Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sees an autonomous driving revolution on the horizon, and he intends to lead it. Having ramped up Uber’s robotaxi efforts in recent months, Khosrowshahi is now launching a new division to accelerate the mainstream adoption of autonomous vehicles (AV). Known as Uber Autonomous Solutions, the unit will offer services ranging from…
Sam Altman is pushing back on mounting criticism over the environmental toll of A.I. The OpenAI chief has dismissed claims about A.I.’s water consumption as “fake” and drawn comparisons between the electricity required to power A.I. systems and the energy it takes to develop human intelligence. Figures suggesting that tools like ChatGPT consume multiple gallons…
OpenAI’s latest acqui-hire puts Peter Steinberger, the creator of the open-source A.I. agent OpenClaw, at the center of the fast-moving stage of agentic A.I. The A.I. powerhouse has hired Steinberger to lead its personal agents division, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X on Feb. 15, praising him as “a genius with a lot of…
It was meant to be a simple photo op. To mark a busy day at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week, a lineup of business and political leaders joined India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi onstage, raising their clasped hands in a show of unity. All but two. Standing side by side, OpenAI…
Observer’s inaugural New Media Power List recognizes the individuals who are defining how information, influence and capital move in the digital age. This is not a list about celebrity or follower counts alone, but a rigorous assessment of who holds real power in the new media ecosystem: the creators building loyal audiences outside traditional structures,…
With over 3.5 billion daily active users around the globe, Meta—the company behind Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook—has a reach on roughly 40 percent of the world’s population. That scale gives it a significant advantage in rolling out new technologies, according to Alexandr Wang, the 29-year-old head of A.I. at Meta, who outlined the company’s vision…
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters are mounting a two-front campaign to salvage their $83 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery after WBD reopened the door to a rival bid from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, escalating what could become the largest media merger of the modern era. Paramount has until Feb. 23 to submit…
Tareq Amin, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s largest A.I. company, Humain, has been on a dealmaking blitz since taking the helm of the Kingdom’s national A.I. initiative last year. His latest move: a $3 billion investment in Elon Musk’s xAI. The investment was made during xAI’s $20 billion fundraising round in January, Humain announced today (Feb….
An A.I. model from Google DeepMind shocked mathletes from around the world last year when it secured a gold medal at the prestigious International Mathematical Olympiad. Why, then, do these same models also make mistakes on the most elementary math questions? Such inconsistencies are a sign of A.I.’s “jagged intelligence,” according to DeepMind CEO Demis…
Last month, Ford CEO Jim Farley told The Detroit News ahead of the Detroit Auto Show that vehicles like the Bronco, Raptor and Tremor have become major profit centers for the company. “The off-road business is very unusual because it’s extremely profitable, and the customers love the product, and it’s an enthusiast product,” he said….
