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☆ Read the casual emails between Elon Musk and Sam Altman that kicked off OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementElon Musk amended his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman, adding Microsoft as a defendant. Musk included emails between himself and Altman from 2015 in which they discussed starting OpenAI. Elon Musk unveiled several emails between himself and fellow billionaire Sam Altman this week as evidence in the Tesla CEO's lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, shining a light on the casual beginnings of the now-$157 billion company. Musk helped found OpenAI in 2015 but has frequently criticized the company and its leaders in the years since. The SpaceX CEO left the AI startup in 2018.

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Musk, Altman, OpenAI, Sam Musk, Bill Gates, Pierre Omidyar, Dustin Moskovitz, we'd, Peter Thiel, I've, Semafor Organizations: OpenAI, Microsoft, Business, SpaceX, Google, YC, Manhattan Project

☆ Before politics, JD Vance had a career in venture capital. Here are the startups he's invested in.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-16 | by ( Madeline Berg | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

JD Vance is a man of many careers: attorney, author, senator, vice president-elect, and, perhaps less well-known, venture capitalist. For about six years between graduating from law school and becoming a United States senator from Ohio, Vance held various positions in the space before eventually starting his own fund, Narya Capital. Vance co-founded Narya Capital in 2019After two years, Vance broke out on his own, cofounding Narya Capital in 2019 with investments from Thiel, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and VC veteran Marc Andreessen. According to his vice president and senate disclosure forms, he has a stake in Narya Capital Fund I, Narya Capital Fund II, and Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. AdvertisementHis stake in Narya Capital Fund I is worth between $500,001 and $1 million.

Persons: JD Vance, Vance, doesn't, Peter Thiel's, Steve Case's, Boston —, Thiel, Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen, Narya, Vivek Ramaswamy's, Nayra, Luke Schroeder Organizations: United, Narya, Mithril, Narya Capital, cofounding, II, Narya's Capital, US Space Force Locations: United States, Ohio, New York, Silicon Valley, Boston, Narya, ValueBase, PitchBook

☆ Palantir jumps 11% to a record after announcing move to Nasdaq
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies speaks during the Digital X event on September 07, 2021 in Cologne, Germany. Palantir shares continued their torrid run on Friday, soaring 11% to a record, after the developer of software for the military announced plans to transfer its listing to the Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange. The shares are now up more than 45% since Palantir's better-than-expected earnings report last week and have almost quadrupled in value this year. Palantir said late Thursday that it expects to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Nov. 26, under its existing ticker symbol "PLTR." Thiel's Palantir holdings have increased in value by about $3 billion since the earnings report and $2 billion since the election.

Persons: Alex Karp, Palantir, Alexander Moore, 8VC, " Moore, Moore, didn't, Maven, Trump, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump's, Thiel Organizations: Palantir Technologies, Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange, Maven, ., Department of Defense, Trump, P Global, Argus Research Locations: Cologne, Germany

☆ The top 10 family offices for startup investments
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The top 10 family offices for startup investments made over 150 investments combined this year, in everything from biotech and energy to crypto and artificial intelligence, according to a new analysis. CNBC partnered with Fintrx, the private wealth intelligence platform, to analyze single family offices that made the largest number of investments in private startups in 2024. The most active family office so far this year is Maelstrom, the Hong Kong-based family office of American investor Arthur Hayes, who co-founded the crypto exchange BitMEX. For the sake of the list, family offices are defined as investment vehicles or holding companies of a single family or individual that don't manage money for outside investors. Nearly a third of startup capital in 2022 came from family offices, according to a PWC report.

Persons: Guillaume Houze, Pascal Le Segretain, Robert Frank, Bernard Arnault's, Laurene Powell Jobs, Peter Thiel's Thiel, Arthur Hayes, Guillaume Houzé, Motier, Andreesen Horowitz, Eric Schmidt, Magnus Carlsen, Fertility Organizations: Royal, Getty, CNBC, Fintrx, Ventures, Labs, Motier Ventures, Google, Flex, Mistral, Nvidia, Lightspeed, Atinum Investment, Emerson Collective . Thiel Capital Locations: Paris, France, Hong Kong, Lafayette, Seoul, Korea, Singapore

☆ Peter Thiel says Elon Musk's embrace of Donald Trump helped other Silicon Valley leaders feel safe supporting him
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Peter Thiel attributed recent Trump support in Silicon Valley, in part, to Elon Musk's efforts. Thiel told journalist Bari Weiss that Musk provided "cover" for other tech leaders to support Trump. AdvertisementBillionaire Peter Thiel credited Elon Musk, in part, with helping other tech leaders feel comfortable publicly supporting President-elect Donald Trump. Weiss asked Thiel if the Tesla CEO was "the critical ingredient" that allowed other business leaders to feel safe endorsing the divisive president. Thiel characterized the feeling inside Silicon Valley as one of growing frustration toward "corporate governance" and "how ridiculous it's gotten to manage these ideologically deranged millennial employees."

Persons: Peter Thiel, Trump, Elon, Thiel, Bari Weiss, Musk, —, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Shaun Maguire, Reid Hoffman, Ron Conway, Mark Cuban, Kamala Harris, Weiss, Tesla, Vivek Ramaswamy, It's Organizations: Service, PayPal, Trump, Department of Government, SpaceX Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon, November's, California, Texas

☆ Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan attacks Biden and Harris after FBI raid
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The FBI raided Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's home on Wednesday, a company spokesperson said. A company spokesperson told Business Insider the raid took place at Shayne Coplan's Manhattan home Wednesday morning, without elaborating. Related Video Why Sam Bankman-Fried is facing up to 110 years in prisonSoon after the raid, Coplan, 26, posted on X: "New phone, who dis?" The Polymarket spokesperson said the raid was an act of "political retribution" by the Biden administration against a "fully transparent prediction market." AdvertisementA Biden administration spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Shayne Coplan's, Polymarket, —, Donald Trump's, Sam Bankman, Chainalysis, Coplan, CNBC's, Peter Thiel's, Vitalik Buterin, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Elon, Trump, Biden Organizations: FBI, Bloomberg, Service, Polymarket, Shayne Coplan's Manhattan, Department of Justice, Futures Trading Commission, Traders, Trump, Fund, Apple Locations: Coplan, France, American

☆ An elite hedge fund slashed its Nvidia and Tesla bets last quarter — and boosted its GameStop stake
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The quant fund founded by the late Jim Simons cut its Tesla stake by 86% and halved its Nvidia wager. Renaissance Technologies cut its Tesla and Nvidia stakes and boosted its GameStop bet last quarter, it revealed in a portfolio update on Wednesday. RenTech, one of the biggest and best-performing hedge funds in history, pared its Tesla bet from about 2.1 million shares to 284,000 — an 86% reduction. The firm relies on algorithms to determine many of its trades, often resulting in sweeping changes to its stock portfolio each quarter. AdvertisementRenTech ramped up its GameStop bet by more than 40% to 1.9 million shares, worth $44 million at the quarter's close.

Persons: Jim Simons, RenTech, Elon, Tesla, Trump, codebreaker, Peter Thiel Organizations: Nvidia, GameStop, Technologies, Elon Musk's, Blackwell, Wall, MIT, Novo Nordisk Locations: Palantir, Novo, Danish

☆ Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is funding free IVF for women who have his children
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is funding IVF treatments for women using his sperm. AltraVita IVF Clinic in Moscow confirmed the program, which it said is open to Russian women. AdvertisementPavel Durov, the billionaire CEO of Telegram, funded fertility treatment for women using his sperm to conceive. Related VideoAltraVita IVF Clinic in Moscow has been advertising the service since at least this summer. In a phone call with Business Insider, a clinic spokesman confirmed the free IVF program, which he said was only open to Russian women.

Persons: Pavel Durov, Durov, —, AltraVita, Elon Musk, Musk, Justine Musk, Grimes, Shivon Zillis, Sam Altman, Altman, Peter Thiel, JD Vance Organizations: Service, Business, PayPal, University of Cambridge Locations: Moscow, France, Paris, Ukraine

☆ Silicon Valley's swing toward Trump is real. Here's the data to prove it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A notable portion of Silicon Valley's electorate has steadily shifted toward Donald Trump. In Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, Trump's voteshare increased by several points. But with more than 76% of the votes counted in San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties as of Tuesday, a trend is emerging. These numbers show that Trump and Republicans are still a long way off from gaining any real majorities in Silicon Valley. AdvertisementWhile Elon Musk is based in Texas these days, many of his companies, including Tesla, are still very active in Silicon Valley.

Persons: Donald Trump, San, —, Kamala Harris, Harris, Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton, Francisco county's, Trump, Democrat —, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Horowitz, Elon, Tesla, reelect Trump, JD Vance, Peter Thiel, Ben Narasin, we've, voteshare Organizations: GOP, Service, Business, San, Apple, Google, Nvidia, State, Facebook, Meta, Republican, Trump, Democrat, Democratic, Venture, PayPal, Elon Locations: Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco counties, San Francisco Bay, California, San Francisco, Mateo county, Silicon Valley, Texas, Atherton, San Mateo county

☆ Peter Thiel's 'contrarian' election prediction came true
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-07 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Peter Thiel made a "contrarian" prediction that the election wouldn't be close. Thiel has a history of making contrarian bets in his investments and business ventures. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementIn September, conservative tech billionaire Peter Thiel made what he acknowledged was an unusual prediction about the 2024 election. My one contrarian view on the election is that it's not going to be close," Thiel said in September at an appearance at the All In Summit in Los Angeles.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Thiel, —, it's, aren't, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Kamala, Trump, Sen, JD Vance, Blake Masters — Thiel, Elon Musk Organizations: Trump, Service, PayPal, Trump voters, Democratic, Republican Locations: Los Angeles, Ohio, Trump

☆ Big Tech CEOs send well wishes to Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-06 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Is A Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Trump’s win came about with the help of Musk and his wealthy tech friends including investors Peter Thiel and David Sacks. They boosted Trump with financial contributions, fundraising help and public endorsements on subjects such as the economy and deregulation. Few other major tech executives publicly endorsed in the presidential race, though some of them made vague comments praising one or the other candidate. Trump has a complicated history with many tech CEOs. In their social media posts, several tech CEOs used the word “decisive” to describe Trump’s victory and they employed popular buzzwords like “innovation” in an apparent attempt to identify common ground.

Persons: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Trump, ” Zuckerberg, ” Trump, Zuckerberg, —, Musk, Trump’s, Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Bezos, Reid Hoffman, — wouldn’t, ”, bitcoin, Musk’s, Parler, Jeff, Mike Davis, Ivan Raiklin, Cook Organizations: Tech, Trump, titans, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, The Washington, Democratic, Trump’s, Pentagon, The Washington Post, III, Trump Tower, Google Locations: Silicon Valley, Butler , Pennsylvania, Tesla, Coinbase, County, State

☆ Bill Gates predicted AI's lucrative potential nearly a decade ago—now it's worth billions: Here's what he saw
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-06 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tech giants have poured billions of dollars into AI, and "prompt engineering" is a lucrative, in-demand job. "That kind of technology is in all the leading companies and a lot of universities," said Gates. "They finished it in just a few months," wrote Gates, calling the achievement "the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface [in 1980]." "Today, somebody could raise billions of dollars for a new AI company [that's just] a few sketch ideas," Gates said, adding: "Just believing in AI, that's not very unique. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through November 26, 2024.

Persons: Bill Gates, Gates, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, He'd, OpenAI, stoking, that's Organizations: Tech, Microsoft, Columbia University, Berkshire, Apple, IBM, PayPal, LinkedIn, CNBC Locations: chatbots

☆ Trump, surrounded by pro-crypto advisors, signals a 'step change' for the industry, says Galaxy's Novogratz
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-06 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It's the dawn of a new day for the crypto industry with Donald Trump now the president-elect of the United States, said Galaxy Digital's Michael Novogratz, calling out the numerous crypto advocates that have advised him. "We've got a Congress that is moving our way, we've got a president that's moving our way, and so for Galaxy and the crypto industry, that couldn't be more optimistic," he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Wednesday morning. "Those three positions, with someone who's open minded to crypto … changes everything," he said. And all of a sudden we'll start seeing decentralized systems launched and work so this is really a step change." The shift won't happen overnight, Novogratz warned, but as Trump starts to appoint people into various positions of leadership there will be "a substantial shift in the energy of this industry."

Persons: Donald Trump, Michael Novogratz, We've, we've, that's, Novogratz, Joe Biden, Trump, JD Vance, Peter Thiel, Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Biden, Gary Gensler Organizations: Galaxy, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Securities and Exchange Commission, Street, Bank of New, Silicon, SEC Locations: United States, U.S, Bank of New York

☆ The Trump-linked stocks set to make wild moves as election approaches
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Retail investors have increasingly focused in on Trump Media & Technology , Rumble and Phunware as stocks that can benefit if the Republican presidential nominee for president prevails. Trump Media & Technology, which owns the alternative social media platform TruthSocial, trades under a ticker — DJT — that's also the initials for the business mogul-turned-politician. On Tuesday alone, retail traders were net buyers of Trump Media to the tune of $14.4 million. Schwarz said there's no reason for Trump Media to even be publicly traded given its business fundamentals and high price-to-sales ratio. "Trump Media has no fundamental value — it's worthless," he said.

Persons: Donald Trump, That's, that's, Phunware, Kamala Harris, Christopher Schwarz, It's, Trump, There's, Irvine's Schwarz, Schwarz, there's, LSEG, hasn't, Peter Thiel, — CNBC's Robert Frank, Fred Imbert Organizations: Trump Media & Technology, Republican, Trump Media, NBC, University of California Irvine, CNBC, Vanda Research, U.S, Trump, Marriott, Mayo Clinic, PayPal Locations: United States, Atlantis

☆ I'm a CEO who started a company and had a baby at the same time. Fatherhood has completely changed how I think about work.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Perri Ormont Blumberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Balancing family and entrepreneurship, MacKay prioritizes family time while building Cadence. AdvertisementThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew Ross MacKay, the 33-year-old cofounder and CEO of Cadence, based in Los Angeles. I'm now the cofounder and CEO of Cadence, a salt-based electrolyte drink. This year, my daughter, Bloom, was born on March 20Mackay and his family. My family deserves me to be at my best, and to do that, I need to feel passionate about what I'm building.

Persons: Andrew Ross MacKay, MacKay, Bloom, MacKay prioritizes, —, I'm, Peter Thiel, Drake, George Heaton, Mackay, Anastasia Hing, Anastasia, I've, Ana, I'd Organizations: Cadence, Service, Daring Foods, D1 Capital, Founders Fund, Daring, Ana Locations: Los Angeles, Glasgow, Scotland

☆ People paid $50,000 to reserve Tesla's new Roadster nearly 7 years ago. Its launch date remains a mystery.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-27 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk recently said Tesla's Roadster takes a back seat to more pressing projects. Nearly seven years after first unveiling the new Roadster, its release date remains a mystery. During Tesla's third-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk thanked the "long-suffering deposit holders," many of whom paid $50,000 in 2017 to reserve the much-delayed electric sports car. Related storiesMusk first announced the new Tesla Roadster in November 2017 and said it would be "the fastest production car ever made, period." The interior design of the Tesla Roadster was shown off in November 2017.

Persons: Tesla's, Elon Musk, —, Tesla, Musk, weren't, Kate Leaman, Leaman, it's, Jacob Bourne, Bourne, Dan Ives, Don Lemon, Peter Thiel Organizations: Analysts, Service, Wall Street, Business, Tesla, Base Roadster, SpaceX

☆ 5 things to know about the mystery $30 million whale moving betting markets toward Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-18 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Since the start of October, there's been a notable divergence between the betting markets and the polls. Where do election odds stand in betting markets now? What's going on with the 'Trump whale' in the betting markets? Is the $30 million 'Trump whale' an influence campaign? Because the betting markets are relatively illiquid, a $30 million bet can have a big influence on moving the odds in favor of Trump.

Persons: Harris, —, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, there's, Will Donald Trump, Polymarket, Peter Thiel, ethereum's, Vitalik Buterin, Joe Gebbia, Trump, Kalshi, What's, Michie, Arkham, Adam Cochran, Cochran, Elon Musk, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama Organizations: Trump, Service, Street, Arkham Intelligence, Republican Locations: Polymarket, Crunchbase, Wisconsin , Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada

☆ Elon Musk faces doubts about whether he can still deliver. Starship stuck the landing.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-15 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

SpaceX made history as it returned its Super Heavy booster to its launch site in Texas. For Elon Musk, it was a chance to prove the doubters wrong — and he did. SpaceX Starship. Related storiesAnd Musk earned online applause from legions of Starship fans, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Wall Street analysts attributed the decline partly to skepticism over Tesla's ability to deliver fully autonomous driving.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, SpaceX's, Musk, SERGIO FLORES, Dan Huot, Sundar Pichai, Tesla, Gretchen Newsom, Lex Fridman, Artemis, Peter Thiel Organizations: SpaceX, Super, Service, AFP, Getty, National Press Club, Google, Twitter, eventual, Wall Street, Warner Bros Studios, California Coastal Commission, Federal Emergency Management, Elon Locations: Texas, California

☆ For God, for country, for rain
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-14 | by ( Jessica Lucas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

It's 9:30 a.m., and Augustus Doricko, the mulleted 24-year-old founder of the cloud-seeding company Rainmaker, is clutching a coffee. There's a long way to go before cloud seeding becomes a viable option for solving one of humanity's many self-made crises. El Segundo, population 17,272, has long been a bastion of American engineering, home to aerospace and defense giants like Boeing and Raytheon. Jett Lara for BIThe burning happens every Friday around 8 p.m. at a bonfire on El Segundo Beach. One of Doricko's goals is to build a church in El Segundo to "share the grace of God with other people."

Persons: Augustus Doricko, Bruno Mars, Doricko, Jessica, I'd, Jesus, He'd, that's, Rainmaker, Lauren Sánchez, Jett Lara, Billy Ray Cyrus, God, Augustus Doricko Doricko's, Cameron Schiller, Augustus, Schiller, El, That's, it's, El Segundo, Elon Musk, Isaiah Taylor, Doricko's, Taylor, Rob Coutts, —, Jesus of Nazareth, Zer, he'd, Jason Flynt, Flynt, Terra, Michael Gibson, Sarah Tessendorf's, messaged Gibson, Michael, Gibson, Thiel, Peter Thiel, I'm, Katja Friedrich, Friedrich, Friedrich isn't, Jonathan Jennings, Kaitlyn Suski, dumbbells, Jackson Schultz, Elijah, birdsong, Schultz, We're, coffees, Mankind Organizations: MGM, Association, Aspen Ideas, Global Initiative, BI, El, Boeing, Raytheon, Space Industries, Chevrolet, Stamford Yacht Club, New Zealand, University of California, BI Doricko, drillers, Terra Seco, Thiel Foundation, Terra, tech's, Weather Locations: Vegas, Tennessee, El Segundo, Los Angeles, America, Silicon, Santa Clarita, Rainmaker, Beijing, Colorado, California, Smoky, El Segundo Beach, North Carolina, Texas, Stamford , Connecticut, New, Costa, Berkeley, Christianity, Fort Worth , Texas, Terra Seco, drawdowns, Lake Mead, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Juul, Fresno, San Jose, Dubai, UAE, Midwest, West Texas, New Mexico , Arizona , Nevada, Amsterdam, Milan

Valued at $4 billion in 2021, Cerebras is reportedly seeking to roughly double that in its IPO. The customer, G42, is backed by Microsoft , and it's entirely responsible for the $1.43 billion purchase commitment. G42 can pick up $500 million more in Cerebras shares if it commits to spend $5 billion on the company's computing clusters. The major Wall Street banks, for their part, are finding other ways to play in the burgeoning AI infrastructure market. Fitch, who said he sold out of his Nvidia stock years ago, told CNBC that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Persons: Andrew Feldman, Ramsey Cardy, Cerebras, —, David Golden, it's, prepayment, CFIUS, Mike Gallagher, Gina Raimondo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Young, There's, Peter Thiel, Eva Marie Uzcategui, there's, Thiel, Jim Fitch, Fitch, Feldman Organizations: Cerebras Systems, Nvidia, Revolution Ventures, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Mayo Clinic, Treasury, Foreign Investment, Reuters, Chinese Communist Party, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Barclays, BDO, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst, Riverstone Networks, CoreWeave, Clarium Capital Management LLC, Bloomberg, Getty, Mizuho Securities, Venture, CNBC, Devices Locations: Toronto, U.S, Sunnyvale , California, Abu Dhabi, China, Miami , Florida, Los Angeles, Florida

☆ Where are Gen Z's tech founders?
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Amanda Hoover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

So where are Gen Z's tech founders? Gen Z founders and would-be founders are stepping into a vastly different tech world from that of their predecessors — a world where launching a unicorn is far more difficult, and publicly scrutinized, than it was for the garage-band generation of Jobs and Gates. Gen Z is coming of age in an era when the same Big Tech companies are diffuse and dominant. In other words, millennial founders ran so that Gen Z founders could walk. Perhaps we won't see Gen Z founders standing before a crowd and unveiling their latest shiny products anytime soon.

Persons: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Gen X, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, Travis Kalanick, Peter Thiel, Millennials, I'm, Zuckerberg, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Brian Chesky, Elizabeth Holmes, Sam Bankman, Gen, aren't, Zers, Jerry Neumann, millennials, Uber, Z, There's, Neumann, Kimberly Eddleston, they've, Adam Neumann, Holmes, Alexandra Debow, that's, Alexandr Wang, Wang, They've, Ibrahim Rashid, Rashid didn't, COVID, Rashid, Martin Shkreli, Forbes, Alexis Barreyat, Barreyat, Julian Kage, Kage, they'd, Debow, It's, Eddleston, Emma Chamberlain's Organizations: Boomers, Columbia University, Big Tech, Northeastern University, Facebook, New York University, MIT, Wired, Forbes, University of Chicago, Deloitte, Harvard, Harvard Business Locations: swaggering, Silicon Valley

Grabango, a venture-backed startup that was vying to take on Amazon in cashierless checkout technology, is shutting down after it was unable to raise enough money to stay afloat. Based in Berkeley, California, Grabango was seen as one of the primary rivals to Amazon's cashierless checkout offering, called Just Walk Out. Amazon in April pulled its cashierless checkout technology from its U.S. Fresh stores and Whole Foods supermarkets. Glaser said Grabango eschewed shelf sensors in favor of computer vision which put it on a path for "widespread adoption." WATCH: Amazon is making a big bet on selling its cashierless tech to outsiders

Persons: Grabango, Will Glaser, Grabango's, Peter Thiel's, Glaser, Axios, CNBC's Ari Levy Organizations: CNBC, longtime, LinkedIn, Commerce Ventures, Fund, Unilever, Honeywell, Aldi, Amazon, Foods Locations: U.S, Berkeley , California

☆ Silicon Valley has a plan to save humanity: Just flip on the nuclear reactors
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

No, the tech that’s going to save humanity will be powered by the tech that very nearly destroyed it. The tech industry’s solution, for now, is nuclear energy, which is more stable than wind or solar and is virtually carbon-emission-free. Amazon is working on putting a data center campus right on the site of a Talen Energy nuclear power plant in Northeast Pennsylvania. And while AI doomer predictions often get brushed off as alarmist forecasts, you can’t as readily dismiss the folks who are concerned about nuclear energy. Bottom line: There’s no AI future without a serious uptick in our power supply, which makes the expansion of nuclear power practically unavoidable.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, Anna Erickson, ” Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Nvidia, International Energy Agency, JPMorgan, Microsoft, Energy, Financial Times, Founders Fund, Georgia Tech, Big Locations: New York, Harrisburg , Pennsylvania, Northeast Pennsylvania, Idaho, Big Tech

☆ Elon Musk once described his past immigration status as a ‘gray area’
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-29 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +32 min

So we just rented the office, and slept in the office, and showered at the YMCA,” Elon Musk recalled, drawing laughs from the crowd. “When they did fund us,” Kimbal Musk recalled, “they realized that we were illegal immigrants.”“Well…” Elon Musk interjected. Video of the remarks shows Elon Musk laughing as he jumped in with a different interpretation: “I’d say it was a gray area.”He didn’t elaborate, and it’s unclear what Elon Musk meant by that characterization. Elon Musk, wearing a black Stetson hat, livestreams while visiting the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 28, 2023. Then-President Donald Trump greets Elon Musk before a policy and strategy forum with executives at the White House in February 2017.

Persons: ” Elon Musk, “, Musk, ”, Donald Trump, Biden, It’s, —, Kimbal, ’ Elon Musk, he’s, X, He’s, Walter Isaacson’s, they’ve, Elon Musk, Jeff Skoll, Fred Prouser, ” Kimbal Musk, Elon, haven’t, Ashlee Vance’s, Greg Kouri, can’t, Maye, Charles Kuck, Kuck, Jennifer Minear, That’s, ” Kuck, Alain Jocard, Kimbal Musk, Tesla, Zip2, he’d, Kevin McCarthy, Alex Brandon, it’s, Hunter Swanson, Grace, Swanson, “ They’re, ” Swanson, ” Minear, Minear, Philip Pacheco, Ron Ozio, hadn’t, Vance, CNN there’s, Affairs Julie Greicius, Rajshree Agarwal, Ed Snider, ” Agarwal, Peter Thiel, Paul Sakuma, Agarwal, …, that’s, Elon Musk’s, who’s, hasn’t, Bayar, Zachary Mueller, ” Mueller, I’m, Don Lemon, Mueller, there’s, Stetson, Critics, John Moore, David Bier, ” Bier, Bier, Trump, he's, he'd, Brendan Smialowski, Joe Wilson, ” Wilson, Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown, Elon Musk's, We’re, Daniel Becerril, Reuters Elon Musk hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Twitter, University of Pennsylvania, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, Forbes, Stanford, Kimbal, Milken Institute Global Conference, Reuters, YMCA, Milken, YouTube, Los Angeles Times, US, Immigration Services, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Getty, Tesla, Kennedy Space Center, Center for International Education, Washington, Lee University, Elon, Center for, Learning, Penn, Minear, Materials, Engineering, ” Stanford, Communications, Affairs, American Immigration, Association, Ed Snider Center for Enterprise, University of Maryland, PayPal, eBay, Compaq, University of Washington, America’s, Democratic, Trump, CATO Institute, White, Medina County Sheriff, Fox, Fox News, Polaris Locations: Mexico, United States, Eagle Pass , Texas, Pretoria, South Africa, Canada, Canadian, Palo Alto , California, Beverly Hills , California, Angeles County, U.S, Atlanta, AFP, America, Zip2, California, Cape Canaveral , Florida, Virginia, Washington, Arizona, South Carolina, Medina County, Eagle, , Texas, Rio Grande

☆ Sam Altman says doing psychedelics during a weekend retreat in Mexico changed his life
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-24 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) 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 previewSam Altman, the tech CEO behind ChatGPT, is also a big supporter of psychedelics. OpenAI cofounder shared some personal anecdotes in a recent appearance on the podcast "Life in Seven Songs," saying that doing psychedelics was one of the most transformative experiences of his life. Altman said psychedelic experiences can be "totally incredible," and for him, they've been life-altering. AdvertisementThe CEO didn't specify which psychedelics he used, but he said the experience changed him in a lot of ways.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, Altman, they've, Colab, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Peter Thiel, psychedelics, Oregan Organizations: Service, Business, PayPal, YouGov Locations: Mexico, Denver , Colorado, Oakland , California

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