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Meet the new Audience Choice winners to lead breakouts at TechCrunch Sessions: AI

Meet the new Audience Choice winners to lead breakouts at TechCrunch Sessions: AI

Yahoo08-04-2025
You voted. They rose to the top!
Meet the two Audience Choice winners who'll take the breakout stage at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley to share their insights with 1,200 AI leaders and enthusiasts.
We sifted through hundreds of Call for Content submissions and narrowed them down to six standout finalists. Your votes crowned two winners — and now they're ready to share their cutting-edge AI insights live.
Yann Stoneman, staff solutions architect at Cohere: Behind Your Firewall: Secure Generative AI for Regulated Enterprises
Hua Wang, executive director at Global Innovation Forum: The AI Policy Playbook: What Global Startups Need to Know
Session: Ever wonder how to use cutting-edge generative AI in healthcare or finance — without sweating over data privacy? Join Yann for a lively breakout session at TC Sessions: AI. Alongside three expert panelists, Yann will guide an interactive, 50-minute conversation packed with real-world use cases from Cohere's North (agentic AI workspace) and Compass (multimodal retrieval). You'll get practical strategies for deploying secure, customized AI models on your own infrastructure — no external cloud required. Expect hands-on demos, live Q&A, and insights that'll help you build AI solutions safely and confidently, right behind your firewall.
About Yann Stoneman: Yann Stoneman is a staff solutions architect at Cohere, where he helps enterprises deploy secure, customizable AI powered by next-gen foundation models. Previously at AWS, he supported large-scale AI adoption and debuted an AI demo at re:Invent 2023. Yann is a trusted partner for seamless integration and user-friendly AI design. His expertise has been featured at Generative AI World and Voices of Data Science, and on the blogs of Cohere and AWS. He holds a BA from the Juilliard School.
Session: AI gives startups an edge, but regulation can slow them down. This breakout dives into how founders can stay compliant and competitive while scaling globally. Learn how to tap into AI tools for digital trade, navigate evolving data laws, and unlock new markets. We'll cover the policies shaping the future of AI startups and offer real-world strategies to help you expand without the red tape. If you're building, investing in, or regulating AI, this session delivers the insights you need to lead with confidence.
About Hua Wang: Hua leads the Global Innovation Forum (GIF), where she builds bridges between diverse entrepreneurs and the global economy. At GIF, she drives inclusive strategies for trade and digital policy, partnering with business leaders, nonprofits, and international institutions like the World Trade Organization and the UN to unlock global opportunities for underrepresented voices.
From launching a telemedicine startup to helping startups raise $20 million+ as an accelerator director, Hua's career spans entrepreneurship, law, tech, and policy. She's also served as an entrepreneur-in-residence across Chile, Malaysia, and the U.S. A former attorney and banker, Hua holds degrees from Duke and Northwestern Law — and a deep belief in innovation as a driver of global growth.
AI is moving fast — and so should you. Learn how to build behind your firewall with Yann Stoneman and unlock global markets with Hua Wang — two of the audience-chosen breakout leaders you won't want to miss. Save up to $210 on your pass, or bring a crew and save even more. Head to the agenda to see what's in store and grab your ticket before prices jump.
Go beyond attending — exhibit your brand and innovation in front of 1,200 top AI minds. Space is limited, so don't miss your chance to make an impact! Grab your exhibit table here before they run out.
Or, explore more sponsorship opportunities and activations at TC Sessions: AI. Get in touch with our team by filling out this form.
Subscribe to the TechCrunch Events newsletter for early access to special deals and the latest event news.
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Pressure is on for Amazon to deliver strong Q2 earnings results following big beats by Google, Microsoft
Pressure is on for Amazon to deliver strong Q2 earnings results following big beats by Google, Microsoft

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time12 minutes ago

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Pressure is on for Amazon to deliver strong Q2 earnings results following big beats by Google, Microsoft

Amazon (AMZN) will announce its second quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, and the pressure is on to show that its AI investments are paying off. The company's report follows Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) and Microsoft's (MSFT) own blowout announcements, highlighting growth across their respective cloud businesses on the back of increased customer spending on AI. Microsoft reported that its Azure business brought $75 billion in its fiscal 2025, helping to push its market capitalization past the $4 trillion mark in early trading Thursday. Microsoft is only the second company to reach the milestone behind Nvidia (NVDA). Google parent Alphabet offered up its own strong results, noting cloud revenue climbed 32% and backlog, or purchase commitments from customers not yet realized, rose 38%. Search also performed better than expected during the quarter, with sales increasing 12% year over year. Now it's Amazon's turn to show that its AI buildout is driving revenue gains for AWS. The company's stock price is up more than 6% year to date and more than 25% over the last 12 months. Alphabet is up 1.8% year to date and 12% over the last 12 months. Microsoft is up 27% and 28%, respectively. For the quarter, Amazon is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.32 on revenue of $162.1 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. The company saw EPS of $1.26 and revenue of $147.9 in the same quarter last year. AWS revenue is expected to top $30.7 billion, up 17% versus the $26.2 billion it brought in last year. But like Microsoft, Amazon says it's contending with supply constraints as demand for AI outstrips the company's ability to stand up data centers. During the company's Q1 earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon's AI business is a multibillion-dollar annual run rate business and that it's growing triple-digit percentages year-over-year. BofA Global Research analyst Justin Post wrote in an investor note that supply growth should support revenue trends in the second half of the year, which could accelerate AWS revenue. Outside of AWS, Amazon is expected to post online store revenue of $59.1 billion, up 6%, while advertising revenue is anticipated to hit $14.9 billion, a 17% jump. 'The consumer was far more resilient than expected in 2Q, with CEO Andy Jassy saying in May that "we have not seen any attenuation of demand at this point,' Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt wrote in a note to investors ahead of earnings. '[Foreign exchange] should also have a favorable impact to International Retail sales, with the dollar weakening on a [year-over-year] basis versus most European currencies,' he added. Investors will also be on the lookout for any potential tariff impact in retail sales in the quarter and beyond, as President Trump continues to threaten higher levies on countries that don't agree to new trade deals including, most recently, India. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley.

Best stocks: Evaluating Amazon into earnings — don't overreact to stock's first knee-jerk move
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Best stocks: Evaluating Amazon into earnings — don't overreact to stock's first knee-jerk move

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Amazon earnings primer: Why AI and tariffs are key to the second quarter
Amazon earnings primer: Why AI and tariffs are key to the second quarter

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Amazon earnings primer: Why AI and tariffs are key to the second quarter

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