Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reacts during a visit with Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the Imperial College University, in London, Britain, February 15, 2023.
Justin Tallis | Pool | Reuters
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes the future top company in artificial intelligence will likely have created a personal digital agent that can perform certain tasks for people.
The technology will be so profound, it could radically alter user behaviors. “Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” he said.
This yet-to-be developed AI assistant will be able to understand a person’s needs and habits and will help them “read the stuff you don’t have time to read,” Gates said Monday during a Goldman Sachs and SV Angel event in San Francisco on the topic of artificial intelligence.
Gates said there is a 50-50 chance that this future AI winner will be either a startup or a tech giant.
“I’d be disappointed if Microsoft didn’t come in there,” Gates said. “But I’m impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection,” he added referring to Inflection.AI, co-founded by former DeepMind executive Mustafa Suleyman.
It will take some time until this powerful future digital agent is ready for mainstream use, Gates said. Until then, companies will continue embedding so-called generative AI technologies akin to OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT into their own products.
Gates also discussed health efforts related to his work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saying AI will accelerate innovations in the space and lead to more advanced drug development.
Although the inner workings of the human brain is still a mystery to scientists, the Microsoft co-founder believes that humanity is getting close to creating helpful drugs to cure diseases like Alzheimer’s, with human trials for the new drugs possibly taking place in 10 years.
He also likened the rise of generative AI technologies that can produce compelling text as a game-changer that will affect white-collar workers. Gates added that he believes that future humanoid robots that are cheaper for companies to use than human employees will greatly impact blue-collar workers, too.
“As we invent these robots, we just need to make sure they don’t get Alzheimer’s,” Gates said in jest.
Google announced Monday the removal of nearly 11,000 YouTube channels and other accounts tied to state-linked propaganda campaigns from China, Russia and more in the second quarter.
The takedown included more than 7,700 YouTube channels linked to China.
These campaigns primarily shared content in Chinese and English that promoted the People’s Republic of China, supported President Xi Jinping and commented on U.S. foreign affairs.
Over 2,000 removed channels were linked to Russia. The content was in multiple languages that supported Russia and criticized Ukraine, NATO and the West.
Google, in May, removed 20 YouTube channels, 4 Ads accounts, and 1 Blogger blog linked to RT, the Russian state-controlled media outlet accused of paying prominent conservative influencers for social media content ahead of the 2024 election.
Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — all staunch supporters of President Donald Trump — made content for Tenent Media, the Tennessee company described in the indictment, according to NBC News.
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YouTube began blocking RT channels in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The active removal of accounts is part of the Google Threat Analysis Group’s work to counter global disinformation campaigns and “coordinated influence” operations.
Google’s second quarter report also outlined the removal of influence campaigns linked to Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Romania and Ghana that were found to be targeting political rivals.
Some campaigns centered on growing geopolitical conflicts, including narratives on both sides of the Israel-Palestine War.
CNBC has reached out to YouTube for further comment or information on the report.
Google took down more than 23,000 accounts in the first quarter.
Meta announced last week it removed about 10 million profiles for impersonating large content producers through the first half of 2025 as part of an effort by the company to combat “spammy content.”
Chris Martin of Coldplay performs live at San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy, in July 2017.
Mairo Cinquetti | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Astronomer‘s interim CEO said in his first public comment since unexpectedly taking over the role on Saturday that he hopes to move the tech startup past the viral moment that captured national attention last week.
Pete DeJoy was appointed to the top job due to the resignation of CEO Andy Byron, days after he was caught on video in an intimate moment with the company’s head of human resources at a Coldplay concert. Astronomer said over the weekend that it would begin a search for a new CEO.
“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies — let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world — ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday. “The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”
Byron was shown on a big screen at the concert in Boston on Wednesday with his arms around Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. Byron, who is married with children, immediately hid when the couple was shown on screen. Lead singer Chris Martin said, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” A concert attendee’s video of the affair went viral.
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DeJoy helped start Astronomer in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, and had been serving as chief product officer since earlier this year.
In May, Astronomer announced a $93 million investment round led by Bain Ventures and other investors, including Salesforce Ventures.
“I’m stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers,” DeJoy wrote. He added that “our story is very much still being written.”
Astronomer is commercializing the open-source data operations platform Astro. DeJoy wrote that customers “trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects” and that “we’re here because the mission is bigger than any one moment.”
Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma Inc., after the morning sessions at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 11, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Design software company Figma on Monday published an updated prospectus for its initial public offering.
The company said it expects to sell about 37 million shares at $25 to $28 each. That would generate as much as $1 billion in proceeds, between the company and selling shareholders.
The IPO could value Figma, led by co-founder Dylan Field, a fully diluted valuation of $14.6 billion to $16.4 billion. Field plans to sell 2.35 million shares, which could be worth as much as $65.8 million.
In a 2024 tender offer, investors valued the company at $12.5 billion. In 2022, Adobe had agreed to acquire Figma for $20 billion, but the deal was scrapped after regulators objected.
The flow of technology companies joining U.S. exchanges has slowed since late 2021. Concerns over inflation and a recession made some investors less interested in backing fast-growing but money-losing companies.
But a few technology stocks have become available in recent months. CoreWeave went public in March, and Circle and Chime shares started trading in June.
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Figma filed to go public on July 1, announcing plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FIG.”
On Monday, it provided preliminary results for the second quarter, showing $9.0 million to $12.0 million in operating income on $247 million to $250 million in revenue. That would imply year-over-year revenue growth of 39% at the low end and 41% at the high end. Growth in the first quarter exceeded 46%.
During the second quarter, Figma added clients and expanded business with existing ones. The company’s operating margin would be ticking up to 4% to 5%, up from 3% in the same quarter a year ago, based on the preliminary results.
Figma said it has authorized the issuance of “blockchain common stock” in the form of “blockchain-based tokens.” So far, though, Figma said it isn’t planning to issue this type of stock. In July, Figma disclosed investments in a stablecoin and a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Mike Krieger, a co-founder of Instagram who is now chief product officer of artificial intelligence model developer Anthropic, has joined the board. Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, is also joining the board, according to the filing.