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☆ Unity CEO John Riccitiello is retiring from gaming software company after controversial pricing change
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Unity CEO John Riccitiello is retiring from the gaming software company following a controversial pricing change that frustrated numerous developers. Riccitiello, who has been running Unity for nine years, will also step down as chairman and is leaving the board, the company said Monday. James Whitehurst, former CEO of Red Hat, will become Unity's interim CEO. Unity said it will begin searching for a permanent CEO and Riccitiello "will continue to advise Unity to ensure a smooth transition." In September, Unity announced a pricing change that upset numerous developers who rely on the company's technology to create video games.

Persons: John Riccitiello, James Whitehurst, Roelof Botha, Unity, It's, Riccitiello, John Riccitello Organizations: Red, Sequoia, Unity's, Unity

☆ The 6 wildest details about Sam Bankman-Fried that Michael Lewis revealed in a tell-all interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Michael Lewis gave a peek into details from his new book on Sam Bankman-Fried in a tell-all interview. AdvertisementAdvertisement"The Big Short" author Michael Lewis shared some of the wildest details from his forthcoming book on disgraced FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried during a tell-all interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday. Tom Brady and Sam Bankman-Fried had an unlikely friendship, according to Michael Lewis. Sam Bankman-Fried, a known "League of Legends" fan, played a video game during his first live TV interview, Michael Lewis said. Sam Bankman-Fried.

Persons: Michael Lewis, Sam Bankman, Lewis, SBF, Tom Brady, Donald Trump, —, Bankman, Sam, Erin Schaff, Insider's Lloyd Lee, Fried, Trump, Brady, Sebastian Widmann, Sam wasn't, FTX, he's, Larry David, Steph Curry's, Steph Curry, Anna Wintour, Matt Winkelmeyer, Vogue's Anna Wintour, Wintour, Spokespeople, David, Curry, Michael M, Bernie Madoff, Elizabeth Holmes, Jim Spellman, WireImage Lewis Organizations: Service, Trump, NFL, Super, Miami, Sequoia Capital, Metropolitan Detention, Prosecutors, Alameda Research, Bankman Locations: New York, Trump, Hollywood, America, Bahamas, Brooklyn

On day one of Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial, assistant U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, rattled off a lengthy list of potential witnesses who might be called to testify for either the government or the defense. The list, which was compiled jointly by both sides, was released during the afternoon session and included Bankman-Fried's brother, Gabe, as well his parents, Allan Joseph Bankman and his wife, Barbara Fried. Parents of the disgraced former CEO of FTX are themselves the subject of new scrutiny. Other entities that may take the witness stand included various venture funds and crypto-focused companies like Genesis, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, Third Point, Signature Bank, and Voyager Digital. Many of these businesses were hurt or wiped out by the collapse in cryptocurrency prices triggered in part by FTX's implosion.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Danielle Sassoon, Gabe, Allan Joseph Bankman, Barbara Fried, Ellison, FTX, Wang, Anthony Scaramucci, Fried Alfred Lin, Sequoia Capital Zac Prince, Michael Lewis Organizations: Alameda Research, U.S, SkyBridge, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ontario, Pension Fund, Signature Bank, Voyager Locations: Bankman, Manhattan

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried was playing a video game while being interviewed on live TV for the first time, author of FTX book says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly played a video game the first time he was interviewed on live TV. Author Michael Lewis said a clip showed SBF's eyes moving as he tried to win the game while on air. AdvertisementAdvertisementFTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly played a video game during his first appearance on live TV. It's because he's trying to win his video game at the same time he's on the air." AdvertisementAdvertisementThe incident is not the first time the former FTX CEO has been caught playing video games in professional settings.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Michael Lewis, —, Lewis, he's, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh Organizations: Service, CBS, League, Sequoia, Bankman, Alameda Research, Justice Department Locations: Sequoia Capital, FTX

☆ Top investor shares his No. 1 counterintuitive strategy for making tough decisions—it's something 'you haven't even considered'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sequoia Capital managing partner Roelof Botha has a strategy for making tough decisions. He cited Dorsey's own payments business Block, where Botha sits on the company's board, as an example. The company officially launched Square Cash, now known as Cash App, in October 2013. Block now has a market cap of $26.82 billion, as of Wednesday afternoon, and Cash App is responsible for half of its revenue, Botha said. Having a third option helped Block cut what wasn't working, and invest in projects that helped make the company profitable.

Persons: Roelof Botha, Botha, Jack Dorsey, Dorsey, it'd Organizations: Sequoia Capital, YouTube, Starbucks, PayPal, CNBC

☆ The Silicon Valley investors who secretly bought up $800 million in Northern California real estate reveal unexpected plans for 'a city of yesterday'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Chris Kaye | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A mysterious company backed by Silicon Valley investors has been purchasing land near San Francisco. They're planning to build a retro city on the 52,000 acres of farmland they bought. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Silicon Valley investors that got the government's attention by gobbling up $800 million worth of land outside San Francisco say the mystery city they plan on building is, well… kinda retro. Solano County Google Maps"The plans that people put forward will be very inspired by those great old American neighborhoods that someone who was born 100 years ago will recognize," Sramek told KQED.

Persons: —, we've, Jan Sramek, Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz of, Reid Hoffman, Flannery, who've, Catherine Moy, Moy, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Musk, Chap Ambrose, Ambrose, Azmi Haroun Organizations: Service, KQED, The New York Times, Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital, Flannery Associates, Travis Air Force Base, Solano County Google, Boring Company, SpaceX, Washington Post Locations: Silicon, San Francisco, California, Solano County, Bay, Fairfield, Solano Silicon, Austin , Texas, Bastrop Country

OpenAI's ChatGPT can now "see, hear and speak" — or, at least, understand spoken words, respond with a synthetic voice and process images, the company announced Monday. Users will also be able to share images with ChatGPT and highlight areas of focus or analysis (think: "What kinds of clouds are these?"). The big feature push comes alongside ever-rising stakes of the AI arms race among chatbot leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft , Google and Anthropic. Experts have raised concerns about AI-generated synthetic voices, which in this case could allow users a more natural experience but also enable more convincing deepfakes. OpenAI acknowledged those concerns in its Monday announcement, saying that synthetic voices were "created with voice actors we have directly worked with," rather than collected from strangers.

Persons: OpenAI's, OpenAI, Bard chatbot, Bing, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Sequoia Capital

☆ Scooter company Bird delisted from NYSE after stock collapse, will trade over the counter
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bird raised over $500 million, and was valued at $2.5 billion in a 2019 round led by Sequoia Capital. The onset of Covid in 2020 brought the business almost to a halt as cities went into lockdown. That year Bird went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, but the economics continued to deteriorate. That's after a 1-for-25 reverse stock split meant to get the stock trading back above $1. Earlier this week, Bird acquired scooter startup Spin for $19 million, including $10 million in cash.

Persons: Bird, Travis VanderZanden, Michael Washinushi Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Sequoia Capital, Revenue, Company, NYSE, Bird

☆ US venture firm GGV Capital to separate China business amid geopolitical tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. venture capital firm GGV Capital said on Thursday it plans to split its business into two, with one focused on Asia and the other on the U.S., as political pressure mounts on American companies to limit investments in Chinese technology. This comes after Sequoia Capital in June said it is splitting its businesses in China as well as India and Southeast Asia into two independent firms. Venture capital firm GGV said the separation of its Singapore arm that would solely focus on investing in China is expected to finish by the first quarter of next year. GGV Capital, which has around $9 billion in assets under management, has backed companies such as Airbnb, ByteDance and Alibaba to establish itself as a cross-border venture capital company. China-focused firms only raised $5.5 billion in U.S. dollar-denominated funding in the first half of the year, Preqin data showed, a far cry from its peak of $27.6 billion raised in the same period in 2021.

Persons: GGV Capital, GGV, Alibaba, Seher, Shweta Agarwal Organizations: GGV, Sequoia Capital, U.S, Wall Street Journal, GSR Ventures, Walden International, Qualcomm Ventures, Venture, ., Thomson Locations: Asia, China, India, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Bengaluru

☆ Insider Today: Ex-Goldman partners dish
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter. In today's big story, former Goldman Sachs partners explain what led them to leave their prestigious positions within the bank. A recent Insider investigation by Dakin Campbell and Emmalyse Brownstein found that at least 202 partners have left the firm during CEO David Solomon's volatile five-year tenure. And while Solomon's strategic missteps were a key talking point for many, not all the former partners bashed the CEO. The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, it's, Goldman, David Solomon, Dakin Campbell, Emmalyse Brownstein, David Solomon's, Dakin, It's, Julian Salisbury, Dina Powell McCormick, Fred Baba, Solomon, Lloyd Blankfein, Apoorva Mehta, Instacart, Daniel Sundheim, Michael Moritz, Here's, Instacart's, Beck, Apoorva, Mehta, Tyler Le, Steve Squeri, Squeri, AEW, Tony Khan, Lauren Boebert, Anna Moneymaker, General Merrick Garland, Kim Kardashian, General Mills, Getty, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, D1 Capital Partners, Sequoia, Getty, Sequoia Capital, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management's, American Express, Wrestling, WWE's, Fed, U.S, FedEx, General Locations: Wall, Silicon, What's, —, ChatGPT, Cerebral, Colorado, Mostar, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ As Instacart goes public, it's no victory lap for founder Apoorva Mehta
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Mehta was replaced as CEO of Instacart in July 2021 following a messy dispute with some of the company's largest investors. Instacart Founder Apoorva Mehta in his 2003 yearbook photo from Westdale Secondary School. The app started gaining momentum and Mehta put out ads on Craigslist for shoppers to do the grocery runs for him. Whole Foods reportedly broke the news to Mehta and a fellow Instacart executive on an early morning call. In a sworn affidavit, Mehta denies that he misappropriated any trade secrets and says he's since cut ties with Singh.

Persons: Apoorva Mehta, Mehta, Safeway Mehta, Hamilton Public Library Mehta, Bing Gordon, Kleiner Perkins, Gordon, he'd, Garry Tan, Tan, Garry, Andreessen Horowitz, catapulting Mehta, Forbes, Instacart, Mike Moritz, Fidji Simo, Simo, That's, Mehta's, he's, Tejasvi, Singh, Sam Bankman, NextMed, it's Organizations: Instacart, Safeway, Westdale Secondary, Hamilton Public Library, The University of Waterloo, Amazon, NPR, Electronic Arts, YC, TechCrunch, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Forbes, Foods, Costco, Kroger, Facebook, Sunrise Locations: India, Libya, Hamilton , Ontario, Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, wallowing, Sequoia, Mehta's, Marin County

☆ Instacart closes up 12% in Nasdaq debut, after first-day rally sputters
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Instacart shares rose 12% in their Nasdaq debut on Tuesday after the grocery delivery company's long-awaited IPO. The stock initially popped 40% to open at $42, but closed at $33.70 as investors locked in their initial gains. At $11.2 billion, Instacart is valued at about 3.9 times annual revenue. Food delivery provider DoorDash , which Instacart named as a competitor in its prospectus, trades at 4.1 times revenue. Uber's stock trades for less than three times revenue.

Persons: Instacart, Andreessen Horowitz, Rowe Price, company's Uber, Fidji Simo, CNBC's Deirdre Bosa, It's, Brandon Leonardo, Maxwell Mullen, Apoorva Mehta Organizations: Nasdaq, Software, Kroger, Costco, Sequoia, Fidelity, Target, Walmart Locations: Tuesday's, U.S, Amazon

☆ China VCs have a big problem — and it’s not just a drop in U.S. investor appetite
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Among China-focused investment firms, only four U.S. dollar-denominated venture capital funds established between 2015 and 2020 have at least returned investors all the money they put in. Alternative assets include venture capital, but not publicly traded stocks and bonds. Preqin doesn't track every single China VC fund, and only included those with data as of the end of last year or more recently. In the world of early-stage investing, "limited partners" (typically institutions) give money to "general partners" (venture capital funds) to invest into startups. The outperforming funds were: Loyal Valley Capital Advantage Fund I, Hillhouse Fund II, Oceanpine USD Fund I and HighLight Capital USD Fund II.

Persons: Preqin, —, Reuben Lai, “, Reuben Lai Preqin, they'd, Alex Shum, Preqin's Lai, there's, Lai, Jinjian Zhang, Vitalbridge, Zhang Organizations: Nurphoto, Getty, ., China VC, CNBC, Fengshion, Investment Fund, LYFE Capital, GGV, BioTrack, U.S, Capital, II, Sequoia, Sequoia Capital China Growth Fund, TPG NewQuest Locations: Shenzhen, China, BEIJING, That's, Preqin, Greater China, Beijing, IPOs, Vitalbridge, Shanghai

☆ Instacart prices IPO at $30 a share, valuing grocery-delivery company at about $10 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Instacart, the grocery-delivery company that saw its business boom during the pandemic, priced its long-awaited IPO at $30 a share on Monday, and will become the first notable venture-backed tech company to hit the U.S. public market since December 2021. There were 22 million shares sold in the initial public offering, with 14.1 million coming from the company and 7.9 million from existing shareholders. Instacart co-founder Apoorva Mehta owns shares worth over $800 million, and is selling a small portion of them in the IPO. The company said co-founders Brandon Leonardo and Maxwell Mullen are each selling 1.5 million, while Mehta is selling 700,000. Former employees, including those who were in executive roles as well as in product and engineering, are selling a combined 3.2 million shares.

Persons: Instacart, Andreessen Horowitz, Rowe Price, Apoorva Mehta, Mehta, Fidji Simo, Simo, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Brandon Leonardo, Maxwell Mullen Organizations: Nasdaq, Kroger, Costco, Sequoia, Fidelity, Target, Walmart, Facebook, JPMorgan Locations: Amazon

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Maplebear Inc , the parent of grocery delivery app Instacart, disclosed on Monday it fetched a $9.9 billion fully diluted valuation after pricing its initial public offering (IPO) at the top of its indicated range. The IPO was priced at $30 per share after the company marketed it with a range of $28 to $30 per share. The IPO raised $660 million based on 22 million shares sold. Arm's fully diluted valuation has risen to $62 billion following three days of its shares trading. These investors include Norges Bank Investment Management, a division of Norges Bank, and entities affiliated with venture capital firms TCV, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners and Valiant Capital Management.

Persons: Instacart, Echo Wang, Rosalba O'Brien, Jamie Freed Organizations: Inc, Nasdaq, U.S, Klaviyo Inc, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norges Bank, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Management, Sequoia, D1, PepsiCo, CVS, Thomson Locations: TCV, Sequoia, New York

☆ Sequoia and Andreessen to take a huge hit on their 2021 Instacart investment, after a 75% plunge in valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

That's more than 75% below where Sequoia and Andreessen invested in early 2021. At that time, Instacart sold shares at $125 a piece for a $39 billion valuation. The 400,000 shares it purchased in 2021 are a small sliver of the 51.2 million shares it owns. Neither Sequoia nor Andreessen participated in that round. Even if Instacart's IPO can't lift its valuation anywhere near its Covid-era peak, it's likely that Sequoia, Andreessen and other venture firms are hoping it helps lift public investor enthusiasm for new tech stocks.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Instacart, Andreessen, Covid shutdowns, Nick Giovanni, Sequoia's Mike Moritz, Rowe Price, It's, haven't, VCs, DoorDash, hasn't, there's, isn't, Valiant Peregrine Organizations: Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Federal Reserve, Consumers, Nasdaq, Sequoia, Valiant, D1 Locations: Sequoia, IPOs, U.S, Instacart, SoftBank

☆ Sequoia and Andreessen get hosed on their 2021 Instacart investment, after a 75% plunge in valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Instacart, Andreessen, Covid shutdowns, Nick Giovanni, Sequoia's Mike Moritz, Rowe Price, It's, haven't, VCs, DoorDash, hasn't, there's, isn't, Valiant Peregrine Organizations: Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Federal, Consumers, Nasdaq, Sequoia, Valiant, D1 Locations: Sequoia, IPOs, U.S, Instacart, SoftBank

☆ Online grocery firm Instacart seeks up to $7.7 billion valuation in IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In the filing, Instacart said it is setting an offer price of between $26 and $28 for its IPO. Instacart said it would issue 22 million shares in total, comprising 14.1 million of newly issued shares from the company and 7.9 million shares from selling stockholders. Instacart said its total common stock outstanding will be 276 million shares or 279.3 million if underwriters exercise an option to purchase additional shares. At 276 million shares total, Instacart will likely secure a valuation of about $7.7 billion. Alongside TCV, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, and Valiant Capital Management, the fund would purchase up to roughly $400 million in the offering.

Persons: Instacart, Goldman Sachs Organizations: underwriters, PepsiCo, Norges Bank Investment Management, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Management Locations: Sequoia

☆ India’s fintech partygoers nurse a needed hangover
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MUMBAI, Sept 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s financial technology industry is suffering from overindulgence. And it was on full display at a sombre Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai last week. The South Asian country is the world’s third-largest fintech market by number of unicorns. Poster child Byju’s is squabbling with lenders as investors walk away and financial reports get delayed. Follow @ShritamaBose on XCONTEXT NEWSThe Global Fintech Fest organised by the National Payments Corporation of India and industry association Payments Council of India was held between Sept. 5 and 7 in Mumbai.

Persons: securitisation, ’, hesitatingly, Vishwas Patel, they’re, fintechs, Mukesh Ambani’s, Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Founders, Boston Consulting Group, Venture, Reserve Bank, One97 Communications, FSN, Commerce Ventures, Innoven Triple Blue Capital, XV Partners, Financial, National Payments Corporation of India, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Mumbai, India, fintech, Sequoia Capital’s India, Southeast Asia, Rwanda, Japan, Germany, Peru

☆ Grocery delivery app Instacart aims for up to $7.7 bln valuation in US IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

As the Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs to tame inflation, several high-flying startups have had to raise funds at lower valuations. Instacart too has had to cut its internal valuation to as low as $10 billion in December in its long walk toward a Nasdaq debut. Instacart would join SoftBank's (9984.T) chip designer Arm and marketing automation firm Klaviyo, which are also gearing up for market debuts in September. Instacart and its selling shareholders are looking to raise up to $616 million by offering 22 million shares priced between $26 and $28 each, it said in a regulatory filing. Reporting by Niket Nishant and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Niket Nishant, Manya, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Federal Reserve, Nasdaq, Reuters, Instacart, Fed, Cornerstone, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norges Bank, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Management, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: United States, San Francisco, U.S, Ukraine, TCV, Sequoia, Bengaluru

☆ Instacart to target valuation of up to $9.3 billion in IPO, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Cheney Orr Acquire Licensing RightsSept 10 (Reuters) - Grocery delivery service Instacart is targeting a valuation between $8.6 billion and $9.3 billion in its initial public offering, according to a person familiar with the matter. The valuation range will be disclosed in an updated IPO regulatory filing on Monday, the source said on SundayInstacart declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on Sunday on Instacart's IPO valuation target. Unlike an IPO, no shares are sold in advance in a direct listing and investors can sell their shares directly to the public. For the six months ended June 30, Instacart last month reported revenue of $1.48 billion, up 31% from the same period last year.

Persons: Eric Cohn, Cheney Orr, Instacart, Andreessen Horowitz, Rowe Price, Anirudh Saligrama, Manya Saini, Niket, Echo Wang, Cynthia Osterman, Leslie Adler Organizations: Safeway, REUTERS, Arm Holdings Ltd, Reuters, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research, Thomson Locations: Tucson , Arizona, U.S, Bengaluru, Echo, New York

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, October 28, 2013. Barclays (BARC.L), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) are the lead underwriters for the offering. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are lead underwriters on the offering, the company said in its filing. Its shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "KVYO". Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Bank of America are underwriters of the IPO, according to the filing.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, T Rowe Price, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Instacart, Fidji Simo, confidentially, Klaviyo, Morgan Stanley, Chibuike Oguh, Lance Tupper, Michelle Price, Aurora Ellis Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Arm Holdings, Japan's Softbank, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Apple, Nvidia, Devices, Intel, Samsung Electronics, AMD, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Barclays, JPMorgan, Mizuho Financial Group, underwriters, Nasdaq, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norges Bank, Sequoia Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Management, Facebook, Reuters, Summit Partners, Citigroup, VNG Corp, HK, Temasek, UBS, Bank of America, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Russia, Ukraine, Baltimore, TCV, Sequoia, Canadian, United States, Chi Minh City, Singapore

☆ Sam Altman thinks Silicon Valley has lost its culture of innovation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI's Sam Altman thinks Silicon Valley no longer has an innovation culture. "Before OpenAI, what was the last really great scientific breakthrough that came out of a Silicon Valley company?" Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. "There used to be great research that happened in companies in Silicon Valley, Xerox PARC being the obvious example. To this, Altman responded by saying Silicon Valley did have a product innovation culture, but he felt it missed the mark on groundbreaking research.

Persons: OpenAI's Sam Altman, Sam Altman, Altman, Nicolai Tangen, I'm, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen, Horowitz, Matt Miller, Altman's OpenAI, ChatGPT, OpenAI Organizations: Service, Xerox PARC, Norges Bank Investment, Sequoia Capital, Biosciences Locations: Wall, Silicon, Silicon Valley, China, California, OpenAI

☆ SentinelOne scraps Wiz partnership nearly a week after bid interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 30 (Reuters) - SentinelOne (S.N) said on Wednesday it had terminated a partnership with cybersecurity startup Wiz, citing "lack of execution". The termination comes less than a week after Wiz said it was considering a bid for SentinelOne, which offers artificial intelligence-backed cybersecurity products. SentinelOne, launched in Israel in 2013, also said the partnership has not been productive for its business. Wiz, founded in 2020 and backed by Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners and Blackstone, offers products to detect and respond to threats to cloud systems. Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Wiz, Zaheer Kachwala, Maju Samuel Organizations: SentinelOne Inc, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, SentinelOne, Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Blackstone, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Israel, Bengaluru

☆ OpenAI launches ChatGPT Enterprise, the company's biggest announcement since ChatGPT's debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

OpenAI on Monday announced its biggest news since ChatGPT's debut: It's launching ChatGPT Enterprise, the AI chatbot's business tier, available starting Monday. ChatGPT Enterprise includes access to GPT-4 with no usage caps, performance that's up to two times faster than previous versions, and API credits. One key differentiator between ChatGPT Enterprise and the consumer-facing version: ChatGPT Enterprise will allow clients to input company data to train and customize ChatGPT for their own industries and use cases, although some of those features aren't yet available in Monday's debut. When asked how ChatGPT Enterprise compares with Bing Chat Enterprise, Microsoft's enterprise AI chatbot, an OpenAI representative told CNBC, "This is an OpenAI product independent of Microsoft. The biggest obstacle to ChatGPT Enterprise's development was figuring out how to prioritize features, Lightcap told CNBC.

Persons: OpenAI, Brad Lightcap, Lightcap, Estée Lauder Cos, Andreessen Horowitz, Brian Burke, ChatGPT, Bard chatbot, Bing, Claude 2, Sam Altman, — Organizations: Monday, ChatGPT, CNBC, ChatGPT Enterprise, Beta, Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Gartner, Fortune, Google

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