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☆ Adam Neumann's new startup Flow faces trouble in Nashville
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-20 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Read previewAdam Neuman's post-WeWork venture Flow was launched with a $350 million check and stakes in six buildings. Now, one of those buildings is struggling, and equity investors risk being wiped out. Crowdfunding platform Yieldstreet, which has helped raise money for the property, recently told its equity investors that their investments could be wiped out. Flow launched in 2022 with investments in six apartment buildings, including the now-troubled Nashville property, and a $350 million check from venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. A Flow spokesperson sought to distance the Miami-based startup from the 2010 West End property, saying that Flow has never managed the building and is only the minority equity owner.

Persons: —, Adam Neuman's, Andreessen Horowitz, Neumann, WeWork, Neumann's, Yieldstreet, Nazare, Adam Neumann, They're, they're Organizations: Service, Business, Nazare, Yieldstreet, BI, SEC Locations: Nashville, Miami, Denver, Fort Lauderdale

☆ Secret to Startup Success: Being an Obnoxious Risk-Taker
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Nate Silver | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Of the billionaires on the 2023 Forbes 400 list — the 400 richest people in the United States — 70% are basically self-made. In 1982, only 40% of the Forbes 400 had started their own business; the majority were simply scions of inherited wealth. The Forbes 400, however, is the extreme right tail of the curve. But you're not sniffing the Forbes 400 list, where the bidding starts at about $3 billion. I don't think VCs are deliberately picking founders they think are unreliable, although sometimes it seems like it.

Persons: Raj Chetty, That's, Chamath Palihapitiya, Palihapitiya, Josh Wolfe, Wolfe, Elon Musk, Thiel, Jeff Bezos, we're, Sam Bankman, Andreessen Horowitz, A16z, Adam Neumann, Neumann, WeWork, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Horowitz, they've, Benchmark's Gurley, Gurley, Nate Silver Organizations: Forbes, United States —, Social Capital, Burger, Lux, VCs, New York Times, Penguin Press, Penguin Publishing, Penguin Random Locations: United States, America, Sri Lanka, Canada, Coney, Israeli, Silicon, Canyon Point , Utah

☆ A private-equity takeover is coming for startups
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The European private equity firm had been eyeing the late-stage startup for five years, impressed by its traction and focus on customer success. The speed of the deal, and the flashy multiple, illustrate how private equity funds are able to swallow startups more often lately. But in the face of rising inflation and interest rates, software customers from tech startups to mom-and-pop shops trimmed their budgets. Andreessen Horowitz plans to invest in the private equity asset class through its family office division. With high interest rates and a liquidity crunch reshaping the landscape, private equity is seizing the moment.

Persons: —, Scott Arnold, AuditBoard, Michael Brown, They're, Brown, Derek Hernandez, Aaron Fleishman, Fleishman, they're, Thoma, Yoni, Rechtman, it's, Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Service, Business, Battery Ventures, Battery, Tola Capital, Thoma Bravo, Vista Equity Partners, Slow Ventures, Eldridge Industries, Sequoia Locations: Southern California, VCs, Big Tech, Metropolis, North America

Stars from Hollywood's golden age are being reborn through celebrity estate AI voice cloning deals, a sign of how some of the "Wild West" concerns about unauthorized AI impersonation are being addressed by new business models. Safeguards include active moderation of content, accountability enforceable with bans, and special provisions for safeguarding the impact of AI voice on the 2024 election. Among the current generation of actors, there remains significant anxiety surrounding the use of AI in generating voice content. Voice actors for video games have raised concerns, and last year's film and television strike had significant roots in anxieties over the use of AI. AI voice licensing could alleviate workload for voice actors, he added, without supplanting them, as they "intercede in the process by focusing on offering correction or enhancement to ineffable aspects such as intonation, warmth, and emphasis, which still present challenges."

Persons: Burt Reynolds, Andreessen Horowitz, Judy Garland, James Dean, Sir Laurence Olivier, ElevenLabs, Sam Sklar, Scarlett Johansson, " Sklar, Frito, Tom Waits soundalike, Waits, Lovo, Steve Cohen, Pollock, Cohen, Bette Davis, Sklar, Nauman Dawalatabad, Dawalatabad, Michele Cobb Organizations: Golden Globe, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Sequoia, New York Times, Washington Post, Disney, Google, Apple, MIT Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Audio Publishers Association, CNBC

☆ Turns out being a venture capitalist can be really hard and some VCs want out
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, turns out being a venture capitalist can be really hard, and some VCs want out . The big storyWe were promised big returnsiStock; Rebecca Zisser/InsiderFor venture capitalists, when the going gets tough, the tough get going…toward the exits. Some VC workers are reconsidering their future as the industry goes through a rough patch, writes Business Insider's Sri Muppidi. The ink was barely dry on a deal before startups were raising another round, doubling their VCs' investment (on paper) along the way. One Bay Area partner told Sri junior investors need to meet dozens of companies a week.

Persons: —, Rebecca Zisser, It's, That's, VCs, dobi, Goldman Sachs, duMond, Chip Somodevilla, Alyssa Powell, Jamie Dimon, we're, Jamie, David Zalubowski, Chelsea Jia Feng, Meta's Instagram, Grzegorz Wajda, Elon Musk, Musk's X, he's, Grimes, Sam Altman, Kamala Harris, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, Amanda Yen Organizations: Service, Business, VCs, Tiger Global, Area, JPMorgan, YouTube, Dell, Getty, Elon, Federation, Global Alliance, Responsible Media, UK Prime, Democratic, Trump, Disney Locations: Patagonia, Dimon, Anaheim , California, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, London

☆ Trump's tech backers are 'making a big mistake,' Sequoia's Mike Moritz says
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As leading tech investors continue to vocally take sides ahead of the 2024 presidential election, legendary venture capitalist Michael Moritz is making his preference clear. In a Financial Times opinion piece published Monday, Moritz wrote that those in the industry who are supporting Donald Trump "are making a big mistake." Moritz was referring to Trump's conviction, earlier this year, on 34 felony counts in New York State court. Other Trump backers include venture capitalists David Sacks and Joe Lonsdale as well as Doug Leone, Moritz's longtime partner at Sequoia. Moritz wrote in his op-ed that Trump's tech financiers and supporters were "making the same mistake as all powerful people who back authoritarians."

Persons: Michael Moritz, Moritz, Donald Trump, Moritz —, LinkedIn —, Trump, Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Elon Musk, David Sacks, Joe Lonsdale, Doug Leone, Moritz's, He's, Reid Hoffman, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, VCs, Harris, Kamala, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mitt Romney, John Kasich's, OpenSecrets Organizations: Sequoia Capital, Google, PayPal, LinkedIn, Trump, Tesla, Sequoia ., Democratic, Trump Lincoln Project, Republican, Tech Locations: Sequoia, New York, Silicon Valley, California, Ohio

☆ Sequoia's Michael Moritz says Trump's Silicon Valley supporters are making a 'big mistake'
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewWhile some Silicon Valley investors and startup leaders are going red hoping for a more "tech-friendly" White House, Michael Moritz, a storied Sequoia Capital investor, believes that does not reflect the Valley overall. "Fortunately, at least in Silicon Valley, Trump will not prevail," Moritz wrote in a Financial Times opinion piece, which was also posted on LinkedIn. Like the rest of the nation, Silicon Valley is deeply divided over whom to support in the upcoming presidential race. In his piece, Moritz chided Trump supporters in Silicon Valley. Moritz added that Trump had historically not performed well among Silicon Valley voters.

Persons: —, Michael Moritz, Trump, Moritz, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Doug Leone, Shaun Maguire, Roelof Botha, Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Fund's Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Chamath, Vance, Sen, JD Vance, Palmer Luckey, Elon Musk, VCs, Kamala, Harris, Vinod Khosla, Reid Hoffman, Mark Cuban, Ron Conway Organizations: Service, Sequoia Capital, LinkedIn, Business, Google, PayPal, Democratic, Republican, Tech, Trump, VR, Bloomberg, PAC, Street Journal, Netflix, Harris, Politico Locations: Silicon Valley, Sequoia, Park City , Utah, Silicon, Palo Alto , California, Newport Beach , California, Washington ,, Francisco, San Jose

☆ Reddit's CEO says Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity scraping content is 'a real pain in the ass'
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Lian Kit Wee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Reddit's CEO slammed Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity for using the social platform's data for free. The three companies previously landed in trouble for training their AI models on data without permission. Paying for data could cost AI companies "hundreds of billions of dollars," Andreessen Horowitz said last year. Steve Huffman, the CEO of Reddit, has called out Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity for using Reddit's data to train their AI models without paying. "We've had Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity act as though all of the content on the internet is free for them to use," Huffman told The Verge, saying that blocking these companies has been "a real pain in the ass."

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, —, Reddit, Steve Huffman, We've, Huffman Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Business

☆ Meta's new AI chatbots are already getting weird — and horny
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewI've spent one day interacting with chatbots made with Meta's new AI Studio, and I already have six new boyfriends and four new girlfriends. Character AI also has its own share of AI boyfriends and girlfriends to talk to. When prompted to engage in NSFW content, the Meta AI bots I interacted with generally shut it down (often, politely). Meta's AI studio has a parody "MrBeast" chatbot and its popular characters include a "Gay Bestie" and "Relationship Coach." Unlike Meta's character AIs, creators can see the messages you send to their inbox, even if their automated AI responds.

Persons: —, I've, chatbots, I'm, Meta, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Mark Zuckerberg, Sydney Bradley, Ash, Andreessen Horowitz, it's, OpenAI's, Eric, George Organizations: Service, Meta, Business, AIs, Sydney, Olin Business School, GPTs Locations: MrBeast, Minnesota, DMs

☆ Why Silicon Valley Is Going to War Against the Media, Journalists
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Just 20 years ago journalists covered the tech industry "like it didn't matter, like it was this hobbyist, interesting, plucky thing." The pro-tech media gives tech's main characters the chance to write their way back to the original storyline. Trae Stephens, a partner at Founders Fund, described Pirate Wires as a kind of daily affirmation for Silicon Valley. Related storiesTrae Stephens, a partner at Founders Fund, described Pirate Wires as a kind of daily affirmation for Silicon Valley. Of the members of the news media I talked to about pro-tech media, some were backhandedly laudatory.

Persons: Mike Solana, Solana, Peter Thiel, —, David Sacks, Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Friedberg, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, There's, Coogan, John Coogan, Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, they're, Balaji Srinivasan, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump's, Tyler Le, Sam Bankman, Warren Buffett, Trae Stephens, Andreessen, Palmer Luckey, It's, Dick Lucas, Lucas, Joe Rogan, Kamala, Stephens, Packy McCormick, Taylor Lorenz, Ryan Mac, Kevin Roose, Jesse Singal —, Casey Newton, Casey isn't, Casey, Newton, Erik Torenberg, Anthony Fauci, Ellen Pao, Katherine Maher, George Soros, Joe Biden, Chesa Boudin, Boudin, Gavin Newsom, Palihapitiya, Sacks, Trump, JD Vance, Brian Merchant, Ben Smith, Eric Newcomer, he's, Lulu Cheng Meservey, Balaji Srinivasan's, Zoë Bernard Organizations: Fund, Tech, Founders Fund, Apple, Elon, Elite, Sequoia Capital, Pirate, Penguin Group, Big Tech, Card Industry, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Media, NPR, Google, Disney, Twitter, Republican National Convention, Bloomberg, monetization, San, Business Locations: San Francisco, Substack, Silicon Valley, New York, Silicon, Solana, Miami, Francisco, California, Los Angeles

☆ Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, and Paramount execs discuss the use of AI in Hollywood. Here are 9 startups they're watching.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Read previewStartups are rushing to create the best artificial intelligence video generation tools and convince Hollywood that AI won't decimate the creative industries. But, the most common early use of AI in entertainment is often more mundane than reverse-aging Harrison Ford to simulate a younger Indiana Jones. When top executives at the intersection of AI and entertainment met at the virtual Digital Hollywood summit on Monday, the use cases for AI in Hollywood were decidedly deeper in the details. These are some of the startups AI and entertainment leaders have their eyes on. Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesLuma AI, another image generation AI startup Bakhtar named, has raised more than $68 million according to Bain, with recent backing from Andreessen Horowitz.

Persons: —, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, They're, Panah Bakhtiar, we're, Phil, Alejandro Matamala, Ortiz, Anastasis Germanidis, Cristóbal Valenzuela, Krikey, Bakhtar, Marc Andreessen, Justin Sullivan, Bain, Andreessen Horowitz, Amit Jain, xMentium, Eliot Sakhartov, Speechmatics Michael Kaplan, Oleg Elkov, Nvidia's Kaplan, Sakhartov, Jensen Huang, Reid Hoffman, Huang, Kaplan Organizations: Service, Hollywood, Business, Paramount, Companies, Microsoft, AWS, Nvidia, Runway, Google, Apple Vision Pro Locations: London, New York, Taiwan

☆ Alphabet to invest $5 billion in self-driving car unit Waymo
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A Waymo rider-only robotaxi is seen during a test ride in San Francisco on Dec. 9, 2022. Alphabet is again investing in its self-driving car unit Waymo — this time with $5 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai said on the earnings call that Waymo provides 50,000 weekly paid trips, primarily in San Francisco and Phoenix. In June, Waymo removed the waitlist and opened Waymo rides to all San Francisco users. "Alphabet has committed up to $5B to Waymo," Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana said on X.

Persons: Waymo, Ruth Porat, Porat, Sundar Pichai, Andreessen Horowitz, Cruise, Tekedra Mawakana Organizations: Securities, Exchange Commission, Plan Investment Board, Fidelity Management & Research Company, General Motors Locations: San Francisco, Phoenix, Francisco, AutoNation, Canada, Waymo, Tesla

☆ Marc Andreessen thinks comedy is basically dead. He believes AI could save it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Jaures Yip | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Marc Andreessen said AI could revive comedy. AI tools like Luma AI or OpenAI's Sora allow animators to create shows quickly. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAI is already providing us with some answers, but venture capitalist Marc Andreessen believes it may also soon be able to give us a laugh. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Sora, —, Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Best, It's Organizations: Studios, Pixar, Service, Business

Andreessen and Horowitz are the latest and most prominent members of the startup investing community to publicly support Trump. Up until now, there have been pockets of vocal Trump support within Silicon Valley, including conservative provocateur Peter Thiel, the pugnacious hosts of the All-In podcast, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Most of the VCs Business Insider spoke to were unanimously against Kahn. "If it is Biden vs. Trump officially, I think many '"never Trumpers" will go with Trump," said a Bay Area VC.

Persons: —, Andreessen Horowitz, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Donald Trump, Sen, JD Vance, Peter Thiel's, Steve Case, Andreessen, Horowitz, provocateur Peter Thiel, Palantir, Joe Lonsdale, Elon Musk, who's, Joe Biden, Vance, Trump, IT'S JD VANCE, WE, MAGA, he's, Bradley Tusk, Chuck Schumer, Tusk, Lina Khan, That's, what's, Kahn, Lina Kahn, Khan, Biden, they're, David Hornik Organizations: Service, The Little, Business, Trump, Wall Street, Founder's Fund, TECH, Democratic, Biden, FTC, SEC, Bay, Republican, Sequoia Capital, Lobby Locations: America, Silicon Valley, New York, Delian, San Francisco, Silicon, There's

☆ Ethereum co-founder warns against voting only on 'pro-crypto,' a day after a16z founders support Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin on Wednesday cautioned against voting for political candidates based solely on whether they have adopted a "pro-crypto" stance. The best example of this is, predictably, modern Russia," added Buterin, a Russia-born coder who built ethereum in his late teens. Buterin did not single out any names in his post of either political candidates, or of those opting to support them. It comes in stark contrast to the Joe Biden White House, which has been seen as hard on crypto. However, the perception that Biden is anti-crypto and Trump is pro-crypto has some Biden allies concerned enough to take their case directly to senior White House officials.

Persons: Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, Buterin, Putin, Donald Trump, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz, Donald Trump's, Ben, Marc Show, Horowitz, Joe Biden, They've, They're, Andreesen Horowitz, Coinbase, coder, Tesla, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Tyler, Cameron Winklevoss, Trump, —, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, bitcoiners, JD Vance, Vance, Biden Organizations: Republican National Convention, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Trump, Trump —, solana, Internal Revenue Service, Libertarian National Convention, Republican, Joe Biden White, SEC, Biden, White House Locations: Milwaukee, U.S, Russia, San Francisco, Washington, Mar, Nashville , Tennessee

☆ Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have reportedly told employees that they're going to donate to Trump PACs
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are reportedly planning donations to groups supporting Donald Trump. The pair told employees at their VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz, about the plans, The Information reported. It's the latest example of big names in Silicon Valley lending support to Trump's election bid. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementTwo of the biggest names in Silicon Valley are reportedly planning to throw cash behind groups supporting Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Donald Trump, Andreessen Horowitz, —, Donald Trump's Organizations: Service, White, Business Locations: Silicon Valley

☆ Big Tech CEOs, billionaires, and business leaders react to Trump rally shooting
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewProminent tech CEOs and billionaires condemned the shooting at a Trump rally on Saturday, with some voicing their support for former President Donald Trump. "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk wrote on X. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement posted on X that he was "thankful President Trump wasn't seriously injured." "A full and speedy recovery to President Trump. There is no room in our country for political violence," he wrote.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Biden, Mark Cuban, Joe Biden, Tesla, Elon Musk, Trump, Musk, David Sacks, Shaun Maguire, Sacks, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, Tim Cook, Trump's, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, Satya Nadella, Brian Chesky, Trump wasn't, Marc Benioff, hasn't Organizations: Service, Trump, Business, Secret Service, Bloomberg, PAC, Biden Administration, Big Tech, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft Locations: Butler , Pennsylvania, Cuban, America

☆ Welcome to the new Fightertown USA: Inside San Diego's AI-powered unmanned aircraft boom
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

But the program has since moved to another station, and its legacy in San Diego is a faint, fond memory. AdvertisementWith such a rich history of aerial dynamism, it's no surprise that San Diego has become a major hub of this technology. Defense, AI, and a warming reception from VCsLong before AI became a household buzzword, Shield AI launched in San Diego. AdvertisementBut San Diego seemed to be a better fit with its access to open land and proximity to the ocean. That pipeline continues to feed into the San Diego tech ecosystem, feeding and driving the aerial innovation it has become known for over a century.

Persons: —, Tom Cruise, Larsen Jensen, Palmer Luckey's Anduril, Brandon Tseng, VCs Long, Tseng, Ryan, presciently, Hivemind, It's, shouldn't, Jensen, Ian Muceus, Muceus, we've, Firestorm's, Firestorm, Glenn Curtiss, Grant Jordan, Andreessen Horowitz, — Jordan, Jordan, SkySafe, Tim Draper, Aleksey Matyushev, Matyushev, Oakland — Natilus, Natilus, General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin Organizations: Service, Kawasaki Ninja, hotshot Navy, US Naval Air Station, Business, Navy, Harpoon Ventures, Defense, aha, Navy SEAL, US Department of Defense, Coast Guard, Air Force, Marine Corps, BAT, SpaceX, Marque Ventures, Silent Ventures, US Navy, Soma, Oakland, San Diego International Airport, Brown Field Municipal, Northrop, Lockheed Locations: San Diego, Miramar, Diego's, Diego, Afghanistan, Persian, Israel, Caribbean, Bay, San Diego Bay, West, San Jose, San Francisco, Central Valley, Vallejo, Kona

This week, the 28-year-old venture capital firm debuted a new pair of funds totaling $2.3 billion, a substantial sum during an abysmal time for the industry's fundraising efforts. The European-born firm is structured in a way that investors across continents invest out of the same funds. The new funds include $800 million to invest at the early stage and $1.5 billion to invest in growth. Those figures are slightly down from the firm's last fundraise, when it collected $900 million for an early-stage fund and $2 billion for a growth fund. That year, Index saw seven portfolio companies go public at a market cap of more than $1 billion, including Roblox and Robinhood.

Persons: —, Nina Achadjian, Sofia Dolfe, Ishani Thakur, Vlad Loktev, Erin Price, Wright, Andreessen, Mark Goldberg, He's, Ethan Kurzweil, Kristina Shen, Mike Volpi, Greycroft Organizations: Service, Ventures, Business, San, Labs, Bessemer Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures Locations: San, West Coast, San Francisco, Index's London, New York, London, Europe

☆ Startups are building robots that can perceive the human world. Here's why VC firms like Khosla and a16z say that spatial intelligence will be the next big thing in AI.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Spatial intelligence allows robots to navigate and interact with their environment more efficiently, which means that robots can perform more complex tasks with higher precision and adaptability. AdvertisementEven so, investors say that spatial intelligence represents a quantum leap for the robotics industry, a space already benefiting from an AI boom. Lior Susan, CEO and founder of Eclipse Ventures, is betting that the difficulty of building AI with spatial intelligence will yield bigger returns in the future. "You see this boom of generative AI startups that are actually buying a lot of compute that do not have a business model yet," Susan said. Big tech is rolling in, tooBigger tech companies are also gearing up to compete in robotics' spatial intelligence race—both as builders and investors.

Persons: —, Andreessen Horowitz, Catalyst, Howard Morgan, Max Rimple, Erin Price, Wright, Fei, Fei Li, Kanu Gulati, Khosla, –, Gulati, Lior Susan, Susan, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang Organizations: Service, Khosla Ventures, Business, B Capital, Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue Management, Stanford University, Eclipse Ventures, Intelligence, Lux, Sequoia Capital, Microsoft, Nvidia, Carbon Robotics, AIs Locations: LLMs, OpenAI, Lux Capital, Taipei

☆ Exclusive: A16z-backed Knownwell is buying AI-powered Alfie Health to supercharge its obesity care
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

With that market shaking out this year, one obesity care startup just scooped up another. Knownwell, which provides obesity-centered primary care and weight management, has acquired Y Combinator startup Alfie Health, Business Insider has learned exclusively. But many investors leaned away from backing obesity care startups as the virtual prescription-focused model clashed with medication shortages. AdvertisementKnownwell has taken a different approach to weight management, with in-person providers alongside its virtual care services, and primary care in addition to obesity care. Alfie HealthGetting obesity care rightBoyarsky Pratt founded Knownwell alongside Dr. Angela Fitch, the president of the Obesity Medicine Association and the former associate director of Massachusetts General Hospital's weight care center.

Persons: —, Alfie, Alexander Singh, Ozempic, Knownwell, It's, Andreessen Horowitz, Alfie Health, Y Combinator, Nina Capital, Brooke Boyarsky Pratt, Boyarsky Pratt, it's, Angela Fitch, Vineeta, Kindbody, Agarwala Organizations: Service, Health, Business, Alfie Health, Knownwell, Flare Capital Partners, Nina, Obesity Medicine Association, Massachusetts, Oak, Carbon Health Locations: WeightWatchers, Plenty, Needham , Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Dallas, Minneapolis

☆ Decagon raises $35 million from Accel and A16z to build AI customer support agents. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck it used.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

AI startup Decagon builds AI agents to automate customer support for enterprise customers. Founded in July 2023, Decagon uses generative AI to automate customer support for enterprise customers. The company has emerged from stealth and raised $35 million in funding for its seed and Series A rounds. Accel led the company's $30 million Series A, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, A*, and Elad Gil. A16z led the company's $5 million seed round.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, —, Jesse Zhang, Ashwin Sreenivas, Zhang, Elad Gil, A16z, Decagon, Aaron Levie, Howie Liu Organizations: Accel, Service, Decagon, Business

☆ Bitcoin miners at Donald Trump's closed-door event say he thinks bitcoin can help win AI arms race
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

Less than four hours after Trump's roundtable wrapped, the former president took to social media to extol the virtues of the bitcoin mining business. "Bitcoin mining may be our last line of defense against a CBDC," Trump posted shortly before midnight on Tuesday. "That's where you've got all these ancillary jobs; it's not just the bitcoin mining directly," said Cook. Enter bitcoin miners. Adding bitcoin miners to the portfolio of energy buyers has helped to improve the core economics of renewable power production.

Persons: Donald Trump, Eva Marie Uzcategui, —, New York —, Jason Les, Bitcoin, Bill Hagerty, David Bailey, Trump, Bailey, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Les, Warren, Geoff Kendrick, bitcoin, Matthew Schultz, Jayson Browder, Brian Hughes, Biden, Harris, Andreessen Horowitz, Ron Conway, Fred Wilson, Cameron, Tyler Winklevoss, Schultz, Browder, CleanSpark, Coke, Chris Cook, Cook, There's, Amanda Fabiano, Fabiano, Marathon's Browder, We've, Exacore's Cook, you've, it's, Digital's Browder Organizations: U.S, Mar, Lago, Trump, Riot, Marathon Digital Holdings, Arkon Energy, Cholla Energy, Exacore, CNBC, Senate's Banking, Finance, China, BTC Inc, Radical Communist, Democratic, Trump —, solana, Internal Revenue Service, Libertarian National Convention, Standard Chartered, Circuits, Government Affairs, Federal Reserve, Biden, U.S . Treasury Department, Republican, NASDAQ, Fabiano Consulting Locations: Lago, West Palm Beach , Florida, New York, Palm Beach , Florida, bitcoin, China, Russia, U.S, America, Washington, San Francisco, Beijing, Marathon, United States, West Texas

☆ Mistral, a French A.I. Start-Up, Is Valued at $6.2 Billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Adam Satariano | More About Adam Satariano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mistral, a French artificial intelligence start-up, said on Tuesday that it had raised 600 million euros, or about $640 million, from investors, a sign of robust interest in a company seen as Europe’s most promising rival to OpenAI and other Silicon Valley A.I. Mistral is now valued at €5.8 billion, according to a person familiar with the investment, an eye-popping sum for a company founded just one year ago by alumni from Meta and Google. Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, investors have poured money into generative A.I. Two weeks ago, Elon Musk raised $6 billion for his start-up, xAI. OpenAI has raised roughly $13 billion from Microsoft, while another California start-up, Anthropic, has raised more than $7.3 billion.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Elon Musk, OpenAI Organizations: Meta, Google, Catalyst, Lightspeed Ventures, Nvidia, Samsung, Salesforce, Cisco, IBM, BNP, Microsoft Locations: California

☆ Elon Musk drops suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this photo illustration, the logo of 'OpenAI' is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of a computer screen displaying the photographs of Elon Musk and Sam Altman in Ankara, Turkiye on March 14, 2024. Elon Musk on Tuesday withdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI and two of the company's co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, in California state court. Musk's decision to file to dismiss the suit came just one day after he publicly criticized OpenAI and its new partnership with Apple. In February, Musk had filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman and Brockman — the current CEO and president of OpenAI, respectively — for breach of contract and fiduciary duty. Last year, Musk debuted his own AI startup and OpenAI competitor, xAI, which last month announced a $6 billion Series B funding round.

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Greg Brockman, Musk, Altman, Brockman, It's, Kevin O'Brien, Ford O'Brien Landy, I'm, Andreessen Horowitz, X.AI, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny Organizations: Tuesday, Apple, CNBC, OpenAI, Microsoft, Elon, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Musk Locations: Ankara, Turkiye, California, San Francisco

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