Latest news with #SafeSuperintelligence
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple and Meta are proving it: AI is going corporate
After a fundraising round that pinned the AI startup's value at more than $60 billion, Anthropic ( has enjoyed a vigorous run. The company notched an early court victory over a copyright lawsuit with implications for AI's future, and now it stands in contention to power Apple's new version of Siri. That would place Anthropic's Claude model in one of the most enviable positions in tech. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy This week, Bloomberg reported that Apple is considering using AI technology from outside firms to power an updated version of its assistant, possibly sidelining its own in-house efforts, as part of a broader push to keep pace in the AI arms race. The report comes on the heels of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive recruitment drive to poach top AI researchers and engineers at rival shops. He has offered as much as $100 million to pull outside talent into the Meta fold. On top of that, Zuckerberg had reportedly tried to acquire the AI startup Safe Superintelligence, but after the offer was turned down pursued its CEO instead. Meta also recently invested $14 billion in the data-labeling startup Scale AI and hired its top executive, Alexandr Wang, to help lead a new superintelligence unit inside the company. The intertwining developments capture something important about the business of AI development. They get at how the public views AI's leading upstarts and the tech platforms competing with and courting them. Call it AI's corporate phase. If the last two years were defined largely by the advancements in technology — the splashy presentations and dazzling updates about "compute" — we've now moved on to more refined questions about consumer integration and where these products fit into the tech ecosystem. The focus is moving from feats of research, development, engineering, and infrastructure to triumphs of dealmaking, marketing, and hiring. It's "go-to-market" time, and it's the MBAs' turn now. And that makes sense. And that makes sense. It's harder to refute just how massively capable AI has become and how the conversation around it has broadened, even as incidents where chatbots hallucinate or cite fake sources still repeatedly crop up. That sharpening of AI's skill and capability has another logical conclusion: If Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and the rest continue down their path of ever-increasing power, what exactly differentiates them from each other? What happens when AI becomes a commodity like the internet or even a search engine? Perhaps this is why Apple is content to take this route. If there's one company that has exhibited a mastery of marketing, design, logistics, and consumer relationships, it's the one that has taken the MP3 player, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches from the niche to the mainstream. And even managed to convince people that headphone jacks were unnecessary. Innovation isn't cheap, but when you've been the most valuable company for years, you can probably afford to just buy it. Hamza Shaban is a reporter for Yahoo Finance covering markets and the economy. Follow Hamza on X @hshaban. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta's quest to dominate the AI world
Facebook parent Meta (META) is spending billions to grab the lead in the AI race, building out the data centers needed to develop and power high-end large language models. And now, the company is pouring billions more into snatching up top talent and technologies to grab the lead in the AI wars. Meta is reportedly in talks to bag Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross and former Github CEO Nat Friedman for its planned superintelligence lab. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was initially eyeing all of Safe Superintelligence but was shot down by co-founder Ilya Sutskever, according to CNBC. The move comes after Meta invested $14.3 billion in AI startup Scale AI and hired its CEO and co-founder Alexandr Wang. And during an appearance on his brother Jack Altman's 'Uncapped' podcast, OpenAI ( CEO Sam Altman claimed that Zuckerberg has offered OpenAI employees upward of $100 million to join his company's AI efforts. That's not all: Meta also wanted to buy Perplexity AI ( but couldn't come to terms on a deal. 'Meta is doing this because they want to win the AI race, period,' Forrester analyst Mike Proulx told Yahoo Finance. 'AI is everything right now.' All of this follows Meta's decision to postpone the debut of its massive Llama 4 Behemoth AI model. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company won't launch the model until later this fall over concerns that it isn't a big enough upgrade over prior models. 'I think this is two things: No. 1 [is] confirmation that Llama is struggling,' Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster told Yahoo Finance. 'And second, is [it's] also a sign that Zuckerberg is not OK with that.' For Meta, the goal is clear: bring in as much fresh talent as possible to push its AI program forward and take the lead in the AI wars. Meta's effort to rule the AI world differs from chief rivals OpenAI, Google, xAI, and others. Rather than closing off its AI models, the company offers them as open-source software that developers and companies can use on their own. Meta imposes some restrictions on how users can take advantage of its models. For instance, the company requires firms to request a license from Meta if their product has more than 700 million monthly active users. Regardless, Meta's ultimate goal is to get as many people as it's comfortable with using and developing products via its AI models. Why not charge everyone who wants to access its software? Because Meta benefits every time a company alters its models, giving it greater insights into how it can improve them down the line. Meta isn't terribly interested in selling access to its models, either. The company primarily uses its AI to power its advertising and content recommendation services, unlike, say, Microsoft (MSFT), which sells its AI services as part of its productivity software packages, among other things. Meta CFO Susan Li told investors during the company's most recent earnings call that it saw a 4% increase in user time spent on the Threads app since introducing Llama to its recommendation systems at the end of last year. Meta is also leaning on its AI models to provide the intelligence for its hardware products including its Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses and other future AI-powered devices. 'Why Meta is making these moves is that they've got a ton of money, and so with that money, they are in a good position to, if they can't build it themselves, acquire the talent and capabilities necessary to …leapfrog the competition,' Proulx explained. But Meta isn't the only company circling Silicon Valley's AI upstarts. Apple is also reportedly looking into bagging its own AI company as the iPhone maker looks to improve its own AI fortunes. Apple was supposed to release an AI-powered version of Siri earlier this year, but has pushed the rollout until later this year as it contends with its own development difficulties. To that end, Apple has also discussed purchasing Perplexity AI, according to Bloomberg. While a spokesperson for Perplexity said the company has no knowledge of current or future M&A discussions, they added, 'It shouldn't be a surprise that the best OEM's in the world want to offer the best search and most accurate AI for their users, and that's Perplexity.' Apple rival Samsung is also reportedly looking to add Perplexity to its devices. For Meta, it will all come down to whether it can woo the right people from the right AI firms to join its AI push and catapult the company into the pole position in the AI race. If it can't, the social media giant could find itself falling further without a clear path forward. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta's quest to dominate the AI world
Facebook parent Meta (META) is spending billions to grab the lead in the AI race, building out the data centers needed to develop and power high-end large language models. And now, the company is pouring billions more into snatching up top talent and technologies to grab the lead in the AI wars. Meta is reportedly in talks to bag Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross and former Github CEO Nat Friedman for its planned superintelligence lab. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was initially eyeing all of Safe Superintelligence but was shot down by co-founder Ilya Sutskever, according to CNBC. The move comes after Meta invested $14.3 billion in AI startup Scale AI and hired its CEO and co-founder Alexandr Wang. And during an appearance on his brother Jack Altman's 'Uncapped' podcast, OpenAI ( CEO Sam Altman claimed that Zuckerberg has offered OpenAI employees upward of $100 million to join his company's AI efforts. That's not all: Meta also wanted to buy Perplexity AI ( but couldn't come to terms on a deal. 'Meta is doing this because they want to win the AI race, period,' Forrester analyst Mike Proulx told Yahoo Finance. 'AI is everything right now.' All of this follows Meta's decision to postpone the debut of its massive Llama 4 Behemoth AI model. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company won't launch the model until later this fall over concerns that it isn't a big enough upgrade over prior models. 'I think this is two things: No. 1 [is] confirmation that Llama is struggling,' Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster told Yahoo Finance. 'And second, is [it's] also a sign that Zuckerberg is not OK with that.' For Meta, the goal is clear: bring in as much fresh talent as possible to push its AI program forward and take the lead in the AI wars. Meta's effort to rule the AI world differs from chief rivals OpenAI, Google, xAI, and others. Rather than closing off its AI models, the company offers them as open-source software that developers and companies can use on their own. Meta imposes some restrictions on how users can take advantage of its models. For instance, the company requires firms to request a license from Meta if their product has more than 700 million monthly active users. Regardless, Meta's ultimate goal is to get as many people as it's comfortable with using and developing products via its AI models. Why not charge everyone who wants to access its software? Because Meta benefits every time a company alters its models, giving it greater insights into how it can improve them down the line. Meta isn't terribly interested in selling access to its models, either. The company primarily uses its AI to power its advertising and content recommendation services, unlike, say, Microsoft (MSFT), which sells its AI services as part of its productivity software packages, among other things. Meta CFO Susan Li told investors during the company's most recent earnings call that it saw a 4% increase in user time spent on the Threads app since introducing Llama to its recommendation systems at the end of last year. Meta is also leaning on its AI models to provide the intelligence for its hardware products including its Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses and other future AI-powered devices. 'Why Meta is making these moves is that they've got a ton of money, and so with that money, they are in a good position to, if they can't build it themselves, acquire the talent and capabilities necessary to …leapfrog the competition,' Proulx explained. But Meta isn't the only company circling Silicon Valley's AI upstarts. Apple is also reportedly looking into bagging its own AI company as the iPhone maker looks to improve its own AI fortunes. Apple was supposed to release an AI-powered version of Siri earlier this year, but has pushed the rollout until later this year as it contends with its own development difficulties. To that end, Apple has also discussed purchasing Perplexity AI, according to Bloomberg. While a spokesperson for Perplexity said the company has no knowledge of current or future M&A discussions, they added, 'It shouldn't be a surprise that the best OEM's in the world want to offer the best search and most accurate AI for their users, and that's Perplexity.' Apple rival Samsung is also reportedly looking to add Perplexity to its devices. For Meta, it will all come down to whether it can woo the right people from the right AI firms to join its AI push and catapult the company into the pole position in the AI race. If it can't, the social media giant could find itself falling further without a clear path forward. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time of India
24-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Facebook-parent Meta held talks with Runway before investing in Scale AI: Report
Facebook-parent Meta was in talks to acquire AI video startup Runway before finalizing its $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI , reports CNBC. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report says that the talks with Runway – known for developing AI-powered video generation tools, did not progress and were eventually dropped. The outreach was part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg 's wider efforts to strengthen Meta's artificial intelligence portfolio. Earlier this month, Meta invested $14.3 billion in data-labeling startup Scale AI, taking a 49% stake in a deal. As part of the agreement, Scale's 28-year-old co-founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, will join Meta to lead its new superintelligence unit, a major shift in the tech giant's AI strategy. Other than ScaleAI and Runway, the company has also shown interest in other AI startups this year. The company reportedly approached Safe Superintelligence and Perplexity AI, although it was unable to acquire Safe Superintelligence outright. However, the social media giant managed to hire Daniel Gross, CEO of Safe Superintelligence, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to join its AI team under Wang's leadership. The company's push into AI also ties into its work with the U.S. defense sector. Meta recently teamed up with Anduril Industries to develop augmented reality devices for the U.S. Army. The companies have submitted a joint bid for contracts worth up to $100 million under a broader $22 billion military modernization program. Realme GT 7: 7000mAh Battery, 120W Charging & Flagship Power Under Rs 40K!
CNBC
21-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
After Zuckerberg spent billions on an AI 'dream team,' he has to deliver for Meta shareholders
When Mark Zuckerberg feels the heat, he opens his wallet. The 41-year-old Facebook founder and Meta CEO is on a spending spree like never before in an effort to position his company at the forefront of the artificial intelligence boom and make up for recent costly mistakes in a market that's rapidly revolutionizing the business world. Following last week's stunning $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, which brought with it Meta's hiring of the startup's founder, Alexandr Wang, and a small group of his top staffers, Meta now plans to hire former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and his business partner, Daniel Gross, who had been CEO of $32 billion AI startup Safe Superintelligence, CNBC reported this week. Meta previously tried to buy Safe Superintelligence, which was launched a year ago by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, sources told CNBC. According to other sources, Meta had previously been in talks to buy Perplexity AI, which was valued at $14 billion in a funding round in May. The people who spoke to CNBC about the various dealmaking pursuits asked not to be named due to confidentiality. Zuckerberg told investors at the top of the most recent earnings call in April, "The major theme right now, of course, is how AI is transforming everything we do." At the same time, Meta upped its capital expenditures range for the year to between $64 billion and $72 billion from between $60 billion and $65 billion to reflect more data center investments in AI and potentially higher hardware costs. What Zuckerberg didn't say then is that he was about to start shelling out mounds of cash to revamp his AI organization. "Mark Zuckerberg is in founder mode and he's not going to be stopped," said Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, in an interview on Friday with CNBC's "Money Movers." Luria has a buy rating on the stock, but said that to win in AI, Meta needs to be successful with the next round, with the dream team that they're building." At Meta, AI is being embedded across the company, from its core online advertising unit and Instagram algorithms to its effort to build the metaverse. Better AI models and technology enhance the company's existing business, both by improving ad targeting and by bringing down costs. However, the building of fundamental models used by the vast community of developers — where the company competes with Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and others — is where Meta is viewed by many as a laggard. Meta's unique open-source approach is built around the Llama family of models. Its most recent update in April, the Llama 4 AI models, was not well received by developers. At the time, Meta only released two smaller versions of Llama 4 and said it would eventually release a bigger and more powerful "Behemoth" model. "On the heels of a successful rollout of Llama 3 a year ago, Llama 4 that came out this year was an absolute failure, almost by his admission," Luria said, referring to Zuckerberg. "Meta can't afford to fail in having the leading AI model. So they're out in the marketplace desperately trying to replace their AI team right now." Meta didn't respond to a request for comment for this story. Bringing on Scale AI's Wang was Zuckerberg's most headline-grabbing move yet. While Meta is gaining a 49% stake in the startup, Zuckerberg's real prize in the deal was hiring Wang, a dropout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who started his company at age 19. Zuckerberg then turned his attention to Github's Friedman and Gross, who have been investing together at their venture firm NFDG. They will work on products under Wang, one source familiar with the matter told CNBC on Thursday. Meta, meanwhile, will get a stake in NFDG, according to multiple sources. A Meta spokesperson didn't comment on the planned hires and said the company "will share more about our superintelligence effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks." Not all of Zuckerberg's recruits are costing billions of dollars. Some are in the tens or hundreds of millions. That's according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman said on the latest episode of the "Uncapped" podcast, which his brother hosts, that Meta has tried to lure OpenAI employees by offering signing bonuses as high as $100 million, with even larger annual compensation packages. "I've heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor," Altman said on the podcast. "Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things." Meta technology chief Andrew Bosworth told CNBC's "Closing Bell Overtime" on Friday that Altman is countering the offers. "The market is setting a rate here for a level of talent which is really incredible and kind of unprecedented in my 20-year career as a technology executive," said Bosworth, who joined Meta in 2006. Wall Street is mostly giving Zuckerberg the benefit of the doubt, for now. Meta shares were flat this week after slipping about 2% last week. Shares are still up 17% for the year, outpacing the Nasdaq and all the company's megacap peers. Analysts at Argus maintained their buy recommendation on the stock this week and lifted their price target to $790 a share from $725 a share. The stock closed on Friday at $682.35. "The company's ability to capitalize on GenAI advances in advertising targeting is a particularly relevant opportunity to drive advertising spending, which is the company's lifeblood," the Argus analysts wrote. D.A. Davidson's Luria said that Zuckerberg has put more pressure on himself to turn Meta into a long-term AI leader, but said he won't bet against him. Luria said: "The last time Mr. Zuckerberg felt like he was under the gun," he snapped up Instagram for $1 billion, a deal that set the stage for Facebook to become a dominant player in mobile. That was in 2012, just as Facebook was about to hit the public market. Luria also highlighted Zuckerberg's controversial $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp two years later. He sees the Meta CEO making an equally bold wager in AI. "He's going to rebuild the team and they're going to come back," Luria said.
