, South Korea's SK Hynix Inc, SK Hynix, U.S, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, The Ottawa, Huawei's, U.S, Seoul, Shenzhen

People walk past a Huawei store with advertisements for the Mate 60 series smartphones, at a shopping mall in Beijing, China August 30, 2023. That's another really big advance they've made," Dan Hutcheson, an analyst with TechInsights, told Reuters. "The significance is that it shows that China has been able to stay 2-2.5 nodes behind the world's best (chip) companies. "China's been buying tools like crazy so they probably have the capability to do this and yield ok with it." Huawei and SMIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Huawei spinoff Honor launches foldable phone globally as Chinese firm looks to rival Apple, Samsung
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Honor released its Magic V2 foldable on July 12, 2023, starting with the China market. HonorChinese consumer electronics firm Honor launched its flagship foldable smartphone overseas — venturing into a high-end market dominated by Samsung and Apple . The Honor Magic V2 will go on sale in markets in Europe and elsewhere — but not in the United States — no later than the first quarter of 2024, the company said. The Magic V2 is part of that. Honor Magic V2 details

Persons: United States —, Simon Baker, Baker Organizations: Samsung, Apple, Huawei, IDC, China, CNBC Locations: China, Europe, United States, Shenzhen

☆ Google's Achilles' heel: The tech giant's struggles in augmented reality highlight a much bigger weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But the tech giant's struggles in AR highlight a bigger weakness at the company: hardware. The tech giant has struggled to gain momentum in the mixed-reality sector despite numerous efforts, Insider's Hugh Langley reports. AdvertisementAdvertisementFrom Iris to Alius to Betty, Google's code-named AR projects rival a millennial parent's baby-name list. But in the world of AR, hardware is the most critical piece of the puzzle. Of course, the tech giant might argue it has bigger fish to fry.

Persons: It's, Insider's Hugh Langley, Alius, Betty, Hugh, —, Google's, it's Organizations: Google, — Apple, Apple Vision, Samsung, Meta Locations: Google's

☆ Samsung flags 96% drop in quarterly profit as chip glut drags on
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

It would be Samsung’s lowest profit for any quarter since a 590 billion won profit in the first quarter of 2009, according to company data. Shares in Samsung (SSNLF) fell 1.4% in early morning trade, underperforming a 0.6% drop in the wider market. In the January to March quarter, the company reported a whopping 4.58 trillion won loss in its chip business as memory chip prices fell further and its inventory values were slashed. But in the second quarter, losses in Samsung’s memory chip business likely shrank due to more sales of DRAM chips — used in PCs, mobile phones and servers — analysts said. Revenue in April to June likely fell 22% from the same period a year earlier to 60 trillion won, Samsung said in the statement.

Persons: Refinitiv, ”, Kang, Greg Roh Organizations: Samsung Electronics, Samsung, Daishin Securities, Hyundai Motor Securities, ”, Apple Locations: Seoul

☆ Samsung profit likely lowest in more than 14 years as chip glut persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Joyce Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, July 6 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics' (005930.KS) June-quarter profit is expected to plunge 96% on-year to the lowest for any quarter in more than 14 years, as a chip glut continues to drive large losses in the tech giant's cash cow business despite a supply cut. If so, it would be Samsung's lowest profit since the fourth quarter of 2008, when Samsung Electronics reported a consolidated operating loss of about 740 billion won. It compares with an operating profit of 14.1 trillion won in the April-June quarter last year. This is because its chip division, traditionally its biggest earner, likely reported quarterly losses of around 3 trillion to 4 trillion won as memory chip prices fell further and its inventory values were slashed. Despite the current downturn, Samsung is working to increase its share of chip demand from the exploding field of artificial intelligence (AI), such as with high bandwidth memory (HBM) and chip contract manufacturing, they said.

Persons: 1,298.7800, Joyce Lee, Sonali Paul Organizations: Samsung Electronics, Samsung, Apple, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, KS, Seoul

☆ Meta unveils Quest 3 mixed reality headset ahead of Apple's VR debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday revealed the company's next generation mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, as it braces for Apple to potentially reshape the nascent market that Meta has dominated so far. Priced starting at $499, the device will be 40% thinner than the company's previous headset and feature color mixed reality, which combines augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) elements, Zuckerberg said in an Instagram post. Zuckerberg's announcement came less than a week before tech rival Apple (AAPL.O) was expected to unveil its first mixed reality device. Meta's devices comprised nearly 80% of the 8.8 million virtual reality headsets sold in 2022, according to an estimate by market research firm IDC. Its high-end Meta Quest Pro now retails for about $1,000, down from a launch price of $1,500, and the Quest 2's 256 GB version now starts at about $430, down from $500.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Pico, Meta, Katie Paul, Yuvraj Malik, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: YORK, Apple, Meta, Qualcomm, IDC, TikTok, Thomson

☆ Bank of America, JPMorgan and other banks reportedly team up on digital wallet to rival Apple Pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Several banks are reportedly working on a digital wallet that links with debit and credit cards to compete with Apple Pay and PayPal. According to the Wall Street Journal, the digital wallet would be operated by Early Warning Services, a joint venture from several banks that also runs Zelle. The major banks involved include Wells Fargo , JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America , according to the report. The new wallet would initially be launched with Visa and Mastercard already on board, according to the report. Shares of PayPal, which has digital payments as its core business, slipped about 1.5% in premarket trading.

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