Shows / TechCheck
TechCheck
Where Silicon Valley meets Wall Street, TechCheck dives deep into stocks, trades, trends and opportunities focused on new technologies while highlighting news from mega-cap heavyweights, social media darlings, streaming giants, growth software and red-hot disruptors. Everyday TechCheck delivers investors what they need to know with compelling in-depth reporting and analysis from investors, analysts and leaders in the industry.
Episodes
- TechCheck
Approaching a GenAI Plateau? 11/11/24
Traffic to ChatGPT is booming, now ranked the 8th most-visited website worldwide, according to Similarweb. But its incredible rise comes right as concerns in…
- TechCheck
Why AI’s Next Phase Could Break Nvidia’s Moat 11/8/24
The next phase of AI development involves inference, the stage in which the models that have been trained are applied and generate responses. There…
- TechCheck
Gig Economy and Ride-sharing Under Trump 11/7/24
The incoming Trump administration and Elon Musk’s role in it could be a new catalyst in the equation of how robotaxis will impact ridesharing. Lyft and Uber…
- TechCheck
AI Trade Acceleration Under Trump 11/06/24
The impact of a second Trump administration on the AI trade: less regulation, potentially more volatility, and the China threat could all mean faster…
- TechCheck
Defense Adoption of AI Technology 11/5/24
The focus for big tech this earnings season has been finding ways to monetize AI – and one use that’s emerged is the military. Shares of Palantir surged after…
- TechCheck
AI Search Faces Election Test 11/4/24
As users search for election and voting information in new ways, generative AI startups may have the solution -- proving nimbler with less to lose than big…
- TechCheck
Cloud Strength Justifies AI Spend 11/1/24
AI is the next catalyst for growth for the hyperscalers Amazon, Microsoft and Google – but whether it can offset spending is still unsettled. Alphabet’s…
- TechCheck
Apple’s AI Differentiation, Plus OpenAI Takes on Google Search 10/31/24
The market still hasn’t seen any examples of huge success in AI monetization for consumer-facing products, but Apple is differentiated in that its AI is free…
TechCheckTechCheck+ How OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's lobbying power tamed Washington 10/31/24
Come Election Day, the future of big tech won’t be decided by either presidential candidate. Instead, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman has emerged as one…
- TechCheck
AI Helps Google’s Efficiency Push 10/30/24
Shares of Alphabet jumped after reporting a big Q3 beat, reporting strong growth in cloud, search and YouTube. But one number you might not have seen yet: over…
- TechCheck
Alphabet and AMD Q3 On Deck 10/29/24
A big check on AI demand and spending is coming after the bell when Alphabet and AMD both report third-quarter results. Investors are looking to AMD’s print to…
- TechCheck
X-Energy CEO on Amazon Investment, Plus Bret Taylor on Sierra’s New Funding Round 10/28/24
As power-hungry tech companies work to fuel AI data centers, the race for nuclear energy is on. Amazon led a $500 million investment into X-Energy, which…
- TechCheck
Waymo Closes $5.6B Funding Round 10/25/24
Alphabet -owned Waymo just announcing a new $5.6B funding round led by its parent company with participation from investors including Fidelity, a16z, Silver…
TechCheckTechCheck+ OpenAi’s Head of Global Policy Chris Lehane 10/24/24
As AI becomes more mainstream, the debate on how to regulate it is starting to take center stage. Recently OpenAI hired Chris Lehane as its head of global…
- TechCheck
Apple’s AI Hurdles in China 10/23/24
Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China for the second time this year, meeting with officials and pledging increased investment as the iPhone-maker faces growing…
- TechCheck
Anthropic Pulls Ahead in AI Agent Race 10/22/24
Would you give AI permission to take over your computer? The startup Anthropic hopes so, unveiling a new "Computer Use" tool that would let its Claude chatbot…
- TechCheck
Google’s Reorganization Puts AI In Front 10/18/24
Google shares fell on news of an AI reorganization, announcing it’s moving the Gemini Apps team under DeepMind and shifting a search and ads executive to a…
- TechCheck
Uber Explores Expedia Takeover Bid, Plus Google Exec on Viral AI Podcast Tool 10/17/24
Shares of Uber and Expedia were on the move today’s session after reports that Uber had explored a takeover bid for Expedia. Plus, Google’s realistic…
- TechCheck
Amazon Lands Databricks Chips Deal 10/15/24
The mad dash to develop and deploy AI chips is intensifying, with Amazon now inking a new deal with the startup Databricks in which it’ll use Amazon’s custom…
- TechCheck
California Rejects More SpaceX Launches, Plus Nextdoor’s Hurricane Response 10/14/24
A big step this weekend for SpaceX's bid to develop reusable rockets, successfully catching a descending rocket booster on the launch pad with mechanical…
- TechCheck
Waymo Pulls Ahead in Robotaxi Race 10/11/24
After Tesla’s Robotaxi day, the focus has been on Uber with shares up 8%. But the biggest winner is with the widest lead is actually Alphabet’s Waymo, already…
- TechCheck
OpenAI Report Outlines Dangers of AI-Generated Misinformation 10/10/24
A new report from OpenAI on cyber operations and dangerous actors' use of AI could be a signal that companies are feeling the pressure to take AI-generated…
- TechCheck
Google’s Regulatory Overhangs, Plus Hindenburg Shorts Roblox 10/8/24
Google’s regulatory headaches continue. A judge, yesterday, ordered the Alphabet-subsidiary to open up its Google Play app store as part of the Epic Games…
- TechCheck
Presidential Election Divides Silicon Valley 10/7/24
The presidential election is continuing to sow divisions in Silicon Valley. Two giants of the tech industry are now coming out on opposite sides, after Ben…
TechCheckTechCheck+ Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang 10/4/24
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- TechCheck
Google’s Viral Podcast Tool 10/3/24
Google recently released a new AI-generated podcast-making tool called NotebookLM – and it’s gone viral on X and in the tech world. We tested it out using CNBC…
- TechCheck
Nvidia Looks to Expand AI Adoption with Accenture Deal 10/2/24
Nvidia and Accenture announced a partnership today, aiming to set the blueprint for how to begin integrating AI into the workplace and drive productivity…
- TechCheck
AI Safety Regulation Bill Blocked 9/30/24
A controversial AI safety bill died on California governor Gavin Newsom’s desk over the weekend -- a sweeping bill would have been one of the first moves…
- TechCheck
Microsoft’s New Antitrust Chapter 9/25/24
Google has filed a complaint in the EU against its rival Microsoft, accusing it of unfairly locking clients into using its cloud product. But the suit could be…
- TechCheck
New Threats to Google’s Ad Dominance, Plus Sam Altman’s Growing Empire 9/23/24
In a new threat to Google’s ad dominance, AI search startup Perplexity is in talks with major brands on a new advertising model for sponsored questions. We…
- TechCheck
Temu’s Growth Slowdown 9/20/24
Shares of Facebook parent company Meta are still hitting fresh all-time highs today. But one potential headwind could be a slowdown in growth at one of its…
- TechCheck
23andMe’s Downward Spiral 9/19/24
23andMe could get delisted from the Nasdaq after all 7 members of its board resigned this week. CEO Anne Wojcicki is a big name in Silicon Valley but has…
- TechCheck
White House Meets with Top AI Leaders on Energy Demand 9/12/24
The AI boom is putting a big strain on America’s energy grid, as big tech companies scramble for more energy capacity by buying up nuclear-powered data centers…
- TechCheck
Waymo’s Robotaxi Race 9/11/24
The race to perfect the robotaxi is on. Tesla is prepping for its October 10 self-driving event as Waymo raises industry standards with a brand new safety…
- TechCheck
Glean Funding Round, Plus Oracle’s AI Boom 9/10/24
Funding for AI startups is still white hot. The search startup Glean just announced a new funding round that would double its valuation in just six months…
- TechCheck
Apple’s Growing China Competition, Plus Google’s New Ad Tech Battle 9/9/24
Apple’s biggest competition in China, Huawei, is trying to upstage the company with a smartphone event showdown. Its triple-folding phone is unveiling tonight…
- TechCheck
Tesla’s AI Promises, Plus Apple’s High-Stakes Event 9/6/24
Shares of Tesla are sinking today, giving back its gains for the week but still outperforming the rest of the megacaps as investors bank on its proposition…
- TechCheck
AI Startup’s $1 Billion Seed Round 9/5/24
Valuations for AI startups are continuing to skyrocket. This time, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever raising a whopping $1 billion as a seed round for his AI…
- TechCheck
Google’s Big Antitrust Week, Plus VC Take on IPO Pipeline 9/4/24
Antitrust pressure against Google is ramping up this week, with a joint filing today from Google and the DOJ outlining their timeline for remedies from the…
TechCheckTechCheck+ Big Tech’s AI Talent Raid 8/30/24
Megacaps including Microsoft, Google and Amazon have been getting creative with how they’re poaching talent from top AI startups. Google with Character.ai…
- TechCheck
Klarna to Halve Workforce with AI, Plus Box CEO Post-Earnings 8/28/24
Salesforce earnings tonight a major test of AI's impact on the software winter, especially after the CEO of Buy Now Pay Later giant Klarna said he aims to use…
- TechCheck
Tech Divided Over AI Regulation 8/27/24
Elon Musk has now come out in support of a California bill to regulate AI safety, in stark contrast to big names including Google, Meta, OpenaAI and Andreessen…
- TechCheck
Telegram CEO Arrest Sparks Free Speech Debate 8/26/24
Telegram CEO Arrest Sparks Free Speech Debate Description: The founder of the Dubai-based app Telegram was arrested in France this weekend as part of an…
- TechCheck
Chinese E-commerce Headwinds, Plus AI’s Copyright Crisis 8/21/24
There were more headwinds today for China’s already-slumping consumer and e-commerce demand, after Walmart announced it was completely offloading its stake in…
- TechCheck
Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal Weighs on Bank Lenders, Plus Shein Sues Temu 8/20/24
Some of the world’s biggest banks loaned Elon Musk $13 billion to secure the social platform Twitter, now X. But according to new data from Pitchbook, the…
- TechCheck
Google’s IPO 20 Years Later 8/19/24
20 years ago today, Google debuted on the Nasdaq with a $23 billion market cap as a mere search engine company. Today, it’s now ballooned to a $2 trillion…
TechCheckTechCheck+ Big Tech: Too Big to Split 8/16/24
After losing a landmark antitrust case over its dominance in the search market, Google is now facing the real threat of a court-mandated breakup of the search…
- TechCheck
Waymo’s Speed Bumps 8/15/24
Waymo’s self-driving cars are all over San Francisco roads. But at night, they park themselves and recently have been honking and keeping one neighborhood’s…
- TechCheck
Google’s Tries to Meet the AI Moment 8/13/24
Google’s hardware event, Made by Google, kicked off today where the megacap unveiled new AI-focused features including Gemini Live, a conversational voice…
- TechCheck
Tech’s Outsized Role in the 2024 Election 8/12/24
As election campaigning heats up, tech has been playing an outsized role in the elections. For Vice President Harris, who has deep roots to San Francisco, tech…
- TechCheck
The Megacap Startup Diet 8/7/24
GenAI startup darlings are dropping like flies. Some of the most promising are increasingly being swallowed up by megacaps as they struggle to find viable…
- TechCheck
Big Tech’s $1 Trillion Wipeout 8/5/24
The extent of the tech sell-off today has been staggering, with billions of dollars wiped out from the Magnificent 7 alone in just the first two hours of…
- TechCheck
Intel Shares Freefall on Q2 Miss, Massive Cost-Cutting Plan 8/2/24
Shares of Intel are on pace for their worst day in 50 years after a tough second-quarter result. The chipmaker also announced a massive, $10 billion…
- TechCheck
Apple Earnings on Deck: What to Watch 8/1/24
Some key themes to watch ahead of Apple earnings include signs the iPhone sales slump is coming to an end, whether new AI features will drive an upgrade cycle…
- TechCheck
JD Vance Visits Silicon Valley 7/29/24
In Palo Alto, the epicenter of tech and VC money, JD Vance is headlining a fundraiser tonight hosted by a cryptocurrency executive where tickets are going for…
- TechCheck
SearchGPT Takes on Google, Plus Tech Tumble Pressures Earnings 7/26/24
OpenAI just announced the prototype of a search engine called SearchGPT that now puts the pressure on Google, with what the startup says are more natural and…
- TechCheck
Streaming’s Role in Sports Rights, Plus Capex Concerns Weigh on Semis 7/25/24
The NBA is announcing a $76 billion TV rights deal with ESPN, Amazon and NBC Sports, essentially a snub to NBA’s longtime partner Warner Bros Discovery. We…
- TechCheck
Google’s Capex Problem, Plus Semis Drag On Market 7/24/24
One lesson from Alphabet earnings that we can expect from all megacaps this season: it's not cheap to be a hyperscaler in the age of AI. CEO Sundar Pichai told…
- TechCheck
Wiz Walks from Google Deal 7/23/24
The cloud security startup Wiz is now walking away from a monster $23B deal to be bought by Google, telling employees it'll opt instead to pursue an IPO…
TechCheckTechCheck+ AI’s trillion dollar time bomb 7/19/24
There’s a time bomb ticking in the AI space: spending is too high, and returns are too low. Megacaps like Meta, Google and Amazon have seen capex spending…