TechCheck

Waymo’s self-driving cars are all over San Francisco roads. But at night, they park themselves and recently have been honking and keeping one neighborhood’s residents up at night. Waymo tells us they’ve fixed the issue through a software update, but the rollout over the last few years has been bumpy, with safety concerns and backlash. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Google’s hardware event, Made by Google, kicked off today where the megacap unveiled new AI-focused features including Gemini Live, a conversational voice chatbot that will be integrated into all its devices. As investors try to balance the growing concern of surging AI spending and little actual revenue and profits, the event is a key moment for Google to try to justify its AI investments.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As election campaigning heats up, tech has been playing an outsized role in the elections. For Vice President Harris, who has deep roots to San Francisco, tech donors are front and center, especially after she made a campaign stop in the Bay Area this weekend and raised more than $12 million. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is dealing with a different sort of tech issue – disclosing that it was the victim of an email cyberattack by an Iranian group.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

GenAI startup darlings are dropping like flies. Some of the most promising are increasingly being swallowed up by megacaps as they struggle to find viable business models and big tech firms look to skirt the regulatory scrutiny of outright acquisitions.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The extent of the tech sell-off today has been staggering, with billions of dollars wiped out from the Magnificent 7 alone in just the first two hours of trading, and trillions over the last week. Part of the reason is a fundamental story investors have been worried about – just when will the high costs of AI begin to pay off? Valuations have also re-rated since the Nasdaq hit all-time highs just a few weeks ago.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Intel are on pace for their worst day in 50 years after a tough second-quarter result. The chipmaker also announced a massive, $10 billion cost-savings program that will include thousands of layoffs and a half on dividend payments. CNBC’s Jon Fortt spoke to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger on the turnaround plan, modest CPU demand and areas to be impacted by the layoffs.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some key themes to watch ahead of Apple earnings include signs the iPhone sales slump is coming to an end, whether new AI features will drive an upgrade cycle, how the AI rollout in China will play out, and, of course, capex concerns that are looming over all of big tech. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In Palo Alto, the epicenter of tech and VC money, JD Vance is headlining a fundraiser tonight hosted by a cryptocurrency executive where tickets are going for as much as $50,000. It's another sign of Silicon Valley elites, which have traditionally backed the left, now opening their pocketbooks for the Trump-Vance ticket.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

OpenAI just announced the prototype of a search engine called SearchGPT that now puts the pressure on Google, with what the startup says are more natural and intuitive results that include sources, similar to a product from Perplexity AI. The announcement alone yesterday was enough to send shares of Google down 3% after it had already been bruised by disappointing earnings results. That also doesn’t bode well for a slate of big tech earnings next week – where we’ll hear from Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple.    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The NBA is announcing a $76 billion TV rights deal with ESPN, Amazon and NBC Sports, essentially a snub to NBA’s longtime partner Warner Bros Discovery. We break down how this deal will transform the future of sports streaming. Plus, chip stocks have been riding the AI wave this year. But with the recent sell-off, AI beneficiaries like Nvidia, Qualcomm and Micron are well off their respective highs.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.