DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ The controversial plan to regreen a desert
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-08 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The Dutch engineer wants to transform a huge stretch of inhospitable desert into green, fertile land teeming with wildlife. “The only holistic way out of this situation is with large-scale ecological regeneration”So-called desert regreening projects are not new, and this is one of a number around the world seeking to transform arid landscapes. Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesFor van der Hoeven, it was further proof his plan could work. “The scale reaches a level that helps prove that restoration can be done on a planetary scale.”It would add to other huge desert regreening projects also underway. The project was scheduled to kick off this December, but conflict has slowed everything down, van der Hoeven said.

Persons: der Hoeven, “, Van, van der Hoeven, Ali Moustafa, ”, Van der, der, it’s, John Liu, Wolfgang Kaehler, Liu, ” Liu, Susan Gardner, Gardner, Alice Hughes, ” Hughes, Raymond Pierrehumbert, Pierrehumbert, — “, Van der Heoven, He’s, Van der Hoeven Organizations: CNN, United Nations, World Bank, UN, Hong Kong University’s School of Biological Sciences, University of Oxford Locations: Dutch, Africa, Asia, Maryland, Dubai, Lake Bardawil, Sinai, Bardawil, Egypt, China, California, Gansu Province, Yongjing, Gansu province, Nairobi, Hong, Gaza

☆ With ‘Cancer Moonshot’ announcement, Biden turns to causes most important to him in final months in office
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Kayla Tausche | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

On Tuesday, Biden highlighted $150 million in new research awards to eight organizations, including $23 million to Tulane University, the backdrop for the announcement. I know we can, but it’s not just personal — it’s about what’s possible,” Biden said Tuesday. And the White House will also look to ramp up its diplomatic engagement with India, an ally that has become a critical partner to the US in countering China’s aggression in the region. “We want to create a more prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and the world,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Implementation awaitsDomestically, the White House remains focused, first and foremost, on getting money out the door and shovels in the ground on Biden’s signature legislative measures.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Beau Biden’s, Biden, “, it’s, ” Biden, Kamala Harris –, Harris, Moonshot, Beau Biden he’d, ’, you’ll, ”, –, Jeff Zients, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Xi, Karine Jean, Pierre said, Zients, Natalie Quillian, Tom Vilsack, ” Vilsack, CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg Organizations: CNN, Tulane University, Biden, CBS News, White, US, Infrastructure Investment, Jobs, The Commerce Department, Treasury Department, Agriculture, Department of Agriculture Locations: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, United States, Brazil, India

☆ Biden Awards $150 Million in Research Grants as Part of Cancer ‘Moonshot’
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Zach Montague | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Freed from the campaign trail and the grinding pursuit of another term, President Biden traveled to New Orleans on Tuesday to focus on a project close to his heart: the “moonshot” effort to sharply cut cancer deaths in the United States that he carried over from his time as vice president and has become a hallmark of his presidency. Speaking at Tulane University, Mr. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, announced eight research centers, including one at Tulane, that will collectively receive $150 million in research awards aimed at pioneering new methods of precision cancer surgery. Before addressing a crowd on campus, the president and the first lady met with a team of researchers who demonstrated the technology under development at Tulane. It uses imaging of cells on tumor sites to verify for surgeons that cancer cells have been fully removed and to reduce the need for follow-up surgeries. Standing in front of a sign reading “curing cancer faster,” Mr. Biden described touring cancer centers in Australia and Ireland, and being frustrated by a lack of international collaboration.

Persons: Freed, Biden, Jill Biden, Mr Organizations: Tulane University, Mr, Tulane Locations: New Orleans, United States, Australia, Ireland

☆ Family offices are giving top staff equity and profit shares in battle for talent
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Family offices, the private investment arms of single families, are also shifting to profit shares as a way to better align the incentives of the staff with the family. "Family offices are competing for talent against each other, and against traditional private equity, hedge funds and venture capital." Family offices are increasingly offering lucrative shares of equity and deal profits to staff amid a growing battle for talent, according to a top family office attorney. They often pair co-investments with profit shares to create both upside and potential downside to staff. Because they serve a single family, family offices have more flexibility than many companies when it comes to designing pay plans.

Persons: McCurry, Patrick McCurry, McDermott Will, Emery, they're, Robert Frank, that's Organizations: UBS, Office Locations: Chicago

But I love my country more,” the president said“It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. (Donilon, a former pollster, played an instrumental role in presenting the data that informed Biden’s decision to step aside.) The new CNN poll finds voters widely supportive of both Biden’s decision to step aside and his choice to remain in office through the end of his term. Desire for a new direction is largely concentrated among younger voters and voters of color. But, as one source told CNN, with the decision to drop out of the 2024 race only days old, such discussions have not begun in earnest.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, “ It’s, ”, Donald Trump, ” Biden, “, he’s, Kamala Harris, I’ve, who’s, Harris, He’s, laud, Mike Donilon, Biden’s, Jon Meacham, Trump, That’s, Sam Fossum Organizations: Washington CNN, Democratic, Trump, Supreme, White, CNN, Biden, Resolute, America, White House Locations: America, Gaza, Israel, Rehoboth Beach , Delaware, Wisconsin, Indianapolis, Houston, North Carolina, Scranton , Pennsylvania, Claymont , Delaware, United States

☆ A 5-part investing playbook for avoiding chaos as US stocks head down a rocky path to the election: Truist's strategy chief
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewInvestors should stay on guard as this market rally loses steam, a veteran strategy chief says. The investment chief and the chief market strategist signaled in April that US equities had an attractive risk-reward setup after a 5.5% selloff. "All those factors combined suggest maybe a choppier market, even though we still think the long-term bull market is intact," Lerner said. "In the fall, I think investors will eventually come back to tech because I still think that's the main secular theme of this bull market," Lerner said. "But I don't know that this is a game changer for this bull market where small caps will be leadership."

Persons: —, Truist's Keith Lerner, Lerner, Truist, Truist Lerner, he's, you've, isn't, haven't Organizations: Service, Nasdaq, Business

☆ Amazon's amazing turnaround: How Andy Jassy secretly wooed Wall Street and overhauled a bloated tech giant
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

This person is one of over a dozen Amazon employees, investors, and analysts that BI interviewed to better understand Jassy's first 3 years as CEO. Andy Jassy replaced Jeff Bezos (pictured here) as Amazon's CEO in July 2021. In his first 3 years as CEO, Jassy has lost many senior staff. Amazon's spokesperson said the company has "strong retention and continuity" among senior leaders. Amazon's spokesperson said the company is making "huge investments" in AI across AWS and the retail business.

Persons: —, Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos, Jassy, Bezos, EMMANUEL DUNAND, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Bernstein's Shmulik, He's, Shmulik, Amazon's, That's, spokespeople, Jassy doesn't, Doug Herrington, Jay Carney, Dave Limp, Adam Selipsky, Dave Clark, Clark, Ted S, Babak Parviz, Parviz, Mark Mahaney, We're, Jeff Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon, Washington Post, BI, Warren, Echo, Microsoft, AWS Locations: Seattle

☆ Andy Sieg Could Be Citi's Next CEO If He Can Fix a Broken Wealth Business
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

Andy Sieg shocked the finance industry last spring when he left Merrill Wealth Management. AdvertisementBank of America analyst Ebrahim Poonawala recently argued that Citi should consider selling the wealth business if it cannot improve its profitability. AdvertisementWhile Sieg has told Citi managing directors to manage up less, a former Merrill executive who worked under him said Sieg was adept at it. Former Citi managing directorAdvertisementVahid's position will be taken by Kris Bitterly, the global head of investment products, in September. Mirroring tactics that supercharged Merrill, Sieg has changed Citi Wealth's compensation scheme to prioritize asset gathering, to the consternation of several employees.

Persons: Andy Sieg, Kevin Crain, Sieg, Crain, Jane Fraser, Fraser, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Smith Barney, Ebrahim Poonawala, Wells, Mike Mayo, Brian Moynihan, Alex Wong, Moynihan, Fraser isn't, Mayo, anoint, Jamie Dimon, Jennifer Piepszak, Marianne Lake, Viswas Raghavan, Jane, He'd, George H, Bush, Bill Schreyer, Merrill Lynch, Dave Komansky, David Komansky, YOSHIKAZU TSUNO, Phil, Doug, Lord Abbett, David Poole, Citi's, there's, That's, Poole, Glenn Schorr, Jim O'Donnell, O'Donnell, Sieg's, Andy Sieg's, Naz Vahid, David Bailin, Bailin, Naz, Phil Waxelbaum, Vahid, Kris, Don Plaus, Keith Glenfield, Dawn Nordberg, Edward Jones, They're, Ernst & Young, he's Organizations: Merrill Wealth Management, Business, Citi, Bank of America, Morgan, BI, Merrill, Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Harvard, Penn State, JPMorgan Advisors, United Arab, Citi . Citi, Work, Citi lifer, Former Citi, North, Citi Alliance, Citi Wealth, Bloomberg, Ernst &, Citizens Bank Locations: Sieg, Wells Fargo, Merrill, Bellefonte , Pennsylvania, Poole, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, London, Aventura , Florida, Asia, Manhattan, North America

☆ China, Xi Jinping's Plan for AI Will Wreak Havoc on the World Economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

According to the CCP's plan, by 2020, China was supposed to have "achieved iconic advances in AI models and methods, core devices, high-end equipment, and foundational software." Censorship requirements may slow China's AI development and limit the commercialization of domestic models, but they will not stop Beijing from benefiting from AI where it sees fit. We're not seeing a huge gap between the models Chinese companies have been able to roll out. The current price war is a race to the bottom, similar to what we've seen in the Chinese technology space before. A race to the bottom may simply beggar China's AI ecosystem.

Persons: Xi Jinping, China doesn't, there's, Beijing's, Reva Goujon, We're, It's, ChatGPT, Xie Huanchi, couldn't, you'll, —, Kenneth DeWoskin, it's, Matt Sheehan, they're, chatbot, Sheehan, Ernie Bot, There's, Alibaba, ByteDance's, Paul Triolo, Albright, we've, haven't, DeWoskin, Sam Altman, Elon Musk Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, CCP, Intelligence, Cyberspace Administration, Getty, Freedom, University of Michigan, Deloitte, CAC, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Baidu, Bloomberg, Companies, Brookings Institution, Beijing, The Commerce Department Locations: China, Beijing, China's, Hong Kong, Xinhua, , Washington, Brussels, Berlin, Taiwan, US, Xinjiang

☆ The $35 eye mask the multimillionaire XPrize founder swears by for better sleep
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

XPrize founder Peter Diamandis wants to live as long as possible in good health. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . The XPrize founder says he's jetted down to Panama City for pricey stem cell injections in his knee and his shoulder, and he uses high-end supplements for muscle-building. In 2023, he announced a $101 million XPrize competition designed to find interventions that will help people live 10 extra healthy years. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Peter Diamandis, —, Peter Diamandis isn't, he's, He's, Tony Robbins Organizations: Service, Panama City, Business Locations: Panama

☆ Inside the life and career of Larry Page, Google's co-founder and first CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

AdvertisementSo who is Larry Page and how did he get to where he is today? AdvertisementPage and Sergey Brin create GoogleGoogle co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page met as students at Stanford. Google's parent company, Alphabet, has developed self-driving cars through Waymo, the company formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car project. Page's personal lifeGoogle cofounder Larry Page and his wife, the scientist Lucinda Southworth C Flanigan/FilmMagicThroughout it all, Page has kept information about his personal life closely guarded. Life after GoogleGoogle cofounder Larry Page bought Cayo Norte, an island in Puerto Rico.

Persons: —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Page, Sundar Pichai, Gloria, Carl Page —, Larry, what's, Nikola Tesla, he's, Brin's, BackRub, Brin, Eric Schmidt, Schmidt, Andy Rubin's, he'd, Andrew Kelly, Sergey, Lucinda Southworth C, Lucinda Southworth, Richard Branson, Page's, Carl Victor Page, Carl Page, He's, Hugh Langley Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Michigan State University . Education, Getty, Michigan State University, The, Montessori, Google Google, Stanford, Associated Press, University of Michigan, Labs, Reuters Page, Virgin Group, Investments, Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation, Zee Aero, Pacific, Virgin Island, Atomic Locations: Michigan, Waymo, Toronto, Stanford, Caribbean, Palo Alto, Cayo Norte, Puerto Rico, Koop, Tavarua, Fiji

☆ Google's 'fastest-growing' moonshot that spun out into an AI earbuds startup aims to ship its first product this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewA team inside X, Google's moonshot factory, was working on a revolutionary hearing device, Business Insider reported in 2021. A few months later, Wolverine's lead, Jason Rugolo, spun the project out of Alphabet and formed a startup named Iyo. Rugolo says the company plans to ship its first product by the end of this year. Rugolo told BI he hired Kraft for a stint at Google X to work on what would become Iyo. Iyo isn't the first X project to fly from Alphabet's nest, and it probably won't be the last.

Persons: —, Google's, Jason Rugolo, Rugolo, Iyo, Lockheed Martin, Sergey Brin, Noah Kraft, Kraft, we're, X Organizations: Service, Business, Lockheed, Horizons Ventures, US, ARPA, Research Projects Agency, Energy, Google, Doppler Labs, Spotify, TED, Wolverine, BI

☆ AstroForge: How this startup plans to make asteroid mining a reality.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Amy Gunia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Now the California-based startup is attempting to make asteroid mining a reality. That makes AstroForge the only company with a refinery that can turn M-type asteroids into PGMs in space, he adds. Some in the scientific community are skeptical that the private sector will be able to afford asteroid mining. Its all-or-nothing, lower-cost approach may help push asteroid mining closer to reality. “I hope if nothing else,” Gialich says, “we’re known as a space company that went for it.”

Persons: Matt Gialich, Gialich, Jose Acain, “, ”, we’re, “ We’re, AstroForge, Edward Carreon, “ that’s, –, Dan Britt, REx, James Cameron, Larry Page, Britt, “ I’m, ” Gialich, NASA's, Aubrey Gemignani, ” Britt, AstroForge’s Organizations: CNN, Virgin, SpaceX, NASA, Companies, Apple, Center, University of Central, JAXA, United, United Arab Emirates ’ Space Agency, UAE Space Agency, AP NASA, Planetary Resources, Titanic, Google, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Getty Locations: California, University of Central Florida, China, United Arab, United Arab Emirates, Utah, Los Angeles, Florida

☆ A Tesla worker who was hired and then laid off a month later says he can't pay his rent
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla laid off more than 10% of its workforce, a memo sent by CEO Elon Musk showed. One worker who lost his job a month after joining Tesla told KVUE he couldn't pay his rent. AdvertisementAn employee who'd been working at Tesla for about a month learned he'd been laid off on Monday, local news station KVUE reported. This includes quietly removing inventory discounts for its EVs in the US, as Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt noted on X.AdvertisementMusk responded, "We are simplifying and streamlining the whole Tesla sales and delivery system. Musk announced his latest moonshot on X earlier this month and said Tesla would launch a self-driving taxi called "Robotaxi," which it would reveal on August 8.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, KVUE, —, who'd, he'd, Ezekiel Love, Love, Insider's Grace Kay, Sawyer Merritt, Musk, Dan Ives, Ives Organizations: Tesla, Service, EV Locations: Texas

☆ A Tesla worker who was laid off a month after he joined says he can't pay his rent
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewAn employee who'd been working at Tesla for about a month learned he'd been laid off on Monday, local news station KVUE reported. This includes quietly removing inventory discounts for its EVs in the US, as Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt noted on X.AdvertisementMusk responded, "We are simplifying and streamlining the whole Tesla sales and delivery system. Musk announced his latest moonshot on X earlier this month and said Tesla would launch a self-driving taxi called "Robotaxi," which it would reveal on August 8. Tesla didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

Persons: —, who'd, he'd, Ezekiel Love, Love, Elon Musk, Insider's Grace Kay, Sawyer Merritt, Musk, Dan Ives, Ives, Tesla Organizations: Service, Tesla, EV, Business Locations: Texas

☆ Opinion: NASA was America’s crown jewel. After the Columbia disaster it was never quite the same
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Opinion Douglas Brinkley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 a.m. The environmentally controlled chamber was mated to Space Shuttle Columbia for access into the orbiter. NASA Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Students and staff of the Shoshone-Bannock High School had an experiment on board Space Shuttle Columbia.

Persons: Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff, John F, Kennedy, ”, Douglas Brinkley Moore Huffman, Nancy Currie, Gregg, Scott Andrews, NASA's, Michael P, Anderson, William C, McCool, Rick D, David M, Brown, Laurel, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Joe Skipper, Karl Ronstrom, Ramon, NASA Chawla, Clark, Chawla, Robert Giroux, Kathryn O'Neill, Zachary, Brett Coomer, Florida Sen, Bill Nelson, Matt Stroshane, Tommy Peltier, Eric Gay, Smiley, Gene Theriot, Sean O'Keefe, George W, Bush, Ron Dittemore, Joe Cavaretta, O'Keefe, Mannie Garcia, NASA Sandy Anderson, Carlos Noriega, Michael L, Coats, Evelyn Husband, Thomas, John Raoux, Glenn Benson, Kim Shiflett, Sean O’Keefe, Jeff Bezos, Lockheed Martin, Sir Richard Branson, “ Organizations: Rice University, CNN, Shuttle Columbia, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, Russian Space Agency, Russia, United Arab, Challenger, Columbia, Space, Space Shuttle Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, Reuters Space Shuttle Columbia, Scott Andrews People, Control Center, Getty, NASA Space, Israeli Air Force, Space Shuttle, Red Team, Blue Team, Johnson Space Center, Former, Houston, Houston Chronicle, People, US Navy Corps, Columbia Reconstruction, NASA Workers, Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Reuters, Bannock, Bannock Junior, Senior, Bannock High School, Johnson Space, Shuttle, Investigation, Elon, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Lockheed, Virgin Galactic, JFK Locations: China, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Columbia, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Houston, Israel, SPACEHAB, New York, Laguna Hills , California, San Augustine , Texas, Washington ,, Shoshone, Fort Hall , Idaho, American

☆ Microsoft, Salesforce woo skeptical CFOs on new generative AI tool spending
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Many other business software providers have looked to quickly introduce tools that utilize generative AI, or update their existing ones with it. The utilization of AI more broadly is nothing new for CFOs, with tools like predictive AI being used by most companies to help with core tasks. But this new wave of generative AI presents a different opportunity, and Weaver said the focus on generative AI across industries has frantically increased in the last year. However, he added that there is a challenge when it comes to generative AI tools: creating auditable processes or being able to visually inspect the processes to ensure the data or conclusions are correct. Hrncirik said that the message within Microsoft is that generative AI is a "new skill that we have to develop."

Persons: Jensen Huang, CNBC's Jim Cramer, Cory Hrncirik, Amy Weaver, Weaver, Mark McDonald, Gina Gutzeit, McDonald, we've, isn't, Hrncirik, it's, CFOs, Gutzeit Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Johnson, GE Healthcare, CNBC, Microsoft's, Gartner, FTI Consulting, Solutions Locations: Krakow, Poland

☆ I invested most of my salary for 7 years and had enough to retire at 29. My best tips: start young, take risks and don't settle in expensive cities.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Lauren Crosmedlicott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Daniel George worked at Google X and then as a VP for JP Morgan after receiving his Ph.D. in 2018. After finishing my Ph.D. at 24 in 2018, I worked at Google X, leading AI for secret early-stage moonshot projects. When I started working at Google X in Mountain View, California, I made about $270,000 a year. Learn to negotiate payFor my first job at Google X, I was given an offer right after grad school and accepted it immediately. Find a partner who has similar goalsMy wife and I met at Google X.

Persons: Daniel George, Morgan, Daniel, —, JP Morgan Organizations: Google, Service, India Institute of Technology, University of Illinois, Invest, JPMorgan, JP Locations: Kerala, India, India Institute of Technology Bombay, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, San Francisco , New York, Seattle, View , California

☆ I invested most of my salary for 7 years and had enough to retire at 29. My best tips: Start young, take risks, and don't settle in expensive cities.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Lauren Crosmedlicott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Daniel George worked at Google X and then as a VP at JPMorgan after receiving his Ph.D. in 2018. After finishing my Ph.D. at 24 in 2018, I worked at Google X, leading AI for secret early-stage moonshot projects. When I started working at Google X in Mountain View, California, I made about $270,000 a year. Learn to negotiate payFor my first job at Google X, I was given an offer right after grad school and accepted it immediately. Find a partner who has similar goalsMy wife and I met at Google X.

Persons: Daniel George, —, JP Morgan Organizations: Google, JPMorgan, Service, Indian Institute of Technology, University of Illinois, Invest Locations: Kerala, India, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, University of Illinois Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, San Francisco , New York, Seattle, View , California

☆ Google X loses another team leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Monica Melton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Another project leader leaves Google X.Emily Kolawole oversaw a confidential moonshot project. Several Google X projects have either shut down or spun out of parent Alphabet. AdvertisementGoogle X recently lost another team leader. Emi Kolawole, a project leader at the Alphabet moonshot division since 2021, left the company in January, according to her LinkedIn. Kolawole oversaw project operations and kept its budget "lean by leveraging strong relationships across X and Alphabet," she wrote on LinkedIn.

Persons: Emily Kolawole, —, Emi Kolawole, Kolawole Organizations: Google, Service, LinkedIn

☆ Sam Altman's mission to increase human lifespan with a $180 million shipping container experiment at Retro Biosciences
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Called Retro Biosciences, the startup's goal is simple yet supremely ambitious: Add 10 healthy, enjoyable years onto the back end of our lifetimes. But Retro Biosciences actually fits quite neatly into Altman's futuristic worldview. Retro BiosciencesRetro Biosciences sits about 30 miles south of OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters, where ChatGPT was hatched. Joe Betts-LaCroix is the CEO of Retro Biosciences. There are things we already know work super well to improve human longevity, like exercise, diet, faith, and social support.

Persons: Sam Altman, he's, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Altman, Instacart —, Joe Betts, LaCroix, isn't, Betts, Retro's, spry, Yamanaka, Shinya Yamanaka, it's, they've, Sora, Thiel, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, Yuri Milner, Billionaire Peter Thiel, He's, Aubrey de Grey, Christian Angermayer, biogerontologist Daniel Promislow, Altman's, Matt Buckley Organizations: Business, OpenAI, Biosciences, Harvard, MIT, Caltech, Extension, Apple, Stanford University, Retro, Bezos, Labs, Billionaire, Cambrian, Retro Biosciences, Bloomberg Locations: geroscience, Silicon Valley, OpenAI's San Francisco, Meta, Golden City, Retro.bio, Redwood City , California, San Diego

☆ The breathtaking scope of Sam Altman's future AI empire
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

If Sam Altman is to achieve his dream of artificial general intelligence in his lifetime, that number will need to double or triple every year for the foreseeable future. These wide-ranging plans for global transformation go far beyond Altman's role as the CEO of generative AI behemoth OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT. EnergyThe first pillar of Altman's grand unified theory of the future rests on energy. Headlining the event was company chairman and investor Sam Altman, who appeared via video call projected on a towered cineplex. And Altman's AGI empire extends beyond just the energy and raw material required to build AGI.

Persons: Sam Altman, he's, Altman, it's, Max, Jack, Sam himself, Sam, David Kirtley, Helion, He's, Joe Betts Lacroix, Lacroix, where's, Joe Biden, Tade Oyerinde, Oyerinde, Ali Ghodsi, Ghodsi Organizations: Nvidia, Business, Elon, Altman, OpenAI, Energy, Bloomberg, Concorde, Wall Street, Retro Biosciences, Capitol, PAC Locations: Silicon Valley, OpenAI, Davos, New York, Redmond , Washington, Washington

☆ NASA may build giant telescopes on the moon in your lifetime. Check out the blueprints.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

One moonshot plan would build a giant radio dish spanning an entire crater on the far side of the moon. An illustration of a conceptual radio telescope within a crater on the moon. Silk argues that lunar telescopes would open the door to a new era of major space discoveries. A satellite trail streaks in front of galaxies in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Any radio telescope on the moon's back end would pick up the pure emissions of the universe.

Persons: —, Vladimir Vustyansky, James Webb, Dallan Porter, Roger Angel, Joseph Silk, Jack Burns, Burns, That's, Stefica Nicol, Artemis, Ronald Polidan, FarView, Jack Burns Karan Jani, LILA, Fermilab LILA, Jani, NASA's James Webb, Temim, Webb, Angel, Chris Gunn, Nick Woolf, Angel Roger, Phil, Martin Elvis, Elvis Organizations: Service, NASA, Business, Vanderbilt Lunar Labs, Telescope, University of Arizona, American Astronomical Society, Payload, University of Colorado Boulder, Hubble Space, Hubble, ESA, Radio Telescope, REUTERS, NASA JPL, Caltech, Radio Science Investigations, Houston, Lunar Resources, Resources, Inc, Vanderbilt University, Fermilab, Telescopes, CSA, Princeton University, Engineers, James Webb Space, Industry, AP Locations: New Orleans, Australia

☆ How Google lost its way
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Just two months after Google launched Gemini, its flashy new AI model, the company revealed that it had already built a better version. AdvertisementThen, days later, Google scrambled to explain why its image generation tool spit out racially inaccurate depictions of historical figures. Users have long bemoaned — and researchers recently found — a decline in the quality of Google Search results. The fact that Google is not far and away the self-driving-car leader, it's, like, a total joke," the former Google director said, adding that the problem of Google's lost supremacy is "maybe impossible to solve, frankly." Google now is reminiscent of the Steve Ballmer-era Microsoft, which missed the smartphone, search, and cloud waves and was overtaken by Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Persons: OpenAI, Sora, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai's, Pichai, —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Lea Suzuki, Getty Brin, Page, Google, Googlers, Axel Springer, Diane von Furstenberg, Giovanni Giannoni, Michael Avrukin, Vuk Valcic, wouldn't, Patrick Mork, Eric Lehman, Lehman, ChatGPT, Caesar Sengupta, Sengupta, Alexa, Google's, Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly Organizations: Google, Hollywood, Industry, San Francisco Chronicle, Business, Penske Media, Microsoft, Amazon, The New York Times, Oracle, YouTube, Apple, IBM, Meta Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon, —

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: Bigger, Wormier and Way Far Out
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Having gone big in “Dune,” his 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s futuristic opus, the director Denis Villeneuve has gone bigger and more far out in the follow up. Set in the aftermath of the first movie, the sequel resumes the story boldly, delivering visions both phantasmagoric and familiar. Like Timothée Chalamet’s dashingly coifed hero — who steers monstrous sandworms over the desert like a charioteer — Villeneuve puts on a great show. The art of cinematic spectacle is alive and rocking in “Dune: Part Two,” and it’s a blast. “Dune” made it clear that Villeneuve isn’t that kind of textualist.

Persons: Frank Herbert’s, Denis Villeneuve, —, — Villeneuve, “, Jon Spaihts, Stephen McKinley Henderson Organizations: Villeneuve

Search resuls for: "Moonshot"

25 mentions found