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☆ 'World's first radio station with an AI DJ': Oregon's Live 95.5 uses a cloned human voice to host segments
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On Tuesday, a Portland, Oregon radio station announced that an AI DJ would become a part-time host of the broadcast. Listeners to Live 95.5, a radio station in Portland, Oregon, can now tune in to hear a part-time AI DJ hosting for five hours every day. On Tuesday, KBFF, Live 95.5 introduced its audience to "AI Ashley," a cloned version of the station's midday host named Ashley Elzinga. Although the station asserts it's the "world's first radio station with an AI DJ," it's unclear whether this has been attempted before. According to TechCrunch, the station has already planned out ways Elzinga and AI Ashley can both contribute to Live 95.5.

Persons: Ashley, Media's, Ashley Elzinga, Taylor Swift, isn't, Phil Becker, Becker, Jackson Organizations: Morning, TechCrunch, Alpha Media, Portland's, Media, Apple Locations: Portland , Oregon

☆ Twitter is being kicked out of its Colorado office after not paying rent for months, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter has faced several lawsuits from landlords complaining that it hasn't paid rent on offices. Now a Colorado judge has issued an order that the sheriff should help evict Twitter, reports say. Elon Musk once said Twitter would only pay rent "over his dead body," according to one lawsuit. Twitter is being kicked out of its office in Boulder, Colorado after not paying rent for months, according to a report by the Denver Business Journal. According to one lawsuit filed by ex-Twitter employees last month, Musk said in one 4 a.m. conversation the company would only pay office rent "over his dead body."

Persons: Elon Musk, Elon, King Charles, Musk, Alex Spiro, San Francisco, Twitter Organizations: Twitter, Morning, Denver Business Journal, TechCrunch, Boulder, The Denver Post, San Locations: Colorado, Boulder , Colorado, San Francisco, London

☆ Layoffs hit Colorado space companies as funding remains tight
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A pair of Colorado space companies laid off employees this past week, seeking to adapt to the new normal of a tight funding environment. The layoffs came at Ursa Major, which makes rocket engines, and Orbit Fab, a startup aiming to provide refueling services to spacecraft. An Ursa Major spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the company restructured, but declined to specify the number of layoffs made. In a statement, Ursa Major said the job reductions are "realigning our workforce to better meet the needs of our national security customers." TechCrunch first reported the Ursa Major layoffs.

Persons: Major, Adam Harris, Harris, Ursa Major Organizations: Ripley, Ursa, Ursa Major, CNBC, Space Capital, Air Force Research Laboratory, Astra, Space Force, Space Agency, TechCrunch Locations: Colorado, Berthoud , Colorado, Lafayette , Colorado

☆ Investing in Space: Here are the rockets chasing to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

SpaceXCNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Overview: Chasing the FalconNo rocket has been better-described as a "workhorse" than SpaceX's Falcon 9. Aside from Blue Origin's New Glenn, the early theme is rockets that are close to the capability of Falcon 9 and less expensive. – CNBC, which the lawsuit says were used for NASA projects including the International Space Station and the Space Launch Systems rocket. – Firefly Aerospace: The rocket builder says the deal will bolster its launch, spacecraft, and lunar lander businesses.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, Phil Smith, SpaceX's, Glenn, Smith, –, Smith doesn't, CNBC ULA, Tory Bruno, Jeff Bezos, ULA, – Read, Shepard, Bob Smith, Jim Free, Artemis, HawkEye, – Hydrosat, Leonardo DiCaprio, – Momentus, Westinghouse EchoStar's Hughes, – EchoStar, Iris Lan, Sumara Thompson, King, Lan, – NASA Celeste Ford, Ford, – SpiderOak Melissa Quinn, Quinn Organizations: SpaceX CNBC's, SpaceX, Falcon, Boeing, NASA, CNBC, CNBC Department of Defense, Ukraine, Starlink, Pentagon, –, Space Station, Systems, CNBC SpaceX, Cargo, International Space, FAA, Intelsat, Japan Airlines, Embraer, – Intelsat, Rocket, ONE, Washington, Spaceflight, Aerospace, Aerospace Spacecraft, York, MaC Venture Capital, Broom Ventures, Veto, TechCrunch Viasat, Air Force, Viasat, Westinghouse, U.S . Department of Justice, – NASA, Ford, Stellar Solutions Locations: Florida, China, Russia, Colorado, Ukrainian, Bellevue , Washington, Cortado, Cornwall

Mobile ordering and delivery have boosted Starbucks' bottom line and have become an incremental and growing part of the business. Starbucks would not share specifics on the size of its delivery business but has previously said the segment has seen a 20% year-over-year growth. CloudKitchens, which rents small, private kitchen bays that share a reception, offers one solution to delivery growth. Starbucks plans to open the San Francisco ghost kitchen on August 22 and operate it from 7am to 6pm, per a March filing with the city. The ghost kitchen will not sell alcohol.

Persons: Uber, —, Travis Kalanick, Laxman Narasimhan, Travis Kalanick Steve Jennings, CloudKitchens, Pat Grismer, Brady Brewer, Gloria Dawson, Darius Rafieyan, Meghan Morris Organizations: Starbucks, Service, CloudKitchens, Mobile, Buffalo Wild Wings, Getty, TechCrunch, Food Locations: Francisco, San Francisco, China, New York

☆ As Reddit battles OpenAI and sees its pre-IPO valuation fall, I can't help quoting Taylor Swift: Karma's gonna track you down
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fidelity marked down the value of Reddit shares, a developer revealed details about new fees. Insider previously reported that Fidelity's Growth Company Fund had already marked down its Reddit stock in January disclosures. OpenAI disclosed in research that Reddit was among its massive number of sources used to train the underlying AI models. I asked ChatGPT if it is going to pay for Reddit dataI asked ChatGPT if it is going to pay for Reddit data. With its new battle against OpenAI, it's clear that Reddit feels similarly about misuse of online content.

Persons: Reddit's, Reddit, didn't, Harold Klaje, OpenAI, hasn't, Steve Huffman, Christian Selig, He's, We've, Taylor Swift Organizations: Fidelity, Techcrunch, Growth, Fund, Bloomberg

☆ Meet David Sacks, the friend of Elon Musk who could play kingmaker for Ron DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Ron DeSantis — including hosting the candidate's kickoff event on Twitter — demonstrate how Sacks is working to become a GOP kingmaker. A DeSantis campaign spokesman did not return a request for comment before publication. Sacks, according to Puck, serves as one of the group's directors. Kevin McGrann, a lobbyist at government relations juggernaut Forbes Tate Partners, is also linked to Bay Strategies, according to Hall. And Sacks said during a recent episode that he plans to ask the DeSantis campaign for the Florida governor to agree to an interview.

Persons: David Sacks, Paul Chinn, Caroline Wren, Wren, Donald Trump's, Jan, president's, Sacks, George Soros, Puck, Ron DeSantis, Peter Thiel, Ro Khanna, didn't, Joe Biden, Thiel, Elon Musk, –, Joe Lonsdale's, Julie Samuels, Samuels, DeSantis, I've, Trump, Stewart Hall, Jill Kendrick, Hall, Sen, Richard Shelby, Kendrick, Kevin McGrann, juggernaut Forbes, McGrann, John Boehner, OpenSecrets, Musk, Bari Weiss, isn't, Peter, Jason Calacanis, David Friedberg, Chamath, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, Biden, Nikki Haley, Calacanis Organizations: TechCrunch, Calif, San Francisco Chronicle, Hearst Newspapers, Getty Images Venture, Trump, U.S . Capitol, Republicans, Commission, Florida Gov, Twitter, GOP, PayPal, CNBC, Democratic, Microsoft, DeSantis, Purple Good Government PAC, FEC, Ron DeSantis PAC, PAC, Republican Party, Purple Good Government, Stewart, Public, Crossroads, Altria Group, Boeing, General Electric, Hearst Corp, Washington , D.C, Forbes Tate Partners, juggernaut Forbes Tate Partners, Forbes Tate, Association of Independent Mortgage Experts, United Wholesale Mortgage, SpaceX, Republican, YouTube, Biden, CNN Locations: San Francisco, Florida, Silicon, Trump, DeSantis, Puck, Washington ,, Ohio

☆ Elon Musk and Sam Altman founded OpenAI together, but now they publicly trade barbs. Here's the history of their relationship and feud.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Sarah Jackson | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Altman recently addressed some of Musk's gripes about OpenAI. "I mean, he's a jerk, whatever else you want to say about him — he has a style that is not a style that I'd want to have for myself," Altman told Swisher. "But I think he does really care, and he is feeling very stressed about what the future's going to look like for humanity." In response to Musk's claim that OpenAI has turned into "a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft," Altman said on the podcast, "Most of that is not true, and I think Elon knows that." Source: "On With Kara Swisher", Insider

☆ This Gen Z founder made an OnlyFans rival that has no nudity and sold it for $65 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He said it sold for $65 million after sites including TikTok "failed" to help creators make money. The 22-year-old certainly doesn't need to live with his folks: He became a millionaire last year after his company, Fanfix, sold for $65 million, according to Crunchbase. It's a model broadly similar to OnlyFans, but with a major difference: it doesn't allow nudity. When SuperOrdinary bought Fanfix, Insider's Geoff Weiss reported that there were plans for product collaborations with the platform's creators. And they took advantage of the creators, and so a massive gap opened up for platforms like Patreon, platforms like us."

☆ Twitter's new CEO joked that it was 'game on' as Instagram reportedly works on a competitor, while other staff poked fun at rival's outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta is working on a Twitter competitor called "P92" which could be released next month, per Bloomberg. Twitter's new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, tweeted "Game on!" And as Instagram suffered an outage, Elon Musk and his staff couldn't help but comment. Instagram is reportedly working on a new competitor to Twitter, and employees of Elon Musk's company aren't shying away from the contest. It reported that users would log in with their Instagram details, and the app would use decentralized servers like Mastodon.

☆ Who is Sam Altman? The man behind ChatGPT is about to have his moment on Capitol Hill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —For a few months in 2017, there were rumors that Sam Altman was planning to run for governor of California. Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT and image generator Dall-E, is set to testify before Congress on Tuesday. Maybe I’m wrong?’ Thank God someone with so much power has so much humility.”Others want Altman and OpenAI to move more cautiously. OpenAI co-founder & CEO Sam Altman speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 at Moscone Convention Center on October 03, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Similar generative AI technology is quickly finding its way into productivity and search tools used by billions of people.

☆ Managers who use AI will replace managers who don't, says an IBM exec
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Managers who use AI will replace those who don't, Rob Thomas, an IBM exec, said during a press event. Last week, IBM announced the firm will pause hiring on roles that can be replaced by AI. Cutting-edge AI tools like ChatGPT isn't quite ready to replace managers — but those who don't learn how to use AI may be at-risk of losing their jobs. "AI may not replace managers, but the managers that use AI will replace the managers that do not," Rob Thomas, chief commercial officer at IBM, said during a recent press conference, TechCrunch reported. Thomas's thoughts on AI come a week after IBM announced it would pause hiring on jobs that could be replaced by AI.

☆ Ex-Facebook and DeepMind employees in talks to raise sizable initial funding round to build OpenAI rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A French startup that wants to be Europe's answer to OpenAI is in talks to raise an initial funding round. The secretive new project, named Mistral, was founded by two AI research scientists. Mistral, a secretive new startup pitched as Europe's answer to OpenAI, is in discussions to raise a substantive funding round, sources say. London-based generative AI startup Synthesia is in talks to raise a major round while ElevenLabs raised at a $100 million valuation last month. It's also widened the race for AI supremacy with Google launching its own AI assistant, Bard, to compete with OpenAI.

☆ Unity to lay off 600 employees, or 8% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Unity CEO John Riccitiello speaks onstage during Day 1 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 at Moscone Center on September 5, 2018 in San Francisco, California. Unity Software announced plans to cut about 600 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. Unity went public in 2020 pricing shares at $52 apiece, initially valuing the company at $13.7 billion. Unity eliminated 284 jobs in January and around 225 jobs in June of last year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. In January, Google revealed plans to lay off more than 12,000 workers, Microsoft disclosed plans to cut 10,000 employees and Salesforce announced plans to lay off 7,000 workers.

☆ Tech groupthink could hinder AI competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Everyone wants a piece of OpenAI, the startup behind artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT. Now that OpenAI has the support of venture capital’s biggest names, that norm will make life harder for smaller challengers - especially given the steep costs of training AI models and how stretched venture funding is now. Rivals could look to the other tech goliaths; competitor Anthropic, backed by Microsoft nemesis Google, recently completed a similarly sized fundraise. By planting its flag in Silicon Valley early, OpenAI may have won a lasting edge in the AI race. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ OpenAI closes $300 million funding round at $27 billion-$29 billion valuation, TechCrunch reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 28 (Reuters) - OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, has closed a more than $300 million share sale at a valuation between $27 billion and $29 billion, TechCrunch reported on Friday. (This story has been corrected to say a $300 million share sale, not $10 billion or $10.3 billion, in the headline and paragraph 1)Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ OpenAI closes $10 bln funding round at $27 bln-$29 bln valuation- TechCrunch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 28 (Reuters) - OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, has closed a new funding round of over $10.3 billion, valuing the company between $27 billion – $29 billion, TechCrunch reported on Friday. (This story has been refiled to fix OpenAI's case in the headline)Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Snapchat's AI tool is a total fail with users
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Snapchat's AI tool made its debut across the application last week, and users aren't loving it. Only Snapchat+ subscribers can opt out of the service, which is powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT. My AI, Snapchat's ChatGPT-powered chatbot, launched to all Snapchat users earlier this month, and ever since, the app has been met with a surge of one-star reviews in the App Store. The feature, which offers a more stripped down version of OpenAI's now ubiquitous tool, was first introduced to Snapchat+ subscribers at the end of February. My own screenshotThe tool's access of personal information — including a user's location — has also been criticized for being creepy.

☆ When M&A takes off, these are the 27 fintechs that could get scooped up, and the firms most likely to buy them
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Why it's on the market: SMB lenders saw valuations skyrocket during the pandemic years fueled by cash-strapped businesses struggling to secure loans amid tightening lending requirements. "These sorts of businesses almost certainly got way over their skis on valuation," a partner at a California-based venture firm, told Insider. SMB lenders are potential acqui-hires or acquisition targets unless they can raise more capital, according to one New York-based partner at a large venture firm. In November 2022, Pipe announced its three cofounders would step down and start the search for a "veteran" CEO. Both experts expect to see consolidation throughout the segment, with larger consumer and SMB lenders like Ramp and Brex as potential buyers.

☆ Twitter is adding verified check marks to the accounts of dead celebrities, making them look like paid Twitter Blue subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter added verified checks to accounts of dead celebrities to promote Twitter Blue subscriptions. Their accounts said they'd bought a Twitter Blue subscription and verified their phone numbers. Chadwick Boseman's Twitter account, with Twitter Blue subscription badge added posthumously. Anthony Bourdain's Twitter account, with Twitter Blue subscription badge added posthumously. InsiderHowever, the posthumous Twitter Blue badges may run afoul of laws protecting consumers from false endorsements.

☆ 27 fintechs that could be acquisition targets, and the firms that might buy them, according to VCs, investment bankers, and analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Why it's on the market: SMB lenders saw valuations skyrocket during the pandemic years fueled by cash-strapped businesses struggling to secure loans amid tightening lending requirements. "These sorts of businesses almost certainly got way over their skis on valuation," a partner at a California-based venture firm, told Insider. SMB lenders are potential acqui-hires or acquisition targets unless they can raise more capital, according to one New York-based partner at a large venture firm. A spokesperson for Pipe cited the fintech's hiring of Luke Voiles, a former Square and Intuit executive, as CEO earlier this year. Both experts expect to see consolidation throughout the segment, with larger consumer and SMB lenders like Ramp and Brex as potential buyers.

☆ Hawkish tech critics have labeled San Francisco 'lawless' following the stabbing death of Cash App creator Bob Lee. The city's crime rate tells a different tale.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The stabbing death of Cash App creator Bob Lee spurred fresh criticism of San Francisco crime. While critics call the progressive city "lawless" with "horrific" crime, violent offenses are down. Compared with cities of similar size, San Francisco has far fewer homicides per year. Michael Arrington, the founder of the industry blog TechCrunch, agreed, posting "I hate what San Francisco has become." Representatives for the San Francisco Police Department, as well as Ocko, Musk, Arrington, and Benedicto, did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Cash App founder Bob Lee stabbed to death in San Francisco, says father
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Block Inc (SQ.N)-owned Cash App's founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post shared by his father. loading"I just lost my best friend, my son Bob Lee when he lost his life on the street in San Francisco early Tuesday morning," said Rick Lee in a post which linked a TechCrunch article on the stabbing. The San Francisco Police Department said late on Tuesday that a 43-year-old man was stabbed early in the day and succumbed to injuries in the hospital. Cash App allows users to transfer money through a mobile application and is touted by the company as an alternative to traditional banking services. Lee was the chief product officer for cryptocurrency company MobileCoin, where he was also previously an early-stage investor and adviser, the company said on Twitter.

☆ Cash App creator and former Square CTO Bob Lee has died after a reported stabbing in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bob Lee died after a stabbing on Tuesday morning, NBC Bay Area reports. He created Cash App while working as Square's CTO, before moving on to MobileCoin. "Bob was a force of nature," said MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard. It was there that he created Cash App, the mobile payment app which rivals Venmo. "Bob was a force of nature," MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard told Insider.

☆ Former Greylock VC Sarah Guo is betting her career on the AI boom with new fund Conviction. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Ex-Greylock GP Sarah Guo surprised the tech world when she launched her AI fund Conviction last year. In addition to her fund, Guo has gained prominence in SF's AI scene through her podcast and events. Kovalsky knew of only one person who could be behind this — Sarah Guo, then a general partner at VC firm Greylock. Within the tech community, Guo has differentiated herself from other VCs through her honesty, business savvy, and grit, they added. Although Guo launched Conviction, a $100 million fund investing up to Series A, in late 2022, her interest in artificial intelligence has been long in the making.

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