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Category Archives: Big Tech

2023 Boosts Big Techs AI monopoly? Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others wield money power – HT Tech

Posted: January 2, 2024 at 5:52 am

2023 Boosts Big Techs AI monopoly? Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others wield money power  HT Tech

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Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Shows Power of Ads Over Subscriptions – Bloomberg

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Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Shows Power of Ads Over Subscriptions  Bloomberg

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Looking Beyond The ‘Magnificent 7’ Analysts Just Upgraded These Three Large-Cap Stocks – Anheuser-Busch – Benzinga

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Looking Beyond The 'Magnificent 7' Analysts Just Upgraded These Three Large-Cap Stocks - Anheuser-Busch  Benzinga

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Looking Beyond The 'Magnificent 7' Analysts Just Upgraded These Three Large-Cap Stocks - Anheuser-Busch - Benzinga

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Mapping the Biggest Tech Talent Hubs in the U.S. and Canada – Visual Capitalist

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Mapping the Biggest Tech Talent Hubs in the U.S. and Canada

While cities like San Francisco and New York remain centers of tech talent and innovation, many other cities are growing extremely quickly in terms of the tech labor pool.

This infographic draws from a report by CBRE to determine which tech talent markets in the U.S. and Canada are the largest. The data looks at the total workforce in the sector, as well as the change in tech worker population over time in various cities.

Tech talent represents a group of highly skilled workers in more than 20 technology-oriented occupations driving innovation across all industry sectors, ranging from software developers to systems and data managers.

Although these positions are concentrated within the high-tech industry, they are spread across all industry sectors.

Top tech talent markets are typically characterized by a substantial level of educational attainment and a significant concentration of young individuals. Forty-five of the top 50 talent markets have an educational attainment level above national averages.

The tech sector remains one of the top employers of highly skilled workers in North America, with over seven million workers.

Californias Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley, remains the biggest tech hub, with a talent pool of 407,810 tech workers, compared to 378,870 in 2021.

The Bay Area also has the highest annual wage for U.S. tech talent at $185,425, followed by Seattle ($172,009) and Boston ($121,794)

Toronto remains the third tech hub in North America, just behind the San Francisco Bay Area and New York.

Canada has attracted significant numbers of tech workers largely as a result of the countrys immigration-friendly national policy and labor cost advantage, according to a recent report from the Technology Councils of North America (TECNA) and Canadas Tech Network (CTN).

In fact, Canadian cities like Vancouver, Calgary, and Waterloo have had the highest growth of tech workers over the past five years.

Between April 2022 and March 2023, 32,115 new workers came to Canada with the most migrating from India and Nigeria.

Despite the dominance of traditional tech hubs, the report also points to other cities that could receive tech talent over the next few years.

They are concentrated in the U.S. Midwest and South, like Boise (ID), Las Vegas (NE), Palm Bay (FL), and Birmingham (AL).

The report also highlights Winnipeg and Halifax as potential Canadian tech hubs.

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Google, Meta, other tech giants slash DEI-related jobs, resource groups in 2023: Report – Fox Business

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Google, Meta, other tech giants slash DEI-related jobs, resource groups in 2023: Report  Fox Business

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South Koreas proposed tech regulations would be a gift to China – The Hill

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South Koreas proposed tech regulations would be a gift to China  The Hill

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Outlook 2024: Big changes to expect in personal tech – The Indian Express

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Outlook 2024: Big changes to expect in personal tech  The Indian Express

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Big Tech Dumped $17 Billion Into AI Companies in 2023 Despite Frozen Market – The Messenger

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Tech industry giants poured billions of dollars into artificial intelligence startups this year, far outpacing the amount of investment from venture capitalists, the more traditional source of funding for fledging businesses.

Microsoft, Google and Amazon collectively invested two-thirds of the $27 billion raised by generative artificial intelligence startups in 2023, according to data from Pitchbook, which tracks startup investments.

The investment surge from those established companies reflects the unusual moment in Silicon Valley. AI startups are a rare hot spot in an otherwise ice-cold market, and the cost to develop that technology is incredibly steep. Venture capitalists, meanwhile, aren't playing as prominent a role in the boom as they have in opening eras of other technology waves, like the mobile web and cloud computing. So firms like Microsoft and Amazon have stepped into the role vacated by the VCs, eager to secure lucrative stakes in the startups and intertwine their own AI development with the startups that they invest in.

Notable deals from the last year include Microsofts $10 billion investment in OpenAI and the over $7 billion raised by its chief rival, Anthropic, from Amazon and Google, among others.

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Why OpenAI signals the start of the post-Christensen startup world – Tech.eu

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Microsoft hiring and un-hiring OpenAIs Sam Altman last month was a bright red warning sign to entrepreneurs who hope one day to compete with Big Tech. As a venture capitalist looking to back future disruptors, this fills me with dread.

The eminent business theorist Clayton Christensen first defined disruptive innovation in 1997. He said startup founders with great ideas could beat dominant players not by directly challenging them, but by targeting bits of the market theyd overlooked, or by introducing simpler and more affordable solutions before growing themselves and eventually elbowing out the incumbents to take a bigger slice of the pie.

This theory was the bedrock of the startup revolution we have enjoyed since referenced in a million entrepreneur pitch decks to venture capital investors, whose risk-taking and risk capital working together drive the startup industry.

Christensens idea was also good for capitalism, and self-evidently supported the idea of free markets: innovation paid off for the brains behind inventions; consumers got better products or cheaper prices or both; and monopolies were less likely to form, thus the state could stay out of the way.

But over the last twenty years Big Tech Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon hasnt just turned this academic theory on its head, theyve all but killed it. We now live in a firmly post-Christensen world, with no better evidence than this the events at OpenAI.

Previous technology cycles gave rise to new players: desktop computers gave us Microsoft; the internet gave us Google; and smartphones gave us Apple, which rose like a phoenix from its own smouldering ash. These and most other companies in this epoch grew with VC-backing, or with a supportive independent public shareholder base, creating value for millions of citizens along the way.

It didnt take long for incumbents to learn what to look out for and how to avoid disruption.

Today, when a startup breaches the net, Big Tech buys it or tries to destroy it: Meta hoovered up Instagram and WhatsApp when it spotted opposition. Twitter cut off access to its platform to crush Meerkat, a video startup that competed with its own nascent Twitter Live service. Just last month Spotifys CEO Daniel Ek said he would not have been able to launch today because of Apples dominance.

If that sounds bad, things look much worse when viewed through the lens of tech's latest paradigm shift, Artificial Intelligence and the race to a generalised artificial intelligence (AGI). In fact, it is becoming the very opposite of a free market.

Thats because, in a world of AI, the entrance ticket to the big league is through unlimited cash reserves and supercomputer power. By default, the number of people who can play the game is severely limited.

Even the worlds top venture investors, with tens of billions under management, cant compete to keep these companies independent and create new winners that seek to challenge and replace incumbent Big Tech.

Its no wonder: with vast reservoirs of data, colossal R&D budgets, huge networks of spin-off products on which to cross-sell, and unlimited remuneration for employees that ensures escalators of talent are ready to join when Big Tech rolls out the red carpet.

When OpenAI needed investment and computing power to develop its epoch-defining technology, where could it turn? Few places but Microsoft could find $10 billion and enough computing infrastructure to power a small country. In return, Microsoft put a perpetual sole license in place on OpenAIs technology to keep future profits for itself and monopolize innovation for its own ends.

OpenAIs peers have similarly been unable to go it alone: Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have invested billions of dollars in Anthropic, Inflection AI, and more.

Altman, when cast adrift by OpenAI, could have gone it alone. Rumors abound that hundreds of millions of dollars were offered to him to start over. He certainly could have brought the talent. But it seems Microsoft was the only one in the negotiating room. VCs couldnt compete with hundreds of billions for the next technology transition. To highlight the sea change: this might be one of the few moments when Softbanks $100 billion Vision Fund could have solved a real problem.

AI is not the first platform shift stymied by Big Tech either. In self-driving cars, Google and Tesla own the show, and the only independent player Cruise couldnt afford to go it alone becoming a subsidiary of General Motors before eventually losing its founder and CEO too. In virtual reality, Meta and Apple have been the only ones spending tens of billions on what they believe is the replacement for smartphones.

In a world of AI, where Christensens theory of disruptive innovation is practically dead, where does that leave startups and the venture capitalists that invest in them? If monopolies can cherry-pick the highest return ideas, where does this leave the investment in innovation thats needed to tackle huge societal challenges, such as climate change, healthcare, and education?

Does the venture world risk the same fate as public markets: increasingly irrelevant for new capital formation and so decreasingly the place where industries of the future take shape? If so, then a dynamic, sometimes chaotic, but fundamentally diverse ecosystem risks being replaced by a monolith of corporate power.

Government intervention through regulation can only ever be one part of the solution. It should be a last resort to fix market failure or protect against known harms. If it must be done, which I think it must be, it should be fair, balanced, and proportionate.

The European Union has passed laws to tackle Big Techs anti-competitive behaviour and look at protections around AI. The UK is following suit. Cases against Alphabet are with the FTC in the United States right now.

The second part of the solution is more risk capital for startups, just as the tide has turned in the opposite direction.

Now more than ever, pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and banks need to back more venture capital investments. Instead, the opposite is happening: these institutions are pulling back from VC. This is not because they think innovation is over, but simply because interest rates are higher, and their math says holding cash or bonds will be a better bet for the world.

In a world increasingly dominated by tech giants, the role of venture capital becomes not just relevant, but absolutely critical. These institutions should double down on the venture asset class, recognising its potential not only for strong, long-term returns, but also for its role in fostering and helping human creativity, innovations to improve society, and a thriving and dynamic market that benefits us all.

Patrick Murphy is a founding partner atTapestry VC, an early-stage venture capital firm that focuses on backing technical and repeat founders.

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Opinion | Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough – The New York Times

Posted: July 29, 2023 at 8:46 pm

The digital revolution promised amazing new opportunities and it delivered. Digital platforms promoted social interaction, democratized information and gave us hundreds of new ways to have fun.

But digital innovation has had a dark side. Giant digital platforms have provided new avenues of proliferation for the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, human trafficking, drug trafficking and bullying and have promoted eating disorders, addictive behaviors and teen suicide. Parents like Kristin Bride, whose teenage son killed himself after being mercilessly cyberbullied, have shared heartbreaking stories with Congress and the public about the potentially deadly consequences.

Nobody elected Big Tech executives to govern anything, let alone the entire digital world. If democracy means anything, it means that leaders on both sides of the aisle must take responsibility for protecting the freedom of the American people from the ever-changing whims of these powerful companies and their unaccountable C.E.O.s. Today were stepping up to that challenge with a bipartisan bill to treat Big Tech the way we treat other industries.

A few Big Tech companies generate a majority of the worlds internet traffic and essentially control nearly every aspect of Americans digital lives. Platforms are protected from legal liability in many of their decisions, so they operate without accountability. Big Tech companies have far too much unrestrained power over our economy, our society and our democracy. These massive businesses post eye-popping profits while they suppress competition. Google uses its search engine to give preference to its own products, like Google Hotels and Google Flights, giving it an unfair leg up on competitors. Amazon sucks up information from small businesses that offer products for sale on its platform, then uses that information to run its own competing businesses. Apple forces entrepreneurs (and thereby consumers) to pay crushing commissions to use its App Store. A few Big Tech companies stifle all competition before it poses any serious threat.

Big Tech companies also prey on ordinary users. They vacuum up our personal data, often with little care for whether their practices are responsible or even legal. Some Big Tech platforms mislead us when we try to limit the data we share, and they regularly fall prey to massive data leaks that leave us vulnerable to criminal activity, foreign interference and disinformation. Adversaries in China and other countries often store or process our data. And if we want to know how our data is being used or why our posts are being taken down, good luck getting an answer. Were usually in the dark about where our data goes or how it is used.

Enough is enough. Its time to rein in Big Tech. And we cant do it with a law that only nibbles around the edges of the problem. Piecemeal efforts to stop abusive and dangerous practices have failed. Congress is too slow, it lacks the tech expertise, and the army of Big Tech lobbyists can pick off individual efforts easier than shooting fish in a barrel. Meaningful change the change worth engaging every member of Congress to fight for is structural.

For more than a century, Congress has established regulatory agencies to preserve innovation while minimizing harm presented by emerging industries. In 1887 the Interstate Commerce Commission took on railroads. In 1914 the Federal Trade Commission took on unfair methods of competition and later unfair and deceptive acts and practices. In 1934 the Federal Communications Commission took on radio (and then television). In 1975 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission took on nuclear power, and in 1977 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took on electricity generation and transmission. We need a nimble, adaptable, new agency with expertise, resources and authority to do the same for Big Tech.

Our Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act would create an independent, bipartisan regulator charged with licensing and policing the nations biggest tech companies like Meta, Google and Amazon to prevent online harm, promote free speech and competition, guard Americans privacy and protect national security. The new watchdog would focus on the unique threats posed by tech giants while strengthening the tools available to the federal agencies and state attorneys general who have authority to regulate Big Tech.

Our legislation would guarantee common-sense safeguards for everyone who uses tech platforms. Families would have the right to protect their children from sexual exploitation, cyberbullying and deadly drugs. Certain digital platforms have promoted the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, suicidal ideation and eating disorders or done precious little to combat these evils; our bill would require Big Tech to mitigate such harms and allow families to seek redress if they do not.

Americans deserve to know how their data is collected and used and to control who can see it. They deserve the freedom to opt out of targeted advertising. And they deserve the right to go online without, say, some A.I. tools algorithm denying them a loan based on their race or politics. If our legislation is enacted, platforms would face consequences for suppressing speech in violation of their own terms of service. The commission would have the flexibility and agility to develop more expertise and respond to new risks, like those posed by generative A.I.

Our bill would set clear rules for tech companies and impose real consequences for companies that break the law. For the giant companies, anticompetitive practices like exploiting market dominance, tying the sale of one product to another, charging customers different prices for the same product and preventing employees from working for competitors would be prohibited. The bill would set a high bar for mergers and acquisitions by dominant Big Tech platforms and make it possible to block and reverse harmful deals.

Reining in tech giants will be hard, but its a fight worth fighting. If we win, Americans finally will have the tools they need to combat many online evils harming their children and ruining lives. And small businesses will have a fighting chance to innovate and compete in a world dominated by tech monopolies.

No company, no industry and no C.E.O. should be above the law. These reforms will ensure that the next generation of great American tech companies will operate responsibly while remaining on the cutting edge of innovation.

Its time for Congress to act.

Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) has served in the Senate since 2003. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) has served since 2013.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

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Opinion | Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough - The New York Times

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