Technology

OpenAI joins the tech elite with $2 billion revenue milestone: Its revenue soars but costs could continue making profitability elusive. Generative AI’s challenges create a hamster wheel for companies.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether Meta has officially turned things around, just how big Instagram has gotten, and whether Threads can turn itself into a viable X (formerly Twitter) alternative. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Jasmine Enberg and Max Willens.

Microsoft takes on Apple and Amazon: It continues to lead Big Tech on generative AI. An unbalanced marketplace poses financial risks for the entire industry and beyond.

Hackers, targeting fewer but richer victims, doubled profits in 2023. This surge pressures companies into costly payoffs. Businesses must prioritize cybersecurity to curb this trend.

Chatbots from Google and Microsoft spin tall tales about the Super Bowl: Gemini and Copilot gave users wildly inaccurate information about the high-profile event. It’s an industry pitfall.

US efforts to hinder China’s AI and semiconductor growth are undermined by billions in early funding from US VCs to Chinese firms, which now factor into the AI and chip race.

Nvidia is worth as much as China’s entire stock market: Its bull run rests on smart strategic decisions on the AI chip front. It will be hard for rivals to catch up.

OpenAI, Google, and Nvidia are among 200 companies participating in the US government’s consortium to standardize safety. Will tech’s most competitive companies get along?

D-ID is giving generative AI chatbots an approachable face: The startup stands out for its financial stability in the challenging AI sector. Others could emulate its product focus and efficiency.

Google’s Gemini is more than a generative AI contender—by replacing Google Assistant and Search, it’s taking over Google’s massive user install base in areas OpenAI can’t reach.

OpenAI moves beyond chatbots to AI agents: The move could be a sector game-changer but poses risks that will make consumers uneasy and require winning trust.

Apple developing two clamshell phone prototypes: There’s pressure to get into the foldable phone arena, but technical challenges pose a price-point barrier, requiring creative solutions.

The company’s shares soared 60% as a vote of confidence in its resilience and importance in the shift to on-device AI and data center technologies.

Apple’s Vision Pro, rich in apps and retail support, faces a crucial test: public acceptance in everyday scenarios—echoing Google Glass’ challenges.

VC hesitancy is the latest generative AI trend: Funding still invigorates the sector, but overvaluation and competitiveness concerns have quelled the excitement.

Ford reformulates its EV strategy after premium model sales stall. Small and affordable EVs could reignite interest while enabling expansion to emerging markets.

Google Cloud teams up with Singapore on AI expansion: The country’s AI enthusiasm and investment could be advantageous for Google as it competes with AWS and Microsoft.

On the podcast we discuss what to expect as banks deploy more AI in 2024. We chat about several use cases for AI, like customer service and chatbots, personalized banking services, fraud detection and prevention, credit scoring and risk assessment, as well as personalized marketing. In “Place Your Bets,” we distribute 10 points to four predictions in order to rank the relative likeliness that each one will come true. We rank the following to see which is most likely to happen in 2024: news stories about overzealous chatbots stops banks from rolling them out, regulators squash attempts to use AI for investment advice, the deployment of AI enables banks to initiate massive layoffs, and small banks and credit unions are able to win more customers because of their deployment of AI for customer service. Listen to the conversation with host Rob Rubin and our analysts Jacob Bourne and Gadjo Sevilla.

The sector’s blueprint for recovery focuses on efficiency, innovation, and strategic investments in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft, Amazon, and Google adapt strategies for AI-driven growth with mixed results. But genAI’s hunger for cloud computing could increase costs.