DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ OpenAI's AI-adjusted earnings numbers have echoes of Groupon and WeWork
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Is it OK for an AI company to exclude the cost of training its AI models when it reports earnings? Related storiesFor an AI company like OpenAI, training models will be an ongoing process. The world is constantly evolving, and new data is being generated, which will have to be incorporated into AI models' understanding. Let's call it "AI adjusted earnings" for an AI company. They are a private company," McKenna said.

Persons: we've, Francine McKenna, McKenna, OpenAI, It's, Groupon, WeWork Organizations: Google, Facebook, MarketWatch, Revenue, Big Tech, KPMG Consulting, SAP, Oracle, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC Locations: It's

☆ Who will win the robotaxi race? Tesla, Waymo, or Uber?
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Today, consumers open the Uber app because they know there will likely be loads of cars nearby to pick them up. And drivers come to Uber because they know there will be many riders waiting and willing to pay. Uber doesn't buy and maintain cars. AdvertisementA robotaxi futureWhat happens if Tesla and Waymo driverless cars replace human drivers? It has already struck deals with Waymo and Cruise, another AV company, to have their driverless cars be part of the existing Uber rideshare network.

Persons: Tesla's, Elon, Uber, Uber doesn't, Tesla, Bernstein, Lyft, Waymo, Ben Thompson, Thompson, Dara Khosrowshahi Organizations: Google, Tech, Waymo

☆ The battle of the face computers is on
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-04 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Meta debuted its Orion augmented reality glasses last week without a consumer release date. AR glasses are a substantial step toward a future that ditches the handheld smartphone for face computers. AdvertisementThe battle of the face computers is here, and Meta just launched a highly compelling salvo. Last Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the company's latest innovation, Orion — augmented reality eyewear that weighs about 3.5 ounces. Snap's Spectacles are augmented reality glasses that run on the company's in-house OS.

Persons: Meta, —, Mark Zuckerberg, Orion —, BI's Peter Kafka, Gene Munster, Apple, Greg Peters, we're, it's, " Peters, There's, Alistair Barr, Tim Cook, Cook, It's, Munster, Andrej Sokolow, BI's Jordan Hart, Justin Post, Andrew Bosworth, Jacob Bourne, Emarketer, Axel Springer, Bosworth, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Zuckerberg, Spokespeople Organizations: Orion, Apple, Service, Meta, Deepwater Asset Management, Bloomberg, Vision Pro, Netflix, Vision, Getty, Munster, CNBC, BI Locations: Cupertino

☆ Is Mark Zuckerberg still obsessed with efficiency? Check Meta's WiFi password.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-27 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The social-media giant held its big Meta Connect conference in Silicon Valley this week. Mark Zuckerberg is spending heavily on AI and AR technology. That effort continued into 2024 as the Meta CEO whittled down VP ranks and took more cost-cutting steps. Tech reporter Pranav Dixit attended and noticed that the WiFi password for the event was "effici3ncy." A post on Threads Pranav Dixit/ThreadsDixit posted about this on Threads and Zuckerberg liked the post.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, —, Mark Zuckerberg's, bender, Zuckerberg, Pranav Dixit, Dixit, Mark Zuckerberg Pranav Dixit, Meta, didn't Organizations: Meta, Service, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Meta Connect, Silicon Valley . Tech Locations: Silicon, Silicon Valley

☆ Intel and Qualcomm: This 'odd' couple won't solve America's chipmaking woes
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Or maybe South Korea, where Samsung has built an impressive so-called foundry business making semiconductors for other companies. AdvertisementThe US company took a major step recently when it separated its Foundry business from its chip-design business. Intel's Foundry business won't really be able to challenge TSMC until it gets several big customers. Intel's Foundry business just needs way more of these customers. How would Intel's Foundry business perform as a separate company, split off from the design parts?

Persons: —, Jerry Sanders, Ian King, TSMC, Globalfoundries, it's, AMD's Sanders, Apple, Ian King's, Raimondo, Gina Raimondo, Bernstein, Stacy Rasgon, that's, Rasgon Organizations: Service, Business, Intel, Samsung, Nvidia, Qualcomm, AMD, Apple, Reuters, TSMC, Foundry, Intel's Foundry, CNBC, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Locations: Taiwan, South Korea, China, Europe

☆ Amazon's RTO commandment and the office work shibboleth
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-18 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In those ancient times, tech companies embraced remote work as an unstoppable innovation revolution. Remote work benefitsRemote work supports a more diverse employee base by helping companies hire more easily in different locations. In December, she described a study that found collaborating in person produced more breakthroughs than remote work. The truth is that in-office work is a shibboleth. But Benioff is at least admitting the reality of how employees work in the modern world.

Persons: —, Marc Benioff, they're, Andy Jassy, Insider's Aki Ito, Jassy, Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, Solomon, James Hamilton, he'd, I've, it's Organizations: Service, Amazon, Business, Google, Jassy's AWS, BI, Employees, Hamptons, Bloomberg, Fortune, Starbucks, Staff Locations: Seattle, Hawaii

☆ I watch the NFL and other live sports for free with this easy, old-school hack. You can, too.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

NFL season opened with a stealth bomber fly-over in Kansas City last week. Digital TV antennas offer a cost-effective way to watch live sports without pricey subscriptions. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe NFL season opened last week with a stealth bomber soaring over the Kansas City Chiefs' stadium while Coco Jones belted out The Star-Spangled Banner.

Persons: CivicScience, —, Coco Jones Organizations: Service, Kansas City Chiefs, TiVo, Business Locations: Kansas City

☆ Does my old iPhone still work with Apple's new iOS 18? The answer is all about AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Apple usually drops software support for some old iPhone models every year. The company unveiled its new iOS 18 operating system along with new iPhone 16 models on Monday. AdvertisementWhen Apple launched the iPhone XR, no one had heard of COVID-19 and most of us only wore masks at Halloween. And on Monday, Apple committed to supporting this device for another year, so it will work for at least 7 years. Apple usually makes some old iPhone models obsolete every year by dropping software support.

Persons: —, Apple Organizations: Apple, Service, Business

☆ Google is losing its status as a verb
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-06 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Merriam-Webster dictionary added "Google" as a verb to mean searching for something on the web. "So long Google, the verb," wrote Mark Shmulik and fellow internet analysts at Bernstein Research in a note to investors. Related stories"Gen Zers, and especially Gen Alpha, barely use Google as a verb anymore, they simply say to 'search it'," Shumlik and colleagues explained. It might be concerned because when you're no longer a verb, that suggests you're no longer ubiquitous. So maybe Google is happy it's no longer a verb with the young folk?

Persons: —, Merriam, Mark Shmulik, Zers, Alpha, Shumlik, Gen Z, Shmulik Organizations: Service, Google, Webster, Business, Bernstein Research

☆ Tesla's AI supercomputer has a Silicon Valley town rushing to meet surging electricity demand
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

One of these huge new AI data centers is being built at a Tesla office in the Silicon Valley town of Palo Alto. Related storiesDuring a presentation about Tesla's Dojo AI supercomputer, engineer Bill Chang said the company's testing used so much power that it overwhelmed a nearby Palo Alto substation. A slide from a Palo Alto city presentation The City of Palo AltoThe substation upgrade is being done at unprecedented speed. It doesn't help that on July 1 Palo Alto increased electric bills by 9%, well ahead of inflation. She also stressed that Palo Alto utility rates were not increased to pay for this substation upgrade.

Persons: —, Elon Musk, Alistair Barr, Tesla, Bill Chang, Palo Alto Alistair Barr Organizations: Service, Business, Workers, Palo Alto, Palo, Hanover Substation Locations: Silicon, Palo Alto, CPAU, Palo, Hanover

☆ The 'crazy' fix for Google's monopoly that investors are whispering about
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The idea is that the US would require Google to make its Search index publicly available for anyone to use. AdvertisementBots and indexesA Search index is created by a bot crawling the web and collecting keywords and other information from sites. Related storiesGoogle's Search index is the biggest in the world. The Search index as part of the public commonsWouldn't this be taking something that belongs to Google, though? In the same way Bing powers DuckDuckGo, Google's open index could power other rival search engines that could offer different approaches to Google's search engine.

Persons: —, It's, wouldn't, it's, Amit Mehta's, Bing, DuckDuckGo Organizations: Service, Justice Department, Business, Google, Rivals, Mobile Virtual Network, Verizon, DOJ

☆ AI was supposed to revolutionize customer service. Morgan Stanley's interns aren't buying it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

AI has been touted as a great way to make customer service call centers more efficient. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . One positive answer is supposed to come from customer service call centers, where AI has the potential to either replace or supplement legions of human employees handling questions from confused and sometimes grumpy consumers.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, —, Satya Nadella Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business

☆ The GenAI jitters: Is there enough demand for $1 trillion in AI spending?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Alistair Barr | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementBig tech companies are forecast to spend $1 trillion on data centers, real estate, chips and other gear to build AI models, tools and products. AdvertisementSome big tech companies have already whittled away a large chunk of their cash reserves chasing this AI trend. For more than a year, the assumption has been that generative AI will stoke a massive wave of new demand. What if that demand turns out to be weaker than expected? A major piece of evidence he shared was about demand for Microsoft's 365 Copilot service.

Persons: —, Ashley Stewart, I've, Ashley, Keith Weiss, Morgan Stanley, Weiss, Andy Jassy, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, BI's Ashley Stewart, Nadella Organizations: Service, Business, pharma, Big, Microsoft, stoke, Amazon, Google, CIO

☆ How startups can get in top shape for an IPO, according to Silicon Valley lawyer Louis Lehot
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Louis Lehot, a Silicon Valley law-firm partner, specializes in taking companies from startup to IPO. The IPO market is expected to pick up later this year, so Business Insider emailed Silicon Valley lawyer Louis Lehot, a partner at Foley & Lardner, for advice on how startups should prepare for life as public companies. Are public market investors generally keen to invest in IPOs, or are they focused elsewhere? Public market investors are selective, focusing on established profitability and sustainable growth over speculative, high-growth stories. What are the key process changes companies need to make ahead of an IPO?

Persons: Louis Lehot, Lehot, —, Lardner, Collison Organizations: Service, Foley, Healthcare, Biotech, Green Energy, Enterprise, Street, Investor

☆ We tested the new Toyota Land Cruiser against its legendary predecessor. It lives up to the hype, even without a third row.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Toyota launched new Land Cruiser in the US, reviving the iconic SUV . The original Land Cruiser, known for its durability, debuted in the 1950s. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe original Land Cruiser launched in the 1950s and rightly earned a reputation as an unbreakable beast of a car. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: — Organizations: Toyota, Cruiser, Service, Cruisers, Business Locations: United

☆ Apple needs to show iOS can rival Google's Android in the AI era
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Since the start of the generative AI boom, sparked by the release of ChatGPT, the Apple CEO has remained largely silent on AI. Critically, Google's efforts to weave AI into its mobile operating system have threatened to make Apple look out-of-sync. Android users have been introduced to much-hyped generative AI features, while iOS users have been left to make do with an outdated Siri. During IO, Sameer Samat, Google's Android chief, told my colleague Alistair Barr that AI presented a "once-in-a-generation moment to reinvent what phones can do." Cook will be ready to show everyone that iOS can compete with Android in the AI era.

Persons: —, Tim Cook, Siri, Sameer Samat, Alistair Barr, it's, Cook, Mark Gurman Organizations: Service, Google, Apple, Business, Android, Worldwide Developers, OpenAI, Bloomberg, Apple Intelligence Locations: China

☆ 'Going up against them is insane.' Brave startups are trying to usurp Nvidia's AI throne.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

You could have invested a lot of money in AI chip startups several years ago. "Us going up against them is insane," said Thomas Sohmers, CEO of Positron AI, a chip startup that emerged from stealth a few months ago. "The model of AI chip startups needing to raise 10s to 100s of millions of dollars before they actually test product market fit is insane," he added. TigrisOpenAI's Altman may also be working on an AI chip startup of his own. So it stands to reason that Masa has been trying to raise money for an AI chip startup.

Persons: —, Graphcore, Thomas Sohmers, Nvidia Thomas Sohmers, Sohmers, Groq, Googlers, Puneet Kumar, Mark Hayter, Rivos, Andrew de los Reyes, Gavin Uberti, Chris Zhu, Nvidia's, OpenAI's Sam Altman, OpenAI's Altman, Altman, Masa, Softbank, Son Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Samsung, Business, Nvidia, MediaNews, Boston Herald, Getty, MIT, Google, Chrome, Matrix Capital, Intel, Harvard, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Locations: Silicon Valley, Swiss, Groq, GroqWare, WeWork

☆ With AI writing so much code, should you still study computer science? This new data point provides an answer.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewOne of the most persistent concerns around generative AI is whether the technology will put workers out of a job. Github Copilot can write a lot of code these days, so is it even worth studying computer science now? There's a new data point that helps answer at least part of this question: Students are still lining up in droves to take computer science in college. Related VideoFirst-year applications to UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society CDSS increased 48% this year. "Generative AI can speed up the more mundane parts of software development, and software developers tend to adopt efficiency tools quickly," he added.

Persons: —, That's, Jennifer Chayes, Gavin Newsom, Fei, Fei Li, There's, John DeNero, He's, DeNero Organizations: Service, Business, University of California, UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, UC Berkeley, Berkeley's College of CDSS, Stanford, Joint California, Science, Google, Berkeley Locations: University of California Berkeley, San Francisco, Lilt

☆ We had cellphones, then feature phones, then smartphones. Now, 'IntelliPhones' are coming.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If AI tools on phones can really set them apart from current devices, consumers have a new reason to buy a fresh handset. Advertisement"We see the introduction of AI smartphones (IntelliPhones) as a once in a decade upgrade event," Mohan wrote. At Google's I/O conference earlier this month, the internet giant showed off several new AI capabilities for Pixel, Samsung, and other Android phones. AdvertisementMohan at BofA describes a wide range of new capabilities that could set IntelliPhones apart from smartphones and fire up the mother of all upgrade cycles. "We view the upcoming AI enabled phones (IntelliPhones) to drive a multi-year upgrade cycle similar to the step function improvement driven by the introduction of smartphones," he wrote, calling this a "once in a decade type of event."

Persons: —, Apple, Wamsi Mohan, Mohan, Sameer Samat, Siri Organizations: Service, Bank of America Securities, Business, iPhones, Wall Street, Pixel, Samsung, Google, Apple Locations: Google's, BofA

☆ They were gonna text back. It's just that iMessage went down for almost an hour.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

iMessage, FaceTime, and HomeKit experienced outages for nearly an hour Thursday afternoon. The outages, rare for Apple services, affected many users from 2:49 pm to 3:35 pm PT. Android users mocked the iMessage outage, highlighting the ongoing Apple-Google rivalry. iMessage went down for almost an hour, so it's not you. On Thursday afternoon, the tech giant posted on its System Status dashboard that "Users were unable to use" iMessage, along with FaceTime and HomeKit.

Persons: —, iMessage Organizations: Apple, Service

☆ Google's Android chief says AI will change what smartphones can do and reset the battle with Apple for mobile supremacy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This job also includes Android TV, Android Auto, and new augmented and mixed-reality technology. With Google's new Gemini AI models, "we can do things that have never been possible on smartphones," he added. The "System UI" levelThis is possible because Google has baked Gemini AI models and assistant technology into the "System UI" level on Android devices. However, he stressed that this doesn't mean the company can't build unique experiences on Android devices, including many new AI experiences. This works through a combination of Google Search, Gemini AI technology, and Android — something that's not possible on any other platform, Samat said.

Persons: —, Sameer Samat, Zak Brown, Samat, He's, It's, Gemini Organizations: Service, Google, Android Ecosystems, Android, Android Auto, Business, Apple, Samsung, Gemini

☆ An AI agent may soon be at your beck and call, but it might cost you a bit of your privacy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In today's big story, we're looking at Google's big event that's pitching all the ways AI agents can make our lives easier . Google I/O, the tech giant's biggest developer conference, was heavy on the rise of so-called AI agents , writes Business Insider's Hugh Langley, who was there in person. AdvertisementGoogle's faithful, old search engine got a noticeable facelift with the help of AI , writes BI's Geoff Weiss. Steven Puetzer/Getty, Tyler Le/BIThe stakes for Google are high, as nailing AI agents opens up a massive business opportunity. For AI agents to be so intuitive, they'll need access to seemingly every aspect of our lives.

Persons: —, Tyler Le, you've, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Hugh Langley, Sundar Pichai, Geoff Weiss, Hugh, Alistair Barr, Gregory Wayne, Steven Puetzer, hasn't, Alistair, Demis Hassabis, Minchillo, Keith Gill, Naz Vahid, Andy Sieg's, Noah Berger, Jia Feng, Tingting Ji, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, BI's Peter Kafka, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Astra, GameStop, AMC Entertainment, JPMorgan, Citi, Amazon Web Services, Walmart, UPS, Nielsen, Cisco Systems, Warner Bros, Discovery Locations: New York, Dublin, London

Google's big summer conference, Google IO, kicks off today at 1 p.m. Business Insider will be in attendance and covering the biggest announcements — follow along below. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. ET to kick off Google IO, the company's annual developer conference. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, it's, Sundar Pichai Organizations: Google, Service, Business

☆ What's the killer AI app for consumers? Google finally has a contender.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewSince ChatGPT burst onto the scene in 2022, there's been no real "killer app" to get consumers embracing AI in massive numbers. The internet, possibly the biggest killer app of all, made us all buy smartphones, tablets, and a host of other connected devices. AI killer app contendersAt its IO developer conference on Tuesday, Google showed off some pretty amazing AI killer app contenders. A Google AI model lurking on the phone (and in the cloud) answered correctly. The Google AI agent captured all the dates, times, and other details and automatically loaded them into the user's Google Calendar.

Persons: —, there's, she'd, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Sundar Pichai, Sissie Hsiao, DeepMind's Hassabis, Pichai Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Astra, Microsoft Locations: London

☆ I danced with Project Astra, Google's experimental new AI agent. Here's what happened.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

After the keynote, journalists were herded over to a demo area for Project Astra. Before we went in, while waiting in line, two members of the Project Astra team from DeepMind walked us through how to use the technology. Google's Gemini model reviewed the phone's live video and said I was wearing casual clothes. He's been at DeepMind for about a decade and we discussed the origins on Project Astra. Beyond chatbotsThis is part of what inspired Project Astra, Wayne said.

Persons: —, We've, Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, Max Cherney, Max, Google's, Gemini, I'd, Gregory Wayne, Captain Cook, He's, he's, Cook, Wayne, SuperEvilMegaCorp Organizations: Service, Google, Project Astra, Business, Reuters, Astra, Tierra del Fuego Locations: Tierra del, Silicon

Search resuls for: "Alistair Barr"

25 mentions found