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☆ Inside the landmark Google adtech antitrust trial that could transform the $700 billion global digital ad market
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The DOJ and the states are seeking a breakup of Google's adtech business. Separately, they said that while a separation of Google's ad server and its ad exchange would be good for competition in the adtech market, it might drive ad server costs up for publishers. Google's ad server is "a loss leader, they make all their money in AdX," the exec said, referring to Google's ad exchange that connects buyers and sellers. Global regulators have Google in their sights, tooAny unraveling of Google's ad empire would be complex. Over the pond, the European Union said last year it might look to break up Google's adtech business.

Persons: —, Google's, Tim Nollen, isn't gunning, adtech, Macquarie's Nollen, Bietti, Mark Jamison, there's, Arielle Garcia Organizations: Service, Eastern, Business, US Department of Justice, Google, DOJ, Microsoft, Macquarie, Publishers, US Department of, Northeastern University, Public Utility Research Center, Digital Markets, University of Florida, Global, European Union Locations: Virginia, AdX

☆ Nvidia’s wild ride in 2024 is boosting insiders’ wealth. What it could mean for employees holding the stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The stock's rise has been a boon to employees and insiders at the chip company who own shares. So-called RSUs provide workers with shares at a future date following a vesting period of typically three to five years. Employers can also offer incentive stock options, which allow employees to buy a specified number of shares at a stated – or strike – price. Workers who exercise their ISOs are also subject to capital gains taxes when they sell the stock they've purchased. Nonqualified stock options are another form of equity compensation.

Persons: Tench Coxe, Blair duQuesnay, they're, Albert J, Campo, – Organizations: Nvidia, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ritholtz Wealth Management, CNBC's, Employees, Workers, CPA, Campo Financial Locations: New Orleans, Freehold , New Jersey

☆ Tech insiders on Google DeepMind CEO Demi Hassabis: He's like an 'Olympic athlete'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTech insiders on Google DeepMind CEO Demi Hassabis: He's like an 'Olympic athlete'Deirdre Bosa joins CNBC's 'The Exchange' to share more about Demi Hassabis, the man behind Google's AI efforts.

Persons: Demi Hassabis, Deirdre Bosa Organizations: Email Tech, Google

☆ Tesla's awful 2024 is getting much worse
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Tech: A "social walkie-talkie" app is the newest thing tech insiders are excited about . Tesla's awful 2024 got much worse this week when the company cut 10% of its workforce , and a major executive resigned after 18 years at the EV maker. AdvertisementSlaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Times; Chelsea Jia Feng/BIIn the meantime, Tesla's stock keeps falling. Even worse, people who are in the market for EVs aren't necessarily interested in Teslas .

Persons: —, NASA's Chandra, Tesla, we've, Elon Musk, Steve Granitz, Scott Olson, Jia Feng, Graham, Elon Musk's, robotaxis, Slaven, Chelsea Jia Feng, Tesla's, Musk, Andy Sieg, Merrill Lynch, Abanti Chowdhury, who's, Piper Sandler, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Tech, Adobe Stock, The New York Times, EVs, Teslas, Trump, SWANSON, Apple, Microsoft, BI, CNBC, Economy Summit Locations: Chelsea, China, Teslas ., States, New York, London

☆ An invite-only audio app has Silicon Valley and creators buzzing. But can it last?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Somewhere between Clubhouse and X (formerly Twitter), Airchat's feed of audio snippets transcribed by the app has sparked conversation. Already, the invite-only app has a channel dedicated to the creator economy titled "Creators" — including industry figures like Eric Wei (CEO of Karat), Lia Haberman (influencer marketing expert), and Brett Dashevsky (host of Creator Economy NYC events). Dashevsky, a self-described "avid Twitter user," said that Airchat is already displacing his average Twitter screen time. It wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone in tech or social media to see Meta double down on Threads' audio tools. But she added that she could see Meta brainstorming ways to promote Threads' audio tools, which could become a concern for Airchat.

Persons: Naval Ravikant, Brian Norgard, Airchat, Washington Post's Taylor Lorenz, George Santos, Eric Wei, Lia Haberman, Brett Dashevsky, Haberman, it's, Diana, Umana, Meghana Dhar, Meta, Dashevsky, I've Organizations: Naval, CPO, Business, Tech, Republican, Apple, Big Tech Locations: VCs, Washington

☆ Tech insiders are cashing out during the AI-fueled stock rally
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Nvidia Nvidia is the leader of the pack with shares surging more than 70% year to date, following a nearly 240% advance last year. A number of directors at the company sold shares in late February amid the fierce rally. NVDA 1Y mountain Nvidia Nvidia has been the primary beneficiary of the recent technology industry obsession with large artificial intelligence models, which are developed on the company's pricey graphics processors for servers. Meta Platforms Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg trimmed his stake in separate sales over the past week. Satya Nadella (CEO) sold 1,300 shares on March 1 Bradford L. Smith (vice chair and president) sold 48,300 shares in early February.

Persons: Mark Stevens, Michael McCaffery, Mark Perry, Harvey Jones, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta's, Sherman Tuan, George Kao, Don Clegg, Lisa Su, Darla M, Smith, Mark Papermaster, Satya Nadella Organizations: Nvidia, Nvidia Nvidia, Microsoft, Whirlpool, AMD, Microsoft Microsoft, Bradford, Amazon Web Services

☆ Why Is Big Tech Still Cutting Jobs?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After a year of big layoffs, job cuts at the tech industry’s largest companies trickled into the first month of 2024. Google started the year with layoffs of several hundred employees and a promise of more cuts to come. Amazon followed by trimming hundreds of jobs in its Prime Video department. Microsoft also cut 1.900 jobs in its video game division. That disconnect, tech insiders and analysts say, is reflective of an industry facing two big challenges: coming to terms with frenetic work force expansion during the pandemic while also making an aggressive move into building artificial intelligence.

Organizations: Google, Meta, Microsoft

☆ Israel's tech hub is a crucial part of its economy. Now, startups could face tougher funding rounds amid the war, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Getting overseas funding could become difficult for Israel's tech industry amid the war, experts told Reuters. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementAdvertisementIsrael's tech startups have already been facing a tough year attracting funding amid the implosion of a major lender for start-ups, global recession fears, and rising borrowing rates. Investment in Israel's tech startups has already been falling for seven straight quarters even before the war started, according to a report by the think tank Startup Nation Policy Institute, released on September 30. AdvertisementAdvertisementTech insiders also express optimism for the industry, citing Israel's reputation as an established tech hub.

Persons: —, Jon Medved, Avi Hasson, Catalyst, Hasson Organizations: Reuters, Tech, Silicon Valley Bank, Service, Nation Central, Investment, Nation Policy Institute, Israel ., Insight Partners Locations: Israel, Silicon, Tel Aviv, Europe, Israel . New York

☆ 'Ghost' menu massacre: Virtual brands face a reckoning as Uber Eats slashes 8,000 from its app
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Uber Eats has cut 8,000 virtual brands from its app. Uber Eats' virtual-brand policies come a year after Insider reported that DoorDash and Grubhub were cracking down on virtual brands. It also must be 60% different from any other virtual restaurant operating from that same physical location, Uber Eats said. At the start of the year, Park had 10 Asian-themed virtual brands listed on Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub. He said Uber Eats booted eight of his virtual restaurants from the app during the March purge.

Persons: DoorDash, Uber, John Mullenholz, DoorDash hasn't, Joon, MrBeast, Burger, Dave Kotinsky MrBeast Burger, Mullenholz, Jimmy Donaldson, Mariah Carey, it's, Meredith Sandland Organizations: Service, Dining Locations: Wall, Silicon, Washington

☆ Former adtech unicorn MediaMath nearly saved itself from bankruptcy. Then its last hope vanished.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The adtech company held panel sessions and meetings at the "MediaMath Penthouse." But behind the scenes, MediaMath CEO Neil Nguyen had barely been sleeping, according to three people familiar with the matter. "We collectively believed as a company, board, and advisors that we had a deal in hand," the statement continued. When advertisers or agencies buy ads through a platform like MediaMath, the adtech company must pay publishers immediately for their ad space. But the adtech company must wait — often 90 days or more — to be paid by the advertiser or agency.

Persons: MediaMath, Goldman Sachs, MediaMath execs, Neil Nguyen, Nguyen, Olivier Anrigo, Xandr, Joe Zawadzki, Ernest Hemingway, Searchlight wasn't, Neil, Houlihan Lokey, Zeta, Viant, Chris Vanderhook, Tim Vanderhook, Frederick M, Brown, MGI, Lionel Hahn, Remco Westermann, Gary Hershorn, MGI's, Westermann, they'll, Zawadzki, he'd Organizations: Cannes Lions, Cannes, Goldman, Searchlight Capital, Carlton Hotel, Google, IBM, Bain Capital —, Aperiam, Searchlight, Silicon, Zeta Global, Media, Games Invest, Verve, MGI's Verve Group, Getty, Verve Group, Trade, World Trade, Trade Center Locations: France, Cannes, hobnobbing, Delaware, Japan, Manhattan, New York City, MediaMath, AperiamVentures

Silicon Valley is bracing for what it fears will be an "extinction event" threatening the survival of hundreds of startups. Tom Loverro, a investor at 40-year-old Bay Area venture capital firm IVP, has been loudly warning for months on Twitter and in media interviews about a coming "mass extinction event" for startups. The total volume of venture capital investment into US startups has slumped for six consecutive quarters, according to data firm Pitchbook. Even a last-ditch slashing of the startup's prospective valuation — a "down-round," in Silicon Valley parlance — didn't whet investors' appetites. Over the past year, many startups that rely on Silicon Valley funding have been steeling themselves for the slowdown to avoid similar fates.

Persons: —, they're, Jennifer Neundorfer, That's, Tom Loverro, Loverro, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt, Cameron Lester, I've, Lester, Linda Ahrens, Ahrens, Unown, " Ahrens, Anna Dittrich, Plastiq, Vincent Harrison, Elad Gil, Steve Brotman, Brotman, Will Hawthorne, VC's, Mike Ryan, Pitchbook's Harrison, Sell, Hawthorne Organizations: Ventures, Sequoia Capital, —, Venture, Twitter, United States Federal Reserve, Jefferies, January Ventures, Alpha Partners, Avid Capital, Sugar, Menlo, BulletPoint Network Locations: Silicon, Sequoia, IVP, Valley, Instacart, Navan, Boston, Snowflake, America

☆ 6 ways marketing is evolving with current trends and thriving, according to CMOs at Cannes Lions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Julia Hood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Cannes Lions has been trying to improve diversity, and it seems to be working. Najoh Tita-Reid, global chief marketing officer, Logitech Insider"A couple of things have changed at Cannes. It is wonderful to see Cannes take the time to be intentional about who is here, who gets to create, and whose voices are heard. I am very happy to say one of the things that's changed is that DEI is a much bigger priority." -Najoh Tita-Reid, global chief marketing officer, Logitech

Persons: Najoh Tita, Reid, Tita Organizations: Cannes Lions, Logitech, Cannes

☆ AI industry and researchers sign statement warning of ‘extinction’ risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —Dozens of AI industry leaders, academics and even some celebrities on Tuesday called for reducing the risk of global annihilation due to artificial intelligence, arguing in a brief statement that the threat of an AI extinction event should be a top global priority. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” read the statement published by the Center for AI Safety. The statement highlights wide-ranging concerns about the ultimate danger of unchecked artificial intelligence. Still, the flood of hype and investment into the AI industry has led to calls for regulation at the outset of the AI age, before any major mishaps occur. The statement follows the viral success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has helped heighten an arms race in the tech industry over artificial intelligence.

Elon Musk announced today that Linda Yaccarino would be the next Twitter CEO. With its revenue falling and its reputation falling faster, she may be the win Musk needs. Elon musk needs a win. The ad sales team generated more than $100 billion in ad revenue during her 12-year tenure, according to the company. That advertising revenue is just what Musk needs right now.

☆ Google Builds on Tech’s Latest Craze With Its Own A.I. Products
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One day, tech insiders thought, it could make Google’s internet search engine look old and stodgy. Google executives vowed a fast response to protect the company’s $162 billion franchise and said that artificial intelligence would be woven throughout its products, from the search engine to email. Google said its search engine will begin incorporating responses generated by A.I. It was a notable step toward Google’s embrace of A.I., which many experts believe could remake the tech industry. Google was a pioneer in the technology, but had been reluctant to do too much with it because A.I.

☆ AI pioneer quits Google to warn about the technology’s ‘dangers’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

He worked part-time at Google for a decade on the tech giant’s AI development efforts, but he has since come to have concerns about the technology and his role in advancing it. In a tweet Monday, Hinton said he left Google so he could speak freely about the risks of AI, rather than because of a desire to criticize Google specifically. “I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google,” Hinton said in a tweet. OpenAI, Microsoft and Google are at the forefront of this trend, but IBM, Amazon, Baidu and Tencent are working on similar technologies. Obviously, I no longer think that.”Even before stepping aside from Google, Hinton had spoken publicly about AI’s potential to do harm as well as good.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's meltdown shows that tech's elites need the government after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Silicon Valley Bank meltdown is teaching the tech industry that regulators are sometimes needed. Tech's relationship with regulation has long been contentiousGovernment regulations, some of tech's most vocal figures contend, can stifle innovation and creativity. "I would suspect that this failure will result in some significant changes to banking regulation," Griffin said. "My logic for that is it isn't sustainable to have a run on a bank triggered mainly on Twitter." Very few in the VC world believe that the move to protect depositors will be bad for the industry's overall health.

☆ Lawsuits over Stability AI's Stable Diffusion could threaten the future of AI-generated art
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Stability AI, the startup that makes the popular AI art tool Stable Diffusion, faces two lawsuits. The company's most well-known product is the controversial Stable Diffusion (also known as DreamStudio to users). Enter text into a search bar, and Stable Diffusion will, for a lack of a better word, draw an image to match, right on the spot. What's old is new againStability Diffusion released Stability AI in August, a time when the generative-AI market was starting to heat up. Mostaque's tweet added that Stability AI would offer "opt outs" and use alternate datasets and models with content licensed under the more-permissive creative-commons copyright process.

☆ Getty Images suing the makers of popular AI art tool for allegedly stealing photos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Getty Images announced a lawsuit against Stability AI, the company behind popular AI art tool Stable Diffusion, alleging the tech company committed copyright infringement. London-based Stability AI announced it had raised $101 million in funding for open-source AI tech in October and released version 2.1 of its Stable Diffusion tool in December. “Getty Images believes artificial intelligence has the potential to stimulate creative endeavors. AI art and traditional media suppliers have struggled to coexist in recent months as computer-generated images grow more available and advanced, using human-created images and art as data training. Once available only to a select group of tech insiders, text-to-image AI systems are becoming increasingly popular and powerful.

☆ Experts say these 9 European digital-marketing companies could be top acquisition targets in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider spoke to experts who identified nine European adtech companies ripe for acquisition. Private-equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners took a majority stake in UK-based adtech firm LoopMe in January. Given the strength of the dollar versus the euro and the pound, European companies may now be more affordable than in prior years. These characteristics make European companies attractive acquisition targets for US firms. Insider spoke to six experts — a mix of bankers, adtech insiders, VCs, and M&A advisors — who identified nine European digital marketing and adtech companies that are on the market or would be attractive targets.

☆ Viral chatbot ChatGPT will be overhyped, then overlooked, and then, perhaps, essential
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Emerging technology like ChatGPT is usually called overhyped until it becomes essential. ChatGPT lets users ask its bot questions or give it prompts using GPT-3, an impressive piece of natural-language-processing AI tech. ChatGPT and the Gartner Hype CycleIn layman's terms, ChatGPT is a chatbot using GPT-3, a state-of-the-art AI model that uses a massive amount of data to generate humanlike text. It's all very exciting and new, which is where the Gartner Hype Cycle, from the tech-research and consulting firm Gartner, comes in handy. To be sure, the rise of generative AI and more forms of ChatGPT aren't assured.

☆ Why tech insiders are so excited about ChatGPT, a chatbot that answers questions and writes essays
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Lately, Zwingmann has been generating lecture notes using ChatGPT, a new chatbot that's quickly become the latest fad in tech. ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in a fashion that's much more advanced and creative than the chatbots of Silicon Valley's past. Five days after OpenAI released ChatGPT, Altman said that the chat research tool "crossed 1 million users!" ChatGPT is essentially a variant of OpenAI's popular GPT-3.5 language-generation software that's been designed to carry conversations with people. While ChatGPT is free, OpenAI sells access to its underlying language and related AI models for businesses to use.

☆ If you want to land a job or get a raise in the tech industry, you have to past a test — and pretty much everyone is cheating on the exams
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

It was one in a long line of tech certifications that Bill freely acknowledges he earned, at least in part, by cheating. And he's far from alone: In the tech industry, it's an open secret that there are thousands, if not millions, of cheaters just like Bill. The rise of exam dumps for tech certifications could have devastating consequences. But the cheating is clearly having a corrosive effect on the tech industry, particularly the hiring process. But the perception that workers from poorer countries are more likely to be cheaters can also fuel racism against foreign-born tech workers.

☆ 9 hot European digital-marketing companies that experts say are prime acquisition targets for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

☆ One fintech exec says Elon Musk might be the best bet to build a super app in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk is set to acquire Twitter by the October 28 deadline set by a judge. Rapyd exec Larry Lee says Musk has the best chance at creating a super app from scratch in the US. Larry Lee, Rapyd's global head of financial networks, said Elon Musk is the "best chance" the US has for creating a so-called super app from scratch. A super app is a mobile or web-based application acting as a one-stop shop for consumers' financial and commerce needs. But the key to becoming a super app is having reasons for the user to use it daily or even multiple times throughout the day.

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