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☆ Tesla's self-driving mode is 'a bit stressful' to use, the cofounder of a robotaxi company backed by Amazon says
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementThe cofounder of Zoox, an Amazon-backed robotaxi company, said he sometimes feels nervous when using Tesla's so-called Full Self-Driving mode. FSD is a key piece of Tesla technology that will be critical for the company's fully autonomous vehicle and robotaxi visions. Levinson said part of the problem with Tesla's approach to autonomous driving is its reliance on cameras. Related storiesNot everyone is a skeptic of Tesla's autonomous driving vision. AdvertisementLike Waymo, Zoox uses a combination of LiDAR, radar, and cameras for its autonomous driving system.

Persons: Jesse Levinson, —, FSD, Tesla, Elon Musk, Levinson, Musk, Tesla's, it's, Andrej Karpathy, Karpathy, Zoox Organizations: TechCrunch, Service, Traffic, Administration, Waymo, PACE, Tesla, Las Locations: San Francisco, California, Texas, Market

☆ Amazon CEO pledges AI investments will pay off as capital expenditures surge 81%
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I think we've proven over time that we can drive enough operating income and free cash flow to make this a very successful return on invested capital business," Jassy said. "We expect the same thing will happen here with generative AI." The jump in spending is primarily being driven by generative AI investments, Jassy said. A day earlier, Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi warned the company expects capital spending to grow in 2025. Amazon has said its cloud unit has picked up more business from companies that need infrastructure to deploy generative AI models.

Persons: Andy Jassy, Jassy, OpenAI, we're, Mark Zuckerberg, Anat Ashkenazi, It's, it's Organizations: Amazon Web Services, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Locations: OpenAI

☆ We retired abroad to Cuenca, Ecuador, once the US got too expensive. We still love the expat hot spot 14 years later.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Edd Staton | Cynthia Staton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We retired early 14 years ago and moved abroad because the US was too expensive. We set our sights on Cuenca, Ecuador, which has moderate weather and is super walkable. Our cost of living is much lower now and we love living here. We can walk everywhereWalkability was huge on our retirement wish list, and Cuenca has been a dream. Cuenca's weather is fantasticAnother feature high on our retirement wish list was a temperate climate.

Persons: —, Cynthia Staton, We've Organizations: Service, Social Locations: Cuenca, Ecuador, Las Vegas

☆ Amazon's advertising business grew 19% in the third quarter
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon's online advertising business brought in $14.3 billion in the third quarter, up 19% year over year, in line with analysts' estimates of $14.3 billion. The Seattle tech giant revealed the financial results of its growing advertising unit as part of its latest earnings report Thursday. Amazon's overall third-quarter sales were $158.9 billion, ahead of analysts' estimates of $157.2 billion. Amazon's online advertising business is still a fraction of the company's overall business, but its growth over the years has made it a major competitor to Alphabet and Meta , which lead the digital advertising market. Meta's third-quarter advertising revenue came in at $39.9 billion, which was up 19% compared with the year prior.

Persons: Amazon's Organizations: Google, Meta, CNBC, Emarketer, YouTube Locations: Seattle

☆ OpenAI is taking a page out of Big Tech's playbook by reportedly building its own chips
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-31 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

OpenAI is reportedly teaming up with Broadcom and TSMC to build custom AI chips, per Reuters. OpenAI could have its custom chips by 2026 but is reportedly dropping plans to build its own fabs. AdvertisementBuilding custom AI chips has long been the preserve of a select few tech companies — but OpenAI might be about to join the party. AdvertisementOpenAI's move, which will also reportedly see it incorporate AMD chips into its supply mix, means it would reduce its dependency on Nvidia, the market leader for AI chips. While it's unclear how much OpenAI's reported chip-building push will cost, creating custom AI chips doesn't come cheap.

Persons: OpenAI, —, Kate Leaman, Rahul Kulkarni, Maia, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Gil Luria, Davidson, Luria, Edward Wilford, Sam Altman, Altman, Pierre Ferragu Organizations: Broadcom, Meta, Google, Service, Reuters, BI, Microsoft, Apple, Tech, Amazon Web, AWS, Nvidia, Big Tech, Street, New, Research, New York Times

☆ S&P 500 futures slip after Microsoft reports; traders brace for key inflation data: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stock futures slid on Wednesday evening, as Wall Street absorbed a fresh batch of earnings reports from megacap technology names. S&P 500 futures lost 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.5%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 27 points. The S&P 500 declined 0.3%, while the Dow dropped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 0.6%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that the PCE grew by 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.1% from a year earlier.

Persons: Dow Jones, Jamie Cox Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Stock, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Dow, Investors, Federal, Harris Financial, Tech, Apple, Merck, Intel

☆ Wall Street is bullish on Amazon earnings despite uncertainty around consumer spending, rising investment costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

CFRA trimmed its Amazon price target to $219 a share on October 21, indicating 13% upside ahead. The firm has a "buy" rating on the stock and a $210 price target, which implies an 8.3% gain from current levels. The firm said investors have toned down margin expectations due to Amazon's spending in new investment areas, such as Project Kuiper. AdvertisementWedbush reiterated its "outperform" rating and $225 price target, implying a 16% gain from current levels. Morgan Stanley has a $210 price target for the stock, representing upside of about 8% from Wednesday's share price.

Persons: —, Arun Sundaram, Sundaram, Justin Post, BofA, Scott Devitt, Wedbush, Morgan Stanley, Bullish, Brian Nowak Organizations: Service, CFRA, Bank of America, Amazon Web Services, 3Q, JPMorgan, Wedbush Securities

☆ Dropbox lays off 20% of employees and joins Big Tech's flattening trend. Read CEO Drew Houston's memo.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jaures Yip | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox is laying off 528 employees, about 20% of its workforce, and making the company flatter. AdvertisementDropbox is the latest major company to slash its staff and flatten its organizational structure. "We've heard from many of you that our organizational structure has become overly complex, with excess layers of management slowing us down." Mark Zuckerberg instituted manager cuts and increased the average number of direct reports for Meta managers after complaining about "managers managing managers." Houston's memo to employees at the time also attributed those layoffs to headwinds and freeing up investment bandwidth for more products powered by artificial intelligence.

Persons: Drew Houston, —, I'm, Houston, We've, Andy Jassy, Mark Zuckerberg, Dropbox Organizations: Service, —, Amazon

☆ Amazon employees speak out about Jeff Bezos's WaPo decision, with some supporting his call, leaked messages show
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Eugene Kim | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In leaked messages, Amazon employees are divided, with some supporting his call. Related storiesSome Amazon employees agreed, according to the Slack messages obtained by BI. Other Amazon employees said it was "silly" and "sad" to see so many Washington Post readers cancel their subscriptions over the endorsement issue. 'Suspicious and worrisome'Still, some of Amazon employees who weighed in on the company's internal Slack were suspicious of Bezos's true motivation. Other Amazon employees were more blunt, saying they were going to cancel their own Washington Post subscriptions.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, —, Jeff Bezos's, Bezos, Slack, Donald Trump, I'd, Trump, Dave Limp, Matt Garman, he's, It's, it's Organizations: Washington Post, Amazon, Service, Business, BI, Democratic, Spokespeople, Washington, Blue, Trump Locations: Amazon, Washington

☆ Microsoft CFO says OpenAI investment will cut into profit this quarter
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft 's massive investment in OpenAI is weighing on earnings. The accounting approach refers to a company's share of the invested company's profit or loss in a given period, a Microsoft spokesperson said. The OpenAI investment disclosure was new for Microsoft, but the company has registered over $2.3 billion in other expense in the past four quarters. On the earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the collaboration with OpenAI has benefited both parties and that the company feels good about "our investment stake in OpenAI." WATCH: Oppenheimer downgrades Microsoft: OpenAI losses are not properly priced in

Persons: Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Amy Hood, OpenAI, Hood, Microsoft's, OpenAI's, OpenAI didn't, Oppenheimer Organizations: Microsoft, Google, OpenAI Locations: San Francisco, OpenAI

☆ Microsoft set to report quarterly results after the close
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft will report results for its fiscal first quarter after the close of regular trading on Wednesday. Mobility and security services, along with some Windows revenue, will now be part of the Productivity and Business Processes unit, which includes Office software. Analysts expect $24.04 billion in revenue from the Intelligent Cloud segment that includes Azure cloud infrastructure. Amazon , which leads the cloud infrastructure market, is slated to report results after the close on Thursday. During the quarter, Microsoft worked to help customers recover after a flawed update to CrowdStrike security software brought down Windows PCs globally.

Persons: Satya Nadella, OpenAI Organizations: Partnership for Global Infrastructure, Microsoft, Productivity, Gartner, Windows, BlackRock, UBS, Capital, Nasdaq Locations: Borgo, Savelletri, Italy

☆ Harvard Business School professor says this is the No. 1 'misconception about failing'
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"It's gonna sound weird, but success for me was failing," she told CNBC Make It. But why failing can lead to better future outcomes is generally misunderstood, says Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School and author of "Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well." "There's one really important misconception about failing, which is that failure and mistake are the same thing," she says. If you're pursuing a new hobby or switching into a different role at work, know that failure is likely ahead. A productive failure meets four criteria, Edmondson says.

Persons: Jeff Bezos —, Gabby Douglas, Amy Edmondson, Edmondson Organizations: CNBC, Harvard Business School

☆ Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham lays out why he's voting for Kamala Harris
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paul Graham urged moderate voters to vote for Kamala Harris, citing character over policy. Graham, a Y Combinator cofounder, contrasted Harris with former president Donald Trump. AdvertisementVeteran investor Paul Graham wrote an open letter saying undecided moderate voters should cast their ballot for Kamala Harris. On Tuesday, the Y Combinator cofounder and self-proclaimed moderate posted a statement on X where he laid out his reasons. Graham cofounded famed startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2005, which has been an incubator for companies like Dropbox, Airbnb, and Reddit.

Persons: Paul Graham, Kamala Harris, Graham, Harris, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, —, Jeff Bezos, Bezos hasn't, Trump . Graham, Melinda French Gates, Mark Cuban, pic.twitter.com, ebBMbs1c7r — Paul Graham, Trump, Harris didn't Organizations: Leaders, Elon, Service, Washington, Amazon, Tesla, Trump ., Democratic, Business

☆ EBay stock sinks after company gives lackluster guidance for fourth quarter
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of eBay slumped about 9% in extended trading on Wednesday after the online marketplace posted its third-quarter earnings and gave guidance for the fourth quarter that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. The guidance trailed the average analyst estimate for fourth-quarter revenue of $2.65 billion, according to StreetAccount. The company also said it expects $1.17 to $1.22 in adjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter. The company didn't provide clarity on its forecast in the earnings release. GMV, or the dollar value of items sold on eBay's marketplace, grew 2% year over year to $18.3 billion, eBay said, which topped analysts' projected $18.1 billion, per StreetAccount estimates.

Persons: Steve Priest Organizations: eBay, LSEG, LSEG Revenue, EBay, Walmart, Big Tech Locations: China

☆ More than 250,000 Washington Post readers cancel subscriptions in revolt over non-endorsement
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —More than 250,000 Washington Post readers have canceled their subscriptions since the newspaper announced last week it would not make an endorsement in the presidential race, leading to a “huge spike” in cancelations, the Post reported late Tuesday. The number did not take into account any new subscribers the Post may have added since Friday or any subscribers who have since re-subscribed, the paper reported. The Post reported it began seeing a surge in cancelations within hours of the announcement. “I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it,” Bezos wrote. Instead, Bezos framed his decision to end presidential endorsements as one designed to regain the trust of readers.

Persons: Will Lewis, Lewis, Marty Baron, “ craven, Jeff Bezos, Trump, Harris, Bezos, — Bezos, Donald Trump, “, ” Bezos, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, Washington Post, Post, NPR, CNN, Blue Origin Locations: New York, cancelations, ”, Texas

I found what I was looking for in the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty, an air purifier designed for medium-to-large rooms. Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty Air Purifier If you need a powerful, energy-efficient air purifier for medium to large rooms, the Airmega AP-1521HH Mighty is your best option. AdvertisementOur review of the Coway Airmega AP-1521HH MightyThe Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty prefilter captures large particles like pet fur. Air quality sensor: Open the air quality sensor cover every two months (or sooner in dusty environments) and clean it with a soft brush or vacuum cleaner. Heidi Borst/Business InsiderConsider the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty if you're seeking an effective and user-friendly air purifier for a medium-to-large environment.

Persons: unpackaging, Heidi Borst, it's, Max Organizations: Business, Amazon, Walmart, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, PM, Honeywell Locations: Eco

A little over a year into running her cleaning business, Cool Aunt Cleaners, Anna-Marie Ortiz has learned a lot about the resilience and adaptability needed to succeed as a small business owner. Matt Wolcott | CNBC Make ItOrtiz started the business in July 2023 with her last $2,000 in savings. Despite the failure, running the shop gave Ortiz lasting insights she was able to apply to her cleaning business. To drum up business, Ortiz put up flyers and handed out business cards in targeted neighborhoods. Looking aheadOrtiz has ambitious plans to expand Cool Aunt Cleaners beyond Portland and turn it into a "seven-figure business."

Persons: Marie Ortiz, —, Anna, Matt Wolcott, Ortiz, she's, it's, I've, they're, recalibrating, Ortiz doesn't, she'd Organizations: CNBC, Butler Community College, Transportation, Amazon Prime, Spotify Locations: Portland , Oregon, Wichita , Kansas, Wichita, Kingman , Kansas, Lawrence , Kansas, Portland, West Coast, forbearance

☆ Brian Williams' executive producer dishes on Amazon's leap into live news
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon is testing news with a Brian Williams election-night special on Prime Video. AdvertisementAmazon is getting closer to jumping into news coverage with an election-night special hosted by Brian Williams. "Election Night Live with Brian Williams" will air on Prime Video at 5 p.m. "Election Night Live" is a gamble for Amazon, which has no history in news. A one-off news program is in keeping with its strategy of getting into live event programming like sports and live shopping, though.

Persons: Brian Williams, James Carville, Shepard Smith, —, Baratunde Thurston, Williams, Jonathan Wald, Wald, Comcore, Jeff Bezos, Puck, Axios, They're Organizations: Service, Fox News, Business, Amazon, Washington Post, NBC, MSNBC, Politico Locations: —, Iraq

☆ Dude Perfect's new Texas headquarters will also serve as a studio for YouTube creators
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dude Perfect is planning a new studio facility in Texas for YouTube and other creators, BI revealed. Dude Perfect, with 60M YouTube subscribers, is expanding its media empire in Frisco. It's now opening an 80,000-square-foot entertainment destination headquartered in Frisco with features like a Dude Perfect museum, mini-golf course, and restaurants. Amazon just announced a deal with creator-focused firm Spotter to give its clients (which include Dude Perfect) opportunities to monetize their content on the e-commerce giant. With big companies, teams, and talent located in Texas, does Dude Perfect need LA?

Persons: —, — Garrett Hilbert, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Coby Cotton, Cory Cotton —, Andrew Yaffe, It's, Mark Rober, Yaffe, we'll, We've, it's, Jake Paul, Mike Tyson's Organizations: YouTube, Service, Walmart, Highmount, Samsung, DFW, Dallas, May Otis, Netflix Locations: Texas, Frisco . Dallas, Frisco , Texas, Frisco, Dallas, DFW, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, New York, Arlington , Texas

☆ Betting on the election is the hottest new trend. But can prediction markets keep the momentum going?
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The big storyPresidential betsChris duMond; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BIWe're less than a week from election day, but one group can already claim victory: betting markets. Kalshi's legal victory in October over the CFTC to offer election betting paved the way for the trend. iStock; Rebecca Zisser/BIThe betting market's biggest tests might come after the election. Betting markets have Trump as a heavy favorite, whereas traditional polls indicate a tight race. AdvertisementShould Trump win in a landslide, it could strengthen the case for using betting markets as a key tool for election analysis.

Persons: —, Chris duMond, Chip Somodevilla, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, Matthew Fox, Donald Trump, Polymarket, iStock, Rebecca Zisser, Nate Silver, Tesla, Zuckerberg, Citadel's, Justin Lubell, Lubell, Steve Schwarzman, Ken Griffin, Trump, Tyler Le, Harris, Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, Milan Sehmbi Organizations: Business, Service, Apple, CFTC, Trump, TikTok, Meta Connect, Meta, Bank of America, Blackstone, Republican, Amazon, AWS, Five Apple Intelligence, Google, The Washington Post, Street, Microsoft, Starbucks Locations: French, New York, London

☆ RBC's Brad Erickson on Alphabet earnings, what to expect from Meta and Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | 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 EmailRBC's Brad Erickson on Alphabet earnings, what to expect from Meta and AmazonBrad Erickson, RBC Capital Markets senior analyst for internet services, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss Alphabet's quarterly earnings results, state of the AI technology race, what to expect from Amazon and Meta's earnings, and more.

Persons: Brad Erickson Organizations: Meta, RBC Capital Markets

☆ We reiterate our 1 rating on Microsoft despite its softer guidance — here's why
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Nearly 70% of the Fortune 500 is using Microsoft 365 Copilot and the company is seeing faster customer adoption than any other new Microsoft 365 Suite. MSFT YTD mountain Microsoft YTD Despite these positive trends and innovations, revenue guidance for next quarter fell a touch short of expectations. Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud revenue growth increased 16% year over year with seat growth up 8%. Microsoft 365 Consumer cloud revenue growth increased 7% year over year with subscribers increasing to 84.4 million from 82.4 million one quarter ago. Revenue growth ticked down sequentially to 33% annual growth, or 34% on a constant currency basis.

Persons: Nvidia's Blackwell, That's, —, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Microsoft Corporation Satya Nadella, Chalinee Thirasupa Organizations: Microsoft, Revenue, Fortune, Productivity, Dynamics, CNBC, Activision, Windows, Gaming, Microsoft Corporation Locations: OpenAI, Bangkok, Thailand

☆ Meta set to report Q3 earnings after the bell
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., arrives for the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Meta is slated to report third-quarter earnings on Wednesday after the close of regular trading. Meta's results come a day after digital ad companies Alphabet , Reddit and Snap all reported solid quarterly earnings. Microsoft reports after the bell on Wednesday, and the big week for tech earnings wraps up on Thursday, when Apple and Amazon report quarterly financials. If Meta hits analysts' expectations for third-quarter revenue, that would represent 18% year-over-year growth, down from 23% a year ago.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, LSEG, Jeff Bezos, Zuckerberg, Bernstein, Meta Organizations: Meta, Inc, Amazon, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Apple Locations: Menlo Park , California, China

☆ Microsoft is still spending massively on AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Investors have been focused on Big Tech AI spending and returns. That's a worry at Microsoft partly because feedback on the company's Copilot AI has been mixed. Others have been concerned that Big Tech spending on artificial intelligence is outpacing results. Goldman said Microsoft has been counting on its AI Copilot and other generative AI efforts at Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365 to draw enterprise clients. AdvertisementMuch of Microsoft's spending has been going toward data centers, graphics processing units, and other AI projects.

Persons: —, Jeremy Goldman, Goldman, it's, Satya Nadella, Francine McKenna Organizations: Investors, Big Tech, Service, Microsoft, Apple, Windows, Bloomberg Locations: Redmond, Washington, OpenAI

☆ Read the letter sent to AWS CEO Matt Garman, signed by 500 employees, protesting his RTO comments
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jyoti Mann | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

AWS CEO Matt Garman has been sent a letter from employees protesting his pro-RTO comments. Over 500 employees have signed a letter, sent on Wednesday, urging Garman to reconsider the plans. AdvertisementAmazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman is facing backlash from some employees over his comments about its return-to-office policy, according to an open letter obtained by Business Insider. The policy is stricter than at Amazon's peer companies and, by some accounts, stricter than Amazon's office work policy before the pandemic. The letter has been signed by 523 staff from Amazon and AWS, with 172 of those including their names.

Persons: Matt Garman, Garman, —, Matt doesn't, Elizabeth Rutledge, Garman's, Andy Jassy, Margaret Callahan, we're, Amazon's, Jyoti Mann, Ashley Stewart Organizations: Service, Web, Business, AWS, BI, American Express, Amazon Locations: jyotimann

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