AI's talent arms race is starting to look like pro sports
On today's episode of Equity, Rebecca Bellan chatted with Deedy Das, principal at Menlo Ventures. Das has seen this shift from multiple angles, first as an engineer and product leader at Google, Facebook, and AI startup Glean, and now as an investor helping technical founders figure out how to build enduring companies in this new AI landscape.
'The reason people are being paid this much is because there's a disparity between the prize to be made in a short amount of time and the amount of people who have the talent to get you to that prize,' Das explained. 'As long as that gap remains, you pay up and you get the talent. […] Over time, there will be less prize in AI. I imagine a lot of that value will be captured by a few people, and there will be a lot more talent to fill the supply.'
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Why Meta is spending billions on both compute and researchers.
How compensation packages and acquisitions are warping startup hiring and retention.
What motivates top researchers to leave, even when they've already made millions.
How VCs are thinking about key-person risk in the AI era.
Equity will be back Friday with our weekly news roundup, so stay tuned.
Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Asks Bank CEOs to Pitch Fannie, Freddie Stock Offering
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump is bringing in bank leaders to meet with him one by one at the White House. Beyond the economic discussion, there's a chance at a big payday for their firms. The World's Data Center Capital Has Residents Surrounded An Abandoned Art-Deco Landmark in Buffalo Awaits Revival We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Budapest's Most Historic Site Gets a Controversial Rebuild San Francisco in Talks With Vanderbilt for Downtown Campus Trump is asking chief executive officers for their pitches on monetizing mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNMA, FNMAS, FNMAO, FNMAL) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), including a major public offering of stock, according to people familiar with the matter. Last week, Trump invited JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon to meet him at the White House. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon was set to meet with Trump on Thursday afternoon, and Bank of America Corp. CEO Brian Moynihan is also expected to meet the president in coming days. Talks are likely to include other banks as well, the people said. Officially named the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., the two entities are massive financial organs of the US housing system. The companies have been under government conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis. Fannie and Freddie have both returned to steady profitability, with earnings being retained. Trump said in May that he's giving 'very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public.' Small portions of the stock already trade publicly, but a vast majority of the firms' shares are held by the government. After Bloomberg reported on the talks with bankers, shares of both companies rose in extended trading on light volume as of 4:30 p.m. in New York, with Fannie Mae climbing 14% and Freddie Mac advancing 5.7%. Policymakers in Washington have struggled for years with what to do with the so-called government-sponsored enterprises — one of the last loose ends from the crisis era. Efforts to overhaul the US housing finance system and release the mortgage giants from government control have repeatedly foundered in Congress amid concerns about the potential impact on mortgage costs and the companies' role in financing affordable housing. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report last week finding that the sale of Fannie and Freddie would be a mixed bag for the government, at least in terms of accounting. The government could make $206 billion from its stake in the companies, the CBO said, but only if they were put in receivership. Hedge funds and other investors have long called for the US to release the pair from conservatorship, which could provide a windfall for shareholders. Analysts have said it could be one of the biggest public offerings ever — meaning it would probably offer hefty fees for the banks picked to lead it. Many complex details would have to be worked out for any such plan, including what stake would initially be offered in any sale, and how investors who hold existing shares would be treated. Trump is asking the CEOs to offer their ideas on the strategy for taking the organizations public and how their banks might play a role, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The administration also has conferred with Wells Fargo & Co. as it speaks with lenders, one person said. A spokesperson for the White House had no immediate comment. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked earlier Thursday about Trump's meeting with Solomon, declined to detail the purpose. 'I won't discuss the president's private meetings from this podium,' she said. Spokespeople for the banks declined to comment or didn't respond to messages. —With assistance from Yizhu Wang, Patrick Clark and Katy O'Donnell. (Updates with Wells Fargo in 11th paragraph.) Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign up for the Yahoo Finance Morning Brief By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
McDonald's plans to 'double down' on AI investment by 2027, senior exec says
By Rishika Sadam HYDERABAD (Reuters) -McDonald's plans to "double down" on its artificial intelligence investment by 2027 and is betting on India as a key hub for data governance, engineering and platform architecture, a senior executive told Reuters on Friday. We're still in the early stages, so it's hard to pin down the exact investment, McDonald's head of Global Business Services operations, Deshant Kaila said at an event. Kaila said the fast-food giant's India push will centre on building its AI team, but added that spending will lean more toward technology and tools, not headcount. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Apple Growth Rebounds on Strength of iPhone 16 Line, China
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. reported its fastest quarterly revenue growth in more than three years, easily topping Wall Street estimates, after demand picked up for the iPhone and products in China. The World's Data Center Capital Has Residents Surrounded An Abandoned Art-Deco Landmark in Buffalo Awaits Revival We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Budapest's Most Historic Site Gets a Controversial Rebuild San Francisco in Talks With Vanderbilt for Downtown Campus Revenue rose 9.6% to $94 billion in the fiscal third quarter, which ended June 28, the company said in a statement Thursday. Analysts estimated $89.3 billion on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Apple also predicted that fourth-quarter revenue would be up by a percentage in the mid- to high-single digits — better than the 3% that analysts had forecast. 'We saw an acceleration of growth around the world in the vast majority of markets we track, including Greater China and many emerging markets,' Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said on a conference call with analysts. Though US tariffs have increased Apple's cost of doing business, they provided a sales benefit last quarter — with consumers rushing to stores to get out ahead of expected price increases. Still, this effect only amounted to 1 percentage point of the 10-point sales gain, Cook said. The company also has been staging a comeback in China, a market where local phone brands have made inroads with consumers. Services were another bright spot, topping Wall Street projections. Apple shares rose about 1.6% in premarket trading on Friday after closing at $207.57 in New York. They had been down 17% this year, putting the company well below Nvidia Corp. and Microsoft Corp. among the world's most valuable businesses. Apple had projected a $900 million headwind from tariffs during the third quarter, saying that revenue would grow in the low- to mid-single digits. Ultimately, the levies cost the company $800 million, Apple said Thursday. It sees tariffs adding $1.1 billion in expenses during the current period. Third-quarter earnings rose to $1.57 a share, beating the average estimate of $1.43. In China, Apple reported revenue of $15.4 billion, up 4.4% from a year earlier. Wall Street had been looking for sales of $15.2 billion from that crucial market. The Cupertino, California-based company generated $44.6 billion from iPhone sales during the June quarter, topping estimates of $40.1 billion. Beyond the tariff-spurred spending, the iPhone business got a boost in February from a new low-end model dubbed the 16e. That device costs $599, far exceeding the price of the model it replaced, the $429 iPhone SE. Apple will announce its next iPhones in September, and the next-generation devices typically go on sale in the final weeks of the fiscal fourth quarter. Services continue to be the company's biggest growth driver, with sales rising 13% to $27.4 billion in the third quarter. Apple didn't provide guidance for the segment when the company discussed its March results, citing uncertainty from 'several factors,' but Wall Street had been looking for about $26.8 billion. Though it's been a bright spot for Apple, the services business faces a variety of threats. Regulators around the world are proposing changes to its App Store policies, potentially reducing revenue from software and subscriptions. Separately, the US Justice Department is likely to upend an agreement with Google that makes the search engine Apple's default option. That arrangement generates roughly $20 billion a year for the iPhone maker. Apple also is struggling to keep up with rivals in artificial intelligence. The company is even considering outsourcing its large language models, or LLMs, the technology underpinning generative AI, Bloomberg has reported. On the conference call, Cook was upbeat about Apple's progress in AI, saying the company is upping its investment in the technology. He declined to comment on whether he believes LLMs will become commoditized, saying it would give away some of Apple's strategy. That suggests a shift toward outside technology may be in the cards. Cook also said he was open to acquisitions if they can accelerate Apple's road map. The company has already acquired seven small companies this year, he said, while signaling that bigger deals may be possible. 'We are are not stuck on a certain size company,' Cook said. Apple's Mac lineup was a highlight last quarter. The product chalked up sales of $8.05 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $7.3 billion. The company released new MacBook Air and Mac Studio models with faster processors in early March, bolstering the division. The iPad generated $6.58 billion in revenue, down 8.1% from a year earlier. That missed Wall Street estimates of $7.1 billion. The year-earlier period included the launch of a revamped, pricey iPad Pro, making the comparison more difficult. Apple hasn't yet released a new iPad Pro this year, but does plan to launch one with an M5 chip and camera changes, Bloomberg News has reported. The company's Wearables, Home and Accessories segment — which includes AirPods, smartwatches, TV set-top boxes, Vision Pro headsets and HomePod speakers — remains in a downward spiral. Its sales fell 8.6% to $7.4 billion in the quarter. Wall Street had been looking for $7.8 billion. The business was once seen as a way to decrease Apple's reliance on iPhone sales, which account for roughly half its revenue. But the division peaked in 2021, when it had almost $15 billion during the holiday quarter. Apple blamed the decline on it launching major new iPad accessories in the year-ago quarter. A lack of compelling new products, however, is likely a bigger factor. The Apple Watch Ultra in 2022 was the last major change to the company's smartwatch lineup. The company also hasn't rolled out a new version of the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the low-end models from last year haven't been as big a hit as anticipated. The biggest snag for the category might be the Vision Pro, which costs $3,499 and took nearly a decade and several billion dollars to develop. Despite its high price, the device hasn't moved the needle for wearables revenue and has been a commercial flop. The company is planning a refreshed model later this year with a new chip — but meaningful changes to the product aren't planned until 2027. Still, the category may get a boost in the coming years when Apple rolls out smart glasses, rivaling a popular product from Meta Platforms Inc. Apple is also planning a new Ultra watch this year with satellite connectivity, a feature aimed at hikers looking to stay in contact when away from cellular networks. And it's developing new AirPods, an updated Apple TV box and a smart home device with a screen and fresh operating system, Bloomberg News has reported. On the call, Cook was asked whether consumers might eventually switch to some kind of screen-free AI device — posing a threat to the iPhone. He said that the company's flagship product will be tough to replace. 'It's difficult to see a world where iPhone's not living in it,' he said. 'And that doesn't mean that we are not thinking about other things as well, but I think that the devices are likely to be complementary devices, not substitution.' (Updates with premarket share move in sixth paragraph.) Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
