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An aerial view of the San Francisco city skyline in California, U.S., October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSAN FRANCISCO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Videogame software provider Unity Software (U.N) will eliminate 265 jobs or 3.8% of its global workforce and end an agreement with a digital video effects company founded by the "Lord of the Rings" director as part of a "reset," the company said on Tuesday. Tuesday's announcement includes termination of the professional services piece of an agreement Unity struck with movie director Peter Jackson's visual effects company Weta FX in 2021 after Unity purchased the technology and engineering division of Weta FX. As a result, 265 employees whose jobs are related to the agreement will be laid off, the company said. Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Carlos Barria, John Riccitiello, Jim Whitehurst, Roelof Botha, Peter Jackson's, Whitehurst, Anna Tong, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Unity Software, San, Unity, Sequoia Capital, FX, Weta, Reuters, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, Berlin, Singapore, Bellevue , Washington

☆ VCs didn't care about OpenAI's weird board structure. It was all about investing in Sam Altman and its 'transformative' tech.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

OpenAI's venture capital investors weren't thinking about its mission to serve "humanity" by developing artificial intelligence. After Altman's ouster, Vinod Khosla, an early investor in OpenAI, came to his defense despite the criticism. OpenAI's complex and unique corporate governance structure meant that VCs could invest in the capped profit entity, but never earn any influence over the nonprofit board of directors, all of whom were either cofounders or appointed outside AI experts. The board structure and its governance are all likely to change as part of the deal to bring Sam Altman back as CEO of OpenAI. The purpose of the newly formed OpenAI board – consisting of current board member D'Angelo, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor – is to vet and potentially appoint an expanded board of up to nine people, and that Microsoft and Altman want board seats, The Verge reported.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Altman, VCs, Sam, Altman's, Vinod Khosla, Yunus, Khosla, Wesley Chan, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Tasha McCauley, who's, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, Helen Toner, Adam D'Angelo, Karthee Madasamy, it's, David Sacks, D'Angelo, Larry Summers, Bret Taylor – Organizations: Business, Tiger Global Management, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Microsoft, FPV Ventures, Rand Corporation, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, MFV Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Ikea, Bosch, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Bertelsmann Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation, Craft Ventures Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley, Hollywood

Jack Guez | Afp | Getty ImagesAfter a weekend of crisis and tumult, Sam Altman has returned as the CEO of OpenAI. Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBret Taylor, board chair Bret Taylor is currently a board member at the e-commerce platform Shopify . It isn't clear if Taylor's involvement with his own AI startup will cease with his appointment to lead OpenAI's board. OpenAI's board fired Altman Friday after determining he was "not consistently candid in his communications," but its members never elaborated further. Jack Guez | AFP | Getty ImagesIlya Sutskever Ilya Sutskever co-founded OpenAI and serves as its chief scientist.

Persons: Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Jack Guez, Altman, There's, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Here's, Bret Taylor, Nathan Laine, He's, Elon, Taylor, Salesforce, Larry Summers, David A, CNBC Larry Summers Larry Summers, Clinton, Summers, Jack Dorsey, Adam D'Angelo Adam D'Angelo, D'Angelo, Helen Toner, CSET, Vox, Jerod Harris, Helen Toner Helen Toner, Toner, Tasha McCauley, Carlton Laguna Nigel, Tasha McCauley Tasha McCauley, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, McCauley, Ilya Sutskever Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Brockman, Brockman's, Sven Hoppe Organizations: Tel Aviv University, Afp, Getty, Microsoft, CNBC, Sequoia, Tiger Global, Salesforce, Viva Technology Conference, Bloomberg, Google, Economic, Grogan, Harvard University, Obama, Economic Council, Twitter, Meta, Facebook, The Ritz, Carlton, Georgetown University's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Philanthropy, Business Development, Ritz, Rand Corporation, GeoSim Systems, AFP, University of Toronto, Stanford, Technical University of Munich Locations: Tel Aviv, Paris, Davos, Switzerland, Washington, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point , California, Russian Israeli, Canadian

☆ After closed door OpenAI drama, open source AI backed by Nvidia, Eric Schmidt, could emerge winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Fannin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The Hugging Face website on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. "We should encourage all companies to build on disruption-proof AI technology that only open source can offer." To be clear, big bets made on open source AI pre-date last Friday when news first broke of Sam Altman's removal as OpenAI CEO, and those bets include an open source AI model controlled by one dominant tech company, Meta Platforms ' Llama. Open source and AI governanceFormer Google CEO Eric Schmidt is behind Mistral AI, another open source rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT. A third open source AI startup, Poolside AI, recently pulled in $126 million co-led by French telecom and internet billionaire Xavier Niel and U.S. VC firm Felicis Ventures.

Persons: Gabby Jones, Eric Schmidt, Sam Altman, Microsoft —, Mike Gualtieri, Forrester, Marc Benioff, Delip Rao, Sam Altman's, Thomas Wolf, We've, Wolf, Linus Torvalds, Paul Drews, OpenAI's, Arthur Mensch, Mistral, Xavier Niel Organizations: Nvidia, Bloomberg, Getty Images Tech, Salesforce, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, Meta, IBM, Intel, Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Mistral, alums, Lightspeed Venture Partners, French, . VC, Felicis Ventures Locations: New York, France

Sam Altman will return as CEO of OpenAI, the startup said early Wednesday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter. The move follows immense pressure from employees and investors on the board that ousted him less than a week ago. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will join OpenAI's board, the Microsoft-backed startup said, with Taylor holding the chair position. Adam D'Angelo, co-founder and CEO of question-and-answer startup Quora, will remain on the board. That followed an announcement late Sunday that OpenAI had hired ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as Altman's interim replacement.

Persons: Sam Altman, Salesforce, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Taylor, Adam D'Angelo, OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, Altman, Satya Nadella, Greg Brockman, Emmett Shear, Mira Murati, msft, Nadella, Sam, Greg, OAI Organizations: OpenAI, Twitter, Microsoft, Tiger, Sequoia Capital Locations: openai

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told CNBC's Jon Fortt on Monday that the governance structure of OpenAI needs to change, three days after the sudden firing CEO Sam Altman. Early Monday morning Nadella said that Altman, Brockman and their colleagues would join Microsoft as part of a new AI research group. That post followed news that ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear had been named OpenAI interim head as Altman looked to depart. Nadella told Fortt that Microsoft respects OpenAI's nonprofit roots and shares its belief that AI needs to be developed and rolled out in a safe manner. WATCH: A timeline of the drama between Sam Altman, OpenAI and Microsoft

Persons: Satya Nadella, CNBC's Jon Fortt, Sam Altman, Nadella, Altman, OpenAI, Greg Brockman, Brockman, Emmett Shear, Fortt Organizations: Microsoft, Tiger, Sequoia Capital

☆ Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman returns to headquarters for talks following his abrupt ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI participates in the "Charting the Path Forward: The Future of Artificial Intelligence" at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week in San Francisco, California, on November 16, 2023. Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, arrived as a guest Sunday at the headquarters of the company he founded. Altman posted a photo of himself on X, formerly Twitter, wearing an OpenAI visitor badge, writing, "first and last time i ever wear one of these." Jason Kwon, OpenAI's chief strategy officer, also posted a photo of Sam with the badge. Microsoft , Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and venture firm Thrive Capital are part of an effort to reinstate Altman or have been in discussions with him, sources familiar told CNBC.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Jason Kwon, Sam, Brad Lightcap, Lightcap, Greg Brockman, — CNBC's Rohan Goswami, Jordan Novet Organizations: Economic Cooperation, APEC, OpenAI, Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, CNBC Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California

☆ OpenAI is hiring former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear to run company two days after ousting Sam Altman
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, in a Bloomberg Television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. OpenAI is bringing in former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear to run the artificial intelligence company, two days after the sudden ouster of Sam Altman, CNBC has confirmed. Unlike most Silicon Valley startups, OpenAI wasn't structured like a typical corporation with large chunks of equity controlled by the founders. Shear stepped down as CEO of Twitch, the livestreaming service now owned by Amazon , in March. — CNBC's Ari Levy contributed to this reportWATCH: Madrona's Matt McIlwain talks Sam Altman's departure as OpenAI CEO

Persons: Emmett Shear, Twitch, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Shear, Altman, Mira Murati, didn't, Murati, — CNBC's Ari Levy, Matt McIlwain, Sam Altman's Organizations: Bloomberg Television, CNBC, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Tiger, Sequoia Capital, Amazon, OpenAI Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 16, 2023. "Sam and OpenAI were the catalyst that showed the world what AI tech is capable of," Jannsen said. Silicon Valley's high-profile startup CEO firings typically involve wrongdoing, rather than just philosophical differences about where the company is headed. "Sam Altman is a hero of mine," former Google CEO and investor Eric Schmidt said in an X post. — CNBC's Lora Kolodny contributed to this report WATCH: OpenAI says Sam Altman exiting as CEO because 'board no longer has confidence.'

Persons: Sam Altman, Carlos Barria, OpenAI, Steve Jobs, Altman, —, Jobs, U.S . Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Brockman, Ron Conway, Greg, Brian Chesky, Matt Schlicht, Schlicht, Sam, Ryan Jannsen, Jannsen, Patrick Moorhead, They're, Moorhead, Josh Wolfe, Wolfe, he'd, Eric Schmidt, Tom Williams, Airbnb's Chesky, what's, Chesky, Satya Nadella, Zachary Lipton, Carnegie Mellon's Lipton, Lipton, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny Organizations: Economic Cooperation, Reuters, ChatGPT, Apple, U.S ., Amazon, Tesla, Microsoft, Tiger, Sequoia Capital, CNBC, Google, Lux Capital, Cq, Inc, Getty, Carnegie Mellon University, Industry Locations: Asia, San Francisco , California, U.S, Silicon Valley, OpenAI, what's, —

☆ Who's on the OpenAI board — the group behind Sam Altman's ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

On Friday, the board of OpenAI, the buzzy AI company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT, suddenly and publicly ousted its CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI's board said it conducted "a deliberative review process" and that Altman "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." She is an adjunct senior management scientist at Rand Corporation and has been on the OpenAI board since 2018. "While our partnership with Microsoft includes a multibillion-dollar investment, OpenAI remains an entirely independent company governed by the OpenAI Nonprofit," OpenAI has publicly stated. On that day, Altman told Nadella, "I think we have the best partnership in tech and I'm excited for us to build AGI together."

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, OpenAI, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D'Angelo, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Reid Hoffman, Neuralink, Zilis, Will Hurd, Brockman, Sam, Sutskever, he's, D'Angelo, McCauley, Toner, Andreessen Horowitz, AGI, weren't, Mira Murati, OpenAI's Dev, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Dev, Brad Lightcap Organizations: Thursday's APEC, Summit, Google, Facebook, OpenAI, GeoSim Systems, Rand Corporation, University of Oxford's Center, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Sequoia Capital, Microsoft, CNBC, Fortune Locations: Texas, OpenAI

OpenAI investors are pushing to bring back Sam Altman as CEO one day after he was ousted by the board, according to people familiar with the matter. Sequoia Capital has also been in contact with Altman, a person familiar with knowledge of the matter told CNBC. Sequoia also informed Microsoft that it would back efforts to bring back Altman and Brockman, the person said. The Verge first reported on the talks to bring back Altman. In addition to ousting Altman, the company removed Brockman, the chairman, from his board leadership position but said he would remain as president.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Greg Brockman, it's, Sequoia, Brockman, Altman didn't, Mira Murati Organizations: Microsoft, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, CNBC, Sequoia Locations: Silicon Valley, OpenAI

☆ China's Moore Threads valued at $3.4 bln in funding before U.S. curbs - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The month before Moore Threads had raised roughly 1 billion yuan in a so-called "series B+" round, one of the sources said. Investors priced Moore at 24 billion yuan prior to the capital raise, and around 24.8 billion yuan after the injection of new capital, said the other source, who had been briefed about the fundraising progress in September. On Tuesday, updates to Moore Threads' company registration data on third-party database Qichacha showed it added new shareholders including a fund called Houxue Qingxin and venture investment firm Chenan Zhizhi alongside an increase in its registered capital. It was widely considered one of China's most prominent efforts to develop products capable of competing with those from market-dominating Nvidia. ($1 = 7.2482 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Florence Lo, Moore, Chenan, ByteDance, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Reuters, Nvidia, AMD, China Mobile, Sequoia Capital, Beijing, Thomson Locations: China, Rights BEIJING, U.S, Sequoia Capital China

☆ Ruzwana Bashir Is Quietly Connecting the Tech World
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Story by Melia RussellPhotography by Lelanie FosterRuzwana Bashir is ransacking her kitchen cabinet for just the right tea. Bashir wears an Erdem floral-printed bra top, Erdem skirt, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Old Jewelry earrings along with her own bracelet and ring. "Part of building a business was going out and sharing what you were doing with the world," Bashir says. For years Bashir's startup had been building muscle around these capabilities; now it had an eager audience. Eating at acclaimed restaurants is fine, but Bashir prefers the more-intimate affairs at tech executives' homes because, she says, "you can stay longer."

Persons: Melia Russell, Lelanie Foster Ruzwana Bashir, Peek, She's, she's, Andy Warhol, Picasso, Bashir, I'm, Andreessen Horowitz, Jack Dorsey, Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs, Giuseppe Zanotti, Lelanie Foster, Bashir isn't, Elon Musk, Ronan Farrow, Roelof Botha, Mustafa Suleyman, we've, Bennett Miller, Capote, " Miller, —, doesn't, didn't, Madeleine Albright, Tom Ford, Jared Cohen, Oskar Bruening, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg, I've, Bashir wasn't, Travis Kalanick, Adam Neumann, Ty, Emily Weiss, Bashir refashioned, Donald Trump, Bruening, Laurence Tosi's, Miller, Beyoncé, shrugs, Anna Wintour, Anna, we're, Taylor Swift, Katie Haun, Marc Benioff, Reid Hoffman, Marissa Mayer, Dick Costolo —, Cohen, Katherine Maher, Maher, Daniel Kahneman, It's, Radel, Becky Akinyode, Elaine Winter, Tiffany Bloomfield, Dela, Chad Hilliard, Enmi, Kenny Aquiles Ulloa, Cyrenae, Madison Perez, Aidan Lapp, Bashira Webb, Bryan Erickson, Jinyoung Chang, Rodriguez, Rebecca Zisser, Claire Landsbaum, Emma LeGault, Joi, Marie McKenzie, Conner Blake, Kyle Desiderio, Victoria Gracie, Nicole Forero, Virginia Alves Organizations: Google, Museum of, Business, Elon, Vogue, Roelof, Oxford University, Oxford Union, Blackstone Group, Harvard Business School, Studios, Web, Young, Organization, Dela Revoluciøn, Enmi Yang Digital Tech Locations: Manhattan, SoHo, Bahamas, United States, Balthazar, England, Israel, Petra, Istanbul, Elle, Utah, COVID, Salt Lake City, Costa Rica, Atlanta, WestCap

☆ Watch CNBC's full interview with Sequoia Capital's Roelof Botha
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | 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 EmailWatch CNBC's full interview with Sequoia Capital's Roelof BothaRoelof Botha, Sequoia Capital managing partner, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss what the equity market's reaction to the latest CPI data will do to Botha's investing world, current valuation levels, and how those levels have affected Sequoia.

Persons: Roelof Botha Roelof Botha Organizations: Sequoia, Sequoia Capital

☆ Valuations will normalize as interest rates come down, says Sequoia Capital's Roelof Botha
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | 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 EmailValuations will normalize as interest rates come down, says Sequoia Capital's Roelof BothaRoelof Botha, Sequoia Capital managing partner, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss what the equity market's reaction to the latest CPI data will do to Botha's investing world, current valuation levels, and how those levels have affected Sequoia.

Persons: Roelof Botha Roelof Botha Organizations: Sequoia Capital

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 9 (Reuters) - OpenAI's announcement on artificial intelligence "apps" do not spell the death knell for nascent startups building AI products, two OpenAI investors said at a Reuters NEXT conference on Thursday. Investors are still hunting for new AI products that could help consumers interact better with the technology and address deep tech issues such as brain computer interface, they said. We're in an intermediary step in a decades-long revolution," Konstantine Buhler, partner at Sequoia Capital, told the conference. Avery Klemmer, investor at Thrive Capital, which recently increased its investment in OpenAI, also said she sees opportunities for the rise of consumer applications beside ChatGPT. Despite recent frenzied investments into the technology by companies and venture capital firms, analysts and investors say development of AI products is still in the early stages.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Konstantine Buhler, Avery Klemmer, ChatGPT, Klemmer, Jill Chase, Krystal Hu, Sayantani Ghosh, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters NEXT, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, New York

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 9 (Reuters) - OpenAI's announcement on artificial intelligence "apps" do not spell the death knell for nascent startups building AI products, two OpenAI investors said at a Reuters NEXT conference on Thursday. Investors are still hunting for new AI products that could help consumers interact better with the technology and address deep tech issues such as brain computer interface, they said. We're in an intermediary step in a decades-long revolution," Konstantine Buhler, partner at Sequoia Capital, told the conference. Avery Klemmer, partner at Thrive Capital, which recently increased its investment in OpenAI, also said she sees opportunities for the rise of consumer applications beside ChatGPT. Despite recent frenzied investments into the technology by companies and venture capital firms, analysts and investors say development of AI products is still in the early stages.

☆ Microsoft-backed OpenAI announces GPT-4 Turbo, its most powerful AI yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

ChatGPT, which broke records as the fastest-growing consumer app in history months after its launch, now has about 100 million weekly active users, OpenAI said Monday. And when it comes to GPT-5, Altman told reporters, "We want to do it, but we don't have a timeline." GPT-4 Turbo can. While earlier versions limited you to about 3,000 words, the GPT-4 Turbo accepts inputs of up to 300 pages in length. OpenAI said GPT-4 Turbo is available in preview for developers now and will be released to all in the coming weeks.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Justin Sullivan, OpenAI, It's, Mira Murati, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Andreessen Horowitz, GPT, it's, Tony Stark's J.A.R.V.I.S, Pam, Anthropic's Claude, chatbot Organizations: Google, Fortune, Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Bowl, Marvel, Smart Locations: San Francisco , California, OpenAI

☆ Wholesale marketplace Faire, which raised $416 million 18 months ago, laid off 250 workers in a company-wide restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Faire, the wholesale marketplace company, laid off about 250 employees on Wednesday. This is the second time in just over a year that the company has laid off workers, although this second restructuring appears to be bigger. Faire is an online marketplace that connects independent brands with retailers that can stock their products in their stores. Faire recently announced a partnership with Shopify that established Faire as the preferred wholesale marketplace for Shopify merchants. Shopify also became a shareholder in Faire as part of the deal, which Insider first reported on in July.

Persons: Shopify, We're, who've, Layoffs.fyi Organizations: Dragoneer Investment, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Forerunner Ventures, Tech Locations: mstone@insider.com

Not every AI company is hot right now. While European and US tech investors are throwing funding at startups that look like the next Nvidia or ChatGPT, they're less optimistic about one big player: British AI chip company Graphcore. The UK tech industry is small, and Insider granted anonymity to these people to avoid jeopardizing their professional relationships. One founder operating in the same space as the AI chip firm speculated that Arm could be a leading contender to acquire Graphcore. In September, Toon pitched Graphcore in an interview with Insider as a viable rival to Nvidia, which holds around 70% of the AI chip market, per Omdia analysis.

Persons: Graphcore, Baillie Gifford, it's, Nigel Toon's, Toon, we'll, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Nvidia, Graphcore, Insider, Sequoia Capital, Bloomberg, UK, China Locations: British, Europe

☆ With China playing catchup with the U.S., these 3 charts show the top countries for fintech in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

UK has second-biggest number of top fintech firmsThe U.S. was home to 65 of the top fintech companies, according to CNBC's list of world's top 200 fintech companies. In the U.S., some of the top global fintech companies on Statista's list include names like Stripe, PayPal and Intuit . Stateside, meanwhile, the largest fintech unicorns are Stripe ($95 billion), Chime ($25 billion), Ripple ($15 billion), Plaid ($13.5 billion), Devoted Health ($12.6 billion, and Brex ($12.3 billion). Other leading ecosystems for fintech unicorns include India, on 17 unicorns, and China, on eight. Standing in 8th place is Mexico, with five fintech unicorns, Singapore, also with five, and the Netherlands, which has four in total.

Persons: Ed Jones, Starling, Tencent, Statista, Andreessen Horowitz, Wise, Vlad Tenev, Group's, —, Nick Parmenter Organizations: AFP, Getty, CNBC, Statista, Ant Group, Plaid, Visa, Mastercard, European Union, Apple, Google, Sequoia Capital, PayPal, Intuit, Financial, Authority, Consumers Locations: U.S, Beijing, China, Silicon, Europe, Ukraine, Covid, India, France, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, Netherlands, Statista

☆ Web Summit Chief Steps Down Over Israel Remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Michael J. De La Merced | More About Michael J. De La Merced | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The chief executive of Web Summit, one of Europe’s biggest technology conferences, stepped down on Saturday after major sponsors and speakers withdrew from the event, set for next month, following backlash over his public criticism of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks. “I sincerely apologize again for any hurt I have caused.”A spokeswoman for Web Summit said that the organization aimed to appoint a new chief executive as soon as possible. Web Summit said on Friday that it expected about 70,000 people to attend, about the same as last year. Among those to drop out were Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia Capital, and Garry Tan, the chief executive of the technology incubator Y Combinator. But by Tuesday, he published an apology on Web Summit’s site in which he said he defended “Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself.”

Persons: Paddy Cosgrave, —, ”, “, Cosgrave’s, Ravi Gupta, Garry Tan, Cosgrave Organizations: Web, Google, Intel, Meta, Siemens, Web Summit, Western, Sequoia Capital Locations: Irish, Lisbon, Israel

☆ ChatGPT can now respond with images and search the web
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI, the company behind the viral chatbot, has officially launched real-time internet browsing for ChatGPT, three weeks after reintroducing the beta version of the capability — but it has been a significantly bumpy ride. But one of OpenAI's goals has been to expand ChatGPT's data — and search engine capabilities — into the here and now. In March, the company experimented with a ChatGPT web-browsing plugin for a limited number of users. The company has been slowly rolling out the feature again, after allowing site owners to opt out of the web crawling. Two of the foremost competitors in that race are OpenAI with ChatGPT and Google with its competitor, Bard.

Persons: OpenAI, Bing, OpenAI's, ChatGPT, Bard, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: UBS, Google, Sequoia Capital, CNBC

☆ Web Summit CEO apologises for comments on Israeli conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Web Summit Chief Executive and founder Paddy Cosgrave on Tuesday apologised for comments he made on the Israeli-Hamas conflict that prompted some technology companies and investors to withdraw plans to attend its conference in Portugal next month. Web Summit, one of the world's largest tech conferences, will take place in Lisbon from Nov. 13-16, with attendees from companies such as Meta (META.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) to investors such as Atomico. "War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are," wrote Cosgrave, who was born in Ireland. Among executives to have cancelled their participation at Web Summit are AI21 Labs' Ori Goshen; Tome's Keith Peiris; Sequoia Capital partner Ravi Gupta; Yinon Costica, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity unicorn Wiz; and Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, according to LinkedIn and X posts. Philippe Botteri, CEO of tech investor Accel, said in a LinkedIn post on Monday he would no longer speak at Web Summit.

Persons: Paddy Cosgrave, Cosgrave, I’m, Leo Varadkar's, Israel, Cosgrove, Goshen, Tome's Keith Peiris, Ravi Gupta, Yinon Costica, Y, Garry Tan, Philippe Botteri, Portugal Dor Shapira, Steven Scheer, Supantha Mukherjee, Josephine Mason, Alison Williams, Mark Potter Organizations: Web, Microsoft, Palestinian, Hamas, Irish, AI21 Labs, Sequoia Capital, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Gaza, Israel, Ireland, Jerusalem, Stockholm, London

☆ CEO apologizes for Israel remarks after 4 days of backlash and conference dropouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The founder of tech conference Web Summit apologized for "profound hurt" over his Israel remarks. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe founder of European tech conference Web Summit has apologized for the "profound hurt" caused by his comments criticizing the West's support for Israel, which triggered several high-profile withdrawals from the event. AdvertisementAdvertisementGil Dibner, general partner at Angular Ventures, said it was "a time that calls for moral clarity" after canceling his speaking engagement at Web Summit. Dropouts increased, and within 24 hours the number of Israel-based speakers at Web Summit dropped from at least five to zero, according to Insider analysis. Other speakers lined up for Web Summit include Meta's Nick Clegg, as well as comedian Amy Poehler and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Persons: Israel, Paddy Cosgrave, —, I'm, Garry Tan, Ravi Gupta, Cosgrave, State Anthony Blinken, Moshiel Biton, hadn't, Biton, Gil Dibner, Nick Clegg, Amy Poehler, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Service, Israel, Sequoia Capital, State, Web, Angular Ventures, Web Summit, Hamas, West Bank Locations: Gaza, Hamas, Lisbon, Portugal, Israel

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