Tech

Shares of electric aviation startup Beta Technologies took flight Tuesday as the company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange with an outsized raise of $1 billion and a stock price that closed up. The Vermont-based company priced shares in its IPO at $34, above its predicted range of $27 to $33. Beta Technologies sold 29.9 million shares …

Rivian has created its second spinoff company this year: an industrial AI and robotics venture called Mind Robotics. The new effort will be focused around using “industrial AI to reshape how physical world businesses operate and leverage Rivian operations data as the foundation for a robotics data flywheel,” according to a the company’s third-quarter shareholder letter published Tuesday. (That’s a …

Google announced on Tuesday that it’s launching new agentic capabilities in AI Mode, its feature that allows users to ask complex questions and follow-ups to dig deeper on a topic directly within Search. Users can now get help with booking event tickets and beauty and wellness appointments in AI Mode. For example, you can say, “Find me two cheap tickets …

Just over three years after taking the reins as the leader of Sequoia Capital, Roelof Botha is stepping down as Senior Steward of the storied VC firm. The firm announced Tuesday that partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady will succeed him as co-Stewards. Lin joined the storied firm in 2010, where he has led major investments into category-defining companies like …

Sora, the AI video generator from OpenAI, is now officially available for Android users in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Initially launched as an iOS app in September, Sora quickly rose to the top of the App Store charts, amassing over 1 million downloads in a week. With its arrival on the Google Play Store, Sora …

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has voted against a Tesla proposal to give CEO Elon Musk a compensation package worth $1 trillion. The fund, which is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, holds a 1.14% stake in Tesla valued at about $11.7 billion, according to its mid-year filings in June. “While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary …

E-commerce software provider Shopify is bullish on AI-powered shopping agents, citing AI as an “incredible tool” to enable more entrepreneurs and calling it the “biggest shift in technology since the internet” during its third-quarter earnings call. The company, which partnered with ChatGPT maker OpenAI in September, reported that traffic from AI tools to its online stores is up seven times …

Netflix is reportedly in talks to license video podcasts distributed by iHeartMedia, according to Bloomberg. iHeartMedia’s podcast portfolio includes shows like “The Breakfast Club,” “Las Culturistas,” “Jay Shetty Podcast,” and “Stuff You Should Know.” Netflix is looking for exclusivity, which means video podcasts that it licenses from iHeartMedia could no longer be uploaded to YouTube. It’s worth noting that if …

Journalists in Europe found it was “easy” to spy on top European Union officials using commercially obtained location histories sold by data brokers, despite the continent having some of the strongest data protection laws in the world. EU officials said they’re “concerned” about the trade of citizen and officials’ mobile phone location data, and have issued new guidance to staff …

Spotify says its video podcasts are seeing increased consumer adoption. In its third quarter earnings report, the company shared that its video podcast catalog has expanded to nearly half a million shows, and more than 390 million users have now streamed a video podcast on the platform. That figure is up 54% year-over-year, and it also reflects Spotify’s increased investment …