TechCheck

Valuations for AI startups are continuing to skyrocket. This time, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever raising a whopping $1 billion as a seed round for his AI startup Safe Superintelligence Inc, with just around 10 employees and nowhere close to having a product. It's the epitome of a growing trend of a breakneck gen AI race for top talent.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Antitrust pressure against Google is ramping up this week, with a joint filing today from Google and the DOJ outlining their timeline for remedies from the Search case, followed quickly by the beginning of an ad tech trial. Plus, the post Labor Day-period is typically a busy one for IPOs, but not the case this year. We discuss the outlook for IPOs, market trends, and big tech’s antitrust concerns with Notable Capital Managing Partner Jeff Richards.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Megacaps including Microsoft, Google and Amazon have been getting creative with how they’re poaching talent from top AI startups. Google with Character.ai, Microsoft with Inflection and Amazon’s faux-acquisition of Adept. They hire away prominent founders and talent and cut a deal to license technology… without actually buying the startups. It’s a playbook that skirts the regulatory crackdown on big tech dominance, provides an exit for AI startups struggling to make money and allows megacaps to pick up the expertise needed in the AI arms race. But while big tech might think they’re outsmarting antitrust enforcers, they could be playing with fire.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Salesforce earnings tonight a major test of AI's impact on the software winter, especially after the CEO of Buy Now Pay Later giant Klarna said he aims to use AI to cut his workforce in half, and that he's shutting down a lot of SaaS providers, including Salesforce and Workday. Plus, Box shares are jumping after beating on the top and bottom lines and hiking their revenue outlook. We speak to CEO Aaron Levie on its partnership with Nvidia, AI strategy around utilizing data, the debate around regulating AI development and more.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Elon Musk has now come out in support of a California bill to regulate AI safety, in stark contrast to big names including Google, Meta, OpenaAI and Andreessen Horowitz, which are all opposed. It represents a larger divide within big tech, which is split on whether AI should be regulated and who should be the ones doing it.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Telegram CEO Arrest Sparks Free Speech Debate Description: The founder of the Dubai-based app Telegram was arrested in France this weekend as part of an investigation into criminal activity on the encrypted messaging platform. It has broader implications for U.S. social apps as they gear up for an unprecedented election, the first with easily-accessible AI-generated content, and it's sparked a debate in tech circles over free speech.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There were more headwinds today for China’s already-slumping consumer and e-commerce demand, after Walmart announced it was completely offloading its stake in JD.com and bargain retail giant Shein hit Temu with a lawsuit. Plus, the AI startup darling Anthropic is now facing a new class-action lawsuit, accusing it of copyright infringement and stealing the work of hundreds of thousands of books.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some of the world’s biggest banks loaned Elon Musk $13 billion to secure the social platform Twitter, now X. But according to new data from Pitchbook, the Twitter takeover now represents the worst buyout for banks since the Great Financial Crisis, as the platform struggles to retain advertisers and has been marked down by more than 70% from one of the acquisition financers, Fidelity.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

20 years ago today, Google debuted on the Nasdaq with a $23 billion market cap as a mere search engine company. Today, it’s now ballooned to a $2 trillion megcap with its hands in cloud, chips, AI and more. It also used an unconventional listing method: a Dutch auction, which let employees and retail investors participate more in the IPO. We spoke to Michael Grimes, the investment banker known as the Silicon Valley IPO whisperer and led the listing, on the anniversary.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After losing a landmark antitrust case over its dominance in the search market, Google is now facing the real threat of a court-mandated breakup of the search giant. But on the heels of a flashy ‘Made by Google’ event showcasing new phones and AI features, Google is now more deeply integrated than ever – an ecosystem within search, cloud, streaming, hardware… and generative artificial intelligence is the thread tying it tightly together. It all means a potential breakup would be nearly impossible technically – and could hold true for other megacaps including Apple, Amazon and Meta, all of which are facing their own antitrust suits. This week on TechCheck, is big tech too big to split? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.