logo
Hacker Houses Create the Vision of a Tech Startup Utopia

Hacker Houses Create the Vision of a Tech Startup Utopia

Bloomberg18-04-2025

Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter with reporting and analysis about the business of tech from Bloomberg's journalists around the world. Today, Ellen Huet traces the history of 'hacker houses,' where Silicon Valley startup founders live, work and play as they try to break through with their companies.
Nvidia's relationship with China: Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang traveled to Beijing and affirmed the importance of the Chinese market, just after US President Donald Trump banned the company from selling its H20 AI chip there.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ex-Blackstone Investor Raises $7M for Meridian, Private Equity's New AI Operating System
Ex-Blackstone Investor Raises $7M for Meridian, Private Equity's New AI Operating System

Yahoo

time14 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Ex-Blackstone Investor Raises $7M for Meridian, Private Equity's New AI Operating System

NEW YORK, June 20, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Meridian, the AI-powered deal management platform for the private markets, today announced its $7 million Series Seed fundraise. The round was led by 645 Ventures with participation from existing investor Chaac Ventures. Meridian also welcomed a group of high-impact angel investors – industry leaders from private equity, credit, and M&A law, many of whom have actively shaped Meridian as early users. Founded by Alexander Sen, a former investor at Blackstone, Thoma Bravo, and CVC, Meridian is building the AI operating system for private market investors. The company combines modern CRM with deep workflow automation and proprietary AI agents to solve the core operational pain points of the world's leading investors – from deal origination to exit. "Private equity still runs on fragmented, manual systems: clunky software, Excel trackers, and scattered third-party data subscriptions," said Alexander Sen, founder and CEO of Meridian. "We're building software that finally reflects how top investment teams source and diligence deals – and we've vertically integrated AI to enable workflows that were never possible before." Meridian brings together a team of over 25 across New York and Miami, with experience spanning enterprise software, AI infrastructure, and capital markets. The company has also hired an experienced customer team who guide firms through the most important technological shift facing private markets today. At the heart of the platform is Scout, Meridian's AI engine. Scout powers intelligent agents that map markets, pinpoint the right companies, automate core evaluation workflows, and surface relationship signals where they matter most. It helps firms spot high-conviction deals before the market does – giving teams a decisive sourcing and diligence edge. Meridian has to date focused on the top of the market, helping some of the world's largest private equity and credit firms run better, more intelligent deal sourcing and evaluation processes. The platform is quickly gaining share at top 100 firms and is now expanding into LPs, investment banks, and global hedge funds – reflecting a broader shift toward modern infrastructure across every layer of private company investing. "There's a generational shift happening in private markets – more complexity, more competition, and more data," said Nnamdi Okike, Managing Partner at 645 Ventures. "AI is a game changer for private market deal sourcing, due diligence and deal management. Firms that do not leverage AI in this new market will be left behind. We were particularly drawn to Alex's insights into how AI will transform private markets, which were developed through his experience in private equity. Meridian is arming investors with the system they'll need to win." The funding will be used to expand Meridian's AI capabilities, accelerate product development, and scale go-to-market efforts globally. "Private market firms are under pressure to move faster, operate leaner, and make sharper decisions," said Sen. "Software is no longer just overhead at private equity firms – it's become a source of edge. The best investors are treating technology and data as central to how they generate outsized returns." To request a demo or learn more, visit About Meridian Meridian is the AI-native operating system for institutional private markets. The platform combines next-generation deal software, massive datasets, and intelligent agents into a single system that helps investors originate, evaluate, and execute with greater speed and precision. Founded by Alexander Sen, a former investor at Blackstone, Thoma Bravo, and CVC, Meridian serves private equity, credit, and broader financial services firms engaged in M&A. The company is headquartered in New York and Miami, with a team of product builders, engineers, and customer leaders with deep experience across enterprise software and private markets. Learn more at About 645 Ventures 645 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with exceptional founders building iconic companies. The firm invests at the Seed and Series A stages and supports founders through its proprietary software platform Voyager and deep Connected Network. 645 Ventures manages over $550M in AUM across five funds. Learn more at View source version on Contacts Media Contact Kelsey Cullen, KCPR650.438.1063kelsey@ 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

Alibaba Cloud Opens Second Korea Node
Alibaba Cloud Opens Second Korea Node

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Alibaba Cloud Opens Second Korea Node

Alibaba(NYSE:BABA) Cloud is set to launch its second South Korea data centre by end-June, part of a 380 billion yuan ($52.9 billion) AI and cloud push. Bloomberg reports the new facility will bolster resilience and flexibility for local customers, supporting generative AI use cases across industries. Yoon Yong-joon, Alibaba Cloud's country manager, says the centre will deepen the digital ecosystem and spur AI innovation. This follows Alibaba's earlier commitment to massive infrastructure build-out in Asia. The move also aligns with global peers: SK Telecom and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Sevice (AWS) are partnering on a 103 MW AI data hub in Ulsan, with construction kicking off in August and an ultimate plan to house 60,000 GPUs, aiming to be Korea's largest AI-focused campus. A second Alibaba Cloud node strengthens data sovereignty and performance for enterprises in South Korea, reducing latency and ensuring compliance with local regulations. For Alibaba, it cements its standing against AWS, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure, and Google(NASDAQ:GOOG) Cloud in a key growth market hungry for generative AI services. As AI workloads surge, redundant, high-capacity data centres will be a competitive differentiator. Watch uptime metrics, customer onboarding rates, and GPU availability as the new centre goes live. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. 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

Apple internally weighs bid for ChatGPT rival Perplexity, Bloomberg says
Apple internally weighs bid for ChatGPT rival Perplexity, Bloomberg says

Yahoo

time17 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Apple internally weighs bid for ChatGPT rival Perplexity, Bloomberg says

-- Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has held internal discussions about acquiring Perplexity AI, a fast-growing artificial intelligence startup known for its advanced chatbot platform. The talks, reported by Bloomberg and involving senior executives including M&A chief Adrian Perica and services head Eddy Cue, are still at an early stage and may not result in a formal offer. The move underscores Apple's struggle to keep pace with rivals amid increasing pressure to integrate artificial intelligence across its hardware and software ecosystem. In particular, Apple has faced persistent delays in its efforts to upgrade Siri, leaving the voice assistant trailing competitors such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Elon Musk's Grok. Perplexity, recently valued at $14 billion in a funding round, could significantly accelerate Apple's ambitions in AI-driven search and user interaction. The acquisition would also represent the largest in Apple's history, surpassing its previous deals in both scale and impact on the company's long-term strategy. Apple's interest in Perplexity also comes as it reassesses its relationship with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), whose search engine generates an estimated $20 billion a year for Apple as the default option on iPhones and other devices. That deal has come under regulatory scrutiny from U.S. antitrust authorities, fueling uncertainty around its future and prompting Apple to consider building its own AI-based search engine. According to Bloomberg, Apple has not yet contacted Perplexity's leadership about a potential takeover. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) reportedly attempted its own bid earlier this year but could not come to terms, instead pivoting to a $14.3 billion deal for a 49% stake in Scale AI as it builds a team focused on producing a 'superintelligence.' The AI market has become increasingly competitive as Big Tech firms vie for top talent and cutting-edge capabilities to stay ahead in the generative AI race. For Apple, generally conservative about large-scale acquisitions, a move on Perplexity would signal a strategic departure, highlighting the urgency of closing its AI gap. Related articles Apple internally weighs bid for ChatGPT rival Perplexity, Bloomberg says QXO won't participate in bidding war for GMS - source Reddit in talks to use Sam Altman's World ID for user verification - Semafor Sign in to access your portfolio

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store