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☆ 2 cofounders whose last company sold to Amazon have raised $5 million to turbocharge a new comic-book startup. Read their pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Go to newsletter preferencesSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Steinberger cofounded the comic-book platform Comixology in 2007, where Mosher would later serve as head of content. The pair joined Amazon in 2014 after it acquired the upstart, helping to shape the tech giant's digital comics and manga content experience. That background gave the pair a leg up when it came time to fundraise for Dstlry, Steinberger told Business Insider. "We spent a lot of time on the deck trying to really refine the storytelling," Steinberger said.

Persons: —, Dstlry, Chip Mosher, David Steinberger, Mosher, Steinberger, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mike Vorhaus, John Schappert, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon, 1AM Gaming, Kodansha, Warner Bros

☆ Work Culture at the Gates Foundation: Bill Gates Was Domineering, Inspired Fear
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Anupreeta Das | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Every year, Bill Gates — and, until she left, Melinda French Gates — would hold multiple meetings with executives of the Gates Foundation to approve plans and budgets, and review strategies. For many, the meeting might be the only direct opportunity to interact with, and impress, Gates and French Gates. AdvertisementGates and French Gates followed the presentations closely, usually saving questions for the end. The former couple sought to maintain a professional relationship, giving themselves at least two years to see if they could work together, with the understanding that French Gates would leave if they couldn't. One former senior employee compared the style of discussion to the Socratic method, often used in law schools by professors who push students to reasoning through dialogue.

Persons: Bill Gates —, Melinda French Gates, Gates, Louis XIV, —, opprobrium, Gates —, Bill Gates, Simon, It's, Melinda weren't, hasn't, Warren Buffett —, outargue Gates, seethed, Anupreeta Das Organizations: Gates Foundation, Business, Employees, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc, HBO, Microsoft Locations: French Gates, Versailles, Gates

☆ Sequoia invests in Reflection AI, a startup founded by Google DeepMind alum, at $100 million valuation, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-07 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewReflection AI, a startup building AI agents, has raised new funding at a $100 million valuation, Business Insider has learned. AI agents promise to execute difficult tasks, like booking an appointment or updating Salesforce. Laskin conducted AI research at the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab and most recently worked at Google DeepMind, the company's AI research lab. AdvertisementReflection isn't the only startup building AI agents. In June, Amazon hired away the cofounders of AI agent startup Adept, which raised more than $400 million in funding, and licensed its technology, reported GeekWire.

Persons: —, cofounders, Misha Laskin, Ioannis Antonoglou, DeepMind, Laskin, Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's, Antonoglou, Ioannis Organizations: Service, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia, Business, Berkeley Artificial Intelligence, Google, Amazon Locations: DeepMind

☆ The core crew that helped Sam Altman start OpenAI has dwindled from 10 to 2
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"We're grateful for John's contributions as a founding team member at OpenAI and his dedicated efforts in advancing alignment research," OpenAI said in a statement to TechCrunch. (I first met John in a cafe in Berkeley in… — Sam Altman (@sama) August 6, 2024This makes Schulman the eighth cofounder who has left OpenAI since its founding in 2015. — Greg Brockman (@gdb) August 6, 2024Besides Schulman, OpenAI has seen multiple exits among its leadership ranks in recent months. In May, OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever announced his resignation from the company. To be sure, not everyone has left OpenAI on such acrimonious terms.

Persons: —, John Schulman, Schulman, Altman, OpenAI, John, … — Sam Altman, — Altman, Wojciech Zaremba, Greg Brockman, Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, he'd, OpenAI's, Jan Leike, Leike, Elon Musk, Musk, Roboticist Trevor Blackwell, Vicki Cheung, Durk Kingma, Pamela Vagata, Andrej Karpathy, Karpathy, Tesla, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Service, Business, Superintelligence Inc, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, ChatGPT, EV giant's, Business Insider Locations: OpenAI, Berkeley, …

☆ 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 has acquired an AI startup to beef up its ad business in a deal worth around $40 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Brands like Unilever, L'Oréal, and NotCo pay Memorable AI an annual fee to use its tools. The company said this allows advertisers to reduce the time they would usually spend testing and optimizing ad creative, the company said. Related storiesThe Memorable AI team has joined Reddit as part of the acquisition. AdvertisementIts ads business is growing, but still tiny compared to Google, Meta, Amazon, and TikTok.

Persons: —, Reddit, van, Cofounders Camilo Fosto, Sebastian Acevedo, Michael Kassan, Brian O'Kelley, hasn't Organizations: Service, Business, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Brands, Unilever, L'Oréal, Aperiam Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, LDV, Ventures, Google Locations: New York

☆ 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

☆ How Group Black's $500 million promise to Black-owned media unraveled
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Montaque cofounded Group Black in 2021 with the goal of directing $500 million in advertising money to Black-owned media in its first 18 months. With the pledge, Group Black laid out a plan to steer money to Black media owners and acquire media companies. Bough, Group Black's chief strategy officer, was a former Mondelēz and PepsiCo marketer who presented the CNBC reality show "Cleveland Hustles." Various outlets reported that Group Black mounted bids for media companies including the Sports Illustrated publisher Arena Group, the Paramount-owned BET, Vice Media, and Vox Media. Seven former employees described Montaque as an energetic leader but said he was ultimately ineffective in executing Group Black's mission.

Persons: Travis Montaque, Weeks, Montaque, Bonin, Black, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Richelieu Dennis, Dennis, Ursula M, Burns, Randy Brooke, Ursula Burns, Seth Kaufman, Moët Hennessy, Gamble, Ziff Davis, offsites, Gamble —, Spokespeople, Derrick Johnson, Lionel Hahn, Todd Brown, It's, Christopher Kenna, I'm, Samantha Skey, Black's Travis Montaque, Arturo Holmes, Vivek Shah, Bough, Sheila Marmon, Media's Refinery29, Erika Goldring, Richelieu Dennis who's, Kirk McDonald, GroupM Organizations: Black, Cannes Lions, Business, Black's, SHE, Cola, Walmart, PepsiCo, CNBC, Xerox, Getty, Moët Hennessy North America, Procter, Gamble, NAACP, Urban Edge Network, Corporate America, Association of National Advertisers's Alliance, Inclusive, Multicultural, Diversity Media, Penske Media Corp, Zeta, Fox, Everyday Health, Sports, Arena Group, Paramount, BET, Vice Media, Vox Media, Galore Media, Mirror, Marmon, Media Locations: GroupM, America, Soho, Manhattan, Santa Monica, Cannes

☆ Here's your first look at Critical Role's 'Moonward' — the nerdworld crew's big expansion into the podcasting business
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

"Moonward" will see CR's Marisha Ray and Liam O'Brien, embarking on a new adventure to a wrecked moon. "Moonward" is part of CR's renewed push into the world of podcasting and audio dramas. AdvertisementCritical Role's new expansion into the podcasting business is nearly here, accompanied by a brand-new trailer. As Business Insider reported on July 11, CR is bringing not one but two of its cofounders to this fresh storytelling venture, "Moonward." This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Ray, Liam O'Brien, —, Marisha Ray Organizations: Service, Business, CR

☆ How the hedge fund superstar went extinct
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But for now, we're examining how the hedge fund superstar has gone extinct . The big storySo long, superstarGetty Images; Alyssa Powell/BIWhere have all the hedge fund superstars gone? AdvertisementIn years past, even rubbing shoulders with a legendary hedge fund manager was enough for aspiring fund managers to raise capital. Meanwhile, the hedge fund industry has also evolved. Aaron Weiner, a 31-year-old from Coatue, got a multibillion-dollar check from Millennium for his to-be-launched hedge fund .

Persons: —, Kamala Harris, Harris, Alyssa Powell, Insider's Linette Lopez, Julian Robertson, Griffin's, Izzy Englander's, Goldman Sachs, Jared Siskin, Bobby Jain, it's, Aaron Weiner, Jonathan Xiong's, Maja Hitij, Carl Godfrey, Apple, Sam Altman's, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, Annie Smith, Amanda Yen Organizations: Service, Democratic, Democratic Party Convention, Business, Getty, Management, Goldman, Madison, Park Conservancy, Citadel, Credit Suisse, Jain, ExodusPoint, Investment Partners, Blackstone, Elon Musk's, Big Tech, Bank of America, BI Founders, Forge, Apple, Google, General Motors Locations: Venture, Wall, Park, Coatue, Miami, London, New York

☆ Steve Bannon filmed Jeffrey Epstein for 15 hours. His 'documentary' has never surfaced.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Read previewBefore his 2019 death in jail, Jeffrey Epstein spent hours being interviewed on camera by Steve Bannon. AdvertisementAlexandra Preate, a spokesperson for Bannon, told BI in December 2021 that the documentary about Epstein would be screened "probably around Labor Day." In the 2000s, Trump and Jeffrey Epstein fought over Trump's purchase of a Palm Beach mansion that Epstein coveted. Mark Epstein said Jeffrey Epstein told him he wasn't subpoenaed for any depositions at that time. "You were the only person I was afraid of during the campaign," Bannon told Epstein, according to Wolff's book.

Persons: —, Jeffrey Epstein, Steve Bannon, Bannon, Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein —, Donald Trump's, He's, Kevin McCarthy, Alexandra Preate, Preate, Trump Bannon, Mark Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein's, Donald Trump, Melania Knauss, Jeffrey, Trump, Bannon's, Steve Bannon's, Jacob Shamsian, wasn't, would've, Brett Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, he's, Mike Lindell, I've, It's, Guo Wengui, Guo —, Ho Wan Kwok, Miles Guo —, Guo, Leon Black, Black, Epstein's, David Bossie, Bobbi Sternheim, Gloria Allred, Arick Fudali, didn't, David Schoen, Brad Edwards, Emma, Jo Morris, Hunter, Morris, Michael Wolff, Wolff, Julie K, Brown, Alexander Acosta, Acosta, Ehud Barak, Reid Weingarten, Rachel Maddow, Gayle King, King, Patrick Semansky, he'd, Diana, Jean Carroll, Bergdorf Goodman, Carroll Organizations: Service, New York, Business, Global, Victory Films, Trump, Capitol, Labor, Daily, Miami Herald, Davidoff, BI, Voting Systems, Apollo Global Management, White, Citizens United, Office, Southern, of, New, Trump White Locations: Manhattan, Paris, Palm Beach , Florida, Mexico, Danbury , Connecticut, Palm Beach, New York, jshamsian@businessinsider.com, JacobShamsian, York, Miami, Florida, Trump

☆ Star luxury broker is leaving firm shaken by rape allegations against Alexander brothers
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. McKillen said he hadn't formally parted ways with the New York firm but was arranging his exit. He said that eight brokers who worked with him at Official would remain with Plus in its breakaway from the firm. Shortly afterward, news broke that a third woman alleged in a New York civil case filed that month that Tal and Alon Alexander raped her in 2012 as Oren Alexander watched. AdvertisementIn a response to the lawsuit against him, Tal Alexander said his accuser's claims were "fabricated allegations for financial gain."

Persons: —, Tyrone McKillen, McKillen, hadn't, Nicole Oge, Tal, Oren Alexander, Alon, Alon Alexander, Tal Alexander, Oge, Oren, Michael Shvo, John Hudak, Beyoncé, Tyrone, Richard Jordan Organizations: Service, Partners, New, Business, Group, Raleigh, Bel Air Locations: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Miami Beach

☆ I raised $1 million for my tech startup by taking Zoom meetings in my high-school bathroom
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He cofounded the startup Aviato and raised $1 million while still at high school aged 15. I then joined Stanford's Online High School community and met some impressive people. I would attend those cold Zoom meetings from my high school bathroom and pitch to investors. At one point, I was spending about five hours a day in the bathroom taking meetings. AdvertisementI haven't graduated from high school yet and I started taking online classes instead a few months ago after I got suspended for taking meetings in the bathroom.

Persons: —, Eric Zhu, Tom Preston, Werner, We've, we're, I've, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Stanford's, School, Bachmanity, Bloomberg Locations: Carmel , Indiana, San Francisco

☆ A trainer-heiress power couple created the fitness juggernaut Pvolve. Then came a divorce, an arrest, and Jennifer Aniston.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-16 | by ( Kate Taylor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +43 min

Around the dinner table in the early 2000s, David Katzman would quiz his kids about their dream startups. ModelFit employees told BI that Gelband used the Pelvicore Pro only with the permission of its creator, the physical therapist Christina Christie. Once, in October 2018, David Katzman met with Facebook's ad team to discuss SDC's before-and-after advertisements, which violated the tech company's policies. SDC employees worked on Pvolve marketing campaigns, and Pvolve employees took trips on David Katzman's jet. "He didn't come from anything, and he spent years and years building up the business," the person close to Pasterino told BI.

Persons: Stephen Pasterino, Pasterino, he'd, hadn't, Rachel Katzman, who'd, Katzman, Pvolve, Jennifer Aniston, David Katzman, bankrolled, —, Laura Quintana, Stephen, Erik Connolly, Connolly, John Mayer, Nietzsche, Dan Gilbert, David, Gilbert, Usher, Jordan, decanting, Justin Gelband, ModelFit, Taylor Swift, Gelband, Vanessa Packer, Bryan Bedder, we'll, didn't, Woody Allen's, Vera Wang, Katzman's, I've, Cynthia Hannah, Blanca Padilla, Pasterino's, Justin Gelband's, Tracy Anderson's, cofounders, Packer, Christina Christie, Christie, Jordan Katzman, David Katzman's, Camelot, Julie Cartwright, Pvolve's, Cartwright, Hannah Bronfman, Nadine Leopold, Tim P, Pvolve didn't, Quintana, Rachel, SmileDirectClub, Jamie Dimon, Olivia Culpo, Craig Barritt, Bethenny Frankel, Madelaine Petsch, Lola tampons, They'd, Mara, ThreeForm, loaning, Hannah, Christie Brinkley, Monica Schipper, she'd, Rebecca Minkoff, Lindsay Pinchuk, Pamela, couldn't, Kathryn Delacruz, Madison Krause, Krause, Delacruz, " Krause, Pvolve's attorney's, Aniston's, Aniston, Jennifer, Jennifer Aniston's, Connelly, SDC's cofounders, — Pasterino, ThreeForm hasn't, Sarah VanZalen, there's, Erewhon, WWD, Tim Michaels, franchisors, Michaels, they've, Aperol Organizations: SoHo, Pvolve, Los Angeles ., Depot, DeeKay Enterprises, Quicken Loans, Cleveland Cavaliers, Camelot Venture Group, New, ModelFit, GQ, Getty, Hamptons, Beverly Hills Hotel, Cosmopolitan, BI, Gray Institute, SDC, Camelot, Lionsgate, Facebook, Whitby, Ventures, . Press, Miss, Employees, Naboisho Conservancy, Katzman's, Southampton, Pvolve Facebook, LinkedIn, Health, Forbes, Workers, Industry Locations: Pvolve, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hammonton , New Jersey, Atlantic City, Jersey Shore, Franklin , Michigan, Michigan, Detroit, Las Vegas, Beverly, SoHo, Ibiza, France, Paris, Vogue, California, ModelFit, Covent, London, Riverdale, New Jersey, Pasterino, Italy, Kenya, Naboisho, Nashville, San Diego, New York City, shuttering, Ann Arbor , Michigan, ThreeForm, Angeles, Malibu

☆ The CEO of Cerebras, which could go public soon, takes on Nvidia in a David and Goliath battle for AI chip supremacy
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Few would envy the task of competing against market leader Nvidia, which has between 70% and 90% market share, according to Mizuho Securities. Still, Nvidia gets most of the hype — and the revenue. Though the company will not confirm it, The Information reported last month that Cerebras has confidentially filed for an IPO. Still, Feldman expects that even consumer-directed AI models will grow larger, and larger models need faster chips. Competing with that mindshare is an uphill battle as Nvidia faces more competition and goes on defense.

Persons: —, Andrew Feldman, I'm, Feldman, Cerebras, David, He's, Cerebras's, Ramsey Cardy Cerebras, Susan Organizations: Service, Palo, Nvidia, Mizuho Securities, Business, Big Tech, Intel, Google, AMD, GSK, AstraZeneca, IBM, Eclipse Ventures Locations: California, Palo Alto , California, It's

☆ Brevan Howard has transformed since Alan Howard gave up the reins. Meet the five portfolio managers with the most capital at the $35 billion hedge fund.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewThere is perhaps no better example of the hedge fund industry's maturation than Brevan Howard. The $35 billion firm has changed considerably since 60-year-old Alan Howard stepped back from running its day-to-day operations in 2019. Now, Howard — the firm's majority owner — no longer manages money at Brevan. The firm's two biggest funds — the long-running, $11.9 billion Master Fund and the younger, $12.2 billion Alpha Fund — each manage more money now than the entire firm did five years ago. Advertisement"The real challenge is keeping the trading talent," said Nagi Kawkabani, a former Brevan Howard co-CEO told Institutional Investor in 2019.

Persons: —, Brevan Howard, Alan Howard, Howard, Howard —, Rishi Shah, Fash, Minal Bathwal, Trifon Natsis, Aron Landry, James Vernon, Jean, Philippe Blochet, Chris Rokos —, Natsis, Landry, Brevan, Nagi Kawkabani, Shah, Shaw, He's, he's Organizations: Service, Business, Fund, Alpha, Credit Suisse, Alpha Fund, Citadel, Bloomberg, Investor, United Arab, Winton Group Locations: Brevan, Ville, Natsis, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

☆ Elon Musk came up with a perfect audiobook list for anyone who thinks about Rome on a daily basis
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewElon Musk has come up with a list of recommended audiobooks — but they may not make terribly relaxing listening by the pool or beach this summer. "Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day," Musk wrote on X, referring to the viral internet craze questioning how often men dwell on the Roman Empire. Musk is known to be fascinated by history, particularly the study of warfare and civilization.

Persons: —, Elon, Tesla, Will, Ariel Durant, Rousseau, Musk, Friedrich Hayek, Durant, Hayek, Caesar, Doom, Kushner, The, Junger The, Tuchman, — Elon, General Douglas MacArthur, David Kushner, cofounders John Carmack, John Romero, Caesar himself, Mathias Döpfner, Axel Springer, Alexander the Great, William Bolitho, Christopher Columbus, Genghis Khan, Jack Weatherford, Richard Ernest Dupuy, Trevor Dupuy, Edward Shepherd Creasy Organizations: Service, Business, Manchester Masters, SpaceX, Tesla, Archaeologic Museum Locations: Rome, Naples, Italy

☆ VCs clamor to invest in the red-hot early-stage round for AI safety startup Haize Labs
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewHaize Labs, an AI safety startup, is raising an early-stage round that investors are clamoring to invest in, Business Insider has learned. However, for hot startups, there can be more investor demand than a startup can accommodate, as with Haize Labs' round. One source indicated that Haize Labs received term sheets with valuations ranging from $30 million to over $100 million. Haize Labs is building automated red-teaming and stress-testing algorithms to identify risks in AI models and agents. AI safety has increasingly become a concern, especially as AI usage increases among both consumers and enterprises.

Persons: —, Leonard Tang, VentureBeat, OpenAI, Sama, Steve Li, Richard Liu, Tang Organizations: Service, Business, Haize, Haize Labs, Soma, Google, Netflix, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Washington Post

☆ Step into the daily lives of Canyon Coffee's cofounders. Here's how they balance business, family, and finances.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Sponsor Post | Sponsored Apple Card | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

4 You can choose to direct Daily Cash to a Savings account or to an Apple Cash card. By opening a Savings account, Apple Card Owners and Co-Owners are affirmatively electing to have all future Daily Cash automatically deposited into their respective Savings account. Daily Cash may not be divided between Apple Cash Card and Savings accounts. To access and use all Apple Card features and products available only to Apple Card users, you must add Apple Card to Wallet on an iPhone or iPad that supports and has the latest version of iOS or iPadOS. If you reside in the U.S. territories, please call Goldman Sachs at 877-255-5923 with questions about Apple Card.

Persons: Wojtalewicz, Ally Walsh, Casey, Ally, Casey Wojtalewicz, she'll, they're, Daily Cash, Cash, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Apple, Apple Card, Coffee, Savings, Daily, Insider Studios, Goldman Sachs Bank, Salt Lake City Branch, FDIC, Green Dot Bank, Branch, Member FDIC, Apple Cash Card, Minor Outlying Locations: Los Angeles, Echo Park, LA, Salt Lake City, Daily, Salt Lake, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, United States, U.S

☆ CEOs from Mark Zuckerberg to Sundar Pichai explain why companies are making cuts this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A number of Big Tech companies have laid off staff this year, including Google, Tesla, Apple, and dozens more. Ironically, companies haven't been slowing down on innovation, with many releasing a constant stream of AI updates and product launches. Mark Zuckerberg shared his theory on the first round of industry-wide layoffs in an interview with "Morning Brew Daily" in February. AdvertisementSalesforce CEO and cofounder Mark Benioff also relayed the same sentiment in a letter to employees announcing layoffs in 2023. But for the moment, tech companies don't seem to be slowing down on AI advancement.

Persons: —, Mark Zuckerberg, Jason Citron, Sundar Pichai, Mark Benioff, Zuckerberg, Emily Chang, Wayfair's cofounders, Niraj Shah, Steve Conine, Jobs, Satya Nadella, Arvind Krishna, Drew Houston Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Google, Apple, Business, Bloomberg, ARM, IBM, Dropbox Locations: Zuckerberg's

☆ Big Silly Trivia Game Is Helping Women Make Friends, Combat Loneliness
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The game, called The Big Silly Trivia Game, is one of a new set of groups and activities aimed at helping millennials and Gen Z make friends during the loneliness epidemic. While other trivia games like now-defunct HQ Trivia have used live mobile games to draw viewers, The Big Silly Trivia Game wants to fill a hole of questions geared to young women's interests, including nostalgia. While The Big Silly Trivia Game is virtual, Shine has focused on ways to connect people during it. Creators on a Saie Beauty brand trip played a game of The Big Silly Trivia Game The Big Silly Trivia GameShine also recently hosted a game during an event that beauty brand Saie Beauty held in New York's Catskills area. The Big Silly Trivia Game is also getting into real-life events.

Persons: —, Natalie Shine, Shine, Z, Rocky's Matcha, Emmett Shine, Korula, Jess Butler, Hayes Flanagan, they're, what's, Merv Griffin, Carrie Bradshaw, she's Organizations: Service, Business, Shine, Netflix, Instagram, Brands, Soft Services Locations: millennials, New York's, New York

☆ Perplexity CEO explains why you need to understand your 'dopamine system' if you want to start your own company
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Jaures Yip | ) 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. "If you're not a person who gets that and you're really only getting dopamine hits from making money, then it's hard to work on hard problems," he said. Srinivas said he and his Perplexity cofounders, Denis Yarats and Johnny Ho, were already "obsessed" with search and knowledge-based products even prior to starting Perplexity, including work at Quora. Having already cultivated a passion for improving search quality made it easier for them to work on Perplexity without any "immediate dopamine hits." Advertisement"It's important to know what your dopamine system is — where do you get your dopamine?"

Persons: —, Aravind Srinivas, Lex Fridman, Srinivas, cofounders, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Quora

☆ The man who dared to revolt against Sam Altman at OpenAI just started a research lab promoting 'safe superintelligence'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOpenAI cofounder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever announced his new venture on Wednesday — a research lab committed to developing "safe superintelligence." "I am starting a new company," Sutskever said of his new project, Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI) in an X post. I am starting a new company: https://t.co/BG3K3SI3A1 — Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) June 19, 2024According to SSI's website, the lab has "one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence." AdvertisementRepresentatives for Safe Superintelligence and OpenAI didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours. Following Altman's return, Sutskever appeared to have been shut out of OpenAI, BI reported in December, citing people familiar with the situation.

Persons: —, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, BG3K3SI3A1 — Ilya Sutskever, Daniel Gross, Daniel Levy, Ashlee Vance, Bloomberg's Vance, OpenAI didn't, Elon Musk, Sam Altman's, Altman, Altman's, OpenAI, splintering, Dario, Daniela Amodei Organizations: Service, Superintelligence Inc, Business, SSI, Apple, BI, OpenAI, Amazon, Google Locations: OpenAI

☆ 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

☆ The Oakland A's are leaving the city, but a new baseball team is trying to fill the void. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck the Ballers used to raise $2 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOakland was once home to three major sports teams: the Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, and Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Ballers raised $2 million from 53 individual investors. Before founding the Ballers, Freedman was a serial entrepreneur in the human capital and education sectors. "We're a minor league team in a major league market," Freedman said. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck the Ballers used to raise $2 million:

Persons: —, Paul Freedman, Freedman, Bryan Carmel, " Freedman, Carmel, Michael Fitzgerald, Gagan Biyani, Biyani, Kara Nortman, Angel City, Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, Williams, Venus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy Organizations: Service, Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, Oakland Athletics, NBA's Warriors, NFL's Raiders, Las, MLB's Athletics, Business, Oakland, Pioneer League, MLB, Education, A's, Maven, Area, cofounding Angel City Football Club, Angel, TGL Locations: San Francisco, Las Vegas, Oakland, Ireland, Ballers, Los Angeles, Ohanian

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