WEBVTT - Apple's Regulatory Risks and Rivian's EV Turnaround Plan 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:06.760 From Marhart where Innovation, Money and power Collie in Silicon Valley, NBN. 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:11.400 This is Bloomberg Technology with Caroline Hyde and Ed Loved Love. 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:26.480 And Live from New York and San Francisco. This is 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:31.680 Bloomberg Technology coming up. Apple iPhone confidence but regulatory risks. 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:36.520 Details ahead, Plus Business Week's definitive story on Rivian's ev 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.040 turnaround plan, and. 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.960 A look at Neuralink and its competitors as Musk tease 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:42.199 up a new implant. 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:43.040 The first. 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:45.640 Let's check in on the broader tech index right now, Ed, 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.720 I'm afraid that soothing of concerns around inflation has not 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.159 driven up the tech stocks. 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:52.920 Bond markets. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.560 Yes, they are on fire, but today the NASAC is 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.400 off by one point two percent. Some key players on 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.880 the downside in video being one, but you're looking at 0:00:59.920 --> 0:01:02.080 us the key names that are currently under pressure. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.280 Yeah, Apple, and Apple is a big points drag. There 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.000 are so many headlines out in the first instance, with 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.320 the stock at one point in the session on track 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:12.840 for its biggest drop since March. Bank of America up 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:15.400 raising its price target to two hundred and fifty six 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.440 dollars a share from two hundred and thirty, seeing confidence 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.720 in a refresh cycle for the iPhone. Then there's the 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.640 Bloomberg reporting that Apple is said to its suppliers, we 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:28.039 want to boost iPhone shipments by ten percent. There's some 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.320 growing momentum around the iPhone story, up eighteen percent or 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:33.720 so year to date, but by no means one of 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.040 the best performers on the Nasdaq one hundred. And then 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.840 there's that that you talked about regulatory risk Apple avoiding 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:41.080 sanctioned in the EU. 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:42.320 Give me the details. 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.400 Yeah, I really think though at the moment, we are 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.080 seeing this Apple concern at the moment, and the fact 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.600 that EU regulators are basically forcing them to open up 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.640 the wallets situation, the fact that we're seeing fintech being 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.840 our eyes on the prize may be a boost to PayPal, 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:00.640 but ultimately this is the way in which regulators have 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.640 decided that big techniques stop opening up their walled gardens. 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:06.920 And Anna rag Rana is exactly the person we should 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.480 speak to about this bingleg intelligence and just I set 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.080 for us Apple under pressure big tech more broadly on 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.680 the day. But as that articulates, there's some good moon 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.919 music around iPhone supply and demand, but at the same 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.440 time there are the these regulatory risks that are forcing 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:22.560 business model change. 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:23.839 Yeah. 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:26.600 You know, Apple's performed really well over the last few months, 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:28.640 and you know, if you go back in April, I 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:30.760 mean I think it's up what thirty five forty percent 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.120 since then, it's you know, the rebound has been driven 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.480 a lot by Apple's AI story, which I think has 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:41.160 resonated well with investors. Now, yesterday was probably the first 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.720 big time news we got in terms of iPhone shipment improvement, 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.480 and I don't remember in the last several years really 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:49.720 looking at that kind of a news, and I think 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.160 that really says that there is a lot of you know, 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.480 if you could say, hype slash expectations about the iPhone 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.200 sixteen and what it could do to Apple's top line. 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.160 And the other big story is that Apple has avoided 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.160 a fine from the EU because it's opened up it's 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.680 mobile wallets technology to others. It's made a concession. How 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.799 do you think that impacts the iOS ecosystem? 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.480 Yeah, you know, the the Apple CFO commented a few 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.400 quarters ago that the app store revenue form EU you know, 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.080 accounts for about seven percent of that particular radio's sales, 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.240 so it's really not that big of a deal. Frankly, 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.600 now this is nothing new. We are seeing EU really 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.960 cracking down on all big US firms. I don't think 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.160 it's going to stop anytime soon. I don't think these 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.680 cases are going to go away. But frankly, speaking from 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.960 a financial point of view, it's not going to hurt 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:40.240 them as much as you know. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:41.480 The headline suggest. 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.120 Anirag Rana or Bloomberg Intelligence. Thank you very much. I 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.880 mentioned there were many headlines about Apple. Apple and Microsoft 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.240 have dropped plans to take board roles at open Ai 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:56.320 in a surprise decision amid growing regularly regulatory screws. Me 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:00.200 here in San Francisco, Bloomberg Technology Senior executive edit said 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:04.280 Tom Giles, give us the details of this Bloomberg reporting. 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:09.040 Microsoft's investment in open Ai as well known. But Apple 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.320 was due to get a board observer role. Now neither 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:12.560 of those are going to have a board and solve 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:13.320 observer role. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:15.240 Yeah ed. 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.039 Open AI's board was starting to get really crowded with 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.919 big powerful tech company, the most powerful tech companies in 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:25.880 the world. That's a bad look when you are under 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:30.000 regulatory scrutiny, when everybody is worried about a concentration of 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:35.800 power and money around open ai. The basically one of 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:40.040 the biggest, if not the biggest LM biggest generative AI companies, 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.480 was just getting too chummy with Microsoft and Apple. 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.960 That was the concern, a concern that actually is global. 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:47.200 Tom. 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:49.920 We were just talking how the EU has been focused 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.760 in on Apple. They were focused in on Microsoft sort 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.440 of ultimately doing a form of M and A here 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.760 by stealth. Now without the board seats, does that drive home? 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:00.799 That isn't the case. 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:06.240 So Microsoft is the biggest investor in open ai, to 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.360 the tune of thirteen billion dollars. It's a massive investment. 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:15.720 Microsoft is weaving open AI's technology into a lot of 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.200 its own products. Apple is doing the very same thing. 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:23.479 It's not an investor to that degree, but it is 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:29.240 using open ais technology throughout its software to make it 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:33.520 basically to get people to spend more time on their iPhone, 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.440 to make the iPhone more useful. Both of these things 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.840 are basically showing how important open ai is and how 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.640 important the relationship is with big tech companies that want 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.640 to get a piece of the hottest generative AI property 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:51.120 in the world. And that's where regulators are having a 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:54.719 hard time. They're worried about competition. They're worried about other 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:59.720 companies getting access to this technology. They're worried about concentration. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:03.000 And this is where you're seeing it start to come unraveled. 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.080 Removing those board observer rules for both of them, and. 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.039 Even that might not be enough. Sources telling Bloomberg that 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:12.360 you know, regulators here in the s will still look 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.560 at Microsoft because they're like, you didn't notify us in 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.480 advance about this deal. Bloomboks Tom Giles, who leads our 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.680 technology coverage around the world, thank you so much sticking 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:25.960 with big tech. We're also watching shares of Google and HubSpot. 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:30.400 Google down, Alphabet the parent company of two percent, HubSpot 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.320 up nine ten percent. The reporting the Alphabet has shelved 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.440 this interest in HubSpot. A story of beIN tracking here 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.000 across the newsroom, Caro, what's up next in the show? 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:43.200 Oh, a story that is beautifully written by Nana Man 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.960 and yourself. We're talking Rivian's race against Tesla more and 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.240 how the company is taking an alternative route to woo 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:50.839 those Tesla customers. 0:06:51.080 --> 0:07:08.480 As a Bloomberg Technology. 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.520 It's time for talking tech and first up, Leap Motors 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:09.120 makes a deal to go global Stalantis has partnered with 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.680 the little known Chinese EV maker, investing one point six 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.239 billion dollars for a twenty one percent stake. The joint 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:19.200 venture would allow Stilantis to access Leap motors advanced tech 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:23.040 features while allowing Leap Motors to build and sell their cars. 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:27.960 Installance's global network plus Lucid Motors says they're still continuing 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:32.239 to raise cash. Bloomberg spoke with CEO Peter Rawlinson earlier today. 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.200 This is a capital invents intensive business and we do 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:37.680 need to raise more money. 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:42.680 And we will at opportune moments in time on the future. 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.200 Our vision is to be a major player here. 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.320 The company has license deals with the likes of Aston 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:53.080 Martin and said they're in discussions with others and auto 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.560 plants get a lifeline. The Biden administrations awarding one point 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.160 seven billion dollars to retool at risk or show to 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:05.040 manufacturing and assembly plants across eight states, converting them to 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.480 support EV manufacturing. The funding is being made available through 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.600 the Inflation Reduction Act and is subject to negotiations and 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:13.880 other reviews before becoming final. 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.640 Character Look, we are going to stick on this EV 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.640 train ed yourself and mister Max Traffkin are out with 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:24.160 a really in depth piece on Rivian and VW's partnership. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.360 What sparked it, how the ev maker is basically banking 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:31.200 on the anti Tesla crowd, and Ed just walks through. 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:32.040 Who you first spoke to. 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.640 There's this particular well sort of person we hear from 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.319 who sums up how a lot of Tesla people and 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:39.360 owners feel right now. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:41.880 As we spoke to many of them. There's like this 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:47.560 great body of former Tesla fans, fanboys, owners, you know, 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:51.640 that community online that's basically defected to Rivian for lots 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.880 of reasons. And I think Max would agree it's not 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:56.840 very difficult to find them, is it, Max? You know, 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:58.960 this was one case study. We spoke to several of them, 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:02.000 the point being that that was Rivian's original audience. Is 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:03.600 that audience now and they got a lot to do. 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:04.240 Right Yeah. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.680 And what you see when you talk to a lot 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.880 of Rivian owners, it's it's kind of it's interesting because 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:10.920 it tells you a lot about the where the ev 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.240 industry is going and maybe also where Tesla's going or 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.360 where Tesla has at times gone wrong. It's not that 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:20.480 these people are necessarily big Tesla haters. They're not the 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.480 folks on X who are you know, you know, talking 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:26.080 talking about shorting the stock or anything. They are just 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.840 often just car people who are interested in EV's, much 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.840 more interested in evs, say than in robotaxis or wild 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:38.760 promises about brain implants or whatever, and also interested in 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:40.640 new models. I mean, and when you when you look 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.920 at where Tesla has has arguably made some mistakes and 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.439 where Rivian has done well, I mean, I think if 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:49.319 Tesla comes out with a cyber truck that looks something 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.560 like the Rivian R one t, which is their pickup truck, 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.280 I think it would have been a much more successful launch. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.400 And so it's it's an interesting sort of cross road situation. 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.559 I really wanted to do this story, Caroline, because I've 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.920 covered Rivian for many years and I've never had an 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.400 experience in my career where a company has gone from 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:12.520 like such ethoric highs to like really down in the doldrums. Right, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.480 this was the sixth biggest IPO in US history, you know, 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.319 the biggest since Facebook, and now the stock would make 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.520 you think that it's like a Fiscal or Elucid, but 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.400 to their credit, like Rivian's a different beast Carrot. 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:26.880 They actually make evs. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.120 What we wanted to do is explain how they're going 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.080 to get to that next stage, which is to get 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:32.120 nearer to Tesla. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.640 I like that they actually make evs a max to 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.000 that point, though they haven't been producing them at the 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.080 rapid clip. The many thought, and well, they have got 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.160 a new prototype that actually is just a prototype. 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:44.439 When we kind of get the R three. 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.480 Yeah, you have sort of two situations going on. One 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:51.640 is just their car manufacturing is difficult, and you know 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:55.040 it's we've seen this with many of these automotive startups. 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:56.559 It takes them longer than they want. 0:10:56.720 --> 0:11:00.880 Rivian also faced a lot of supply chainallenges, especially during 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.320 the pandemic. The thing is with evs, right, they've they're 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.840 selling a lot of these very expensive SUVs and pickup trucks. 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:10.880 They are getting really good reviews. But the truth is 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.079 and and R J. Scurringe, the CEO of Rivian, UH 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.080 spoke to Ed and I about this, but like, there's 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.880 just a limited number of people who want these things. 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.959 What what the industry needs and what climate advocates need 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.040 is more affordable cars, and and Rivian is trying to 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.160 get there and get there as quickly as they can. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:29.200 We have the art they're working on the R two, 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.959 the factory in normal Illinois, that's Central Illinois. They're they're 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.200 they're really starting to get ready already. Uh you know 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.280 when I was out there a few weeks ago. And 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:42.520 and the plan, the long term plan is this R three, 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.520 which is again this kind of like almost mythical at 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.360 this point, cheap electric car, the electric car that everyone 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.240 can afford, but it definitely is a long way from 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:51.720 being real. 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:53.600 Well, it's also like they're. 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:54.959 Running out of cash. And I think that one of 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.720 the important points that we make in the story is 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.680 some of the reasons why they pivoted to write Max, 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.559 and that is they were running out in money, partly because, 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:07.000 according to our sources, the DOE said, if you want 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.480 some of this money from the Inflation Reduction Act, you 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.280 have to change your position on unions. And we understand 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:14.840 that that's just not happening right now. 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.880 Yeah, you had this frantic scramble. I mean, the weird 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.080 thing is Rivian of course has lots of cash. It's 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.760 just that the automotive that that making cars is so 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:26.040 expensive that they're burning even more. And it was looking 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.640 you know, you know, as we wrote this story, increasingly 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:30.760 unlikely that they were going to be able to open 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.679 this plan in Georgia, Ed, as you said, looking to 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.960 the to the Biden administration, to the to the federal government, 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.760 like many companies, and you know, ultimately. 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:39.840 Not getting there. 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.880 As we report in the story, these negotiations are ongoing. 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.800 It's possible they will reach some sort of deal. But 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.480 in the meantime, this VW infusion is huge for Rivian. 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:52.760 It takes a lot of the pressure that this company 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.800 is on and of course that's why the stock you know, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.360 went way up when when the deal was announced. 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:02.080 And I love how we stock. We started on stock and. 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.160 One of the greatest pieces that you have out of 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.800 there is is how the main owner of Tesla say 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.920 there's two types of Teslo owners, those who are the 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.920 stock owners and those who actually own the cars. 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.120 All of this is such great reporting from both of you. 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.880 Thank you, Max Chafkin and of course Ed Lulo just 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:22.520 across the RJ Scarrange story. 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.600 Okay, Today for our AI and Action segment, we're joined 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.160 by Lynn Chow, who's the CEO of Fireworks AI, to 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.120 discuss the company's latest Series B funding round. Fifty two 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:41.720 million dollars, but also their plans for the future of AI. 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.320 So Fireworks is interesting to me, LeAnn and welcome to 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:48.679 the program. You describe yourselves as lightning fast inference platform. 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.120 So in the first instance, the basics of what a 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.280 lightning fast inference platform. 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.720 Is definitely Thanks for having me here, d and Fireworks 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.679 we are. We have deliver one of the fastest, the 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:05.600 most cost efficient infrast engine using our propriety technology. By that, 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:10.480 we want to address the challenge of many applications. They 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:15.160 require very low latency to drive responsive product experience and 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:19.440 very low costs to deliver viable, sustainable business. 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:21.160 It's very difficult because. 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.800 Large language models are big, so deliver all these prec 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:30.960 requirements are really challenging, and here we focus on helping 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:32.160 those applications to get there. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.480 This is something that is targeted at both developers but 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.360 also potentially enterprise customers. So if I were one of 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.520 those two groups, a developer or running a large enterprise, 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.480 how would I use Fireworks? Give me some examples or 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:45.160 case studies. 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.720 Yeah, we have many customers ranging from leading startups to 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.480 fortune five hundred companies using Fireworks to disrupt the status 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:57.920 called and the startups using fireworks to drive iterative new 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:02.320 creative ideas and native companies using fireworks to deliver new 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.240 products events, Fortune five hundred companies to use fireworks to 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:13.040 drive productivity. We have leading airsrs like Krasna, Cursor, Sourceware, Liner, 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:15.040 our Prime. 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.760 We've seen some of your clients. Now we're seeing actually 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.440 some of your investors as well. I mean this is 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.600 a who's who of not just VC, but of strategic 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:28.840 investors in videos, in AMDs, in Mongo dB, is in Lynn. 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.160 How was the fundraising experience? 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:37.080 Yeah, we are blessed to be supported by so many, 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:42.840 like the industry leading investors of Sekoya. We also have 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:47.760 investors for Nvidia, MD and Mongo dB joining force. We 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.720 plan to use this funding to signific investing in following areas. 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.800 Number One, to expand our influence offering and our ecosystem, 0:15:55.840 --> 0:16:00.240 to expand into the best and latest hardware provider about 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:04.120 Nvidia and MD right and build much tighter integration with 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:09.440 factor database and database management systems. And starting with Mongo 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.400 dB strategy partnership. 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.320 We're actually looking at sort of how the system works 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.640 a little bit right now, just going back to your 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.800 affordable basically generative AI production platform. That's we see what 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.680 you are, your production platform. You're helping companies use general 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:26.240 to AI. But what I like is the fact that 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:30.240 you think the generative AI's future isn't in large language models, 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.840 not these massive closed source ones, but actually think it's 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:38.440 about open source models, smaller ones, finer tuned. What is 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.760 the future compound AI systems? 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.080 Right, So we. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.880 Started for our large language model because the larger groups 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.120 model are very powerful and magical, but those single models 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:56.120 are now sufficient as we're surrounded by rich content as 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:59.720 we're having this interview and conversation, we actually use audio 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:03.960 and the visual information and fireworks. We want to use 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.399 the new funding to make a big shift towards a 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:11.760 compound AIR system that can orchestrate across multiple single models 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:16.800 with various different modalities, and then air tools to reach, 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:20.679 for example, the latest news from Bloomberg or my personal 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.440 calendars or personal to do list, and build the totality 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.160 of a great application experience. 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.119 I think it'd be really beneficial to our audience to 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:35.119 explain how different it is building on an application, specifically 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.440 in the inference domain, relative to the training process of 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.119 a large language model. I think a lot of what 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:42.639 Caroline and I have focused on in the last two 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.680 years or so, is everyone everywhere building large language models 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.560 or other words training the model on specific data sets. 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.920 So what's that experience been like for you as you've 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:53.560 built fireworks right? 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.240 So we are hyper focused on our inference for the 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:02.119 following reasons. Because most of the technology they are going 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:06.480 to power a consumer facing or developer facing application, and 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.560 those applications has a lot of users. And when you 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:14.320 scale your product, that means you're going to quickly scale 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.840 your business and your influenced costs will also quickly scale. 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:24.320 So scalability, reliability and maintaining very expensive models in production 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:28.920 in a reliable way is very important. So we predict 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:33.119 that market is going to create a huge amount of 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.399 expense and that's where the enterprise is leading into to 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:38.440 solve influenced problems. 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:42.240 Minchaw cfi Works AI on the latest funding round and 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:44.200 thank you for your time now. Earlier at Back of 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.640 America Breakthrough Technology Dialogue, Blimba caught up with but Jills Meyer, 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.960 partner likes being venture partners to discuss look AI and 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:52.640 come to markets, take a listen. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:54.840 What we're obviously seeing and I think we would have 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:59.399 anticipated seeing is is API core pricing coming down? Now, 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.679 I think the most dangerous our perspective is perhaps the 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:07.320 most dangerous perspective to have at times like this, when 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:10.560 technologies are changing so rapidly, is to think that we 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.440 know what the answer is going to be. We don't, right, 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:15.960 But here's what we believe, which is that in a 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:22.280 world in which the volume of calls expands exponentially, which 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.159 we will is more and we will see as more 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:28.800 and more enterprises adopt generative AI. And now, if you 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:32.080 think about an agentic world where each of us may 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:35.480 have multiple agents operating on our behalf, and enterprises will 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:39.320 have agents operating on their behalf also making calls, well, 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:41.720 then the volume of calls that are made on these 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:45.720 foundation models is going to be absolutely massive, right, And 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:48.359 so while the price per call may come down, the 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:52.360 volume of calls will be extremely high, and we expect 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.800 compute costs to decline. And so I would argue in 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.640 that world, these companies at scale will absolutely be able. 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.080 To make a profit. It, right, But we don't know. 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:03.520 These are things that we don't know. 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.920 But I think it's it's dangerous to be too rigid 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.720 with a particular point of view, and we're remaining open 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:11.480 minded about all of these possibilities. 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:13.320 Is there pressure that you put on some of these 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:15.639 some of these companies around monetization. Are you getting to 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:17.480 that point where you're having those conversations you need to 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:18.879 start monetizing some of these products. 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:21.359 Well, look, I think I think these founding teams recognize, 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:23.919 given the cost of compute and the capital intensity of 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.400 these businesses, there's only two ways you can you can 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.400 manage the capital intensity. One is you will keep raising capital. 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:32.640 The other is you've got to you've got to earn revenue. 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:35.680 And I think the answer will be both. You can't 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.960 rely on the capital markets. The private markets have been 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:42.719 have embraced these companies so far, right with these companies 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.160 raising billions of dollars and most recently Xai raising close 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.280 to seven billion dollars. So capital is available, but you 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:50.399 can't you can't. 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:51.760 Assume that will always be the case. 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:53.920 And I think we're beginning to see companies like open 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:57.080 Ai and Anthropic begin to scale revenue very fast. 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:59.840 Okay, interesting in terms of the venture capital world and 0:20:59.880 --> 0:21:03.200 the structure within that sect. So Lightspeed's done something really interesting, 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:06.320 which is looking at this continuation funds, so essentially allowing 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:10.560 investors or to take about a billion dollars of stakes 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.359 in your portfolio company, so freeing up about a billion 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:16.719 dollars across a portfolio. It's a P style structure. What 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:17.800 is the rationale behind that? 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:20.400 Yeah, the rationale behind that is that companies are staying 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:22.840 private for longer, and at the same time we want 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:23.000