Sundar Pichai proved to be the “wartime CEO” that Google needed after ChatGPT's launch, making the company an AI leader, in part by empowering Demis Hassabis
Dave Lee / Bloomberg :
Sources: Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd says Bumble's “center of gravity” will move to the US where the “talent pool is right now”; 70% of its staff is UK-based
Amazing that Bumble's staff weren't charmed by their CEO's approach.... [images] Christopher Mims / @mims : “Dating apps are feeling like a thing of the past” says [checks notes] CEO of a dating app ...
Memo: Meta reorganizes its AI teams into an AI products team and AGI Foundations; FAIR remains separate but one specific FAIR team is moving to AGI Foundations
Ina Fried / Axios : Bluesky: @davelee.me . X: @shakeelhashim and @andrewcurran_ Bluesky: Dave Lee / @davelee.me : Is this like when you rub the batteries together to make the remote control work agai...
Reddit's S-1 shows how dependent the site is on the unpaid labor of 60K active daily moderators and the whims of its users and subreddits like r/WallStreetBets
The company's IPO prospectus makes clear how dependent it is on unpaid labor and the whims of its community. Threads: @nixcraft and @daveleebbg . X: @eshear Threads: @nixcraft : Reddit is going public...
Sources: Amazon begins layoffs in its Alexa, Kindle, and Halo hardware teams, as part of the planned ~10K cuts, as investors anticipate a broader downsizing
Dave Lee / Financial Times :
Inside Facebook's clubby network of invitation-only advertiser groups, called client councils, which use a mix of perks and pressure to keep brands close
rather than action — will suffice in the face of criticism https://www.ft.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : “Carolyn's councils” Facebook and Google employ a similar strategy. Make companies and exec...
Tim Bray, a well known senior engineer and VP at Amazon, resigns after nearly six years, criticizing the company on his blog for firing protesting workers
’ says Google, Comcast, and Huawei got in touch Kelly Earley / Silicon Republic : Amazon exec quits after company fires employee activists Chris Mills Rodrigo / The Hill : Amazon VP resigns after firi...
Profile of Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, as the social network becomes a hub to help neighbors during the pandemic with DAUs up 80% globally from February to March
Financial Times : Tweets: @daveleeft Tweets: Dave Lee / @daveleeft : I'm sorry, but how adorable is the FT's cartoon of Next Door's Sarah Friar? Great piece by @MsHannahMurphy about the woman who is ...
A profile of Hipcamp, a platform for campsite booking where listings include off-grid plots, RV hookups, ski huts, farmhouses, tepees, tree houses, and cabins
Can a startup save the wilderness by disrupting it? — In Northern California, booking a public campsite is a blood sport. Tweets: @annawiener , @erikbl , @lennysan , @gpaddymanning , @daveleebbc , a...
Report on Uber recommends board oversight committee, reevaluated cultural values, reducing alcohol use at work events, prohibiting boss-employee relationships
here's what people are saying Globe and Mail : Uber CEO Travis Kalanick to take leave of absence Marisa Kendall / Mercury News : Uber CEO Travis Kalanick takes leave of absence as troubles plague comp...