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AdvertisementThe rate of AI model improvement appears to be slowing, but some tech leaders say there is no wall. A fierce debate over whether improvements in AI models have hit their limit has taken hold in recent weeks, forcing several CEOs to respond. Others, including Marc Andreessen, say AI models aren't getting noticeably better and are all converging to perform at roughly similar levels. AdvertisementOne solution that companies are exploring is synthetic data, an artificial form of data generated by AI. Aymeric Zhuo, cofounder and CEO of AI startup Agemo, said that AI reasoning "has been an active area of research," particularly as "the industry faces a data wall."

Persons: Sam Altman, Fabrice Beaulieu Dario Amodei, Anthropic, Jensen Huang, Marc Andreessen, Henri Tilloy, Jensen, Justin Sullivan, Matthew Zeiler, Eric Landau, Landau, Sharon Zhou, Zhou, Daniele Panfilo, Bard, it's, Thomas Wolf, Jonathan Frankle, Ilya Sutskever, Satya Nadella, Aymeric Zhuo, Sivesh Sukumar, OpenAI, Noam Brown, It's, Adam Selipsky, Dario Amodei, Noah Berger, Anthropic's, they've, Microsoft's Copilot Organizations: Nvidia, Business, Google, French VC, Companies, Vox Media, OpenAI, Reuters, TED, Gemini, Web, Getty Companies, Investors Locations: Santa Clara

☆ The DOJ wants Google to sell its Chrome browser. Here are the winners and losers if that happens.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Hugh Langley | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Justice Department on Wednesday asked the judge in its antitrust case against Google to force the company to sell its Chrome browser. "Advertisers would find competitors for their business, rather than needing to pay a dominant search engine." When you open Chrome and type something into the search bar at the top, these words are automatically transformed into a Google Search. And when there's an option for users, Google pays partners billions of dollars to set its search engine as the default. For instance, if most people click on the third result, Google's Search engine will likely adjust and rank that result higher in the future.

Persons: Mehta's, John Kwoka, Judge Mehta, Bing, There's, Bill Gurley, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Neeva, Ramaswamy, Teiffyon Parry, Equativ, Parry, Ben Thompson, John Gruber, Lee, Anne Mulholland Organizations: DOJ, Google, Department, Wednesday, Northeastern University, Chrome, Lens, Google's, Gmail, YouTube, Bloomberg

☆ Google's DeepMind and YouTube built and shelved 'Orca,' a 'mind-blowing' music AI tool that hit a copyright snag
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementGoogle's DeepMind and YouTube previously built and shelved Orca, an AI music tool. Orca could generate music mimicking artists. Google trained it on copyrighted YouTube music videos. In November 2023, DeepMind announced a music generation AI model named Lyria, which was a pared-down version of the Orca project. AdvertisementSome employees who worked on Lyria and Orca left to found a new startup named Udio, which makes an AI music creation app.

Persons: Lizzie Widhelm, Taylor Swift, Orca, OpenAI, DeepMind, John Legend — Organizations: YouTube, Google

☆ The DOJ vs. Google: Breaking down the latest in the antitrust case and what it means for Chrome's future
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementThe DOJ has asked the judge in its antitrust case against Google to force the tech giant to sell Chrome, its massively popular browser. In August, a judge ruled Google violated antitrust laws and acted as a monopoly when it came to its search engine. Google will have a chance to respond next month with its own plan before the judge makes a ruling next year. That makes it a powerful distribution arm for Google since Chrome's default search engine is … Google. And Apple was making at least $20 billion a year by defaulting to Google Search .

Persons: Billy Bob Thornton, Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chelsea Jia Feng, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly, Lara, Apple, Donald Trump, Matt Gaetz, Marc Rowan, Arturo Holmes, Apollo, Scott Kleinman, Jim Zelter, Morgan Stanley's, Jeff McMillan's, he's, You've, that's, Michael M, Tyler Le, Google's DeepMind, John Deere, Biden, Dan DeFrancesco, Grace Lett, Ella Hopkins, Hallam Bullock, Amanda Yen, Milan Sehmbi Organizations: Business, Justice Department, Google, Tech, Nvidia, Elon, DOJ, Microsoft, YouTube, Bloomberg, Big Tech, Trump, Getty, —, Comcast, Boston Celtics, White Locations: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, London

Comcast announced a plan Wednesday to spin off most of its cable television networks into a separate publicly traded company. The new company will include the USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel. Comcast will retain key NBCUniversal assets, including the NBC broadcast network, NBC News, NBC Sports, the streaming service Peacock, and the cable channel Bravo. The move comes as the traditional cable television bundle faces stiff economic headwinds, most notably the rise of cord-cutting and the shift to streaming alternatives. Matt Strauss will become chairman of the NBCUniversal Media Group.

Persons: Mike Cavanagh, ” Cavanagh, “, Cavanagh, Mark Lazarus, Anand Kini, Dan Ives, ”, ” Rich Greenfield, ” Greenfield, Cesar Conde, Conde “, ” Donna Langley, Peacock, Matt Strauss, Mark Woodbury Organizations: Comcast, USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, SYFY, Golf Channel, NBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, Bravo, Wall Street Journal, Wedbush Securities, LightShed Partners, Wednesday, NBCUniversal, Group, Telemundo, NBCUniversal Entertainment, Studios, NBCUniversal Media, Universal, General Electric, Netflix, Amazon Prime Locations: NBCUniversal

Comcast is expected to announce a plan Wednesday to spin off its cable networks into a separate company, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News. Comcast had announced during its quarterly earnings call in October that it was considering spinning off its cable networks. Bravo will remain part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal because its content is heavily featured on Peacock, CNBC reported. Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts will have a voting position in the new entity, but he won't be on the board of directors, CNBC reported. Executive Vice President Adam Miller will become NBCUniversal’s chief operating officer, CNBC reported.

Persons: Mike Cavanagh, Peacock, Peacock's, Mark Lazarus, Anand Kini, Brian Roberts, Donna Langley, Matt Strauss, Cesar Conde, Adam Miller Organizations: Comcast, NBC News, MSNBC, Syfy, Golf, CNBC, Oxygen, Wall Street Journal, NBC, NBCUniversal, Bravo, Paris, NBCUniversal Entertainment, Studios, NBCUniversal Media Group, Group, Telemundo Locations: USA, NBCUniversal

☆ CMA Awards 2024: See who won
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-20 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The 58th Annual CMA Awards are underway, taking place live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Morgan Wallen earned the most nominations with seven, followed by Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton with five. The CMA Awards aired live on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu on Thursday. Morgan Wallen)• “Watermelon Moonshine” – Lainey Wilson• “White Horse” – Chris Stapleton *WINNERALBUM OF THE YEAR• “Deeper Well” – Kacey Musgraves• “Fathers & Sons” – Luke Combs• “Higher” – Chris Stapleton• “Leather” – Cody Johnson *WINNER• “Whitsitt Chapel” – Jelly RollCody Johnson performs during the CMA Awards on Wednesday, in Nashville, Tennessee. Kacey Musgraves)• “Man Made A Bar” – Morgan Wallen (Feat.

Persons: Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning, Lainey Wilson –, Morgan Wallen, Cody Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Post Malone, Wilson, Malone, George Strait, Megan Moroney, Kacey Musgraves, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan, Chris Stapleton • Morgan Wallen, • Lainey Wilson, – Cody Johnson •, Lainey Wilson •, ” – Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton •, – Cody Johnson, • “, Jelly Roll Cody Johnson, George Walker IV, – Hillary Lindsey, Parker McCollum, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose •, Josh Phillips • “, Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Hoskins, Ernest Keith Smith, Chandler Paul Walters •, – Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins •, Dan Wilson, Ballerini • Ashley McBryde, Megan Moroney •, Lainey Wilson, Roll • Cody Johnson, • Morgan, •, Clay, Zac Brown, Brooks, Dunn, • Brothers Osborne, Dan, Shay, Maddie, Tae, Ronnie Dunn, Kix Brooks, Tibrina Hobson, FilmMagic, Zach Bryan, Kacey, – Morgan Wallen, Eric Church, ”, Ella Langley, Riley Green, Tom Bukovac, • Paul Franklin, Rob McNelley, Charlie Worsham, ” – Cody Johnson, – Lainey Wilson, • Shaboozey, Nate Smith • Mitchell Tenpenny, Zach Top • Bailey Zimmerman Organizations: CNN, Nashville’s Bridgestone, NFL, Post, CMA, ABC, Austin Post, Big, Brooks, Cowboys, • Paul Franklin – Locations: Hulu, Nashville , Tennessee, Austin

☆ What did King Richard III sound like? State-of-the-art technology re-creates voice of medieval monarch
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Freddie Clayton | Freddie Clayton Is A Freelance Journalist Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON — Britain’s King Richard III was immortalized with the Shakespeare line, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse.”Now state-of-the-art technology has revealed what it may have sounded like if he did indeed utter those words just before his death in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth. Just over 100 years later in 1592, Shakespeare vilified him as a hunchback, giving him the famous cry of despair about a horse as his last line. He was able to speak in public.”“Without the discovery of his mortal remains, this project would not have been possible,” she added. The skeleton also helped Morley-Chisholm find the actor that would eventually play the king’s avatar. “I think when people see it and hear it, then, you know, forget Richard.

Persons: King Richard III, Shakespeare, Yvonne Morley, Chisholm, ”, England, Richard, Morley, David Crystal, Crystal, “, King Richard III of England, Philippa Langley, ” Morley, Thomas Dennis, Dennis, Langley, Richard III, ” Mathew Morris, it’s Organizations: Theatre Royal, Liverpool John Moores University, NBC News, Alamy, University of Leicester's Archaeological Services Locations: Bosworth, York, Yorkshire, England, British, Leicester, London

☆ Former Google X employees come out of stealth with TwinMind, an AI app that hears and remembers everything about you
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementTwinMind, founded by former Google X employees, builds an AI assistant to better understand you. A startup formed from a handful of former Googlers — specifically Google X, the skunkworks lab that explores sci-fi moonshot ideas — is coming out of stealth. Related storiesWolverine originsAt Google X, George was the first machine learning scientist on Wolverine, a hearing wearable project first reported on by Business Insider in 2021. AdvertisementWhen ChatGPT launched in late 2022, George was working at JPMorgan with TwinMind cofounder and CTO Sunny Tang, a Google X alum. AdvertisementHe said they figured it out and claims the TwinMind app can run for 12 hours in the background non-stop before running out the battery.

Persons: —, Jarvis, Marvel's Tony Stark, it's, Daniel George, Dan Roth, Rocketship, Anand Rajaraman, Michael Liou, galore, George, you've, TwinMind, ChatGPT, Sunny Tang, Siri, they're Organizations: Google, Oracle, Business, JPMorgan, Android Locations: Robinhood

☆ Verily has a December deadline to cut important ties with Google, leaked documents show
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Verily has told employees it ultimately intends to become an independent company. Verily, Alphabet's life sciences subsidiary, has set a deadline of December 16 to sever multiple ties to Google, according to two people familiar with the matter and internal documents reviewed by Business Insider. Related Video How tech layoffs could affect the economyVerily, formerly known as Google Life Sciences, started life as a moonshot project inside Google X. "Verily is transitioning from Google's infrastructure to our own, as we continue to grow as an independent Alphabet company," said Verily spokesperson Steven Cooper. AdvertisementAn internal Verily FAQ for staff broached the subject of why the company didn't start Flywheel until after its products were more mature.

Persons: Verily, Steven Cooper, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Waymo Organizations: Google, Staff, Business, Sciences, BI

☆ Googlers poke fun at a policy against making election memes — by making memes
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-06 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

There's just one problem: they aren't allowed to make political posts, so they're being creative. As the 2024 US election unfolded, Googlers have taken to the company's internal message board — a meme generator named Memegen — to express their feelings. One of the top Memegen posts on Wednesday was a picture of a fake newspaper named "The Memegen," with the headline, "Nothing Happened. Related storiesTwo former Googlers built Memegen in 2010 as a way for employees to vent about work, life, and even their C-suite. Earlier this year, after employees used Memegen to share their thoughts on the war in Gaza, Google barred staff from making political posts, several employees told BI.

Persons: There's, Sundar Pichai, —, Raya, Sisu, Googlers, Breitbart, Donald Trump's, Sergey Brin Organizations: Google, Service, Business, BI Locations: Disney's, Gaza

☆ Google Workspace chief is stepping down, leaked memo shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google's Workspace leader Aparna Pappu is stepping down, per an internal memo. "I'm ready for the next opportunity at Google and stepping down from my current role as GM of Workspace," Pappu told staff last week in a memo viewed by Business Insider. Pappu said she would remain in an advisory position for Workspace before transitioning to a new role within Google. Dischler moved to a new role as Google's president of cloud applications earlier this year after 15 years working on Google's ads. AdvertisementThe shake-up comes at a critical time for Google's Workspace business as it tries to get customers to pay for new generative AI features.

Persons: Aparna Pappu, Jerry Dischler, —, Pappu, Javier Soltero, Anurag Agarwal, Yulie Kwon Kim, Dischler, Thomas Kurian, Pat McCarthy, Bob Frati, That's Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Google, Business, BI

☆ US soldier injured earlier this year on Gaza pier mission has died
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A US soldier who was critically injured over the summer while on the temporary Gaza pier mission died last week, the Army said Monday. Quandarius Davon Stanley, was one of three US service members injured in non-combat incidents during the mission, though two were immediately returned to duty after suffering minor injuries. “Stanley was injured while supporting the mission that delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza in May 2024 and was receiving treatment in long-term care medical center,” Capt. Our entire unit mourns alongside his family.”It’s unclear how exactly Stanley was injured, though officials have emphasized that it was not combat related. The pier mission was a highly visible effort by the Biden administration to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas.

Persons: Quandarius Davon Stanley, Stanley, “ Stanley, Shkeila Milford, Sgt Quandarius Stanley, ” Col, John “ Eddie ” Gray, “, —, Adm, Bradley Cooper, ” Stanley, Biden, ” Organizations: CNN, Army, 7th Transportation Brigade, Base, 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary, US Central Command, Brooke Army Medical Center, Hamas, Office Locations: Gaza, Eustis , Virginia, Shkeila, Glover, ”, San Antonio , Texas

☆ Big Tech's vanishing perks have left employees to face a stark new reality
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, Big Tech is pulling back on the freebies for its employees . The perks help recruit and retain talent and keep employees working at the office. Some Amazon employees aren't buying it. It's not all bad news for Amazon employees, though. Some Amazon employees support Jeff Bezos' controversial WaPo decision.

Persons: —, David Arky, Tyler Le, Insider's Lara O'Reilly, Rob Price, Hugh Langley, Sydney Bradley, It's, Matt Garman, Frederic J . BROWN, BI's Jyoti Mann, Ashley Stewart, Garman, Stave Huffman, Spencer Platt, Natalie Ammari, Tesla, Meta, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, Harris, Trump, you'll, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, Milan Sehmbi Organizations: Business, Service, Microsoft, SEC, Big Tech, Meta, Citibank, Tech, Services, Getty, Amazon Web Services, Amazon, BI, Google, Semiconductor, Intel, Washington Post, Apple Locations: OpenAI, AFP, New York, London

☆ Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says future wars will be fought by AI drones and calls tanks 'useless'
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Eric Schmidt says drones are the future of warfare, calling the use of tanks "useless." AdvertisementEx-Google CEO Eric Schmidt said future wars will be fought by AI-powered drones, and urged the US military to do away with what he called "useless" tanks. In fact, buy 10, buy 20, buy 50, buy 100." Related Video Russian vs. Western-made tanks in the Ukraine warFor almost a decade, Schmidt has advised the US government and military on technology. AdvertisementAsked about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Schmidt said he had been surprised by innovations in drone technology.

Persons: Eric Schmidt, Schmidt, —, He's, Sebastian Thrun, Forbes Organizations: Service, Future Investment Initiative, Department of Defense's Innovation, US National Security, Artificial Intelligence, Stanford University, Troops Locations: Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Russian

AdvertisementFor more than a decade, Big Tech companies doled out lavish perks to hire and retain a limited supply of technical talent — and some workers pushed the limits of these benefits. AdvertisementBusiness Insider interviewed tech workers and industry experts about Grubgate and the evolving relationship between Big Tech companies and staff. They also described how layoffs, efficiency drives, and tougher policy enforcement have shifted the culture at once easygoing tech companies. According to job marketplace Trueup, at least 650,000 tech workers have been cut since the start of 2023. Alongside industrywide layoffs that began in 2022, many tech companies also trimmed back the benefits on offer.

Persons: —, Meta, grifting, that's, Allison Shrivastava, it's, Googler, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuck, Patrick Mork, Wall, Mork, Dilip Rao, he's, Bruce Daisley, Daisley Organizations: Big Tech, Service, Google, Meta, US Meta, Snap, Nintendo, Twitter, YouTube Locations: Silicon Valley, Mountain View, Tupperware, US, Meta

☆ Google CEO says more than a quarter of the company's new code is created by AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

More than a quarter of new code at Google is made by AI and then checked by employees. Google is doubling down on AI internally to make its business more efficient. Business Insider previously reported that Google launched an internal AI model named "Goose." More than a quarter of new code created at Google is generated by AI, said CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday during the company's Q3 earnings call. AdvertisementBusiness Insider reported in February that the company had launched a new internal AI model named "Goose" to help employees code and build products.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Goose Organizations: Google, Business, Service, BI, Company

☆ Google's been on an efficiency drive. Its new CFO said it can 'push a little further.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google's new CFO, Anat Ashkenazi, signaled the company can do more to save money and move faster. She said leaders had done good work cutting costs, and they could "push a little further." Google is ramping up its spending on AI, and Wall Street analysts want more details. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Ashkenazi name-checked Google CEO Sundar Pichai and former CFO Ruth Porat for doing "really good work" in starting to rework Google's cost base.

Persons: Anat Ashkenazi, —, Sundar Pichai, Ruth Porat, Ashkenazi, Mark Mahaney, Pichai, Sundar Organizations: Google, Wall Street, Service, BNP

☆ John Giannandrea Is Apple's Main AI Leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

In June, Apple announced its entrance into the generative-AI race in the most Cupertino way possible, rebranding the technology "Apple Intelligence." Giannandrea has been shaping Apple's "AI" behind the scenes, though you won't have seen him in any of the company's flashy presentations. Known to many colleagues as "J.G.," Giannandrea, a machine-learning expert, made his name running Google's AI group. When Apple poached Giannandrea in 2018, it was seen as a major win for a company lagging behind rivals in the field. Six years later, as Apple Intelligence finally rolls out, the company is taking a practical approach to AI, but leaning into its key advantage: injecting it into the world's most popular smartphone.

Persons: Giannandrea, Apple Organizations: Apple, Apple Intelligence Locations: Cupertino

☆ Groq CEO Jonathan Ross reveals strategy to lead AI chip market
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

While many AI companies have focused on training large language models, Groq seeks to make them run as fast as possible using chips it developed called LPUs, or language processing units. The gambit is that as AI models get better, inference — the part where the AI makes decisions or answers questions — will demand more computing power than training will, positioning Groq to reap the rewards. Groq's special (and tightly patented) sauce is its specialized chip design says Ross. Dean asked Ross's team to design a chip based on a specific type of integrated circuit they were using, and the result was Google's first tensor processing unit, a chip designed specifically for AI. Watching the AlphaGo program land a complex "shoulder hit" move on its opponent was validation for Ross that faster inference meant better, smarter AI.

Persons: Groq, Ross, —, Google's, Jeff Dean, Dean, Ross's, Lee Sedol Organizations: Rivals, Nvidia, Google

☆ Google VP Amin Vahdat leads the company in innovating with AI chips
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

With its core business under threat, Google has spent the past two years pouring resources into building its own AI chips. In charge of those efforts is Vahdat, one of Business Insider's 2024 AI Power List picks. Vahdat has been at the company for more than a decade and is today setting the direction for Google's silicon strategy. That also means working closely with Google DeepMind to take its breakthrough models and integrate them throughout Google's products, whether YouTube's creator tools or Google's search ads. See Business Insider's full AI Power List

Persons: Vahdat Organizations: Google, Amazon, Microsoft

☆ Lila Ibrahim helps run Google's AI 'engine room'
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Since its founding in 2010, DeepMind has focused on building AI that might solve some of the world's stickiest problems, as varied as the climate crisis and protein folding. Last year, Google, which acquired DeepMind in 2014, folded the group in with the unit responsible for creating the transformers AI model breakthrough, forming what DeepMind's chief operating officer, Ibrahim, describes as "the engine room of Google in the AI era." As head of operations, Ibrahim is not only helping guide Google DeepMind's pursuit of artificial general intelligence, but she's also led several internal initiatives to use DeepMind's research for consumer applications, including several partnerships to bring AI education to schools. But DeepMind's foundational research remains a key focus of investment for Ibrahim and the company. See Business Insider's full AI Power List

Persons: DeepMind, Ibrahim, she's Organizations: Google

☆ Robinhood's cofounder has joined the rapidly growing commercial space race, and wants to beam solar power from satellites to earth
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-21 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Aetherflux aims to launch a constellation of satellites to transmit solar power to Earth using infrared lasers. Bhatt told BI why he's joining the commercial space race and what Robinhood taught him about capitalism. AdvertisementAetherflux aims to create a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) that will collect solar power and beam it down to receptors on Earth using infrared lasers. Caltech's president, Thomas F. Rosenbaum, said the project had shown them that solar power beamed from space "is still a future prospect" but that it "should be an achievable future." The science has already been demonstrated; it's just going to be an engineering and economic feat to prove it can be done from space, Bhatt said.

Persons: Baiju Bhatt, Bhatt, Robinhood, —, Vlad Tenev, Elon, Baiju Bhatt Bhatt, Thomas F, Rosenbaum, it's, he'd, you'll, Spencer Platt, Matthew Weinzierl, Weinzierl, Einstein, Aetherflux Organizations: he's, Service, California Institute of Technology, NASA, Langley Research Center, Stanford, DARPA, Investment, Space Angels, McKinsey, Harvard Business School, SpaceX, Getty, Apex, Forbes Locations: India, Anadolu, Bay

Meta terminated some employees who abused a Grubhub perk, a source confirmed to BI. AdvertisementMeta recently fired some employees for misusing a Grubhub meal perk, according to a person familiar with the situation. Roughly two dozen employees were terminated for abusing the company's meal credit system, this person said. This episode has been discussed at length in recent days by some Meta employees on Blind, an online workforce forum. Business Insider reviewed these Blind discussions, including screenshots of some discussions that took place in a section of the app only accessible to Meta employees.

Persons: Meta, — Organizations: BI, Service, Meta, FT, Business, Reality Labs Locations: Los Angeles

Meta terminated employees who used $25 Grubhub credits meant for office meals on non-food items. Meta employees reacted to the news on the company's Blind channel. The Grubhub meal perk is meant to support Meta employees at locations where free meals aren't provided by a cafeteria, or when employees work into the evening. "They violated a 'follow this rule or you will be terminated' policy, and they were terminated. Another Meta employee referenced Mark Zuckerberg's "year of efficiency" strategy in assessing the recent firings.

Persons: —, Grubgate, Read, Mark Zuckerberg's Organizations: Service, Meta, Business, Grubgate, Reality Labs Locations: Meta

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