SAN FRANCISCO – AI, crypto and the 2024 U.S. presidential election were among the hot topics influential business leaders focused on at Axios' second annual BFD: San Francisco event.
Haun Ventures founder Katie Haun exclusively told Axios' Dan Primack on stage that her firm invested in crypto companies Fireblocks and Chainalysis.
Why it's the BFD: This announcement comes when crypto VCs have experienced icy markets since the collapse of FTX in 2022.
What they're saying: "During the depths of the crypto winter, we had what we called a 'harpoon list.' We looked at our harpoon list, and we said, 'Let's get some meaningful ownership,'" said Haun.
When it comes to FTX, Haun, a former SEC federal prosecutor, did not invest in the company and cited the lack of traditional governance as one of her alarming concerns.
Meanwhile, HGGC chairman and former NFL player Steve Young said private equity investments in the NFL could "force better standards and financial rigor."
His comment comes as PE investments into sports teams are growing.
The ex-49er also made an unusual statement: "Football is made for girls."
Since coaching his daughters in football, Young said he had a "revelation." The plays are like choreographed dance steps, and girls understand it better than boys do.
He predicted that a hundred million girls will be playing flag football by 2028.
"I think it's going to explode in a way that no one can even realize," he said.
The world of AI is bursting with new products and innovation, which was showcased at BFD: San Francisco.
Google is looking at how generative AI can help address nurse burnout during shift change, Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo discussed with Axios' Ina Fried.
For this project, Google partnered with HCA, the nation's largest health system.
Another AI health project Google is looking into is using LLMs to analyze data from wearable devices.
"Not just how many steps I took, but what else was going on in my life that day when I took fewer steps...what were the patterns that the personal LLM is going to be able to see to help me," said DeSalvo.
What they're saying: "A year ago, it was called 'search generative experience.' Today it's called 'AI overview.' And I bet next year it'll be called something else. It's exactly the same story of them doing a new messaging app every year," Srinivas said.
Srinivas went as far as to call Google the "biggest loser" when referring to their search engine.
Context: Srinivas once interned at Google's Deepmind and its headquarters.
Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone shared with Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva that he was initially "scared" of news aggregation AI platform Artifact but ended up being a fan.
Yahoo ended up purchasing the platform last month and is now building a new product with it. He also downplayed the idea of a Yahoo IPO.
With it being an election year, it was virtually impossible for the contentious U.S. presidential race to not be mentioned.
Craft Ventures co-founder and partner David Sacks said Silicon Valley needs to think twice before voting in November.
He didn't endorse any candidate, but when discussing the idea of taxing unrealized gains– an idea the Biden administration proposed– he said, "I think it's a pretty good reason for Silicon Valley to think really hard about who it wants to vote for."
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In a View From the Top conversation, Latham and Watkins partner and chair of the firm's Technology Industry Group and Bay Area Corporate Department Rick Kline said the state of the market is in positive transitions and a lot of companies are looking at 2025 for even more growth.
"I do think the dam will break, but I don't think it'll be this year," he said.
Frank McCourt, the former LA Dodgers owner, announced Wednesday morning that he's putting together a "people's bid" to buy TikTok from China's ByteDance.
Why it matters: McCourt is a vocal critic of tech and social media, having stepped down as CEO of his eponymous investment firm to launch an effort that would give users more control and ownership of their personal data.
Startup nonprofit Brown's Promise wants to reignite a national conversation about school desegregation, using litigation and other means to redraw district lines and bring about equitable school funding.
Why it matters: On the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling — this Friday — American schools are highly segregated and unequal.
I got an up-close look at Beta Technologies' ALIA electric aircraft at my home base in Albany yesterday — including the chance to watch a takeoff, low approach and taxi.
It's got a space-age design and is impressively quiet for an aircraft of its size.
Who doesn't want an AI that can tell them where they left their glasses or warn them when they are about to be scammed?
State of play: Google demonstrated both feats yesterday — but now, with these and the rest of the AI advances it showed at its I/O conference, the company must quickly turn its cool demos into useful tools at scale.
Famed investor David Sacks stopped short of formally endorsing a 2024 candidate on Tuesday, but warned Silicon Valley should "think really hard about who it wants to vote for" given the policy stakes.
Why it matters: Sacks is an influential tech investor, podcaster and original member of the "PayPal Mafia."
Haun Ventures founder Katie Haun confirmed in a conversation with Dan Primack at the Axios BFD in San Francisco that the firm invested in late-stage crypto survivors Fireblocks and Chainalysis.
Why it matters: The investments — both previously unannounced — came while other crypto VCs either slowed investing or stopped altogether.
Google's planned roll-out of AI-summarized search results doesn't faze Perplexity AI CEO and co-founder Aravind Srinivas — whose startup has offered a popular AI-driven search tool providing similar digests for nearly two years.
What they're saying: "In a world where everyone gets answers and doesn't have to click on links, the biggest loser is Google," Srinivas told Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva Tuesday at Axios BFD San Francisco.
Google may have dissolved its formal health division years ago but the company remains active in the sector, per chief health officer Karen DeSalvo.
Why it matters: Google Health was formally dismantled in 2021, with its units scattered throughout the search giant, raising questions about the company's strategy.
Elon Musk must comply with a Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena to testify in the SEC's investigation into the October 2022 Twitter takeover, a federal court ruled Tuesday.
Google Tuesday unveiled a new technique for marking text so it can later be identified as AI-generated without altering the quality or meaning of the writing.
Why it matters: As AI-created content begins to flood the internet, the need to detect and distinguish it has grown — but watermarking tools have been much easier to develop for images than for text.
Google on Tuesday announced a slew of new AI-related products, including new ways it will use its Gemini model to improve products such as Google Search and Google Photos.
Why it matters: Google is using its I/O developer conference to highlight AI advances across the company as it looks to demonstrate it is keeping pace with OpenAI, Microsoft and others while defending its stronghold in search.
🇺🇸 The U.S. and China are meeting in Geneva today to discuss AI safety and risk issues. (Axios)
🛰️ China, Russia and other foreign adversaries are increasingly looking to disrupt American space assets, a top Department of Defense official warned. (Nextgov/FCW)
🗳️ AI and other advanced technologies are supercharging threats against election workers, Department of Justice officials warned. (Axios)
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🦾 OpenAI is rolling out a new flagship model, GPT-4o, that has advanced voice capabilities. (Axios)
👀 Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky is stepping down from his role, and long-time company executive Matt Garman is set to take his place. (Axios)
Meta is shutting down Workplace, the tool it sold to businesses that combined social and productivity features, according to messages to customers obtained by Axios and confirmed by Meta.
The big picture: Meta has been cutting jobs and winnowing its product line for the last few years while investing billions first in the metaverse and now in AI.
Why it matters: The two-month-long Global Hatikvah initiative is meant to promote peace. It attracted thousands of submissions from 72 countries across six continents and was edited into a "virtual choir" for Israel's Independence Day.
Electric vehicles accounted for 4.3% of sales on used car sales platform Carvana in the first quarter of 2024 — up from 1.8% in the same period last year.
Why it matters: It's another sign that there's finally a decent market for used electric cars — important for the overall EV transition, as new electric models still tend to be prohibitively expensive for many would-be buyers.
As a space phenomena junkie, this past weekend was an absolute treat.
Living in upstate New York, I keep tabs on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's space weather forecast for any chance to glimpse the northern lights — and boy, did they deliver this past weekend.
The Commerce Department has started implementing new internet routing security measures to fend off nation-state hackers and other malicious cyberattacks.
Why it matters: Improving the department's internet security can keep hackers from spoofing government domain names, stealing data flowing over these networks or hijacking traffic going to legitimate government websites.
The new voice assistant version of ChatGPT that OpenAI demonstrated Monday jokes, chides, apologizes, pretends to blush — and knows how to deal with interruptions.
Why it matters: ChatGPT-4o shows off a new level of real-time conversational fluency — including the ability to understand context and shift gears when people talk over it — that AI assistants will need to win over the world's users.
Why it matters: Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a briefing ahead of a DOJ Election Threats Task Force meeting there has been "a dangerous increase in violent threats against public servants" ahead of November's election.
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