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☆ Microsoft Tops Apple to Become Most Valuable Public Company
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Tripp Mickle | Karen Weise | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a decade, Apple was the stock market’s undisputed king. It first overtook Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable public company in 2011 and held the title almost without interruption. On Friday, Microsoft surpassed Apple, claiming the crown after its market value surged by more than $1 trillion over the past year. The change is part of a reordering of the stock market that was set in motion by the advent of generative artificial intelligence. The values of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Google dwarfed former market leaders like Walmart, JPMorgan Chase and General Motors.

Persons: Apple, JPMorgan Chase Organizations: Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Apple, Bloomberg, Exxon, Facebook, Google, Walmart, JPMorgan, General Motors

☆ 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

In a blog post, Mr. Altman, who was rapidly reinstated last week, also outlined his priorities for OpenAI as he retakes the reins of the high-profile artificial intelligence start-up. He added that its board would focus on improving governance and overseeing an independent review of the events that led to and followed his removal as chief executive. Microsoft expands a three-person board that OpenAI announced last week. Microsoft will be able to participate in OpenAI’s board meetings but not vote on business decisions. “Part of what good governance means is that there’s more predictability, transparency and input from various stakeholders, and this seemed like a good way to get that from a very important one,” Mr. Altman said in an interview, referring to Microsoft.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Mr Organizations: Microsoft

☆ Nvidia C.E.O. Is Not Worried About Rising A.I. Industry Competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Tripp Mickle | More About Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, said on Wednesday that he’s not worried about the rising competition. The machine, which was delivered five years later, changed the way computers worked, allowing them to generate sentences, images and videos. was not a chip problem. It’s a reinvention-of-computing problem,” Mr. Huang said, speaking at the DealBook Summit in New York. Every aspect of the computer has fundamentally changed.”Mr. Huang said that it will take time for competitors to catch up.

Persons: Jensen Huang, he’s, “, Mr, Huang, ” Mr Organizations: Nvidia Locations: New York

This year’s DealBook Summit will include conversations with global leaders and powerful figures from Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Jamie Dimon has been the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase since 2006 and its chairman since 2007, making him one of Wall Street’s longest-serving banking leaders. Bob Iger returned as Disney’s chief executive last year, after stepping down from the role in 2020. David Zaslav orchestrated Discovery’s takeover of WarnerMedia and became the chief executive of the new company, Warner Bros. The transaction helped transform his modest cable television company into an empire that includes the Warner Bros. movie and TV studios, HBO and CNN.

Persons: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Kamala Harris, Ms, Harris, Biden’s, Tsai Ing, Tsai, Elon Musk, Musk, Jamie Dimon, Jensen Huang, chipmaker, Bob Iger, Long, Iger, Lina Khan, Khan, ”, David Zaslav, Jay Monahan, LIV Golf, Monahan, Kevin McCarthy, Mr, McCarthy, Shonda Rhimes, Rhimes Organizations: Wall, Israel, Elon, SpaceX, JPMorgan Chase, First, Nvidia, Fox, Marvel, Pixar, Hollywood, ESPN, Federal Trade Commission, Columbia Law, WarnerMedia, Warner Bros, HBO, CNN, Republican, Republican Party, Shondaland, Netflix Locations: Silicon Valley, Hollywood, United States, California, San Francisco, Gaza, Taiwan, China, First Republic, Saudi

For much of the past year, OpenAI’s board of directors has been criticized as too small and too divided to effectively govern one of the fastest-growing start-ups in Silicon Valley history. On Friday, the board’s dysfunction spilled into public view when four of its members fired Sam Altman, OpenAI’s popular and powerful chief executive. Mr. Altman, 38, returned to the company on Tuesday night, after days of haggling over his job and over the makeup of the board. The board and Mr. Altman’s allies discussed more than a half dozen options for its future. The departing board wanted to be sure the replacements would be independent thinkers and experienced enough to stand up to Mr. Altman.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI’s, Altman, Altman’s, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs, Brian Chesky Organizations: Emerson Locations: Silicon Valley

More board members, who could be plucked from OpenAI’s biggest investor, Microsoft, and the A.I. Mr. Altman was not named to the board on Tuesday night, and it was not clear if he ever will be. But some already argue that it will not be as attuned to OpenAI’s original mission to create A.I. The tech industry — perhaps even the world — will be watching to see if OpenAI is any closer to balancing those dueling aspirations than it was a week ago. “This needs to be a trustworthy organization that’s aligned with its board, and at the end of it all, OpenAI is a more valuable organization than it was a week ago.”

Persons: Altman, ”, Aaron Levie Organizations: Microsoft

Sam Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s chief executive, the company said, successfully reversing his ouster by the company’s board last week after a campaign waged by his allies, employees and investors. The board of directors will be overhauled, jettisoning several members who had opposed Mr. Altman. Adam D’Angelo, the chief executive of Quora, will be the only holdover. “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” OpenAI said in a post to X. “We are collaborating to figure out the details.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Adam D’Angelo, Sam, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, ” OpenAI, Greg Brockman, upended Organizations: Quora

Nearly all of OpenAI’s 800 employees have threatened to follow Mr. Altman to Microsoft, which asked him to lead an A.I. lab with Greg Brockman, who quit his roles as OpenAI’s president and board chairman in solidarity with Mr. Altman. The board has not said what it thought Mr. Altman was not being honest about. There were indications that the board was still open to his return, as it and Mr. Altman held discussions that extended into Tuesday, two people familiar with the talks said. But there was a sticking point: Mr. Altman rejected some of the guardrails that had been proposed to improve his communication with the board.

Persons: OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman, Brockman Organizations: Microsoft

OpenAI’s four-person board shocked the tech industry early Friday afternoon when it removed Mr. Altman, saying they could no longer trust him. One of the board members who pushed out Mr. Altman then reversed course on Monday and signed the letter demanding that he be reinstated. The decision by the board set off a frantic weekend of unexpected corporate jockeying that ended with Mr. Altman joining Microsoft to start a new A.I. By early Monday morning, the 700 employees had signed the letter, according to three people familiar with the matter. The upheaval leaves the future of one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley history in doubt.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman Organizations: Microsoft, Mr Locations: Silicon Valley

Talks at OpenAI to bring back Sam Altman, the artificial intelligence start-up’s recently ousted chief executive, continued on Sunday afternoon but there were disagreements over the makeup of the company’s board of directors, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Mr. Altman, 38, spent the weekend waging a pressure campaign on the start-up’s four-person board of directors who ousted him on Friday afternoon, three people familiar with the matter said. The result was a groundswell of support from investors, employees and OpenAI executives. Mr. Altman was at the OpenAI headquarters on Sunday afternoon. Members of the board have not yet agreed to what a restructured board of directors might look like — nor is Mr. Altman’s reinstatement an inevitability, two of the people said.

Persons: Sam Altman, up’s, Altman, “

Kyle Vogt, a founder and chief executive of Cruise, the driverless car subsidiary of General Motors, resigned on Sunday, less than a month after Cruise suspended all autonomous operations after a series of traffic mishaps. Mr. Vogt had faced criticism for months as Cruise’s self-driving operations ran into issues in cities such as San Francisco. At various points, Cruise’s autonomous vehicles were involved in accidents, with outrage mounting after one of its cars dragged a pedestrian 20 feet after a crash in October. In a statement, Cruise said that its board had accepted Mr. Vogt’s resignation, but it did not specify what had led to his departure. The company did not name a new chief executive but appointed a new president who also became its chief technology officer and a new vice chairman.

Persons: Kyle Vogt, Cruise, Vogt, Vogt’s, ” Organizations: General Motors Locations: San Francisco

Mr. Altman plans to launch the initiative with his longtime partner and co-founder Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s former president who stepped down in solidarity with Mr. Altman on Friday, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans for the new company are not yet public. Details on the potential company are scarce, because Mr. Altman and Mr. Brockman are still working through what it will be. Plans could change quickly, as the pair are keeping a wide range of options open, the sources said. OpenAI’s board of directors shocked the tech industry on Friday when it abruptly fired Mr. Altman from his position as chief executive. By Friday night, the two men were already working on their plans to pitch investors on their next venture.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s, Brockman Organizations: OpenAI

☆ Meet Mira Murati, the Engineer Now Leading OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Tripp Mickle | Cade Metz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For years, Mira Murati has worked behind the scenes at OpenAI, overseeing the development and delivery of revolutionary products such as ChatGPT and DALL-E. Now, she is stepping into the limelight as its interim chief executive. Ms. Murati, 34, was elevated to the top position at the high-profile company on Friday when OpenAI’s board of directors ousted Sam Altman, the company’s co-founder and chief executive. She also handled the company’s relationship with Microsoft, an investor and partner who has deployed OpenAI’s technology, and she helped shape its artificial intelligence policy in Washington and Europe. “She has a demonstrated ability to assemble teams with technical expertise, commercial acumen and a deep appreciation for the importance of mission,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, wrote in a piece about her for Time magazine. “As a result, Mira has helped build some of the most exciting A.I.

Persons: Mira Murati, Murati, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Mira, ” Organizations: Microsoft, Time Locations: Washington, Europe

☆ New Toyota Camry will be hybrid-only
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The Toyota Camry, the best-selling car in America, is going hybrid-only. The Camry is available in a hybrid version now, but the redesigned 2025 Camry will be offered only as a hybrid car combining a gasoline engine with electric motors. Making the Camry hybrid-only is a big step. The Toyota Crown Signia is a new hybrid-only SUV. Besides unveiling the new Camry Tuesday night, Toyota also revealed another new hybrid-only SUV model, the Crown Signia.

Persons: there’s, We’ve, ” Mike Tripp, Tyson Jominy, “ It’s, ”, “, Jominy, Tripp Organizations: CNN, Toyota Camry, Toyota, Camry, J.D, They’re, Corolla, Lexus Locations: America, Sienna, United States

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Sitting beneath a palm tree on a cliff above the ocean at Mr. Benioff’s Hawaiian home in 2018, they explained both devices. “This one,” Mr. Benioff said, pointing at the Ai Pin, as dolphins breached the surf below, “is huge.”“It’s going to be a massive company,” he added. They experimented in secret with hardware components and built a virtual assistant, like Siri or Alexa, working with customized language models based, in part, on OpenAI’s offerings. The device’s most sci-fi element — the laser that projects a text menu onto a hand — started inside a box the size of a matchbook. It took three years to miniaturize it to be smaller than the size of a golf tee.

Persons: Mr, Benioff, “, ”, Siri, Altman Organizations: Apple

Two months ago, Kyle Vogt, the chief executive of Cruise, choked up as he recounted how a driver killed a 4-year-old girl in a stroller at a San Francisco intersection. I get emotional.”To make streets safer, he said in an interview, cities should embrace self-driving cars like those designed by Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors. Now Mr. Vogt’s driverless car company faces its own safety concerns as he contends with angry regulators, anxious employees and skepticism about his management and the viability of a business that he has often said will save lives while generating billions of dollars. On Oct. 2, a car hit a woman in a San Francisco intersection and flung her into the path of one of Cruise’s driverless taxis. The Cruise car ran over her, briefly stopped, and then dragged her some 20 feet before pulling to the curb, causing severe injuries.

Persons: Kyle Vogt, Cruise, ”, “, Vogt’s Organizations: General Motors Locations: San Francisco

☆ Apple’s Sales Drop Slightly While Profit Is Up 11 Percent
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Tripp Mickle | More About Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At a time when the tech industry’s biggest companies are rebounding from a post-pandemic dip, Apple is suffering through its most prolonged sales slump in more than a decade. Apple’s most important business, the iPhone, rallied last month behind the release of four new devices, which boosted sales 3 percent, to $43.81 billion, from last year. And the company’s sales for software and services, such as Apple Music and cloud storage, jumped 16 percent, to $22.31 billion. But sales sank for most of the company’s other businesses, including the Mac, iPad, and the Apple Watch and AirPods. Total product sales dropped by 5 percent, to $67.18 billion.

Organizations: Apple, Apple Watch

Jon Stewart’s show on Apple’s streaming service is abruptly coming to an end, according to several people with knowledge of the decision, the result of creative differences between the tech giant and the former “Daily Show” host. Mr. Stewart and Apple executives decided to part ways in recent days, two of the people said. The Apple show, “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” debuted to some fanfare two years ago as Mr. Stewart’s return to the talk show format after a six-year hiatus. But Mr. Stewart and Apple executives had disagreements over some of the topics and guests on “The Problem,” two of the people said. Mr. Stewart told members of his staff on Thursday that potential show topics related to China and artificial intelligence were causing concern among Apple executives, a person with knowledge of the meeting said.

Persons: Jon Stewart’s, Stewart, Jon Stewart, ”, Stewart’s Organizations: Apple, Comedy Locations: China

James Hoye will be the umpire crew chief for the American League Championship Series between Houston and Texas, and Dan Iassogna will head the group working the National League series between Arizona and Philadelphia. Seven-man crews will work each series, with one umpire off each game, Major League Baseball said Friday. Mark Ripperger will call balls and strikes in Game 2, followed by Hoye, Eddings, Hudson, Baker and Bellino. Carlos Torres will call balls and strikes in the second game, followed by Iassogna, Muchlinski, Barksdale, Gibson and Hamari. Political Cartoons View All 1209 ImagesMike Estabrook, Jeremie Rehak and Chris Segal will be the replay umpires at the video center in the commissioner’s office.

Persons: James Hoye, Dan Iassogna, Stu Scheurwater, Hoye, Doug Eddings, Marvin Hudson, Jordan Baker, Dan Bellino, Mark Ripperger, Baker, Bellino, Andy Fletcher, Iassogna, Mike Muchlinski, Lance Barksdale, Tripp Gibson, Adrian Hamari, Carlos Torres, Gibson, Mike Estabrook, Jeremie Rehak, Chris Segal, ___ Organizations: American League, National League, Major League Baseball, AL, Monday’s NL, Barksdale Locations: Houston and Texas, Arizona, Philadelphia, Eddings, Hudson, Monday’s

☆ Walmart is tackling its $6 billion healthcare bill by pushing employees to see telehealth doctors
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walmart is expanding its virtual health care service to employees across the US. Roughly half of traditional health plan participants do not receive primary care, due in part to lack of access. AdvertisementAdvertisementMore Walmart workers across the US will soon have access to virtual health care services as the country's largest employer expands the offering to all states starting October 14, the company said Tuesday. Employees in 21 states were previously eligible for the telehealth benefit through a provider called Included Health, which rolled out its virtual primary care offering in 2020. Walmart's US health plan spent more than $6 billion last year on claims, premiums, and administrative costs, Bloomberg reported, citing Labor Department filings.

Persons: —, Owen Tripp, Lisa Woods, telehealth Organizations: Walmart, Service, Bloomberg, Employees, Data, Labor

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, testified in Washington that Google’s placement as the default search option on the Safari browser across Apple devices was motivated by quality. “I didn’t think at the time, or today, that there was anybody out there who is anywhere near as good as Google at searching,” said Mr. Cue, who was called to testify by the Justice Department. “Certainly there wasn’t a valid alternative.”The Justice Department has accused Google of illegally locking in its monopoly through deals to make its search option the default on Apple, Samsung, Firefox and other platforms. Those partnerships squashed competitors that struggled to get their products in front of consumers, the Justice Department argues.

Persons: Apple’s, ” Organizations: Google, Justice Department, Justice, Apple, Samsung Locations: Washington

In a court filing last month, Google argued that it needed its privacy in an antitrust trial that would spotlight its dominance in online search. It was part of a pattern of Google’s pushing to limit transparency in the federal government’s first monopoly trial of the modern internet era. v. Google, enters its third week in court, it is shaping up to be perhaps the most secretive antitrust trial of the last few decades. Not only has Google argued for the landmark trial to be largely closed off to the public, but so have other companies that are involved, such as Apple and Microsoft. Apple even fought to quash subpoenas, describing them as “unduly burdensome,” to get its executives out of giving testimony.

Organizations: Google, New York Times, Apple, Microsoft

☆ Apple Unveils iPhone 15 and Switches to USB-C Charger
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Tripp Mickle | More About Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Every September for the past decade, Apple has convened media from around the world for a marketing event that celebrates the creative feats behind its newest iPhone. It has hyped the shine of the phone’s exterior, the sculpting around its cameras and the power of its processors. On Wednesday, Apple revealed that its newest product line, the iPhone 15, will drop the company’s proprietary Lightning port in favor of European-mandated USB-C ports. The company’s newest iPhones feature a charging plug that is slightly bigger and rounder than its predecessor but capable of delivering a faster charge. Though Apple resisted the change, warning that government mandates could stifle innovation, it will make it possible to use the same USB-C cord that powers a Mac to charge an iPhone.

Persons: Apple Organizations: Apple, European

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