Latest news with #ReutersNEXT
The Star
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Business Insider cuts 21% of workforce, memo shows
FILE PHOTO: Barbara Peng, CEO of Business Insider, speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference, in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo (Reuters) -Business Insider is laying off about 21% of its workforce, an internal memo showed on Thursday, as the financial news outlet grapples with shrinking search traffic and the growing use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The New York-based company joins several digital media companies in restructuring operations as consumers increasingly depend on artificial intelligence for news synopsis, which is eating into web traffic. In the memo, CEO Barbara Peng told staff the company now generates twice as much revenue for each website visit as it did two years ago, but 70% of its business still has some degree of traffic sensitivity. "We must be structured to endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control, so we're reducing our overall company to a size where we can absorb that volatility," Peng said in the memo seen by Reuters. The New York-based company is accelerating adoption of AI, with a majority of employees already utilizing Enterprise ChatGPT and several AI-driven products to enhance operations and reader experience, Peng said. The website is realigning its content strategy to concentrate on areas that attract high reader engagement, and is exiting the majority of its commerce business, Peng said. It is also launching a new events business called BI Live, Peng said, adding that it has already seen some demand and will continue to build the team. Earlier this year, Washington Post and Associated Press laid off 4% and 8% of their workforce respectively in a bid to cut costs and modernize operations. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
The Star
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
OpenAI CFO says new structure opens door to potential future IPO
Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer of OpenAI, speaks during the Reuters NEXT conference, in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo DUBLIN (Reuters) -OpenAI's restructuring plans open the door to a potential future IPO, but any such decision would depend on the mood in public markets as well as the readiness of the company, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said on Wednesday. OpenAI, in which Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion, outlined plans in December to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation, a structure designed to balance shareholder returns with social goals, unlike nonprofits, which are solely focused on public good. The ChatGPT-maker dialed back the plan earlier this month so that the nonprofit parent would continue to control the PBC and become a big shareholder in it, while still allowing its for-profit arm to raise more capital to keep pace in the AI race. "A PBC gets us to an IPO-able event ... if and when we want to," Friar told the Dublin Tech Summit. "Nobody tweet in this room that Sarah Friar just said anything about OpenAI ultimately going public," she added. "I did not. I said it could happen." Asked what it would take for OpenAI to opt for an IPO, Friar said that any company looking at an IPO requires two things: that the company is ready and that markets are ready. "You can show up at the altar all ready to go, and if the market's not ready for you, yeah, you're just out of luck," she said. "Which is why you have to build a company that can be sustainable and safe regardless of where the public markets are, how open that window is." To be a pubic company, "you definitely need some sense of predictability," Friar added. "The market will put up with a certain degree of unpredictability. Particularly when growth is high ... but the market doesn't really love it." (Writing by Conor HumphriesEditing by Mark Potter)
Reuters
17-02-2025
- Health
- Reuters
AI 'frees up time for patient care,' says Amazon Pharmacy's Vin Gupta
Speaking to Reuters at Reuters NEXT, Amazon Pharmacy's Chief Medical Officer Vin Gupta shares how Amazon Pharmacy leverages artificial intelligence in healthcare without losing the human touch.
