OpenAI seeks $90B valuation 🏦, Microsoft bets on nuclear ⚡, rise of cloud dev environments 👨‍💻

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TLDR 2023-09-27

🆕 2023 Software Engineering Benchmarks report reveals that startups deploy code 18% faster than enterprises (Sponsor)

LinearB’s new and expanded Software Engineering Benchmarks report is out! This report benchmarks critical engineering metrics from 2,000+ development teams and 3.6 million pull requests.

Here’s what the data reveals:

Enterprises have an average deploy time 2x higher than startups and scaleups.
Startups and scale-ups deploy code 18% faster than enterprises
Teams with higher merge frequencies have shorter cycle times.
Startups typically work longer hours.
Many additional insights

"Essential insights into how engineering teams continue to evolve” — Nathen Harvey, Head of Google's DORA team

Download the full report free, here 👉 2023 Software Engineering Benchmarks 📥

📱

Big Tech & Startups

Microsoft is going nuclear to power its AI ambitions (3 minute read)

Microsoft plans to use next-generation nuclear reactors to power its data centers and AI ambitions. It has posted a job listing for a principal program manager to lead its nuclear energy strategy. Data centers use a ton of energy. Nuclear technology can provide the clean energy required for the company to hit its climate goals. Microsoft is specifically looking for someone who can roll out a plan for small modular reactors.

OpenAI is reportedly raising funds at a valuation of $80 billion to $90 billion (1 minute read)

OpenAI is reportedly in discussions to sell shares. The sale could boost its valuation from $29 billion to over $80 billion. Employees will be allowed to sell existing shares. OpenAI said in late August that it expected to reach $1 billion in revenue this year.

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Science & Futuristic Technology

Farmers turn to tech as bees struggle to pollinate (5 minute read)

BloomX, an Israeli tech firm, has created a plant-pollinating machine that works by dislodging pollen. The mechanism is similar to how bees pollinate plants. BloomX aims to reduce farmers' dependence on commercial honeybees. Bees are said to account for 75% of the pollination of fruits, nuts, and vegetables in the US, but their populations are under pressure due to climate change, habitat loss, and the use of pesticides.

Array Labs: 3D Mapping Earth from Space (78 minute read)

A real-time 3D map of the world is the Holy Grail of Earth Observation. Such a map would enable new applications and technologies and improve climate monitoring, disaster response, construction management, and urban planning. It could confer significant strategic and economic advantages to whoever possesses it. This article looks at Array Labs, a company that thinks that it is time to build the map, and the technology required to build it.

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Programming, Design & Data Science

Why are Cloud Development Environments Spiking in Popularity, Now? (8 minute read)

Cloud Development Environments (CDEs) are spiking in popularity. This article looks at why CDEs are trending and what startups should look for in the space. CDEs are gaining popularity because codebases are getting larger, monorepos are getting more popular, laptop power is plateauing, connections are improving, and due to remote work. If the industry continues on this trend, most developers at large and mid-sized tech companies may be building software on remote machines within two to three years.

Vizro (GitHub Repo)

Vizro is a toolkit for creating modular data visualization applications. It enables users to create customized dashboards in minutes without the need for advanced coding or design experience. Vizro supports configurations written in Pydantic models, JSON, YAML, Python dictionaries, and more. Extensions are available.

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Miscellaneous

FTC files “the big one,” a lawsuit alleging Amazon illegally maintains monopoly (6 minute read)

The FTC and 17 state attorneys general are suing Amazon, claiming that the company illegally maintains monopoly power. They claim that Amazon uses a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies. The lawsuit aims to hold Amazon accountable for its practices and restore competition. It could result in the breaking up of the company. Amazon claims that the lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law.

Ask HN: Tips for Solopreneur? (Hacker News Thread)

This Hacker News thread discusses how to navigate the startup space as a solopreneur. It covers how to sell a one-person team, setting appropriate milestones, marketing, raising funds, and the importance of location. Being on your own brings unique problems, for example, the company's success and existence depends entirely on one person, and that increases risk for potential investors. Some investors might see a one-person company as a red flag as they may question why the company hasn't hired any employees.

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Quick Links

Apple defends Google Search deal in court: ‘There wasn’t a valid alternative’ (6 minute read)

Apple says it made Google the default search engine because it believes it was the best choice.

Bun: lessons from disrupting a tech ecosystem (5 minute read)

Large companies have some motivation to innovate, but also a strong disincentive as well, as innovation risks undermining existing products - Bun started with a clean slate and it can make decisions that Node doesn't have the luxury of making.

Is this the production Tesla Cybertruck? (2 minute read)

A recent drone video shows new Cybertrucks coming out of Gigafactory Texas - the video is available in the article.

Doom developer John Carmack thinks artificial general intelligence is doable by 2030 (3 minute read)

John Carmack says that the present state of AI might only be possible due to his work on Quake as the game sparked the demand for GPUs.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon exec Dave Limp (5 minute read)

Bob Smith will remain with Blue Origin until January 2, after which Dave Limp will take over.

Multi-Modal AI is a UX Problem (1 minute read)

There's a huge opportunity to develop the user experience for multimodal AI.

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OpenAI seeks $90B valuation 🏦, Microsoft bets on nuclear ⚡, rise of cloud dev environments 👨‍💻

TLDR 2023-09-27

Big Tech & Startups

Science & Futuristic Technology

Programming, Design & Data Science

Miscellaneous

Quick Links

Older messages

ChatGPT vision & audio 🤖, Spotify's AI voice cloning 🗣️, pod living in SF 🛏️

Tesla's robot demo 🤖, Pixel 8 camera features 📱, building engineering strategy 👨‍💻

Apple's sports strategy ⚽, the end of obesity 📉, engineering metrics 👨‍💻

OpenAI's DALL-E 3 🖼️, Apple scraps stock trading plans 🏦, AI UX of the future 🤖

Neuralink human trials 🧠, Google Bard Extensions 🤖, a modern CSS reset 👨‍💻

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