Latest news with #MenloPark-based
San Francisco Chronicle
12-07-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Nvidia's stock price is soaring. Could Silicon Valley home prices follow?
Silicon Valley is riding the AI-driven tech boom, with Santa Clara-based Nvidia now the world's most valuable public company. But the wealth of its workers and investors, which has helped make the region one of the hottest housing markets in the Bay Area, no longer appears to be translating to home sales as smoothly as it once did. The Silicon Valley housing market is closely linked to the booms and busts of its tech industry, real estate agents told the Chronicle. So far this year, due in large part to the Trump administration, the industry has experienced a whirlwind of changes. That's put many would-be homebuyers on guard, resulting in a market where homes still sell quickly, but where competition isn't as fierce as before. On the home price-boosting side of the ledger, Silicon Valley giants like Nvidia and Meta have seen soaring stock prices, making their workers and investors flush with wealth they can use to buy a $1.7 million home in cash. Plus the Trump administration's support of cryptocurrency has sent the value of Bitcoin to record highs, adding to investors' wealth. Take Nvidia for example. The company, which is now valued at more than $4 trillion, had a closing stock price Thursday of about $164 per share, enormously more than the $10.50 price on July 10, 2020. Someone who invested $100,000 in the company five years ago would have more than $1.5 million now. And with many Nvidia employees receiving stock as part of their compensation, the company has likely single-handedly created a new stock of Bay Area millionaires, leading to a more competitive field of homebuyers. That growth has helped make the home values in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties the highest among large counties in the U.S. And while mortgage rates are still high, keeping many potential buyers out of the market, the buyers still in the market are facing less competition for homes, said Nikki Edwards, a Realtor with Silicon Valley-based EQ1 Real Estate. 'For those who are able and willing to buy, it's a good opportunity — one of the best opportunities we've seen since the winter of 2023,' she said. But it's not all good news for tech workers and investors. Some companies' stocks have only recently recovered after crashing in April, when President Donald Trump announced a wave of tariffs, and for most that are growing, they haven't seen close to Nvidia's level of success. Layoffs have been another concern, with Santa Clara tech company Intel announcing this week it was cutting nearly 600 Northern California jobs. Several tech giants have been downscaling since mid-2022, with Microsoft and Google conducting another round of layoffs buyouts this year. 'All the (tech) employees felt quite invulnerable and quite confident … that they were very safe (pre-2022), so they could take big swings,' said John Young, a Menlo Park-based Realtor with Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty. 'Now, it's less so the case.' Mortgage rates are also still high, forcing homebuyers who aren't at the top of the income range to decide whether a South Bay home is worth a five-figure monthly payment. The result is a 'mixed bag,' said Will Klopp, managing director of Compass' Silicon Valley office. Home value growth in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties has sputtered in recent months, according to data from real estate brokerage Zillow, a trend mirrored in much of the rest of the country. 'It's kind of a split market,' Klopp said. 'Some homes are selling quickly with multiple offers, while others linger and require price reductions.' Political uncertainty could also have a chilling effect on the Silicon Valley housing market, said Sandy Jamison, a real estate broker with Tuscana Properties in Campbell. She pointed to the Trump administration's immigration policies, noting that many of the region's residents are on work visas. With the future unclear, some workers on visas are hesitant to buy or sell a home without knowing whether they'll be able to remain in the country. '(There's) a lot of change happening at the macro level right now that is putting a lot of people in (a state of) fear,' Jamison said. 'And what do people do when they have fear? They just freeze up and do nothing.'
Business Insider
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A Kleiner Perkins partner explains why the firm is betting on AI for highly paid jobs like doctors and lawyers
Kleiner Perkins invests in AI tools for high-paying jobs like doctors and lawyers. The firm targets digital assistants to simplify tasks in top professions. AI integration is becoming essential in workplaces, with leaders urging its adoption. In an episode of the "Uncapped" podcast published on Wednesday, a Kleiner Perkins partner, Mamoon Hamid, said the firm is investing in startups that make digital assistants for America's highest-paying jobs. "If you'd look at a chart of the top 20 jobs in the US by pay, those are doctors, lawyers, and engineers," Hamid said. "So we thought, OK, so how do we invest in copilots for these job types?" The VC added that: "There are parts of these jobs that are very nuanced and the human brain needs to process those parts of the job, but there's parts that AI is scribing or taking notes." Hamid said that the company had invested in Ambience, a startup for doctors, Harvey, a legal-tech platform for lawyers, and Windsurf, a coding assistance platform for engineers. He said that physical labor, which is often among the lowest-paying jobs, is harder to tackle with AI. "It's like back-breaking work that people do and still do it, and that's probably the hardest place to attack today," he said. "We're thinking sort of much further out, which is like robots, it's like humanoids." The Menlo Park-based firm specializes in investing in early-stage tech and life science startups. Founded in 1972, it has backed over 900 companies, including Amazon, Google, and Twitter. As AI improves, companies outside the tech industry are promoting or even mandating its use for their employees. That's leading to a rush of contracts for big companies, like OpenAI, and startups alike. In May, the CEO of Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund said that using AI is not "voluntary" for his employees. "If you don't use it, you will never be promoted. You won't get a job," Nicolai Tangen said. In a viral memo in April, Shopify's Tobias Ltke told employees that AI use is "now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify" and "teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI" before asking for more head count. In the same month, Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said not enough of his employees know how to use AI and that Uber is implementing training programs to change that. He added that learning to use AI agents to code is "going to be an absolute necessity at Uber within a year."
Business Insider
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A Kleiner Perkins partner explains why the firm is betting on AI for highly paid jobs like doctors and lawyers
One venture capitalist is playing the AI game by investing in tools for top jobs. In an episode of the "Uncapped" podcast published on Wednesday, a Kleiner Perkins partner, Mamoon Hamid, said the firm is investing in startups that make digital assistants for America's highest-paying jobs. "If you'd look at a chart of the top 20 jobs in the US by pay, those are doctors, lawyers, and engineers," Hamid said. "So we thought, OK, so how do we invest in copilots for these job types?" The VC added that: "There are parts of these jobs that are very nuanced and the human brain needs to process those parts of the job, but there's parts that AI is scribing or taking notes." Hamid said that the company had invested in Ambience, a startup for doctors, Harvey, a legal-tech platform for lawyers, and Windsurf, a coding assistance platform for engineers. He said that physical labor, which is often among the lowest-paying jobs, is harder to tackle with AI. "It's like back-breaking work that people do and still do it, and that's probably the hardest place to attack today," he said. "We're thinking sort of much further out, which is like robots, it's like humanoids." The Menlo Park-based firm specializes in investing in early-stage tech and life science startups. Founded in 1972, it has backed over 900 companies, including Amazon, Google, and Twitter. As AI improves, companies outside the tech industry are promoting or even mandating its use for their employees. That's leading to a rush of contracts for big companies, like OpenAI, and startups alike. In May, the CEO of Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund said that using AI is not "voluntary" for his employees. "If you don't use it, you will never be promoted. You won't get a job," Nicolai Tangen said. In a viral memo in April, Shopify's Tobias Lütke told employees that AI use is "now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify" and "teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI" before asking for more head count. In the same month, Uber's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said not enough of his employees know how to use AI and that Uber is implementing training programs to change that. He added that learning to use AI agents to code is "going to be an absolute necessity at Uber within a year."
Qatar Tribune
01-07-2025
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Meta spending big on AI talent but will it pay off?
Agencies Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are spending billions of dollars for top talent to make up ground in the generative artificial intelligence race, sparking doubt about the wisdom of the spree. OpenAI boss Sam Altman recently lamented that Meta has offered $100 million bonuses to engineers who jump to Zuckerberg's ship, where hefty salaries await. A few OpenAI employees have reportedly taken Meta up on the offer, joining Scale AI founder and former chief executive Alexandr Wang at the Menlo Park-based tech titan. Meta paid more than $14 billion for a 49 percent stake in Scale AI in mid-June, bringing Wang on board as part of the deal. Scale AI labels data to better train AI models for businesses, governments and labs. 'Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI,' a Meta spokesperson told AFP. 'As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts.' U.S. media outlets have reported that Meta's recruitment effort has also targeted OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever; Google rival Perplexity AI, and hot AI video startup Runway. Meta chief Zuckerberg is reported to have sounded the charge himself due to worries Meta is lagging rivals in the generative AI race. The latest version of Meta AI model Llama finished behind its heavyweight rivals in code writing rankings at an LM Arena platform that lets users evaluate the technology. Meta is integrating recruits into a new team dedicated to developing 'superintelligence,' or AI that outperforms people when it comes to thinking and understanding. Tech blogger Zvi Moshowitz felt Zuckerberg had to do something about the situation, expecting Meta to succeed in attracting hot talent but questioning how well it will pay off. 'There are some extreme downsides to going pure mercenary... and being a company with products no one wants to work on,' Moshowitz told AFP. 'I don't expect it to work, but I suppose Llama will suck less.' While Meta's share price is nearing a new high with the overall value of the company approaching $2 trillion, some investors have started to worry. Institutional investors are concerned about how well Meta is managing its cash flow and reserves, according to Baird strategist Ted Mortonson. 'Right now, there are no checks and balances' with Zuckerberg free to do as he wishes running Meta, Mortonson noted. The potential for Meta to cash in by using AI to rev its lucrative online advertising machine has strong appeal but 'people have a real big concern about spending,' said executives have laid out a vision of using AI to streamline the ad process from easy creation to smarter targeting, bypassing creative agencies and providing a turnkey solution to brands. AI talent hires are a long-term investment unlikely to impact Meta's profitability in the immediate future, according to CFRA analyst Angelo Zino. 'But still, you need those people on board now and to invest aggressively to be ready for that phase' of generative AI, Zino said. According to The New York Times, Zuckerberg is considering shifting away from Meta's Llama, perhaps even using competing AI models instead.
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meta AI Talent Acquisition: Meta spending big on AI talent but will it pay off?, ETHRWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. All about ETHRWorld industry right on your smartphone! Download the ETHRWorld App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles. New York: Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are spending billions of dollars for top talent to make up ground in the generative artificial intelligence race, sparking doubt about the wisdom of the boss Sam Altman recently lamented that Meta has offered $100 million bonuses to engineers who jump to Zuckerberg's ship, where hefty salaries await.A few OpenAI employees have reportedly taken Meta up on the offer, joining Scale AI founder and former chief executive Alexandr Wang at the Menlo Park-based tech paid more than $14 billion for a 49 percent stake in Scale AI in mid-June, bringing Wang on board as part of the AI labels data to better train AI models for businesses, governments and labs."Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI," a Meta spokesperson told AFP."As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts."US media outlets have reported that Meta's recruitment effort has also targeted OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever; Google rival Perplexity AI, and hot AI video startup chief Zuckerberg is reported to have sounded the charge himself due to worries Meta is lagging rivals in the generative AI latest version of Meta AI model Llama finished behind its heavyweight rivals in code writing rankings at an LM Arena platform that lets users evaluate the is integrating recruits into a new team dedicated to developing "superintelligence," or AI that outperforms people when it comes to thinking and understanding.- 'Mercenary' -Tech blogger Zvi Moshowitz felt Zuckerberg had to do something about the situation, expecting Meta to succeed in attracting hot talent but questioning how well it will pay off."There are some extreme downsides to going pure mercenary... and being a company with products no one wants to work on," Moshowitz told AFP."I don't expect it to work, but I suppose Llama will suck less."While Meta's share price is nearing a new high with the overall value of the company approaching $2 trillion, some investors have started to investors are concerned about how well Meta is managing its cash flow and reserves, according to Baird strategist Ted Mortonson."Right now, there are no checks and balances" with Zuckerberg free to do as he wishes running Meta, Mortonson potential for Meta to cash in by using AI to rev its lucrative online advertising machine has strong appeal but "people have a real big concern about spending," said executives have laid out a vision of using AI to streamline the ad process from easy creation to smarter targeting, bypassing creative agencies and providing a turnkey solution to talent hires are a long-term investment unlikely to impact Meta's profitability in the immediate future, according to CFRA analyst Angelo Zino."But still, you need those people on board now and to invest aggressively to be ready for that phase" of generative AI, Zino to The New York Times, Zuckerberg is considering shifting away from Meta's Llama, perhaps even using competing AI models State University professor Mehmet Canayaz sees potential for Meta to succeed with AI agents tailored to specific tasks at its platform, not requiring the best large language model."Even firms without the most advanced LLMs, like Meta, can succeed as long as their models perform well within their specific market segment," Canayaz said.
