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☆ Get the lowdown on 'e/acc' — Silicon Valley's favorite obscure theory about progress at all costs, which has been embraced by Marc Andreessen
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

There's a new ideological interest in Silicon Valley: effective accelerationism. It's called effective accelerationism. The more formalized e/acc idea has taken shape on Twitter and through Substack newsletters since 2022. In an e/acc world, no idea that offers hypothetical value should be considered too absurd, too dangerous, too out there to make a reality. But one thing does seem certain: as long as AI remains front and center, so too will effective accelerationism.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, It's, Garry Tan, Sam Bankman, Fried, Michael M, Nick Land, Freeman, ChatGPT, Marc Andreessen's, Tan, Y Organizations: Tech, acc, Morning, Twitter, Getty, University of Warwick Locations: Silicon Valley, British, Francisco

☆ Meet the contrarian VC: Why Mayfield's Navin Chaddha is writing more checks than ever before while other investors pull back
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The longtime VC firm just announced a new $250 million seed fund focused on AI. In tough economic times, the firm's leader, Navin Chaddha, believes it's a prime time to invest. That has essentially been Navin Chaddha's mantra since he took over the reins at venture-capital stalwart Mayfield Fund in 2009. With a dedicated $250 million AI seed war chest, Mayfield is now prepared to lean in even more. "We believe that AI will emerge as our teammate and that the Gen.AI wave will create many iconic companies," Chaddha said in a press release.

Persons: Mayfield, Navin Chaddha, it's, Navin, that's, Chaddha, – who's, Forbes, –, Vijay Reddy, Reddy Organizations: VC, Mayfield Fund, Mayfield, Tiger, Insight Partners, Clear Ventures, Intel Capital, Wing Venture Locations: Bessemer, Sequoia

☆ I'm a generative AI startup founder who got into Y Combinator this year. But I turned them down for Neo, another smaller accelerator program. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here's why my cofounder and I decided to go with Neo and turned down a spot in Y Combinator. We also worked at another YC company, Fractional, after that too. So we changed ideas, and I think YC was maybe not too happy about that. I do think YC, outside of Silicon Valley, is still a bigger name, and there's a huge number of unicorns that have come out of there. If you're a B2B company, YC is probably a better buy, because YC's network can be great for finding new customers.

Persons: Combinator, Wesley Tian, Ali Partovi, scrappy, Neo's, Reid Hoffman, Erik Goldman Organizations: YC Locations: Aragon, Silicon Valley, Oregon

☆ Meet the $1 billion water-recycling startup helping the likes of Coca-Cola, BMW, and TSMC curb their usage and clamp down on pollution
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The water-recycling firm Gradiant became one of the first in the space to be valued at $1 billion. Bajpayee's Gradiant helps industrial businesses get this under control by treating and recycling used water. Gradiant has raised over $400 million from investors to date and counts BMW, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. as customers. "If you think about it, ever since the industrial revolution, we've just been taking water from nature," Bajpayee told Insider. Bajpayee added that the company used fewer and, "in some cases," no chemicals in its treatments.

Persons: Gradiant, Anurag Bajpayee, we've, Bajpayee, MIT spinout, Iris, Extantia, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lindsey Higgins, Higgins Organizations: BMW, Cola, Pfizer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, MIT, Synthesis Locations: Microsoft's, South America

☆ Here's the 12-slide pitch deck Prolific, a startup providing quality data to train AI models, used to raise $32 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Prolific, a startup providing quality data for AI training, has raised $32 million in fresh funds. The Y Combinator graduate company aims to help AI models avoid biases and inaccuracies. A startup that gathers quality data to help train AI models has raised $32 million in fresh funds. The company offers researchers access to "fast smart human feedback at scale" that can help AI data sets avoid biases and inaccuracies. Prolific's £25 million (around $32 million) Series A funding comes from Partech and Oxford Science Enterprises (formerly Oxford Science Innovation).

Persons: Phelim Bradley, Bradley Organizations: Oxford Science Enterprises, Oxford Science Innovation, Google, Meta, Stanford University, University of Oxford Locations: London, Partech

☆ Sam Altman explains why he's helping to take nuclear microreactor company Oklo public via SPAC
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

And if we get those, we'll be quite surprised about how different and how much better the future is," Altman told CNBC in a phone conversation on Friday. I think there's urgent demand for tons and tons of cheap, safe, clean energy at scale," Altman told CNBC. I mean, maybe we could get there just with solar and storage," Altman told CNBC. There's no lack of desire or need for this," Altman told CNBC. Some of that is the reactor's smaller size, but some of it is how the Oklo reactors have been designed.

Persons: Gensler, Sam Altman, Oklo, Jake DeWitte, Aurora, Altman, chatbot, Caroline Cochran, Jacob DeWitte, Y, OpenAI, Joel Saget, He's, We've, DeWitte Organizations: AltC Acquistion Corp, CNBC, Microsoft, Oklo, Y Combinator, Afp, Getty, Helion, Southern, Initiative, U.S . Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC Locations: ramping, OpenAI, Paris, Georgia, U.S, Southern Ohio, Idaho

☆ It's a huge win for Zuckerberg if Threads steals Twitter's lost charm and serendipity
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Shona Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But making it more popular than Twitter would be a big win for Mark Zuckerberg. Most Twitter users know that the platform comes alive during a breaking news event, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Those paying average Joes are now prioritized in the feed, devaluing Twitter as a place to discover interesting people. A recurring theme on Threads: It's a nice place to hang out (for now...) Insider/Shona Ghosh/ThreadsThat niceness could be fragile and temporary. Threads may go the same way since, as the internet loves to say, we can't have nice things.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, TikTok's, Zuckerberg, Samuel Beckett, beery louts, Paul Graham, Paul Graham Zuckerberg, Shona Ghosh, Twitter, he'll Organizations: Twitter, Meta, ICE Locations: Ukraine

☆ A healthtech startup is using AI to treat obesity. See the 10-slide presentation Alfie Health used to get funding from Y Combinator.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alfie Health built an algorithm to create personalized treatment plans for obesity. Alfie Health is jumping in the ring with perhaps the only selling point in healthcare right now that's hotter than weight-loss medications — artificial intelligence. Alfie Health runs as a virtual obesity-care clinic to provide video visits with doctors and health coaches, with individual treatment plans developed using ObesityRx. In June, Alfie Health raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding led by Y Combinator and Nina Capital. Here's the presentation Alfie Health used to raise $2.1 million.

Persons: Alfie Health, Combinator, Alfie Health's, Alexander Singh, Y Combinator, Nina Capital, Alfie, Singh, Wegovy Organizations: Nina, Goodwater, Phoenix Investment Club Locations: GLP

☆ Airbnb CEO says he wants Airbnb to be the 'ultimate AI concierge' that will match you to the perfect property
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Airbnb cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky has said he thinks AI will significantly change Airbnb. Chesky said they are working to make an AI "concierge" that can learn about a user over time. But a program that can be the "ultimate AI concierge" and learn about you over time is more valuable to Airbnb. "The better we can understand you, the more we can be like the ultimate AI concierge pointing you to places, community, homes, experiences, and many more things." "Hopefully it's going to make you just think, 'Oh my God, their customer service is amazing,'" Chesky told Skift.

Persons: Brian Chesky, Chesky, —, Airbnb, It's, we're, Sam Altman, Skift Organizations: Service, Bloomberg's Technology Locations: Silicon

☆ 6 years ago, AI startup MindsDB was an open source project that few took seriously. Now it's worth $160 million and on a growth rocketship.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

MindsDB helps developers apply machine learning to their data to build AI applications. Founded in 2017, the startup began as an AI open source project that some doubted in its early days. But six years ago, MindsDB was just an abstraction and later an open source AI project that few paid attention to. "'You're going to be able to automate the work of a machine learning engineer? "After YC, we became an actual company," Torres said.

Persons: MindsDB, Jorge Torres, he's, Torres, cofound, Adam Carrigan, Aneesh Chopra, Barack Obama, Carrigan, Michael Seibel, Y, Seibel, Luck, There's, It's Organizations: Mayfield Fund, Benchmark, Forbes, Investors, CareJourney, Mayfield Locations: London

☆ Mass layoffs are creating a new generation of founders building climate, health, and fintech startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tech layoffs are fuelling an influx of new founder talent. Delivery Hero scaled down its ghost kitchen project and, despite being offered another role internally, Pankow exited in December 2022. As the cofounder of cybersecurity startup Simplyblock, he is part of a new wave of founders born of tech layoffs. In 2022, programme applications from founders working at tech companies that have made layoffs increased by 111% to 1,273. "As the world's strongest talent, capital and political will gravitates towards this issue, we are seeing founders building technology designed to leave a real impact," Klink added.

Persons: Rob Pankow, Pankow, Christoph Klink, Klink, Ling Walker, Patreon, Tasmin Lockwood Organizations: Meta, WIRED, Ventures Locations: Berlin, Patreon

☆ A prominent venture capitalist said remote work ‘fooled’ leaders because it worked initially
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham said remote work "fooled" leaders at the start of the pandemic. Major firms including Amazon, Meta, and Apple have ordered workers back to the office recently. Partly I think because remote work does work initially, if you start with a system already healthy from in-person work ... And partly because it seemed to solve recruiting, which is always a bottleneck." Graham's comments come as a number of major companies reverse their flexible working policies including Amazon, Apple, and Goldman Sachs. Graham joins a list of influential figures who are taking a stand against remote work including Elon Musk who has famously waged a war against the practice calling it "morally wrong."

Persons: Combinator, Paul Graham, Graham, —, Y Combinator, I've, Goldman Sachs, Elon Musk, Musk, Tesla, Scott Galloway Organizations: Amazon, Apple, Service, Twitter, Meta

So what's hot in fintech right now? One area fintech companies are getting excited by is an improvement to online checkout tools. Callan Carvey, global head of operations at Cleo, said the firm's AI connects to a customer's bank account to get a better understanding of their financial behavior. "A job that typically would take around one or two weeks can now be completed in 30 minutes, right. Several fintech executives CNBC interviewed spoke of how they're not interested in launching products tailored to crypto as the demand from their customers isn't there.

Persons: MacKenzie Sigalos, hasn't, they've, Starling, Richard Davies, Davies, Niklas Guske, —, B2C fintechs, David Singleton, Guske, dazzled, Cleo, Callan Carvey, Carvey, Teo Blidarus, Taktile's, Hiroki Takeuchi, Takeuchi, Changpeng Zhao, they're, Jack Zhang, Zhang, Prajit Nanu, cryptocurrencies, Banks, Nanu Organizations: Bank, fintechs, CNBC, Business, Allica Bank, B2B, Tiger, Schroders Capital, Atom Bank, Schroders, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S, cryptocurrencies Locations: Amsterdam, MacKenzie Sigalos AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, British, Atomico, U.S

☆ How tech companies are working to help detect AI-generated images
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In recent months, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket went viral and AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump getting arrested were widely shared, shortly before he was indicted. Some lawmakers are now calling for tech companies to address the problem. Reality Defender and Hive Moderation are working on the former. Other tech companies like Google appear to be pursuing a playbook that pulls a bit from both approaches. “We need everybody to participate.”For now, however, tech companies continue to move forward with pushing more AI tools into the world.

Persons: Jeffrey McGregor, “ We’re, we’re, ”, McGregor, ” McGregor, Pope Francis, Donald Trump, Vera Jourova, –, “, Dall, ChatGPT, ” Hany Farid, ” Farid, Tom Cruise deepfake, ” Ben Colman, Kevin Guo, ” Guo, —, Andy Parsons, Bing, Farid, ” Parsons Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, ” Tech, European, Google, Meta, Big Tech, Reality, University of California, CNN, Realty, “, Coalition, Adobe, CAI, BBC, Intel, Sony Locations: New York, EU, Berkeley

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says there's 'too much of an investor frenzy around AI in the short-term' in Silicon Valley
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Altman said there's too much short-term investor frenzy, and not enough long-term vision. "There's crazy stuff happening in Silicon Valley right now," the OpenAI CEO said. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks there's too much investor hype around artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley right now. When asked about the investor AI frenzy, Altman didn't mince words. Funding to generative AI startups alone has jumped 580% in the past three years, according to PitchBook data.

Persons: Altman, there's, Sam Altman, There's, OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Harvey, Langchain, Paul Graham, Graham, hasn't, Elon Musk, we're Organizations: Morning, Indian, Economic Times, Elon Locations: Silicon Valley, India, Europe, Israel, GPT

☆ Rigetti Computing founder joins quantum computing-focused venture fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Chad Rigetti, the founder of Rigetti Computing (RGTI.O), joined quantum technology-focused fund QDNL Participations as a partner, the venture capital firm said on Wednesday. Rigetti Computing started trading on Nasdaq in March 2022 after a merger with a blank-check company. Rigetti left the quantum computing firm backed by Y Combinator and Andreessen Horowitz late last year. Backed by Europe-based Quantum Delta NL foundation, QDNL Participations is a 15 million euro ($16.02 million) fund for early-stage Dutch quantum technology start-ups. Still, it is uncertain when these machines would be ready despite billions being poured into the technology, with big tech companies such as Alphabet (GOOGL.O), IBM (IBM.N) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) betting on this future computing technology.

Persons: Chad Rigetti, Rigetti, Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, QDNL, Jaspreet Singh, Jane Lanhee Lee, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Rigetti Computing, Nasdaq, Delta, IBM, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: Europe, Bengaluru

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is privately reassuring developers using the company's tech that it won't compete with them beyond ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A blog post detailing Sam Altman's meeting with developers in London reveals some OpenAI secrets. Altman says OpenAI won't release any products beyond ChatGPT that would compete with developers. The original blog post has since been taken down, but that hasn't stopped people from passing around a copy on an internet archiving site. Among other things on the mind of Altman are the worrying lack of GPUs, the specialized computer chips that help power AI software, according to Habib's blog post. It makes a smart writing assistant, powered by OpenAI's large language model, which Jasper customers pay a monthly fee to use.

Persons: Sam Altman's, Altman, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Raza Habib, hasn't, Fortune, Habib, Sam, Jasper Organizations: Morning, Software, Amazon, Services Locations: London, OpenAI

☆ Y Combinator founder Paul Graham thinks stock market investors are missing out on the AI boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In a recent tweet, Graham said he believes all the good AI companies to invest in are still private. This, he said, leaves few options for those public market investors wanting to invest in AI. Paul Graham says public market investors are missing out on a potential way to get in on the AI boom, since all the good companies to invest in are still private. For instance, Google recently led a $100 million round in generative AI startup, Runway, Insider reported. Yet, private investing in AI startup innovations may be where the biggest potential for a huge windfall, as Graham alludes to.

Persons: Graham, Paul Graham, Charles Schwab –, haven't, It's, Google's Bard, ChatGPT Organizations: Nvidia, Microsoft, Morning, Vanda Research, Apple, Google

☆ Exclusive: Fractal, a New York venture studio, is laying off staff and will stop creating new startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Melia Russell | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The venture studio Fractal Software will no longer start new companies, Insider has learned. Fractal Software, a venture studio that creates startups by hatching its own ideas and hiring founders to execute, has laid off staff and will stop starting new companies, Insider has learned. At least 28 employees, about 25% of staff, have left Fractal in the past six months, according to LinkedIn. Fractal confirmed layoffs occurred starting in December, but would not specify the number of employees affected. Fractal has a few more startups in the pipeline, with a goal of launching 145 companies, two people familiar with the company's strategy said.

Persons: Omri Bloch, That's, Joe Lonsdale's 8VC, Bienville, Melia Russell, Stephanie Palazzolo Organizations: New, Software, Investors, Tiger Global, Bienville Capital, Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter Locations: New York, 8VC, Bienville

☆ UK fintech bank Monzo more than doubles revenue but marginally narrows losses to $143 million, results show
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based fintech bank Monzo more than doubled its revenue last year, results show. The company, founded in 2015, also narrowed losses marginally to £116.3 million ($143.4 million). British fintech bank Monzo more than doubled its revenue last year and marginally narrowed losses to £116.3 million ($143.4 million), according to results published on Wednesday. Monzo, famous for its bright coral pink debit cards, added another 1.6 million customers with the bank now servicing around 7.4 million users. The company's results come after fellow London-based fintech bank Starling, announced a pre-tax profit of £195 million ($241 million).

Persons: Anil, Monzo, Starling, Y Combinator, Tom Blomfield, Combinator Organizations: Catalyst, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund Locations: British, London, Abu Dhabi

☆ Microsoft keyboard users are ‘so devastated’ after discontinuation of accessories
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

He switched newspapers in 1998 and bought the newer model, the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite. A study had shown that 22 out of 23 people preferred the geometry of the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 over the older Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro. In 2022, he bought a Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard for his house in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and another one for when he was working at a client's office. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards From top to bottom, Matt Steinhoff's home collection includes the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard he uses every day, a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 keyboard someone gave him and his old Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, which he keeps around as a backup. The model costs $129.99 on Amazon, twice the price of the discontinued Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard.

☆ OpenAI's Sam Altman reverses threat to cease European operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, pauses during the New Work Summit in Half Moon Bay, California, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019. In just two days, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman seemed to do a 180 on his public views of European artificial intelligence regulation – first threatening to cease operations in Europe if regulation crossed a line, then reversing his claims and now saying the firm has "no plans to leave." On Wednesday, Altman spoke to reporters in London and detailed his concerns about the European Union's AI Act, which is set to be finalized in 2024, the Financial Times reported. "The current draft of the EU AI Act would be over-regulating, but we have heard it's going to get pulled back," Altman said Wednesday in London, according to Reuters. The more recent proposal for the EU's AI Act will be negotiated among the European Commission and member states over the coming year, the FT reported.

☆ Exclusive: Buzzy legal generative AI startup Casetext is in talks to be acquired
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AI startup Casetext is in talks to be acquired, Insider has learned. This hypothesis may have found its first example in Casetext, a buzzy legal generative AI startup that is in talks to be acquired, according to people familiar with the situation. Casetext has raised $68 million in funding from VCs including Union Square Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Y Combinator, and Touchdown Ventures. Now, the technology powers Casetext's AI legal assistant CoCounsel, which aids lawyers with everything from legal research memo drafting to deposition preparation to document review. Have a tip on a startup funding round?

☆ Airbnb CEO shares the best advice he's ever received—it's 'counterintuitive to almost everything everyone says’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A single piece of advice from an investor helped Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky grow his company from a struggling startup to an industry giant worth roughly $70 billion. That's according to Chesky himself, who told attendees at a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business event that it was "the best piece of advice I ever got." The advice: "Focus on 100 people that love you, rather than getting a million people to kind of like you," Chesky said. It came courtesy of Paul Graham, the co-founder of tech startup accelerator Y Combinator, who advised Airbnb's co-founders — Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk — to focus on a tiny audience of potential customers as they built their company. For early Airbnb, that meant creating experiences for guests that stood out from staying at a hotel or crashing on a couch.

☆ This company could take lab-grown meat mainstream thanks to a green light from the FDA
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Upside Foods' pivotal moment also comes at a key moment in the alternative meat industry. The cultivated-meat industry could have a wider consumer base than previously introduced alternative meat products, because unlike plant-based meats, it's "real" meat — minus the slaughtered animals. And, accordingly, some traditional meat companies have expressed interest in the burgeoning cultivated-meat industry, which one day could become a competitor. The cultivated-meat industry will need a similar boost if it's ever going to become a grocery store staple, Swartz said. The FDA's clearance was a voluntary premarket consultation, which means the agency has no further questions about the safety of Upside's products.

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