TechCheck

Databricks is announcing an eye-popping $10 billion funding round at a $62 billion dollar valuation, one of the largest in Silicon Valley history. Investors include Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz as Databricks looks well positioned in the next phase of AI generative AI adoption. We look at what the ballooning Silicon Valley funding rounds mean amid Wall Street's IPO drought. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son joined President Trump at Mar-a-Lago this morning to announce a $100 billion dollar investment in the U.S. over the next four years. The AI-focused investment comes as Washington’s hunger for the emerging technology grows, and Softbank shows signs of refining their own AI strategy. We dig into what sets this apart from Son’s 2016, $50 billion dollar investment after Trump’s first win.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tech leaders are previewing their playbook for Trump’s second term. Including trips to Mar-a-Lago, and larger donations to the inaugural fund. So will it translate into warmer relations between Trump's new White House and some of the Silicon Valley leaders he's long railed against? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deirdre Bosa sits down with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins to talk the outlook for business under a new Trump Presidency and how AI is creating a boom for new digital infrastructure. Plus, the latest developments from the Barclays Global Tech Conference in San Francisco.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Google is announcing its more powerful Gemini 2.0 model, which will power its AI search tool “Overviews.” It means the company is now getting new capabilities like reasoning into the hands of more than a billion users, in contrast to OpenAI’s 12 days of Ship-Mas, where it released a full version of its model to a far smaller group of users.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Generative AI has developed so quickly in the past two years, massive breakthroughs seemed more a question of “when” rather than “if.” But in recent weeks, Silicon Valley has become increasingly concerned that advancements are slowing. One early indication is the lack of progress between models released by the biggest players in the space. OpenAI is reportedly facing a significantly smaller increase in quality for its next model GPT-5, while Anthropic has delayed the release of its most powerful model Opus, according to wording that was removed from its website. Even at tech giant Google, its upcoming version of Gemini is reportedly not living up to internal expectations. If progress is plateauing, it would call into question a core assumption that Silicon Valley has treated as religion: scaling laws. The idea is that adding more computing power and more data guarantees better models to an infinite degree. But those recent developments suggest they may be more theory than law. The key problem could be that AI companies are running out of data to train models on, hitting what experts call the “data wall.” Instead, they’re turning to synthetic data, or AI-generated data. CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa explores whether AI progress is slowing, and what it means for the industry. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President-elect Trump has selected venture capitalist David Sacks as his pick for White House AI & Crypto Czar, a role that involves two of the most important emerging technologies. It’s also a signal of the growing influence that Silicon Valley is wielding over the new administration, as the impact of tech elites like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen also expand.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The new frontier emerging in AI is 3D world-generating models, where you input text, an image or a video and generate a modifiable 3D world. Plus, OpenAI launched two new updates today -- a better version of one of its models and a $200 per month pro tier.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Spotify is now jumping on the AI hype train, teaming up with Google to use their viral AI podcast tool for the 2024 Wrapped, helping users generate customized content about their listening habits this year. It could be what Google needs to supercharge the feature’s reach with more consumers.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Intel are extending yesterday’s drop after popping initially on the news of Pat Gelsinger’s retirement. It could be because investors are digging further into the chip giant’s issues, and finding the challenges run deeper than who’s at the helm – instead reaching the board, which lacks technical expertise more than other semiconductor peers.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.