TechCheck

Airbnb has made a rare acquisition, its first as a public company and only its third ever, valued at close to $200 million… Why the battle for AI talent has just begun. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Biden set to meet face-to-face with China's President Xi Wednesday. Today on TechCheck, why both sides are hoping to stabilize tensions amid a downward spiral in relations… and why business and tech in particular are the areas to watch. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WeWork took us on a wild ride. A real estate company disguised as a tech startup, holding long-term leases and turning them around for short-term rentals. It was always a risky proposition, made more so in an era of low interest rates and a “growth at all costs” mentality. And Adam Neumann’s particular blend of salesmanship, cult personality, and huge risk-taking only added to the fire. WeWork would come crashing down, not once, but twice. Now, some are wondering, does Adam Neumann return, and should he? This week on Tech Check, we dig into WeWork’s next chapter – who’s left holding the bag after the implosion, and what comes next. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The APEC summit is coming to San Francisco. President Biden and China’s President Xi are set to meet next. Today, how Chinese companies continue to find ways to benefit from American technology and consumers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The story of SoftBank -- This quarter should have been Masayoshi Son’s victory lap. But WeWork is back to spoil those plans as losing bets continue to weigh on what has become one of the biggest tech investors in the world. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amazon is expanding its Prime membership program… and the new perk: access to doctors, primary care physicians, for a fee. Today, a check-up on Amazon’s continued push into health care. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Think again! WeWork… didn’t work. It has filed for bankruptcy. The final chapter – chapter 11… or is it? The winners and losers of the WeWork saga, does Adam Neumann return, and who’s left holding the bag. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A reason to worry for the biggest tech stocks… Is growth slipping, and are investments in AI just masking the problem. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Electric vehicles were supposed to be the wave of the future. Tesla and traditional automakers made big plans to invest in factories, battery manufacturing and the EVs themselves, but that’s all slowing down. This week on TechCheck, we dive into what’s behind the speed bumps. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sam Bankman Fried found guilty on all seven counts. Today – a special look-back at the blockbuster FTX trial from inside the court room… and what it MIGHT mean going forward. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

China is Apple’s strength and, now, liability. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The “Airbnbust”.... that never materialized. How rising rates are actually helping the company’s bottom line. Today on TechCheck, it’s all about interest income. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Spookiest bear cases in tech… From Apple to Amazon to Uber, what are the plausible, but low probability outcomes that could deaden these stocks. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Biden Administration rolled out sweeping rules meant to create guardrails around the nascent AI industry. Is it good for tech or limiting for tech? Nilay Patel, James Pethokoukis and Eamon Javers discuss. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amazon was a bright spot in tech earnings, giving investors what they wanted. But some major questions remain for the quarters ahead – today, the three that amazon needs to answer. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apple can thank China for much of its success. In the early days, as Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy, it pivoted its manufacturing to China, capitalizing on a massive low-wage workforce, billions in government stimulus to build out enormous factories, and the loyalty of a rapidly growing middle class. But now, what was once a key to its success has become a liability. In just the past few weeks, it’s seen a tax investigation into its biggest manufacturer, accusations of censorship around Jon Stewart’s canceled show, and has lost its market share dominance to competitor Huawei. This week on Tech Check, we dive into Apple’s China problem, and why it’s not going anywhere. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The NASDAQ is slumping… Tech stocks are rolling over… But why? Growth is strong. AI provides a narrative. And the economy isn’t in bad shape. Today: the fundamentals story within tech. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

More details emerge around the suspension of Cruise robo-taxis in San Francisco… The battle over autonomous vehicles. And what the latest numbers from Microsoft and Alphabet tell us about Meta and Amazon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What’s most important about megacap tech earnings – Microsoft & Alphabet. Plus, a major development in the battle over driverless cars in San Francisco. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Higher yields yield big changes in tech, in both megacaps and startups. Today, how the price of money is making its presence felt from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Netflix has quietly been building out a library of more than 70 video games as part of an ambitious new push to become a gaming giant, testing out a cloud gaming service and posting job openings for its first big-budget, blockbuster game. But it's a notoriously tough market to break into, one that many tech and media giants have tried at and failed. The undertaking is just one of a slew of new business lines that the Netflix has been experimenting with, and they're more important than ever as its stock lags behind the megacaps it used to be on par with. This week on Tech Check, we dive into Netflix's new side quest. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s the eve of big tech earnings - Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, four of the magnificent seven, set to report next week. It’s all about the forecast, about what they saw in the third quarter, and what they see coming down the pike in Q4… Plus the promise versus the economics of AI. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is reportedly closing in on an $86 billion valuation… why it’s selling shares now… to whom… and its very unorthodox ‘capped profit’ corporate structure. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deirdre is in the field at the Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit, where she sits down with Kim Posnett, Goldman’s Global Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Group within Global Banking & Markets – where she works on some of the biggest tech deals, M&A and IPOs. Plus an interview with Dropbox CEO Drew Houston about his outlook for AI spending. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Another round of layoffs hit the tech sector, just as they gear up for earnings season -- margin expansion versus capex expansion. Plus Tim Cook’s surprise visit to China. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As earnings season kicks off, why tech is more important than the banks; how AI could kill the “year of efficiency;” and the spicy vs garpy mega-caps Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New numbers from OpenAI reveal exponential growth. The darling of generative AI continues to fire on all cylinders. But can it become more than a chatbot and live up to its now giant expectations? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Temu appears unstoppable. Since the Chinese shopping app launched in the U.S. a year ago, it has become the number one e-commerce app in the country, with downloads skyrocketing 50x from 600,000 to 30 million in just one quarter, according to Bernstein analysts. In contrast, Amazon’s downloads have dropped off a cliff, falling 40% in a year. Known for wild discounts and dirt-cheap prices that severely undercut Amazon’s, Temu has ratcheted up its ad spend to infiltrate the American consumer, set to spend an estimate $2 billion in marketing in 2023. This week on Tech Check, we dive how Temu has hit Amazon’s weak spots to take the country by storm. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried saw a meteoric rise as crypto’s golden boy and an even more spectacular fall as his $32 billion cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, collapsed in a matter of days. CNBC's Kate Rooney spoke with Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital, about his front-row seat to the collapse and what it was like to visit SBF while his empire was crumbling around him. For the full Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX saga, watch the CNBC documentary "The Collapse of FTX: Insiders Tell All". Available now at cnbc.com/ftx and YouTube here: https://youtu.be/XqwGt69pDXQ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The IPO window of 2023 was short, not very sweet, and now likely closed as we head into the year end. Many of the recent debuts, including Birkenstock, Arm, Instacart and Klaviyo are down 10% or more from their highs, all before the lock-up period has expired when insiders can sell their shares. There are a number of factors that could be behind the stumbles, including company fundamentals, bankers mispricing the listing, and market conditions. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa and Marc Golbert discuss Amazon Prime Day and Birkenstock's IPO price, the state of direct-to-consumer retail models, and Birkenstock’s unique approach to DTC business. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As Amazon’s second sales event of the year kicks off, every day seems like a deal day on e-commerce apps like Temu and Shein. Temu, in particular, is far outpacing Amazon in terms of growth, and might be capturing American shoppers by gamifying the experience. Ben Harburg of MSA Capital joins us to talk about the Temu effect and the rising anxiety that it’s going to displace everyone from Amazon to Dollar Stores to Costco. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The chip designer Arm gained a number of bulls today as its post-debut quiet period ends, with more than 10 firms involved in underwriting the IPO initiating coverage of the company at a “buy” rating or equivalent, despite the stock being down more than 20% from the intra-day high after it IPO-ed. That’s good news for Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, as Arm has become his firm’s new crown jewel after Alibaba, going from a 12% stake in March last year to 22% as of June this year. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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AI startups are continuing to raise money by the bucketful. This time, it’s the chatbot maker Anthropic, which is reportedly in talks to raise $2 billion from Google and other companies, giving it an eye-popping $20 billion to $30 billion valuation. Plus, two of Biden’s top antitrust regulators gave an update today on the administration’s efforts to hold big tech accountable, just a few weeks into the DOJ’s landmark case against Google. The DOJ’s Jonathan Kanter said he’s been surprised about how many comments in his case are coming from ordinary workers, and the FTC’s Lina Khan talked about the failure to push back against corporate consolidation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shares of Apple are up fractionally today despite a rare downgrade from KeyBanc - laying out an alternative view from what most analyst have been saying going into Apple's most important quarter of the year. The analyst joined Tech Check, describing his concerns including rich valuations nearing all-time-highs, U.S. iPhone sales softening, and international growth under pressure. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nvidia’s new strategy to dominate the future of AI might lie in the cloud. A report from The Information says Nvidia talked to at least one data center owner about leasing space to power its own cloud service - requiring major investment but could also be a big source of new revenue. Plus, Microsoft will soon try to generate meaningful sales directly from AI with the launch of its new AI assistant Co-Pilot for business customers. It costs nearly $30 per user per month, but some customers testing an early version say they’re seeing a big boost to productivity. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After a big September selloff, megacap tech stocks might be cheap again. P/E ratios have fallen steeply and are at their biggest discount since Jan. 2017 as analysts continue to boost their earnings estimates for the next fiscal year, according to Goldman Sachs. Plus, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today took the stand in the DOJ’s antitrust trial against Google, and explained why it’s so hard to compete against the tech giant’s search engine dominance. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Biden signaled an aggressive new agenda to curb the power of companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta when he appointed Lina Khan, Jonathan Kanter, and Tim Wu – a trio of the toughest antitrust regulators to hold them accountable. Instead, two years in, big tech is bigger and more powerful than ever. This week on Tech Check, we dive into the toothless regulators and their upcoming showdowns that could be make-or-break for them, and for the dominance of big tech. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As Q3 inches to a close, tech stocks have had a rough end to the summer and a rough ride lower in September. But Apple is really the culprit, because of its oversized weighting in broader. Plus, though China has been a key overhang for the market, there are signs beneath the headlines that American companies are still making inroads, as Nike reports tailwinds from Chinese consumers, and Chinese internet regulators propose relaxing rules on data flows abroad. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The FTC is now targeting Amazon in a new antitrust suit, alleging it’s running an illegal monopoly, with Lina Khan saying the e-commerce giant’s tactics deprive rivals of the ability to gain customers. But Amazon might actually now be facing more competition than ever - including from upstarts like Shopify, which just announced an investment in wholesale platform Faire, further entrenching Shopify as an Amazon alternative for sellers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The FTC and 17 states filed a antitrust suit today alleging Amazon inflates online prices and overcharges sellers. The agency and FTC chair Lina Khan’s credibility are at stake in this massive case. Khan badly needs a win -- she made her name in law school by targeting the tech giant, but during her tenure, she’s only allowed the Prime ecosystem to get stronger and more entrenched. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Amazon is investing up to $4 billion in startup Anthropic as it looks to stake a claim in the AI arms race. Both stand to benefit: Amazon, with a buzzy customer for its custom AI chips and a minority stake in one of the early applications of generative AI, while Anthropic gets a big backer and AWS’ compute power. This isn’t, however, the exclusive partnership with Microsoft and OpenAI inked earlier this year, since Anthropic already received a partnership and investment from Google in May. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some of the biggest, most highly-anticipated IPOs of the last few years have fallen short, burning investors who thought they were buying a technology stock. Peloton, WeWork, Blue Apron, and StitchFix all might have called themselves tech companies, but their growth ended up being hugely restricted by real-world limitations. So as a new wave of IPOs begin, investors might be struggling to determine where Instacart falls. This week on Tech Check, we dive into the grocery delivery app and ask, is Instacart really a tech company? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Microsoft looks to be closing in on its acquisition of Activision, after regulators in the United Kingdom signaled approval. The deal might be an example of how companies can ride out the stricter regulatory scrutiny under the Biden administration, adding to a string of blows that could leave corporate America feeling emboldened to pursue more deals. Plus, Apple’s newest iPhone went on sale around the world today, with Tim Cook opening an Apple store in New York City as part of the festivities. After three straight quarters of declining revenue and a fourth expected, the pressure is on for this launch. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cisco’s $28 billion acquisition of Splunk signals where the company wants to go: a legacy tech hardware company trying to pivot to software and services, in a bid to help topline growth and give it heft in two of the buzziest tech subsectors, cybersecurity and AI. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CNBC's Dierdre Bosa spoke with Instacart CEO, Fidji Simo, to discuss why now was the time to finally go public and how the company arrived at the decision to price where they have. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As more grocers begin looking to build their own delivery networks, what does that mean for Instacart’s competitive moat? The world’s largest grocery delivery platform opened trading today on the Nasdaq at $42 a share, and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo discussed why grocers choose to stay on their marketplace, and how she expects the company to continue to grow after seeing the benefits of grocery delivery during the pandemic. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With Arm’s successful listing and Instacart’s debut on deck, the blockbuster IPO is back. But retail investors might want to proceed with caution before buying in. Those that jumped into some of the largest recent IPOs on the first day of trading have all lost money, according to our analysis, and would’ve seen dramatically better returns just buying the S&P. And even the connected, institutional investors that bought coveted shares at the IPO price have seen huge losses, as rising interest rates reprices valuations across the board. This week on Tech Check, our deep dive into why investors should beware the blockbuster IPO. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Instacart today raised the price range for its upcoming IPO after Arm’s successful debut yesterday, boosting the valuation to around $10 billion dollars. But that might be little comfort to the investors who bought in at Instacart’s peak valuation of $39 billion two years ago. We break down the winners and losers of the debut, including the VCs who got in early and the big institutional investors that are getting put under the water. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.