Author: arthursheikin@gmail.com
[ad_1] The latest corporate mantra: AI or bye-bye.Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s warning this week that expanding use of artificial intelligence will mean the company needs fewer people in some roles — and more in others — is the latest sign that, increasingly, CEOs see no place in the corporate world for AI holdouts.While messages that amount to “learn AI or be left behind” might be unnerving, corporate observers told Business Insider that it’s ultimately better for cubicle dwellers to hear this message now, rather than when they’re sidelined.”If I were an employee, I would be very frustrated with my leader…
[ad_1] Amazon’s CEO just said the quiet part out loud: AI is coming for plenty of jobs — and other bosses may soon follow his lead.On Tuesday, Andy Jassy said in a memo that employees should figure out “how to get more done with scrappier teams” and that the move toward AI would eventually “reduce our total corporate workforce.”Amazon, with about 1.5 million workers, is the second-largest private employer in the US. Workplace commentators told Business Insider that Jassy’s candor may prompt other leaders to feel comfortable telling their employees who — or what — will replace them.’Culture modeling’Marlo Lyons,…
[ad_1] Just how big a deal is John Gruber, the blogger whose Daring Fireball site is a must-read for anyone who cares about Apple?Here’s one way to measure Gruber’s big-dealness: Every year for the last decade, following Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, top Apple executives have appeared onstage with Gruber for an extended interview.But not this year.The most likely reason: In March, Gruber wrote a scathing essay about Apple’s inability to deliver an AI upgrade for its Siri voice assistant — something it had been promoting and advertising for months.In Gruber’s telling, this wasn’t just a missed shipping deadline, but…
[ad_1] Last year was monumental for the AI industry in the U.S. and beyond. There were 49 startups that raised funding rounds worth $100 million or more in 2024, per our count at TechCrunch; three companies raised more than one “mega-round,” and seven companies raised rounds that were $1 billion in size or larger. How will 2025 compare? It’s still the first half of the year, but so far it looks like 2024’s momentum will continue this year. There have already been multiple billion-dollar rounds this year, and more AI mega-rounds closed in the U.S. in Q1 2025 compared to…
[ad_1] OpenAI’s CEO and cofounder, Sam Altman, recently said that new AI technology will have a net-positive impact on his infant son and potential future kids.Altman, who announced the birth of his first child on February 22, said his kids will grow up to be more capable — but not more intelligent — because of tools like ChatGPT.”My kids will never be smarter than AI,” Altman said on the first episode of the OpenAI Podcast, released on Wednesday. “They will grow up vastly more capable than we grew up, and able to do things that we cannot imagine, and they’ll…
[ad_1] Across hundreds of thousands of years of human existence, an impossible question has befuddled our species: Why is the baby crying?! Sam Altman, who is both the father of a 3-month-old and CEO of OpenAI, hopped on OpenAI’s new podcast today to talk about how his company is impacting his experience with fatherhood. Altman, who describes himself as “extremely kid-pilled,” said he was “constantly” using ChatGPT to ask questions about the behavior of babies during the first few weeks of his son’s life — now that he’s a bit more settled, he’s using ChatGPT to ask more general questions…
[ad_1] Streaming apps like Spotify are great for convenience, but as a music enthusiast, I crave a physical connection to my favorite albums. That’s one reason I still take the time to pull a vinyl record out of its sleeve and drop it on the platter. The best record players turn listening to music into a more tangible, deliberate experience. Records can also offer better sound quality than compressed streaming, with a distinctly warm tone that some people prefer. It doesn’t matter what genres you’re into; if you have a similar ache to hold your music in your hands or…
[ad_1] There’s a lot of talk in the startup world about how AI makes individuals so productive that it could give rise to a generation of “solo unicorns” — one-person companies worth over $1 billion. While an actual solo unicorn remains a mythical creature, Israeli developer Maor Shlomo provided compelling evidence Wednesday that the concept might not be impossible. Shlomo sold his 6-month-old, bootstrapped vibe-coding startup Base44 to Wix for $80 million, Wix announced Wednesday. And the deal was cash, Wix confirmed to TechCrunch. Admittedly, this wasn’t a billion dollars or close to it. And Shlomo wasn’t truly solo —…
[ad_1] In late 2022, Noah Pepper, a former Stripe business lead for the Asia Pacific region, founded Multiplier, a startup that aimed to sell software to tax accountants. But soon after ChatGPT was released, it occurred to him that AI can change how professional service firms use technology. “I realized I was barking up the wrong tree by trying to build a SaaS business, and instead I should figure out how to make these people more effective,” he told TechCrunch. The startup acquired Citrine International Tax, a boutique provider of cross-border tax accounting services, and enhanced the firm with AI…
[ad_1] Alternative investments are gaining traction among financial advisors who are seeking diversification just as rising geopolitical tensions and shaky tariff policy rattle stocks. A survey of nearly 200 financial planners by the Financial Planning Association and the Journal of Financial Planning from March 23 to May 4 found that while these investments aren’t in widespread use among advisors, they’ve seen significant growth compared to last year. For instance, more than 17% of the advisors are incorporating options into their practice, nearly double from last year, the poll found. Some 23% are using individually traded real estate investment trusts, up…