Artificial intelligence

Gen Alpha will tire of living online

26 Dec 2023

As kids born since 2010 age into the digital world, their fatigue from being forced online will prompt backlash similar to Gen Z. Both will become smarter about the implicit agreement of trading services for data and make life more difficult for companies from Alphabet to OpenAI.

Artificial intelligence will embark on a data dash

22 Dec 2023

Text and photos produced by professionals are key to training and improving AI models. But accessing this information is getting harder and pricier. AI firms will have little choice but to pay for data, pushing up already-high costs – and delivering a windfall to publishers.

AI firms lead quest for intelligent business model

12 Dec 2023

Automating a swathe of tasks could help startups capture $140 bln in revenue. But even sector darling OpenAI is deeply unprofitable. To justify the billions invested by backers like Microsoft and Amazon, artificial intelligence will have to deliver lasting productivity gains.

Capital Calls: OpenAI’s Microsoft dilemma

11 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: When boss Sam Altman’s ouster threatened to implode the ChatGPT maker, $2.7 trln backer Microsoft helped restore order. That necessary boon, however, will draw ever-more trustbuster scrutiny about tech giants’ unshakable influence in AI.

OpenAI’s value comes full circle

5 Dec 2023

Despite recent chaos, the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup is moving ahead with a share sale that could value it at roughly $86 bln. Even after the temporary ouster of boss Sam Altman that nearly spurred an employee exodus, its prospects are largely unchanged.

Capital Calls: AI funding

5 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: French AI model-maker Mistral is on track to notch a $2 bln valuation from investors like Andreessen Horowitz despite scant revenue.

AI investments carry whiff of vicious circles past

29 Nov 2023

Turmoil at Microsoft-backed OpenAI lays bare governance risks for such tie-ups. A linked, and equally concerning, problem is tech titans injecting capital in exchange for revenue, inflating valuations in the process. The mutual back-scratching evokes dangers of the dot-com era.

EU watchdogs muck up Amazon’s messy iRobot cleanup

28 Nov 2023

The European Commission says the e-commerce giant’s $1.4 bln takeover of the Roomba maker could shut out robot-vacuum rivals. Trustbusters are mainly concerned about Amazon’s market clout. Yet if the deal collapses, iRobot shareholders will suffer more downward suction.

OpenAI’s boardroom drama is far from over

23 Nov 2023

Sam Altman will return to the helm of the artificial intelligence firm after a torrid week of resignations. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain how the saga has raised concerns about governance, the future of AI and an alarming cult of the CEO.

OpenAI calls time on alt-governance experiment

22 Nov 2023

Sam Altman’s return as CEO cements the failure of the ChatGPT owner’s attempt at shareholder-second capitalism. The board’s mandate to protect humanity was no match for the will of its biggest backer Microsoft. OpenAI is now more like a regular company – for better or worse.

GM’s driverless ride heads into a ditch

21 Nov 2023

The carmaker’s robo-taxi unit is on pause after an accident; its two co-founders have left. As OpenAI’s drama shows, losing visionary leaders is a big problem. The silver lining: In GM’s case, investors never seemed to take the cash-guzzling Cruise division seriously anyway.

Microsoft will struggle to clean up ugly AI mess

20 Nov 2023

The software giant hired ousted OpenAI boss Sam Altman to run a new in-house artificial intelligence hub. It creates fresh confusion about strategy and brainpower, as CEO Satya Nadella scrambles to preserve his company’s $13 bln investment. There’s probably more upheaval to come.

Silicon Valley saw OpenAI with eyes wide shut

19 Nov 2023

The Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence darling’s board ousted boss Sam Altman on Friday. He may yet return. Weekend antics aside, unproven technology, governance risks and regulatory uncertainty remain, as does an $86 bln valuation that always seemed hard to justify.

Palantir’s mythology is far too precious

13 Nov 2023

The $40 bln data analysis company trades at 14 times revenue, a big premium to most peers despite generating only modest growth. It also has failed to demonstrate operating leverage to justify the AI exuberance. Moreover, some odd capital allocation choices warrant a discount.

Meta’s China quest thaws thin layer of dense cube

10 Nov 2023

The $828 bln social media company plans to sell virtual reality headsets in the country, 14 years after its Facebook service was banned there. Hardware is a less thorny way to grab revenue. It also puts pressure on the US government to soften its stance on some Chinese tech.

X’s rock-bottom leaves Elon Musk little to lose

6 Nov 2023

The Tesla CEO’s investment in the social network once known as Twitter swiftly lost a chunky amount of its $44 bln value. At this point, bold new ideas, such as an AI chatbot powered by user data, or crazier ones, make sense, even if they fail. Musk does well as an underdog.

Alphabet feigns to be underdog in cloud game

3 Nov 2023

The $1.6 trln tech giant invested in AI startup Anthropic. Its outlay will come back to the Google parent in payments for cloud computing. CEO Pichai is giving companies an alternative to Microsoft and Amazon. Competition is good, but would be better if it wasn’t among Big Tech.

Biden AI plan is one step in avoiding crypto trap

30 Oct 2023

The president’s new executive order aims to set regulatory guardrails for artificial intelligence. It still leaves a big hole for Congress to fill. Failing to set coherent rules risks the kind of piecemeal enforcement that hobbled crypto, but for a technology with higher stakes.

Meta tenuously clings to financial reality

26 Oct 2023

Facebook’s owner grew quarterly revenue 23% and vowed to keep expenses in check. AI investments and a planned hiring spree may yet run into an economic slump, however, and reverse an ad rebound. Only then will boss Mark Zuckerberg’s power of self-restraint become clear.

Stolen genetic data points to mutating cyber risk

17 Oct 2023

Biotech firm 23andMe may have fallen victim to hackers, joining other sabotage targets Clorox and MGM. Companies can strengthen their systems, but human error plays a role too – with customers and employees as potential vulnerabilities. That adds a new front to an ongoing battle.