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Google was working on an AI-powered mobile chatbot app for Gen Z users that features interactive digital characters, CNBC has learned.

However, the company recently “deprioritized” those efforts amid an internal reorganization, according to materials seen by CNBC. Typically, when a product is deprioritized at Google, work on it ceases.

Called “Bubble Characters,” the app featured a choice of a talking digital character that would interact in conversations with Gen Z users, according to internal documentation viewed by CNBC. The company had been working on it since Q4 2021. Google declined comment to CNBC.

The app’s description states that it featured “human-like” conversations that “take action” and are “interesting for GenZ.” The conversations were powered by large language models, which are massive data sets used to understand and generate human-like text.

“What started out as something from a science fiction novel, became the next generation of human-level conversation,” the app’s description read. 

In an example seen by CNBC, a cartoon-like character’s friendly voice engaged in conversation, asked follow-up questions and even offered relationship advice.

The Gen Z chatbot was one among a range of AI-powered projects using Google’s large language models in the last several months. Within the Assistant organization, which works on virtual assistant applications or two-way conversations for a variety of platforms, executives have prioritized ChatGPT-competitor Bard amid an internal reorganization that included the departure of a few key executives. Some of the Bubble Characters team members were asked to put a pause on their work on the Gen Z app to work on Bard ahead of its launch, according to correspondence viewed by CNBC.

Meanwhile, some of Google’s top AI researchers have left the company to start their own chatbot companies, drawing investments in an otherwise slow funding environment. Character.AI, a two-year-old company building a companion AI chatbot led by former Google researchers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, raised $150 million led by Andreessen Horowitz in February. 

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Nvidia sending 18,000 of its top AI chips to Saudi Arabia

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Nvidia sending 18,000 of its top AI chips to Saudi Arabia

Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, and Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, attend the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 13, 2025.

Hamad I Mohammed | Reuters

Nvidia will sell over 18,000 of its latest artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabian company Humain, CEO Jensen Huang announced on Tuesday.

The announcement was made as part of a White House-led trip to the region that includes President Donald Trump and other top CEOs.

The cutting-edge Blackwell chips will be used in a 500 megawatt data center in Saudi Arabia, according to remarks at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday. Nvidia said its first deployment will use its GB300 Blackwell chips, which are among Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips at the moment, and which were only officially announced earlier this year.

Tuesday’s announcement underscores the importance of Nvidia’s chips as a bargaining tool for the Trump administration as countries around the world clamor for the devices, which are used to train and deploy advanced AI software such as ChatGPT.

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“I am so delighted to be here to help celebrate the grand opening, the beginning of Humain,” Huang said. “It is an incredible vision, indeed, that Saudi Arabia should build the AI infrastructure of your nation so that you could participate and help shape the future of this incredibly transformative technology.”

Nvidia shares rose 4% in trading on Tuesday.

Last week, the Department of Commerce said that it was going to scrap what it called President Joe Biden’s rule, and implement a “much simpler rule.” Nvidia has also been required to seek an export license for its AI chips since 2023 because of national security concerns. 

Humain will be owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and will work on developing AI models as well as building data center infrastructure, according to a press release. Humain’s plans eventually include deploying “several hundred thousand” Nvidia GPUs. 

“Saudi Arabia is rich with energy, transforming the energy through this giant versions of these Nvidia AI supercomputers, which are essentially AI factories,” Huang said.

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Microsoft is cutting 3% of its workforce

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Microsoft is cutting 3% of its workforce

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella leaves after attending a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.

Willy Kurniawan | Reuters

Microsoft on Tuesday said that it’s laying off 3% of employees across all levels, teams and geographies.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

The company reported better-than-expected results, with $25.8 billion in quarterly net income, and an upbeat forecast in late April.

Microsoft had 228,000 employees worldwide at the end of June, meaning that the move will affect thousands of employees.

It’s likely Microsoft’s largest round of layoffs since the elimination of 10,000 roles in 2023. In January the company announced a small round of layoffs that were performance-based. These new job cuts are not related to performance, the spokesperson said.

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One objective is to reduce layers of management, the spokesperson said.

Last week cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike announced it would lay off 5% of its workforce.

In January, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts that the company would make sales execution changes that led to lower growth than expected in Azure cloud revenue that wasn’t tied to artificial intelligence. Performance in AI cloud growth outdid internal projections.

“How do you really tweak the incentives, go-to-market?” Nadella said. “At a time of platform shifts, you kind of want to make sure you lean into even the new design wins, and you just don’t keep doing the stuff that you did in the previous generation.”

On Monday, Microsoft shares stopped trading at $449.26, the highest price so far this year. They closed at a record $467.56 last July.

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Hinge Health aims to raise up to $437 million in IPO, pricing at $28 to $32 per share

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Hinge Health aims to raise up to 7 million in IPO, pricing at  to  per share

Hinge Health co-founders Gabriel Mecklenburg (left) and Daniel Perez (right).

Courtesy of Hinge Health

Hinge Health said in a filing on Tuesday that it plans to raise up to $437 million in its upcoming initial public offering.

The digital physical therapy startup filed its initial prospectus in March, and it updated the document with an expected pricing range for its Class A common stock of $28 to $32 per share. Hinge said it plans to sell about 13.7 million shares in the offering.

Based on the number of Class A and Class B shares outstanding after the offering, the deal would value the company at $2.42 billion in the middle of the range, though that number could be higher on a fully diluted basis.

Hinge, founded in 2014, uses software to help patients treat acute musculoskeletal injuries, chronic pain and carry out post-surgery rehabilitation remotely. The company was co-founded by CEO Daniel Perez and Executive Chairman Gabriel Mecklenburg, who have both experienced personal struggles with physical rehabilitation.

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Three weeks after Hinge filed its initial prospectus, President Donald Trump announced a sweeping tariff policy that plunged U.S. markets into turmoil. That volatility has caused several companies, including online lender Klarna and ticket marketplace StubHub, to delay their long-awaited IPOs.

Hinge is forging ahead anyway, and a second digital health startup, virtual chronic care company Omada Health, filed to go public on Friday. Both IPOs will be closely watched by the digital health sector, which has been mostly devoid of public offerings since 2021.

During its first quarter, Hinge said that revenue climbed 50% to $123.8 million, up from $82.7 million during the same period last year. Hinge reported $117.3 million in revenue during its fourth quarter, up 44% from the same period in 2023. 

The company plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HNGE.”

Hinge has raised more than $1 billion from investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management, and it boasted a $6.2 billion valuation as of October 2021, the last time the company raised outside funding. The biggest institutional shareholders are venture firms Insight Partners and Atomico, which own 19% and 15% of the stock, respectively, according to its prospectus.

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