TagUber
Warning: Unicorn Stocks May Be Nearing Bankruptcy, Fire Sales
Uber, Airbnb, and DoorDash seem so lifestyle-friendly … they even became part of our vocabularyIn an article today, Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith puzzle over the way investors have “rained cash” on unprofitable companies like Uber, Airbnb, DoorDash, etc. Yes, they are icons of popular culture. No, unlike Apple and Google, they do not make money: Here are their stats from the table the authors offer: Company Founded Funds Raised Cumulative LossesUber Technologies 2009 $25.2 billion $31.7 billionAirbnb 2008 $6.0 billion $6.0 billionDoor Dash 2013 $2.5 billion $4.6 billion Only one of the 15 companies they list — including some other culture icons — has ever had a profitable quarter: Any hopeful arguments that profitability is just around the corner ring hollow when every company is at least nine years old and two are Read More ›
China’s Crackdown on Big Tech: Didi Global Inc.
In an authoritarian government, data is powerThe Chinese Communist Party is on a campaign to reign in the private sector and some analysts say it is just the beginning. According to Wall Street Journal: Investors, analysts and company executives believe the government is just getting started in its push to realign the relationship between private business and the state, with a goal of ensuring companies do more to serve the Communist Party’s economic, social and national-security concerns. Jing Yang, Keith Zhai, and Quentin Webb, “China’s Corporate Crackdown Is Just Getting Started. Signs Point to More Tumult Ahead” at Wall Street Journal. Last November, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reined in Ant Group, Ltd. which was poised to open on the Shanghai and Hong Kong index with Read More ›
The President Pardons the Founder of a Church That Worships AI
On his last day in office, departing President Trump pardoned Anthony LevandowskiAnthony Levandowski has an interesting history He transitioned from Silicon Valley wunderkind to inept theologian to convicted felon. Now he is free, due to a pardon given by Donald Trump in Trump’s last day in office. If you are an orthodox materialist, you believe our brains are computers made of meat. Artificial intelligence, brains made out of silicon, will therefore match and eventually exceed human capabilities and become godlike. So it might make sense to form a church that worships this future AI god. That’s what Anthony Levandowski did in 2019. His church was christened Way of the Future. Levandowski reasoned “What is going to be created [by AI] will effectively be a god … if there is something a Read More ›
What Real Advantage Do Self-Driving Cars Provide?
It’s time for a hard-headed look at the costs and benefits of the pursuit of fully self-driving carsMore and more people are realizing that autonomous (self-driving) vehicles are not a road to automotive prosperity. To recap, Level 5 self-driving is what most people think of when they hear the term “self-driving.” You type in an address and the car takes you where you want to go while you sleep in the back. That car is not going to hit the road anytime soon. Level 4 self-driving is similar but only works within well-defined areas or situations. In practice, Level 4 essentially relies on either intelligent infrastructure or a territory that is so predictable and well-mapped that it obviates the need for intelligent infrastructure. Huge amounts have been invested in self-driving vehicles. The Information estimated that $16 billion Read More ›
Why Are There No New Googles and Amazons?
The internet has matured, making many new internet-based companies comparatively low-techToday’s startups have targeted a much different set of technologies than did startups in past decades.
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Why the Millennial High-Tech Urban Lifestyle May Soon Cost More
In the wake of WeWork’s woes, analysts are questioning the business models we loveThe problem is, WeWork is not a technology company. Neither is Airbnb or Uber. They all use software via the internet to leverage surplus physical space, whether the space is in an office building, a private home, or a privately owned car.
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If Big Tech Were Spinning Its Wheels, Would We Know?
Not necessarily, says an economics prof who worries about the slowing pace of innovation but not of hypeThe slowing Funk refers to is in fundamental innovations like transistors and lasers. The apparent progress often turns out to be in patent applications for a bewildering array of comparatively insignificant mobile phone apps.
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Are self-driving cars really safer?
A former Uber executive says no. Before we throw away the Driver’s Handbook…
Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene: How to Spell Gud
Also, Google and Apple ditching college degree requirements is not really that newTwenty years or so ago, when I worked in Seattle, Microsoft was famous for the testing coding skills of their applicants and asking Mensa-like questions. Degrees were secondary.
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Even Uber didn’t believe in Uber’s self-driving taxis
We found that out after Google’s Waymo sued the companyOptimism is not driving the recent collaboration and corporate consolidation in the self-driving car industry. Rather, their retrenchment is protection against an uncertain future.
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