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| Here’s a look at today's tech briefing: - Tesla to ask shareholders to re-approve Musk's $56B pay package.
- TikTok testing Instagram-like app.
- Tech VC firm Andreessen Horowitz raises $7.2B.
- EU won't launch full-scale probe into Microsoft and OpenAI.
- Amazon to sell smart grocery carts to other retailers.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Tesla will ask shareholders to reapprove CEO Elon Musk's $56B pay package, which was invalidated by a Delaware judge in January. During Tesla's June 13 annual meeting, shareholders will also vote on relocating Tesla's corporate listing from Delaware to Texas. More: - Shareholders approved Musk's compensation package in 2018, the largest in U.S. corporate history.
- However, Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick voided the deal after a shareholder won a lawsuit against Tesla earlier this year.
- McCormick ruled that the process of creating the pay package was "deeply flawed" and shaped by overly compliant Tesla directors with close ties to Musk.
- She called it "an unfathomable sum" and unfair to shareholders. The amount of the package has fallen to $47B as Tesla's stock price has declined.
What's new: - Tesla has filed with the SEC to ask shareholders to re-ratify the package rather than negotiate a new and potential costlier deal.
- Musk has not received payment for his work at Tesla for six years, which many stockholders consider "fundamentally unfair," Board Chairperson Robyn Denholm wrote.
- The company will also ask to move its state of incorporation to Texas, where its HQ is now located. Musk suggested the move after the pay package was ruled illegal in Delaware.
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| 2 | | TikTok has launched its new photo-sharing app for limited testing in Australia and Canada. The app, TikTok Notes, competes against Instagram. More: - The app, which allows sign-ups with existing TikTok accounts, is now available for select Android and iOS users in Canada and Australia.
- Like the main app, TikTok Notes has a "For You" feed with recommended content and a "Following" feed.
- Notes focuses on photo sharing but offers a grid layout, unlike Instagram, for viewing multiple posts.
- Clicking on a post lets users view it full-screen and leave or read text comments
Zoom out: - Notes gives TikTok users a space for sharing non-video content, challenging Instagram's popularity among young adults.
- TikTok hasn't said when Notes might launch in the U.S., where lawmakers are considering a bill that could force TikTok's Chinese parent company to divest its main app.
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| 3 | | Tech venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz raised $7.2B for startup investments, one of the largest fundraising efforts by a VC in recent years. The Silicon Valley giant, aka a16z, will distribute the cash across five different funds, including those focused on artificial intelligence. 
What the numbers show: A16z surpassed its initial $6.9B target for the new funds, raising $7.2B. The biggest share — $3.75B — will go into its "growth" fund to invest in later-stage startups with proven track records. Another $1.25B is earmarked for AI infrastructure companies, while $1B is for startups focused on AI applications. The firm also raised $600M each for gaming and its "American Dynamism" strategy, backing founders and companies that support national interests. What it means: The investment reflects the VC sector's rising focus on AI and suggests renewed confidence in the tech startup landscape. What's next: a16z plans to raise more funds for cryptocurrency and biotechnology in 2025, a source told Bloomberg. | | | |
| 4 | | EU antitrust regulators will not open a full-blown investigation into Microsoft's $13B investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, sources told Bloomberg. The European Commission concluded that the relationship falls short of a merger and doesn't warrant further scrutiny. More: - Microsoft has committed $13 to OpenAI and added its technology to Office, Bing, and Windows.
- OpenAI also uses Microsoft's Azure cloud tools.
- The commission, the EU's antitrust arm, said it was looking into the companies' deep ties earlier this year.
- The agency has now concluded that the relationship isn't like a merger and Microsoft lacks control over OpenAI's direction, scrapping the need for a formal probe.
Zoom out: - The update could mean other antitrust regulators are less likely to scrutinize the companies' relationship.
- The FTC is looking into Microsoft and other tech giant for their investments in OpenAI and fellow AI startup Anthropic.
- The partnership also faces a possible full-scale antitrust probe in the U.K., which would determine if it qualifies as a "relevant merger."
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| 5 | | Amazon will sell its smart grocery carts and expand its "Just Walk Out" cashierless technology to other retail stores. The announcement comes shortly after Amazon said it would phase out "Just Walk Out" from its own stores and replace it with the "Dash Cart" technology. More: - The smart Dash Carts identify items as they're added or removed using computer vision and sensors and adjust the price on a display.
- The shopping carts are now at some Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh stores, with plans to expand to all U.S. Fresh and some third-party stores "soon."
- Meanwhile, Amazon's Just Walk Out tech tracks items as shoppers place them in their carts through ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors.
- Over 140 third-party locations now use Just Walk Out. Amazon plans to bring it to at least 120 more retailers by year's end.
Zoom out: - Just Walk Out faced scrutiny after reports said it used human moderators to monitor shoppers.
- Amazon clarified that workers don't watch live videos of shoppers. Rather, computer vision algorithms auto-generate receipts as customers shop, while human associates handle the data labeling and annotation later.
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| 6 | | AMD announced two chips that will power on-board AI for business computers. The processors will power "AI PCs" from HP, Lenovo, and other brands later this year. More: - AMD's new Ryzen Pro 8000 series is a desktop processor for business PCs.
- The second chip, the Ryzen Pro 8040 Series, is geared toward business laptops and mobile workstations.
- The processors can perform AI tasks, such as powering chatbots and summarizing documents, directly on PCs rather than in the cloud.
Zoom out: - The chips will compete against similar offerings from Nvidia and Intel.
- Like Nvidia, AMD outsources chip production to foundries, primarily TSMC.
- Intel said it plans to ship around 40 million AI PCs in 2024.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
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