Robert Hof – SiliconANGLE

AMD doubles down on AI, Google faces possible breakup and ‘causal AI’ is coming

Robert Hof — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 18:14:23 +0000

Concerns are mounting over when and how all this investment in artificial intelligence will pay off — even at AI leader OpenAI, which reportedly predicts it will lose $14 billion in 2026 on $100 billion in revenue and won’t make a profit until 2030. Still, the money keeps pouring into AI companies, from $250 million […]

The post AMD doubles down on AI, Google faces possible breakup and ‘causal AI’ is coming appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

OpenAI sets a VC fundraising record — but can it fulfill the promise?

Robert Hof — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:33:18 +0000

If OpenAI could just monetize all the ink that gets spilled on the company, perhaps it could justify raising such a crazy amount of money this week. And get this: The $6.6 billion round, at a (gulp) $157 billion valuation, the biggest VC round ever, won’t even be enough to relieve CEO Sam Altman from having to […]

The post OpenAI sets a VC fundraising record — but can it fulfill the promise? appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

OpenAI’s talent exodus: Sam Altman says everything’s fine and superintelligence is on the way!

Robert Hof — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:40:16 +0000

This week brought yet another big shakeup at OpenAI, as Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and others quit. But CEO Sam Altman seems to be cementing his control. And Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said in a memo that OpenAI’s oversubscribed (no, really?) funding at a $150 billion valuation is set to close next week. […]

The post OpenAI’s talent exodus: Sam Altman says everything’s fine and superintelligence is on the way! appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI boosts nuclear power, Salesforce bets on agents, and the remote-work era winds down

Robert Hof — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 19:36:55 +0000

Artificial intelligence infrastructure is taking really big bucks now to build out, as BlackRock and Microsoft joined this week to invest up to $100 billion in AI data centers and power projects. And that’s not all: Microsoft also teamed up with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to fuel its demand […]

The post AI boosts nuclear power, Salesforce bets on agents, and the remote-work era winds down appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI bears fruit: Apple slowly infuses AI into iPhones, OpenAI debuts first Strawberry models

Robert Hof — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 14:34:11 +0000

This was the week that Apple finally infused artificial intelligence into its new iPhones, Watches and AirPods, though some of features won’t be coming for a bit and overall, the AI stuff seemed a little underwhelming. The medical features such as AirPods’ ability to serve as FDA-grade hearing aids and sleep apnea detection, though, look great. […]

The post AI bears fruit: Apple slowly infuses AI into iPhones, OpenAI debuts first Strawberry models appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

More big bucks for AI startups — but investors are getting restless for results

Robert Hof — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 19:18:05 +0000

It’s no surprise that entrepreneurs with a pedigree like Ilya Sutskever’s can raise a billion dollars, as the OpenAI co-founder did this week for his startup, SSI. And he wasn’t alone, as Nvidia and others also invested in two other startups, Sakana AI and You.com. But investors are getting restless, as Nvidia stock also got hammered this past […]

The post More big bucks for AI startups — but investors are getting restless for results appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

The AI economy keeps cruising, so Nvidia will be fine — but rivals loom

Robert Hof — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 19:25:35 +0000

All eyes were on Nvidia’s earnings report this week as a proxy for the artificial intelligence economy, and even for the graphics chip giant, it was too much to live up to. Nvidia earnings disappointed, but really, how could they not? Most of the news was actually quite good, as growth looks to continue for […]

The post The AI economy keeps cruising, so Nvidia will be fine — but rivals loom appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Beyond OpenAI: The rise of not-too-large language models

Robert Hof — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 19:46:35 +0000

A flurry of new artificial intelligence models this week illustrated what’s coming next in AI: smaller language models targeted at vertical industries and functions. Both Nvidia and Microsoft debuted smaller large language models too. Also supporting the notion of more customized models — call them VLMs — OpenAI made its GPT-4o fine-tuning generally available. As […]

The post Beyond OpenAI: The rise of not-too-large language models appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Regulators tighten their fingers around Big Tech’s neck, but they’re not slowing down AI

Robert Hof — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:15:07 +0000

Regulators are circling ever closer to big tech companies — the latest being Google, which the Federal Trade Commission more than hinted this week should be broken up. It’s not at all certain that will happen, since it’s up to the judge in the Google v. Epic Games case, but it’s clear that Big Tech is headed for […]

The post Regulators tighten their fingers around Big Tech’s neck, but they’re not slowing down AI appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

At Black Hat, cybersecurity faces an AI conundrum amid a glut of defensive weapons

Robert Hof — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 18:33:45 +0000

Ahead of the annual Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, we warned that defensive tool sprawl is only likely to get worse. Onsite, the talk was about, of course, the impact of AI. So far, so good, but defenders are bracing for more sophisticated artificial intelligence-driven attacks. Meantime, lots of cybersecurity providers are doing well, if earnings and new fundings are […]

The post At Black Hat, cybersecurity faces an AI conundrum amid a glut of defensive weapons appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Dell lays off thousands of workers in sales reorganization

Robert Hof — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 19:22:26 +0000

Updated: Dell Technologies Inc. is laying off an unspecified number of employees in a reorganization of sales and marketing teams, according to sources. According to Bloomberg today, the reorganization includes a new group focused on artificial intelligence services. Update: One source close to the matter had told SiliconANGLE that 12,500 layoffs, or about 10% of […]

The post Dell lays off thousands of workers in sales reorganization appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Wait, will generative AI really pay off? Inquiring investors want to know

Robert Hof — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 18:10:54 +0000

Amid a glut of funding for artificial intelligence companies, there’s understandably increasing concern among investors this past week, apparent in disappointment in the earnings results of a number of technology companies, whether all this will pay off. We’re at the point in the investment cycle where it’s hard to tell, though to my eyes, it […]

The post Wait, will generative AI really pay off? Inquiring investors want to know appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

New AI models flood the market even as AI takes fire from regulators, actors and researchers

Robert Hof — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:44:25 +0000

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presumed ascension to the Democratic presidential nomination following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal scrambled this week certainly scrambled the race, but it also set everyone in tech wondering what a Harris administration might mean. Bottom line: Nobody knows — and of course there’s no guarantee she will win the election come November, […]

The post New AI models flood the market even as AI takes fire from regulators, actors and researchers appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

CrowdStrike breaks the internet and generative AI gets the side eye

Robert Hof — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 19:10:34 +0000

CrowdStrike Holdings ended the week with a bang, or more like a whimper from system administrators around the world, as it sort of broke the internet by issuing an update to its software with a defect that took down Windows computers everywhere. The cybersecurity company issued a workaround, but the incident, which affected banks, airlines and […]

The post CrowdStrike breaks the internet and generative AI gets the side eye appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AWS aims its AI push at enterprises, and the chip industry dreams of an AI boom

Robert Hof — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:48:26 +0000

Despite the seeming dominance of OpenAI and Microsoft in generative artificial intelligence, it’s becoming clear that the other cloud providers, not to mention AI startups, will make this anything but a winner-take-all business. Amazon Web Services made it latest bid to be a major player at its summit in New York this week, aiming to […]

The post AWS aims its AI push at enterprises, and the chip industry dreams of an AI boom appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

The AI money train keeps rolling, but the environmental toll keeps growing too

Robert Hof — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 18:59:30 +0000

Investors are still betting big on artificial intelligence, as this past week alone they put $450 million in Runway AI, $200 million into Magic AI and $100 million in Harvey, among others. AI also helped Samsung rock its preliminary earnings reported this week. Meantime, SK Hynix is investing a stunning $75B in its AI chipmaking business. But […]

The post The AI money train keeps rolling, but the environmental toll keeps growing too appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Generative AI’s big copyright battle commences, and chip upstarts target AI workloads

Robert Hof — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:37:31 +0000

It’s perhaps the biggest signal yet that generative artificial intelligence model providers aren’t going to get a free content ride: Record labels this week sued two AI music generators, and this one may prove to be the big battle over AI and copyright. Meantime, the European Union is putting more heat on Microsoft, and it’s clear those […]

The post Generative AI’s big copyright battle commences, and chip upstarts target AI workloads appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI models keep getting smarter — but how smart can they get?

Robert Hof — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 18:02:11 +0000

As Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company this week, if only for a few days, it’s apparent that the race to develop even better generative artificial intelligence models isn’t slowing down. This week we saw Anthropic provide a leap in its Claude large language model, along with news that OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever’s new startup […]

The post AI models keep getting smarter — but how smart can they get? appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI everywhere: Apple finally makes a splash, the data wars intensify and the big bucks still keep rolling in

Robert Hof — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 20:15:55 +0000

It wasn’t exactly on the scale of the introduction of the iPhone or even the iPod, but Apple this week managed to make a credible splash in artificial intelligence. Much of Apple Intelligence is on the come, and you’ll need a newer iPhone to get the features, but as usual Apple managed to make an […]

The post AI everywhere: Apple finally makes a splash, the data wars intensify and the big bucks still keep rolling in appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Jensanity! Nvidia valuation tops $3T — until regulators and naysayers weigh in

Robert Hof — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 19:53:58 +0000

Have we reached peak AI? This was a week in which CEO Jensen Huang’s Nvidia hit $3 trillion in market capitalization, only to fall back below that mark on reports of an antitrust probe by the Justice Department. Easy come, easy go. Meantime, some people are questioning if generative AI will catch on quickly enough to justify all […]

The post Jensanity! Nvidia valuation tops $3T — until regulators and naysayers weigh in appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Look out below: AI’s double-edged sword slashes Dell, MongoDB, Salesforce and more

Robert Hof — Fri, 31 May 2024 19:05:00 +0000

Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the artificial intelligence boom was never going to be unalloyed good for every enterprise technology provider looking to leverage AI. But this week, investors got a taste of the downside and they didn’t like it, sending stocks of Dell Technologies, MongoDB, Salesforce, UiPath Nutanix, Workday and more […]

The post Look out below: AI’s double-edged sword slashes Dell, MongoDB, Salesforce and more appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI dominates every tech event, but Nvidia remains the biggest winner

Robert Hof — Fri, 24 May 2024 19:00:45 +0000

Artificial intelligence bubble or boom, there’s no company riding it better than Nvidia, whose earnings report this week managed to outpace sky-high forecasts thanks to its providing the most popular chips in the known universe. AI also dominated the announcements and conversations at a raft of industry events this past week, from Dell Technologies World […]

The post AI dominates every tech event, but Nvidia remains the biggest winner appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Google roars back in AI, AWS has a new CEO, and big money keeps flowing into enterprise software

Robert Hof — Fri, 17 May 2024 18:40:38 +0000

If anyone thought Google was going to continue to lose ground to Microsoft and OpenAI in the artificial intelligence era, its I/O conference this week in Mountain View proved that perception is premature at best. The company introduced a raft of new features, including some coming shortly, such as an industry-leading 2 million-token context window […]

The post Google roars back in AI, AWS has a new CEO, and big money keeps flowing into enterprise software appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

All in a week’s events: The AI juggernaut hits cybersecurity, open source and IT infrastructure

Robert Hof — Fri, 10 May 2024 21:09:49 +0000

As the spring conference season gets into full swing, we’re getting broad insights into key areas of enterprise technology. This past week, it was cybersecurity (and artificial intelligence’s impact on it) from the RSA Conference in San Francisco, open source (and AI’s impact on it) from Red Hat Summit in Denver, and information technology architecture […]

The post All in a week’s events: The AI juggernaut hits cybersecurity, open source and IT infrastructure appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Enterprise tech leaders profit from the picks-and-shovels era of AI — but investors want even more

Robert Hof — Fri, 03 May 2024 20:16:18 +0000

Another spate of earnings this week proved once again that artificial intelligence is driving a lot of upside among enterprise technology providers. Amazon, Qualcomm, Super Micro and others saw earnings improve as companies continue to invest at least in experimenting broadly with generative AI models. But others such as Advanced Micro Devices, and even AI […]

The post Enterprise tech leaders profit from the picks-and-shovels era of AI — but investors want even more appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI drives cloud growth and cloud growth drives earnings upside — for some

Robert Hof — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 19:18:59 +0000

Artificial intelligence drove higher cloud spending this past quarter, and that in turn drove earnings upside for the likes of Google, Microsoft and SAP. Less so, however, for Intel, IBM, ServiceNow and Meta, which haven’t yet seen the AI bump they hope to get or, in Meta’s case, are spending big on it well ahead […]

The post AI drives cloud growth and cloud growth drives earnings upside — for some appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

AI model creators play an endless game of leapfrog as the rest of us worry what’s next

Robert Hof — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:07:40 +0000

The game of large language model leapfrog looks to be speeding up, if that’s even possible, as Meta Platforms, Elon Musk’s xAI, Microsoft, Stability AI and of course OpenAI all weighed in this week with new models of various kinds. It’s perhaps no coincidence that the potential negative impacts of this race are worrying more people, […]

The post AI model creators play an endless game of leapfrog as the rest of us worry what’s next appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

At Next, Google makes a smarter case for leading the generative AI era

Robert Hof — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 23:20:20 +0000

With Google’s Cloud Next ’24 conference this past week in Las Vegas now in the books, it looks like the search giant is finally poised to leverage its longtime work in artificial intelligence and its serious technical infrastructure to provide a boost to its third-place cloud computing unit. The Mandalay Bay conference center hosted some […]

The post At Next, Google makes a smarter case for leading the generative AI era appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Critics assail the many downsides of AI, but will they have any impact?

Robert Hof — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 22:32:12 +0000

Has the trough of disillusionment arrived for generative artificial intelligence? Maybe it’s a bit early given continuing outright hype and breathtaking funding — but there’s certainly rising worry and criticism of actual and potential impacts, even sometimes from the AI model builders themselves. We saw a lot of that this week, from accusations that Israel […]

The post Critics assail the many downsides of AI, but will they have any impact? appeared first on SiliconANGLE.

Big bucks keep streaming into generative AI. How long can this last?

Robert Hof — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 20:01:26 +0000

Big money keeps pouring into generative artificial intelligence, a sign of both the enthusiasm about its potential and the high costs of creating all those mega AI models. This week’s hauls included $2.75 billion for Anthropic from Amazon, and both Scale AI and Cohere reportedly are getting hundreds of millions of dollars apiece. That’s on […]

The post Big bucks keep streaming into generative AI. How long can this last? appeared first on SiliconANGLE.