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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

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

☆ Sheryl Sandberg says she's leaving Meta's board
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Former Meta operating chief Sheryl Sandberg is leaving the company's board of directors. "With a heart filled with gratitude and a mind filled with memories, I let the Meta board know that I will not stand for reelection this May," Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. Sandberg, 54, joined Facebook in 2008 as Mark Zuckerberg's top deputy after spending about seven years at Google. Since leaving Meta, Sandberg has dedicated much of her time on her LeanIn.org nonprofit, which focuses on empowering women tin the workplace, and related projects. "Thank you Sheryl for the extraordinary contributions you have made to our company and community over the years," Zuckerberg wrote.

Persons: Sheryl Sandberg, Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg's, Javier Olivan, We've, Sandberg's, Zuckerberg, Sheryl, Adam Bosworth, Peggy Alford, Marc Andreessen, Drew Houston, Nancy Killefer, Robert M, Tony Xu, Tracey T, Travis, Estée Lauder, Here's, Javi Olivan, Justin Osofsky, Nicola Mendelsohn, Mark Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Google, CNBC, McKinsey & Company, Estée Locations: U.S

☆ The tech sector is pouring billions of dollars into AI. But it keeps laying off humans
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

More than 5,500 tech layoffs less than two weeks into 2024The latest rounds of tech job cuts are occurring across a range of roles and in both Big Tech companies and smaller startups. There were some 262,682 tech industry layoffs recorded in 2023, per Layoffs.fyi data, after 164,969 cuts the previous year. Against that backdrop, the tech industry went on a remarkable hiring spree. Disparate impacts of tech job cuts come under scrutinyAs the tech industry layoffs continue, labor advocates and even lawmakers are taking notice. “Recent findings have consistently shown that minorities and women are vastly overrepresented in industry layoffs,” the letter said.

Persons: Roger Lee, Lee, Dropbox, Goldman Sachs, Parul, Koul, ”, Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri, Barbara Lee of, Julie Su Organizations: CNN, Big Tech, Tech, Google, Unity Software, ”, Chegg, IBM, Alphabet Workers, CWA, Democratic, American, Labor, Department of Labor Locations: Silicon Valley, Barbara Lee of California

☆ 16 VCs that are funding the future of entertainment by backing generative AI and other disruptive tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

AdvertisementAfter a period of "wild west" investing in AI, Blank believes activity will favor AI companies that respect artists' consent and compensation. It recently co-led a $1 million seed round in Conduiit, which centralizes entertainment companies' production finance operations. Endeavor Venture InvestmentsEndeavor Venture Investments is the venture arm of entertainment and sports behemoth Endeavor. SWaN & LegendThe Virginia-based VC firm has a broad consumer portfolio that includes a number of entertainment investments. With Hollywood in contraction, SWaN has largely hit pause on new entertainment investments to get its portfolio companies on a strong footing.

Persons: Michael Blank, Blank, Jon Miller, Miller, Slack, Garnet Heraman, BDMI, Urs Cete, Michael, TMRW, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Elysian Park Ventures Jay Adya, Grant Lamos, Tom Brady, Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan, Jay Adya, Morgan, Kushaan Ahuja, Drew Glover, Glover, Alex Harris, they've, Noah Doyle, Payback India, Jed Katz, Rich Greenfield, Rich, Ilya Pozin, Jamie Seltzer, LightShed, Steve Cohen's, it's, Sri Chandrasekar, Tripp Shriner, Ishan Sinha, That's, Wondery, Ian Doody, Raine, Gordon Rubenstein, Joe Ravitch, Jeff Sine, ‐, Fred Schaufeld, SWaN, that's, Oscar, Jose, Schaufeld, Sam Wick, Alex J, Investcorp, Paul Yoo, Edgar Bronfman Jr, Daniel Leff, Waverley, Leff Organizations: Service, Creative Artists, Connect Ventures, Business, Hollywood, Veteran, TPG, Integrated Media Co, Advancit, CAA, Bertelsmann, Waverley, Octopus Ventures, Accel, Facebook, Venture, Aperture Venture, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Fremantle, Connect, CAA Connect Ventures, New Enterprises Associates, TMRW Sports, Disney, Universal, Elysian Park Ventures, Elysian, Sports, Endeavor Venture, Endeavor Venture Investments, behemoth Endeavor, Dapper Labs, Fiat Ventures, Fiat Ventures Fiat Ventures, Fiat, Payback, Rent, LightShed, Rich Greenfield Influential, LightShed Ventures, Pluto, Apple, Octopus Ventures Octopus Ventures, Investments, Corp, Etsy, Re, Point72 Ventures New York Mets, Range Media Partners, Point72 Ventures, Sri, Powerhouse, Athletic, The New York Times Co, Evolution Media, Creative Artists Agency, Astro, Rave Digital Media, Accel Entertainment, Jose Andrés Media, Berliner, UTA Talent, UTA, UTA Ventures, Ventures, VR, Amazon, PFL Locations: blockchain, —, Conduiit, fintech, London, Australia, Papercup, Los Angeles, Virginia, UTA.VC

☆ Ghislaine Maxwell had a secret Tumblr account, newly unsealed court records reveal
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-09 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ghislaine Maxwell had a secret Tumblr account, an attorney said in a newly unsealed court hearing. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementConvicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell had a secret Tumblr account. The Terramar Project, an ocean conservation nonprofit run by Maxwell, had a Tumblr account with the username @tmpizzle. The apparent Tumblr account hasn't been mentioned in other court documents reviewed by Business Insider.

Persons: Ghislaine Maxwell, Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, —, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Giuffre, Epstein, Meredith Schultz, Schultz, Loretta Preska's, Martin G, Weinberg, She's, hasn't Organizations: Service, Business, US Locations: Giuffre, Florida, Manhattan

☆ DocuSign shares spike on report company is exploring a sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

DocuSign shares rose as much as 15% and closed up 12% on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported the e-signature software company tapped advisors about a possible sale. Talks are still preliminary, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A DocuSign representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. DocuSign went public in 2018 and saw business boom during the pandemic as demand soared for technology that allowed people to work together on documents remotely. WATCH: DocuSign CEO on Q3 earnings beat

Persons: didn't, DocuSign, Allan Thygesen, Dan Springer, Cynthia Gaylor Organizations: Inc, Apple, Wall Street Journal, Nasdaq, Adobe Locations: Dobbs Ferry , New York, U.S

☆ How to stop Dropbox from sharing your personal files with OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-13 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

If you've used any of Dropbox 's artificial intelligence tools, some of your documents and files may have been shared with OpenAI. Dropbox AI customer documents pass through and are stored on OpenAI's servers for up to 30 days. "Third-party AI services are only used when customers actively engage with Dropbox AI features which themselves are clearly labeled," he wrote, pointing to a screenshot. Dropbox's third-party AI data sharing only applies to users who want Dropbox's AI features, which is available through many of Dropbox's paid plans, or through its Early Access program. But, even if you've opted out, any files shared with another person who is using Dropbox AI could still be sent to OpenAI servers.

Persons: Drew Houston, you've, Google's Bard, Anthropic's Claude, Zoom, Dropbox's, Dropbox Organizations: CNBC PRO Locations: San Francisco, There's, Dropbox

☆ Amazon announces Q, an AI chatbot for businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon on Tuesday announced a new chatbot called Q for people to use at work. The Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Duet AI for Google Workspace for business workers both cost $30 per person per month. As a result, with Q, people can discuss information that's stored in Microsoft 365, Dropbox, Salesforce and Zendesk, along with AWS' S3 data-storage service. Administrators will be able to determine whether Q can answer people's questions about general topics, said Deepak Singh, an AWS vice president. WATCH: The market now sees Amazon as more of a cloud and generative AI company, says Needham's Laura Martin

Persons: James Bond, Salesforce's Slack, Adam Selipsky, Selipsky, Steven Dickens, Q, Deepak Singh, Needham's Laura Martin Organizations: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google, Star Trek, Futurum, AWS Locations: Las Vegas

As Open AI employees celebrated the return of CEO Sam Altman with a five-alarm office party , OpenAI software engineer Steven Heidel was busy publicly rebuffing overtures from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Heidel was one of more than 700 OpenAI employees who's threatened exodus halted a would-be mutiny at one of Silicon Valley's most important AI companies. He was previously a scientist at Facebook AI Research and worked as a member of Google Brain under supervision of Prof. Geoffrey Hinton and Ilya Sutskever. Alec Radford: Radford was hired in 2016 from a small AI company he founded in his dorm room. Tao Xu : technical staff, worked on GPT4 and WhisperChristine McLeavey : technical staff, with contributions to music-related productsChristina Kim : technical staffChristopher Hesse : technical staffHeewoo Jun : technical staff, researchAlex Nichol : technical staff, researchWilliam Fedus: technical staff, researchIlge Akkaya: technical staff, researchVineet Kosaraju : technical staff, researchHenrique Ponde de Oliveira Pinto : technical staffAditya Ramesh : technical staff, developed DALL-E and DALL-E 2Prafulla Dhariwal : research scientistHunter Lightman : technical staffHarrison Edwards : research scientistYura Burda : machine language researcherTyna Eloundou : technical staff, researchPamela Mishkin : researcherCasey Chu : researcherDavid Dohan : technical staff, researchAidan Clark : researcherRaul Puri : research scientistLeo Gao : technical staff, researchYang Song : technical staff, researchGiambattista ParascandoloTodor Markov : Machine learning researcherNick Ryder : technical staff

Persons: Sam Altman, Steven Heidel, Marc Benioff, Heidel, Altman, Mira Murati, Murati, Brad Lightcap, Lightcap, Jason Kwon, Kwon, Wojciech Zaremba, Geoffrey Hinton, Ilya Sutskever, Alec Radford, Radford, OpenAI, Peter Welinder, He's, Github Copilot, Anna Makanju, Andrej Karpathy, OpenAI's, Michael Petrov, Petrov, Greg [ Brockman, Miles Brundage, Brundage, John Schulman OpenAI, Srinivas Narayanan, Scott Grey, Grey, Bob McGrew, Research Che Chang, Lillian Weng, Safety Systems Mark Chen, Frontiers Research Barret Zoph, Peter Deng, Jan Leike Evan Morikawa Steven Heidel Jong Wook Kim, Tao Xu, Christine McLeavey, Christina Kim, Christopher Hesse, Heewoo, Alex Nichol, William Fedus, Henrique Ponde de Oliveira Pinto, Aditya Ramesh, Hunter Lightman, Harrison Edwards, Yura, Tyna, Pamela Mishkin, Casey Chu, David Dohan, Aidan Clark, Raul Puri, Leo Gao, Yang, Giambattista Parascandolo Todor Markov, Nick Ryder Organizations: Business, BI, OpenAI, Khosla Ventures, Facebook, Research, Google, Tesla, U.S . Department of Energy, Oxford University, Safety Systems, Frontiers Research Locations: Albania, Canada, OpenAI

At OpenAI, Shear has promised to shed some light into Altman’s departure. In his X post, he pledged to hire an independent investigator to look into what led up to Altman’s ouster and write a report within 30 days. Both Altman and Shear know each other as alumni from the first class of startup founders at Y Combinator. In his post on X, Shear wrote he received a call offering him a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to become interim CEO at San Francisco-based OpenAI. In his post on X, Shear said he checked the reasoning behind the changes at OpenAI before he took the job.

Persons: Twitch, Sam Altman, Emmett Shear, “, Altman, OpenAI, Greg Brockman —, —, Shear, Twitch doesn’t, it’s, Y, he’s, ”, Mira Murati, Altman’s, Satya Nadella, Brockman, Sam, “ I’m, “ It’s, ” Shear, Matt O'Brien Organizations: Twitter, Microsoft, Amazon, Yale University, Associated Press, Investors, AIs Locations: Buffalo , New York, Germany, San Francisco, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ Companies want workers back in the office, but are simultaneously reducing office space, new survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Around 75% of companies plan to reduce their office square footage next year, a new survey found. Robin Powered surveyed over 500 business owners about how their office space is being used. It found that over 60% of firms are paying $50 or more per square foot of their office space. Over 60% of companies who responded to the survey said they are paying $50 or more per square foot of their office space. AdvertisementMany major companies including Meta , Google , Dropbox , and Salesforce have scaled back on office space in the past year as a cost-cutting measure.

Persons: Robin, — Organizations: Service, Companies, Meta, Google

When applying for a business credit card, issuers may consider your personal credit score if you don't have a business credit report yet. [ Jump to more details ]More on our picks for the easiest business credit cards to getCapital One Spark 1% ClassicThe Capital One Spark 1% Classic has lower credit score requirements than many cash-back business credit cards but still earns valuable rewards. [ Return to card summary ]Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit cardThe Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card is a secured credit card, geared toward applicants with poor or no credit scores. Credit card issuers usually check your personal credit when you apply for a business credit card. Our methodologyTo determine which business credit cards are the easiest to get approved for, CNBC Select analyzed the most popular credit cards available to U.S. business owners with poor or average credit.

Persons: It's, cardholders, Bradstreet, Cardholders, Slack, you've, Cash, you'll, There's Organizations: CNBC, Capital, Bank of America Business, The, of America Business, Apple, Google, Mastercard, Card, Emigrant Bank, FDIC, Brex, SEC, Treasury, Cash, Gas, Bank of America, World, Microsoft, MasterRental, Savings, CNBC Select's, Facebook, Twitter Locations: U.S

☆ The 15-page pitch deck a former Patreon employee used to raise $2.75 million for his sports creator app, and how he's getting athletes on the platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Margaret Fleming | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Below are three key slides from the 10-page pitch to athletes and the full 15-page deck used to win over investors. Among them, seven are women, and six compete professionally while the remaining four are college athletes, Rajan said. In the pitch deck Grandstand used to get athletes on board, the company referenced YouTube sensation MrBeast to show how lucrative a creator career can be. Sandeep RajanGrandstand's pitch to investorsBut, before athletes could start earning on the platform, Grandstand had to raise capital to launch it. Here is the full 15-slide pitch deck Grandstand used to raise $2.75 million in its initial funding round:

Persons: it's, Sandeep Rajan, Rajan, James Nicholas, MrBeast, Forbes Organizations: Will Ventures Locations: Instagram

☆ How the Fed is using its multi-trillion-dollar balance sheet to fight inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Washington, DC CNN —The Fed’s fight against inflation is about to enter a new phase, but the central bank’s enormous balance sheet will continue to play a key role. The Fed also manages a multi-trillion-dollar balance sheet that accounts for trillions in government securities and lists how much currency is in circulation. For over a year now, the Fed has been steadily shrinking its balance sheet to help cool the economy. The Fed’s balance sheet is currently at around $7.9 trillion, down from its peak of $9 trillion in early 2022 right before the runoff. They also see alternative scenarios for the end of the balance sheet runoff if there isn’t a recession.

Persons: that’s, Lael Brainard, What’s, Wells, Jerome Powell, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Jamie Dimon, Krystal Hur, Dimon —, Mr, Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, what’s, Estee Lauder, Kraft Heinz, Yum, Bausch, Eli Lilly, Molson Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, DC CNN, Congress, Fed, Wall Street, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase, CNN, HSBC, McDonald’s, China’s National Bureau of Statistics, Bank of Japan, Pfizer, Caterpillar, Marathon Petroleum, Sirius XM, Anheuser, Busch, BP, Chesapeake Energy, US Labor Department, Global, Board, CVS, GSK, Humana, Reuters, Apollo Global Management, Brands, Garmin, Cruise Line Holdings, Qualcomm, Airbnb, PayPal, MetLife, Aflac, AIG, Allstate, Prudential, P Global, Institute for Supply Management, Federal Reserve, ConocoPhillips, Starbucks, Duke Energy, Shopify, Ferrari, Marriott International, Moderna, Fox, Molson Coors, Hyatt, Apple, Motorola, Bank of England, Dominion Energy, Gartner, Restaurant Brands Locations: Washington, Treasuries, China’s, Mondelez, DoorDash, Avis, Shell, Cigna

☆ 6 troubling questions about the Corizon bankruptcy deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Dakin Campbell | Nicole Einbinder | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

The bankruptcy of prison health provider Corizon has faced pressure from senators and a federal regulator in recent weeks. Other troubling questions surrounding the bankruptcy involve payments to insiders, "dishonest" testimony, and a secret data breach. The other company, Tehum, was saddled with most of Corizon's liabilities and, in February, filed for bankruptcy. AdvertisementAdvertisementNine US senators have written to Corizon successor companies Tehum Care Services and YesCare demanding answers about Corizon's efforts to "manipulate bankruptcy law." AdvertisementAdvertisementLefkowitz repeatedly said under oath during a June creditor call that he didn't know who owned Geneva Consulting — the company Corizon paid $5.5 million.

Persons: Corizon, —, Christopher Lopez, David Jones, Elizabeth Freeman, YesCare, Jones, Tehum, Judge Jones, Freeman, Ian Cross, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Lopez, they're, Kevin Eckhardt, Hector Garcia Jr, Hector Garcia, Belen Lowery, Garcia's, Jeff Sholey, Isaac Lefkowitz, Lefkowitz, Sara Tirschwell, Jeffrey Scott King, Ayodeji, Michelle Rice, Jennifer Finger, Sholey, Edward Janger, Janger, he's, didn't, Geneva, Russell Perry, Baker, Hostetler, Tehum's, Tracey Grissom, Grissom, Julia Tutwiler, Roman, Sannikov, CISA, Tehum hadn't, What's, it's Organizations: Service, Tehum Care Services, Justice Department, Corizon, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, Geneva Consulting, Tehum, University of Missouri Health Care, Brooklyn Law School, Geneva, Genesis Healthcare, Department, US, Court, Southern, Southern District of, Baker, FBI, Infrastructure Security Agency, of Health, Human, CISA, HHS, HIPAA, Women Locations: Houston, Texas, YesCare, Reorg, New Mexico, Corizon, Geneva, Southern District, Southern District of Texas, Alabama, Wetumpka , Alabama, Rivers, bitcoin, Tehum

☆ Dropbox plans to pay $79 million to shrink its huge SF office, after CEO says the RTO push will fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox will pay $79 million to give up 165,000 square feet of office space at its San Francisco HQ. The company switched to remote working during the pandemic and workers now follow a '90/10' routine. CEO Drew Houston has backed remote working, and said the return-to-office push is doomed to fail. AdvertisementAdvertisementDropbox is spending $79 million to give up a quarter of its San Francisco headquarters, as it continues to bet that remote working is here to stay. Dropbox's move to cut back on its physical office space is a fresh blow to San Francisco, which is going through a commercial real estate crisis .

Persons: Dropbox, Drew Houston, —, Fortune, Houston, Jones Lang LaSalle Organizations: San Francisco HQ, Service, San, SEC, CNBC, Jones Locations: San Francisco, Mission Bay

☆ Dropbox handing over 25% of San Francisco HQ back to landlord as commercial real estate softens
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox said Friday that it's agreed to return over one quarter of its San Francisco headquarters to the landlord as the commercial real estate market continues to soften following the Covid pandemic. In a filing, Dropbox said it agreed to surrender to its landlord 165,244 square feet of space and pay $79 million in termination fees. Under the amendment to its lease agreement, Dropbox will offload the space over time through the first quarter of 2025. In addition, Dropbox took a $175.2 million impairment on the office last year "as a result of adverse changes" in the market. Dropbox had tried working with its landlord to sublease space at the headquarters, but the real estate market deteriorated, finance chief Tim Regan, told analysts on a February earnings call.

Persons: Dropbox, it's, we've, Drew Houston, Dropbox's, Uber, Tim Regan Organizations: San Francisco, Vir Biotechnology, CNBC, Private, KKR, Kilroy Realty Corp, San Francisco Chronicle, Microsoft Locations: Mission, Dropbox

☆ Dropbox CEO Drew Houston: Subscribers are using AI-powered tools to solve new problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | 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 EmailDropbox CEO Drew Houston: Subscribers are using AI-powered tools to solve new problemsCNBC's Deirdre Bosa sits down with Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to discuss how their paying subscribers are utilizing their AI tools, whether their AI tools have allowed them to broaden their reach in enterprise space, and more.

Persons: Drew Houston, Deirdre Bosa

☆ Return-to-office appears to be winning, with the proportion of people working from home dropping to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The proportion of Americans working from home is at its lowest level since the pandemic started. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe proportion of Americans working from home has fallen to the lowest level since the pandemic started, according to Census Bureau data. Bloomberg reported that the proportion of Americans working from home peaked in March 2021. The fall in the proportion of Americans working from home comes amid a continued return-to-office drive as COVID-19 rates fall and employers debate the productivity of working from home. AdvertisementAdvertisementA recent report from Goldman Sachs showed that research studies have divergent conclusions on the effects of remote work on productivity.

Persons: —, Goldman Sachs, Drew Houston, Fortune, Houston, Insider's Rebecca Knight Organizations: Service, Survey, Bloomberg, Trust

☆ The CEO of Dropbox has a 90/10 rule for remote work
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston told Fortune his company uses a 90/10 rule for remote work. This means 90% of the year is spent on remote work, and the remaining 10% is dedicated to employee off-site events. AdvertisementAdvertisementDrew Houston, the CEO of file storage company Dropbox, is continuing to tout a predominantly remote work culture, even as business leaders increasingly call for their workers to return to the office. Dropbox uses a 90/10 rule, with 90% of the year spent on remote work and the remaining 10% spent on a handful of employee off-sites, the company's CEO told Fortune in an interview published Sunday. The company first announced it was becoming a "virtual first" company in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making remote work the default for workers.

Persons: Drew Houston, Fortune, —, Houston, Mark Zuckerberg, Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, Jamie Dimon, hasn't Organizations: Houston, Service, Dropbox, Forbes, JPMorgan Locations: San Francisco, Houston

☆ Microsoft, Amazon facing UK antitrust probe over cloud serivces
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Microsoft and Amazon could be in hot water over apparently making it difficult for UK customers to use multiple suppliers of vital cloud services. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the country’s antitrust regulator, said Thursday it was launching an investigation into the UK cloud infrastructure services market to determine whether players were engaged in anti-competitive practices. This “cloud infrastructure” forms the foundation for how software applications, such as Gmail and Dropbox, are developed and run. According to Ofcom, last year Microsoft and AWS had a combined market share of 70-80% in the UK cloud infrastructure services market. The report also raised concerns about the software licensing practices of some cloud providers, particularly Microsoft.

Persons: Sarah Cardell Organizations: London CNN, Microsoft, Markets Authority, Amazon Web Services, CMA, Ofcom, European Digital Services, Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, AWS Locations: United Kingdom

☆ Opinion: Here are the jobs AI will impact most
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Bethany Cianciolo | Jessica Chia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +42 min

Dan’s research and teaching focus is on using AI for legal services and the regulation of AI in society. For instance, we can develop AI tools to help individuals understand their responsibilities and rights, and preserve and enforce those rights. People in businesses, large and small, are already using chatbots, AI assistants and other AI tools to help them comply with laws, regulations and internal policies. Additionally, new roles are emerging in the legal industry, such as legal engineers who build systems, legal data scientists and legal operations professionals. AI tools will then quickly re-optimize decisions associated with inventory shipments, staffing and promotions.

Persons: ” That’s, Dropbox, Goldman Sachs, isn’t, Erich S, Huang, ” Erich S, Huang I’ve, Regina Barzilay, Barzilay, Geoffrey Hinton, radiologists, —, ’, Daniel W, Linna, Dan, …, ” Daniel W, Refik, Anadol, ”, Adam Elmachtoub, Nisreen, Theodore Kim, don’t, ” Theodore Kim Moreover, Janis Joplin, Jackie Jormp, We’re, Baz Luhrmann’s “, Gatsby, That’s, Leonardo DiCaprio, mockbusters, Eirini, GitHub Copilot, Ashok Goel, Jill Watson, ” Ashok Goel, Kristen DiCerbo, Alireza, Davis Organizations: CNN, CNET, International Association of Machinists, Aerospace Workers, Informatics, Verily, Duke Health, Biomedical Informatics, Duke University School of Medicine, Adobe, Apple, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science Department, MIT, Jameel Clinic, Machine Learning, MacArthur, National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University’s CS, Center, Better Housing, UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts, The Museum, Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, Walt Disney Concert, Department of Industrial Engineering, Research, Columbia University, NBA, Spice, Digital Organisation and Society, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK Academy of Information Systems, Yale, Pixar, Technical, Writers Guild of America, SAG, Hollywood, YouTube, Tech, Developers, Georgia Institute of Technology, National AI, Adult, Education, US National Science Foundation, Georgia Tech, Khan Academy, Systems, Studies, Agricultural Engineering, University of California, university’s, Agriculture, Labor Locations: outplacement, Iceland

☆ AI startup Speak raises $16 million in latest funding led by Lachy Groom
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 31 (Reuters) - Speak, an artificial intelligence (AI)-backed English language learning platform, said on Thursday that it has raised $16 million in fresh funding led by venture capitalist Lachy Groom. Lachy Groom's Fund had participated in Speak's previous funding round in which it raised $20 million. OpenAI Startup Fund is investing $100 million in AI firms and is looking for early-stage startups in sectors including healthcare, climate change and education, according to its website. Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Groom, Drew Houston, Arash Ferdowsi, Lachy, Anirudh, Nivedita Organizations: REUTERS, Fund, Reuters, Google, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico, Bengaluru

☆ Peloton shares drop 25% after posting wider than expected loss, falling sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Peloton on Wednesday reported a wider than expected loss and a quarterly drop in new subscribers that it blamed on its recall of its Bike seat post and seasonality, sending shares plunging about 25% in premarket trading. It ended the quarter with 3.08 million subscribers, up 4% year over year and in line with the company's expectations. But compared to last quarter, subscribers declined by 29,000. The former Netflix and Spotify executive has spent the last three months focusing on new strategies aimed at getting the fitness company back on a path to growth. Clients include Volvo, which has Peloton bikes in its company fitness center and offers employees access to the Peloton app, its all access membership and discounts on hardware, including the Bike, Bike+, Tread and Guide.

Persons: Barry McCarthy, McCarthy, Leslie Berland Organizations: Refinitiv, Consumers, Netflix, Spotify, Business, Volvo, Dropbox, University of Michigan, Big Locations: Dusseldorf, Germany

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