California has long been ground zero for the new: new technologies, new frontiers, new arts and culture. In this session from the a16z American Dynamism Summit, moderated by a16z General Partner Katherine Boyle, California Forever CEO Jan Sramek discusses building an ambitious new city between San Francisco and Sacramento, why he firmly believes California’s best days are still ahead, and what he and his team are doing to realize that…
Planetary systems like our Solar System seem to contain more rocky objects than gas-rich ones. Around our sun, these include the inner planets, the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. But scientists have known for a long time that planet-forming discs start with 100 times more mass in gas than in solids, which leads to a pressing question; when and how does most of the gas leave the disc/system?JWST is…
In this talk with a16z General Partner Ben Horowitz, from the a16z American Dynamism Summit, Coinbase President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi discusses, among other things, crypto’s potential to power the next-generation internet and bolster individual freedoms — two major reasons why America should not only embrace crypto, but take charge in shaping its future. Here is a transcript of their conversation: Ben Horowitz: So, I’ve got Emilie, who…
In this session from the a16z American Dynamism Summit, Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) discuss why the United States must strengthen its technological advantage in areas like AI, develop next-generation manufacturing capabilities domestically, and rethink how Silicon Valley does business with China. Gallagher is Chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, on which Auchincloss also serves. Here is a transcript of their conversation: Katherine Boyle:…
Technology companies have rediscovered their roots as innovators in national security and as critical partners to the Department of Defense. In this session from the a16z American Dynamism Summit, moderated by CNBC anchor Morgan Brennan, Anduril Cofounder and CEO Brian Schimpf lays out the case for how and why technology plays a critical role in helping ensure a safer world. Here is a transcript of their conversation: Morgan Brennan: It’s…
At January’s American Dynamism Summit, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks discussed the Department of Defense’s renewed commitment to innovation and the department’s new Replicator initiative, which is accelerating how the DoD procures and delivers capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale. (Read her full remarks here.) Following her keynote remarks, Dep. Sec. Hicks sat down for an interview with Wall Street Journal national security and foreign policy…
Welcome to our Drive to Subscribe blog series, created to provide readers with insight into the world of subscriptions while drawing parallels with the world of Formula 1. In this, part three, we look at the parallel between a subscription business model and how F1 teams operate. You can find part one here which explores the approach to a successful subscription, and part two here which delves into successful subscription…
(AdobeStock/Halfpoint)Sometimes we experience what Yogi Berra described as “déjà vu all over again.” It happened to me several weeks ago and left me wondering whether it’s déjà vu or whether things really have changed. Years ago, my colleague at Harvard Business School, Len Schlesinger, and I published an article that laid out two human resource strategies that we labeled the “cycle of success” and the “cycle of failure.” Our late…
When US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020, Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Edward Chang noticed something interesting: To fill the vacancy, then-President Donald Trump replaced Ginsburg with another woman, Amy Coney Barrett, even though he had previously added two men to the bench.“There was plenty of evidence showing Trump wasn’t particularly pro-diversity,” says Chang, noting that Trump had issued a memo telling federal agencies to halt…
Regulation does not necessarily stifle innovation, as many tech firms claim, but can in fact encourage a more sustainable, ethical side of proceedings, says Chirantan Chatterjee of University of Sussex Business School As we arrive in the last quarter of 2023, there is a general impression globally that while the AI genie is out of the bottle, the genie needs to be regulated, otherwise there may be unanticipated consequences. An…
California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law, which passed in 1994, was one of the tough-on-crime measures that swept the country in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Later, as the prisons were overflowing, the stories started to come out: A man sent to prison for life for stealing a pair of shoes. Another sentenced to life for breaking into a soup kitchen. Michael Romano, JD ’03, is the founder…
1. “Beyond the Buzz: A Look at Large Language Models in Production,” PDF (San Francisco: Predibase, 2023), https://go.predibase.com. 2. A. Rosenbaum, S. Soltan, and W. Hamza, “Using Large Language Models (LLMs) to Synthesize Training Data,” Amazon Science, Jan. 20, 2023, www.amazon.science. 3. “Storm Reply Launches RAG-Based AI Chatbot for Audi, Revolutionising Internal Documentation,” Business Wire, Dec. 21, 2023, www.businesswire.com. 4. “Beyond the Buzz.” 5. P. Vaithilingam, T. Zhang, and E.L.…
Quick Hits In a recent decision, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge held that a percent-of-profit incentive payment under a profit-sharing scheme is not a commission subject to the Wage Act. The court reasoned that an executive’s profit-sharing incentive was tied to the company’s profits, but not to revenue that he personally generated, and therefore he did not have a viable claim under the Wage Act. The decision clarifies that, although…
Did you ever wonder what happens to your old smartphone when you trade it in for a new one? At Tuck, Laurens Debo, professor of operations management, teaches the Management of Service Operations elective in the MBA program. Most likely, it’s sold by your cell phone carrier to a phone remanufacturer who refurbishes it and sells it to a price-sensitive consumer who doesn’t want to buy a new one. The…
After being dismissed for eating a leftover sandwich, a cleaner is taking legal action against a London law firm, Devonshires Solicitors, alleging indirect race discrimination. Gabriela Rodriguez, an Ecuadorian national employed by Total Clean, was contracted to clean the law firm. The United Voices of the World union (UVW), advocating for migrant workers, has taken up her case, claiming that Ms Rodriguez’s termination stemmed from discriminatory motives. Background Ms Rodriguez…
The discovery not only points to possible ways to prevent or treat the condition, but could help explain why symptoms similar to those of long COVID are also commonly seen in a number of post-viral conditions and chronic inflammation.Although estimates are highly variable, as many as three in 10 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 could go on to develop long COVID, with symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and…
Trade marks grant their owner the exclusive right to offer the goods for which the trade mark is registered. Once the original goods are placed on the market within the European Economic Area (“EEA”), this right is however exhausted, meaning that the trade mark owner cannot oppose the further distribution of its products based on trade mark rights. This principle of exhaustion, stipulated in Art. 15 (1) EUTMR, has an…
This interview focuses on a chapter from A Nation at Risk +40, a report by the Hoover Education Success Initiative (HESI) that looks back at the birth, struggles, and future of the modern school reform movement. Maria D. Fitzpatrick is professor of economics and public policy in the Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. (Download her chapter here and the full publication here.) Q. How would you…
Please note: while we address certain country-specific updates, this Alert contains information regarding global requirements, policies, and procedures as they stand as of the date of publication. We highly recommend reviewing any global mobility inquiries on a case-by-case basis, including any consulate-specific or immigration authority resources, in “real-time” before traveling internationally. Please reach out to our Global Mobility Team in advance of any international travel. Brazil – Tourist and Business…
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we check on the retail market legislation in Virginia. New Hampshire’s House of Representatives passed an adult-use cannabis bill. Arkansas’ Attorney General gives the go-ahead for advocates to start collecting signatures for a ballot initiative. Nevada opens its first cannabis consumption lounges. And finally, what have those teachers at…
Seyfarth Synopsis: While New York State failed to pass a non-compete ban last year, a new bill in the New York City Council would eliminate non-compete agreements entirely, presenting new challenges and considerations for employers in the Big Apple. On December 12, 2023, the New York State Legislature delivered a bill for the Governor’s signature that would have banned “any agreement, or clause contained in any agreement, between an employer…
Quick Hits The EO directs the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to set standards addressing access to Americans’ sensitive personal data by hostile nations and their affiliates through commonly utilized channels like employment, investment, vendor, and other commercial relationships. The EO also seeks to stem the bulk sale of sensitive personal data by commercial data brokers and other commercial entities to…
This content first appeared in the February 2024 Fintech newsletter. If you’d like more commentary and analysis about news and trends from the a16z Fintech team, you can subscribe here. “The amount of innovation we’re about to see in tax is unparalleled in recent history,” says Jamil Khan, the Chief Strategy and Small Business Officer for tax giant H&R Block. “But we know that with something like tax, having a trusted…
Since its launch, the Talent x Opportunity Initiative (TxO) has been more than a funding vehicle; it’s been a launchpad for culturally inspired innovation and a community of support for under-networked founders. Like the startups in our portfolio, TxO is constantly evolving to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our founders. While funding is just a small part of the value we aim to provide our founders, we’re thrilled to…
Welcome to our Drive to Subscribe blog series, created to provide readers with insight into the world of subscriptions while drawing parallels with the world of Formula 1. In this, part two, we will look at key considerations for successful subscription product development. You can find part one here which explores the approach to a successful subscription. Creating a subscription product and packages that are competitive is ultimately the key to…
Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz. Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University. We’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare. Harlan and I have intentionally set aside several episodes each year to cover a broader range of important news in the healthcare and health realm. And so I want to start off today with something…
Just as there is no yin without yang, there is no leadership without followership. The two interdependent and complementary roles cannot exist without each other. Followership is the symbiotic interchange between a leader and those they seek to influence. However, the word has long carried connotations of subservience, implying that followers are subordinates – a term derived from the Latin word for “lower order”. This notion is deeply misguided.Although the concept…
As artificial intelligence has begun to generate text and images over the last few years, it has sparked a new round of questions about how handing over human decisions and activities to AI will affect society. Will the AI sources we’ve launched prove to be friendly helpmates or the heartless despots seen in dystopian films and fictions? Matthew Jackson. Photo by Do Pham/Stanford University. A team anchored by Matthew Jackson,…
Lawmakers in New York passed a bill in June of 2023 to ban noncompetes statewide. Although Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed the bill in December 2023 due to overbreadth, citing concerns regarding its impact on the economy, the governor noted she favored a ban on noncompetes for middle-class and low-wage workers. Lawmakers plan to reintroduce a revised bill in 2024. Noncompetes are increasingly being banned by states, and a proposal to…
Children’s drawing and drawing recognition abilities change throughout childhood By Madeline Reinsel A child using a kiosk at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. Drawings from the kiosk were collected and analyzed using AI to help the researchers better understand how children perceive the world, and how they communicate those perceptions through drawing. (Image credit: Nick Gamurot) Children’s ability to draw recognizable objects and to recognize each other’s drawings…
In a rapidly changing work environment, organisations grapple with retaining quality talent amidst an exhausted workforce, shrinking budgets, and an uncertain economy. The desire to stick around is decreasing among employees. According to Gartner, employee attrition averaged around 20% in 2022. The evolving landscape of employment—characterised by a surge in remote working, the loss of critical knowledge due to an aging workforce, and a demand for purpose-driven roles—underscores the need for…
A geographical indication (or "GI") is a type of intellectual property protected by the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), as well as Canadian trademark law. GIs are akin to trademarks in that they help consumers identify and differentiate the source of products. However, GIs are an especially valuable branding tool which can greatly enhance the exclusivity and reputation of a product. GIs also assist with…
As climate change accelerates and wreaks more and more havoc across the globe, a crucial question is how we can increase the share of power produced by renewables while simultaneously reducing demands on the electrical grid. Policymakers have an important role to play in this transition, but businesses arguably have a bigger one. In 2022, the U.S. produced 4.24 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity, which resulted in $488 billion in…
In 2023, many consumer products (CP) companies focused on profitability and optimization of existing assets instead of making large growth-oriented investments in their business. Acquisition activity also slowed, as many companies focused on refining their core offerings in preparation for moves in the future. In addition, a challenging financing environment with higher interest rates and recent pauses in Fed hikes has caused many companies and investors to take a “wait…
Gemini 1.5 Pro brings big improvements to speed and efficiency, but one of its innovations is its long context window, which measures how many tokens that the model can …
An organization’s success is made or broken by its ability to execute its strategies successfully. Simply stated, strategy execution is the process of carrying out activities to complete objectives outlined by an organization over a distinct period. While generally apparent in its definition, many organizations struggle to achieve the objectives they set out to accomplish. […] The post Strategy Execution 101 Guide: What is Strategy Execution? appeared first on Accelare.
Researchers from the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Plastics, University of Oxford, have outlined ambitious targets to help deliver a sustainable and net zero plastic economy. In a paper published in Nature, the authors argue for a rethinking of the technical, economic, and policy paradigms that have entrenched the status-quo, one of rising carbon emissions and uncontrolled pollution. Currently the global plastics system results in over 1 gigatonnes…
22 February 2024By Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen SchaafBitcoin has failed on the promise to be a global decentralised digital currency. Instead it is used for illicit transactions. The latest approval of an ETF doesn’t change the fact that Bitcoin is not suitable as means of payment or as an investment. On 10 January, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin. For disciples, the formal…
As the months of 2024 unfold, we are all part of an extraordinary year for the history of both democracy and technology. More countries and people will vote for their elected leaders than in any year in human history. At the same time, the development of AI is racing ever faster ahead, offering extraordinary benefits but also enabling bad actors to deceive voters by creating realistic “deepfakes” of candidates and…
The use of delegated design in construction, where a project’s design professional of record (DPR) assigns responsibility for a specific part of the design to the contractor, is on the rise throughout the industry. This approach, historically limited in practice to a narrow set of specialized elements like steel stairs and fire sprinkler systems, is now being used for an ever-growing scope of specialties, from intricate excavations and sophisticated deep…