Samsung at the Mobile World Congress 2023 on March 2, 2023, in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Joan Cros | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday introduced a new generative artificial intelligence model, hinting that the software will be coming to its devices soon.
Generative AI has been popularized by Microsoft-backed OpenAI and ChatGPT, which was launched last year and has sparked a race amongst the world’s technology giants to get ahead. Generative AI is underpinned by so-called large language models, which are trained on large amounts of data.
Samsung said its technology — called Samsung Gauss — is designed for AI applications on devices.
Samsung said its AI model is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, “the legendary mathematician who established normal distribution theory, the backbone of machine learning and AI.”
The AI system has a number of features: the first, Samsung Gauss Language, is a generative language model which can help compose emails and translate content, as well as “enhance the consumer experience by enabling smarter device control when integrated into products.”
The second feature allows in-house software developers to write code quickly, while the third, Samsung Gauss Image, can generate or edit images.
“Samsung Gauss is currently used on employee productivity but will be expanded to a variety of Samsung product applications to provide new user experience in the near future,” Samsung said in a press release on Wednesday.
Samsung could be amongst the first handset makers in the world to introduce generative AI to its devices. Daniel Araujo, Samsung’s vice president of the mobile business, said on the company’s earnings call last month that generative AI technology will likely reach customers next year.
Apple, Samsung’s biggest rival in the smartphone space, is yet to announce a generative AI product of its own. Company CEO Tim Cook said last month during the Apple earnings call that the tech giant has “work going on” in generative AI, but declined to give more details.
Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, takes the stage during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, Dec. 4, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell up to 25 million shares in the company over the next year, according to a financial filing on Friday.
Bezos, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but remains Amazon’s top shareholder, is selling the shares as part of a trading plan adopted on March 4, the filing states. The stake would be worth about $4.8 billion at the current price.
The disclosure follows Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report late Thursday. While profit and revenue topped estimates, the company’s forecast for operating income in the current quarter came in below Wall Street’s expectations.
The results show that Amazon is bracing for uncertainty related to President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs. The company landed in the crosshairs of the White House this week over a report that Amazon planned to show shoppers the cost of the tariffs. Trump personally called Bezos to complain, and Amazon clarified that no such change was coming.
Bezos previously offloaded about $13.5 billion worth of Amazon shares last year, marking his first sale of company stock since 2021.
Since handing over the Amazon CEO role to Andy Jassy, Bezos has spent more of his time on his space exploration company, Blue Origin, and his $10 billion climate and biodiversity fund. He’s used Amazon share sales to help fund Blue Origin, as well as the Day One Fund, which he launched in September 2018 to provide education in low-income communities and combat homelessness.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, watches during the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, left, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
Shawn Thew | Afp | Getty Images
A tale of two different technology companies is playing out this earnings season as President Donald Trump‘s global trade upheaval makes planning nearly impossible.
Businesses reliant on advertising appear to be holding on for the near-term as those dependent on consumer spending have started to feel the cracks of a murky macro subjected to an ever-shifting tariff policy.
Block offered a lackluster second-quarter profit outlook in its earnings release Thursday, and said it took into account a “more cautious stance” into the end of the year. Airbnb issued disappointing guidance and said its business experienced some “softness” in travel from Canada to the U.S. toward the end of the quarter.
“In the U.S., we’ve seen relatively softer results, which we believe has been largely driven by broader economic uncertainties,” the vacation rentals company said in a letter to shareholders.
The fortress technology giants are also proving susceptible to Trump’s whims.
AppleCEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the company anticipates $900 million in added costs from tariffs this quarter, but said it’s “very difficult” to predict beyond that timeframe due to uncertainty.
He also said Apple is sourcing products shipped to the U.S. from India and Vietnam — where tariffs are lower.
“We do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will have India as their country of origin,” he said. “Vietnam will be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the U.S.”
Amazon‘s e-commerce business, which relies on many sellers that ship from China, is also beginning to feel the pressure. The company issued light guidance for the current quarter, and said “tariffs and trade policies” and “recessionary fears” were factors in its outlook.
Trump recently hiked the import duty on goods from China to 145%. Amazon is also grappling with the expiration of the de minimis loophole that previously allowed imports under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free.
Finance chief Brian Olsavsky said the company offered a wide guidance range due to tariff unpredictability.
But Amazon’s advertising business was a silver lining in the report, jumping 19% from last year. Other ad-heavy businesses also reported strong results in this macroeconomic setup, but warned of possibly tougher waters ahead.
Alphabet reported a year-over-year jump in ad revenue, but warned that the de minimis changes would “cause a slight headwind” to its ad business this year, particularly in Asia. Meta‘s ad revenues topped estimates, but finance chief Susan Li said some Asia e-commerce retailers have curbed ad spending. “
“A portion of that spend has been redirected to other markets, but overall spend for those advertisers is below the levels prior to April,” she said.
Worsening consumer sentiment isn’t just a tech problem. Airlines, restaurants and consumer retailers are also feeling the pinch.
Delta Airlines cut its growth plans for 2025 and trimmed its first-quarter guidance on weakening demand, while Chipotle Mexican Grill blamed a “slowdown consumer spending” as a reason for a decline in same-store sales.
U.S. consumers also appear less optimistic about the economy. Last month, the expectations index from the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey fell to its lowest level since October 2011.
Board officials said the reading is consistent with a recession.
A passenger walks near Uber signage after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on July 10, 2022.
David Swanson | Reuters
Uber said on Friday that it’s partnering with Chinese self-driving startup Momenta to launch robotaxi services outside of the U.S. and China.
The first deployment is scheduled to roll out in Europe in early 2026, with safety operators onboard. Uber said the goal is to combine its global ridesharing network with Momenta’s technology to deliver safe and efficient robotaxi services.
“This collaboration brings together Uber’s global ridesharing expertise and Momenta’s AI-first autonomous driving technology, paving the way for a future where more riders around the world experience the benefits of reliable and affordable autonomous mobility,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the press release.
Momenta CEO Xudong Cao said the arrangement “completes the key ecosystem needed to scale autonomous driving globally.”
Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
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Momenta, based in Beijing, is a leading autonomous driving company known for its “two-leg” product strategy. It offers both Mpilot, a mass-production-ready assisted driving system, and MSD (Momenta Self-Driving), aimed at full autonomy. The company has years of experience operating autonomous vehicles in cities across China and has partnerships with large equipment manufacturers.
Competition is heating up in the robotaxi market, and Uber is actively seeking deals to sustain a ride-hailing business as robots replace drivers. Uber has partnered with companies including Motional and Waymo in select U.S. cities. Motional hit pause on its robotaxi deployments with both Uber and Lyft last year. This marks Uber’s first major push to deploy AVs abroad in partnership with a Chinese startup.
Uber previously had its own self-driving car unit, but it sold the division in 2020 to Aurora Technologies, an Amazon-backed self-driving car firm. As part of that deal, Uber said it would invest $400 million into Aurora.