Latest news with #ex-Tesla
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
D-Wave stock price soars double digits as quantum computer shares rally again today. Here's why
Shares in major quantum computer companies were on the rise again in premarket trading on Tuesday, highlighting what has been a volatile couple of weeks for a nascent industry that continues to captivate. Here's what's driving the latest news: Zillow: Housing market to see first annual U.S. home price drop since 2011 This ex-Tesla employee just launched a cheap electric motorcycle 4 free Coursera courses to jump-start your AI journey By far, Palo Alto-based D-Wave Quantum Inc (NYSE: QBTS) is seeing the biggest boost in premarket trading, with its stock up more than 12% as of this writing. This boost follows a 7% increase in D-Wave shares on Monday. Investors are likely excited by news on Tuesday morning in which D-Wave announced the general availability of its sixth-generation Advantage2 quantum computing system, which the company says has a demonstrated ability to solve deeply complex problems that classical computers can't. 'It's what everybody aspired to achieve, and we're quite excited about it,' CEO Alan Baratz told Fast Company in March, when the company announced that it had achieved 'quantum supremacy' using the Advantage2. Although some researchers have challenged D-Wave's claims, investors appear to be on board for now. Shares in D-Wave are up 36.84% year to date. Hoboken-based Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT) has seen some volatility since it released its first-quarter 2025 earnings report last Thursday. The company swung to a profit, reporting net income of $17 million, versus a net loss of $6.4 million last year. Shares surged double digits on Friday after the report, but then fell more than 8% on Monday, possibly due to some profit taking from investors who wanted to lock in their gains. Now, in premarket trading on Tuesday, QUBT is back on the rise again, with the stock up almost 9% as of this writing. Who can keep up? Shares in Rigetti Computing (Nasdaq: RGTI) were also on the rise in premarket trading Tuesday, up nearly 6% as of this writing. The Berkeley-based company has not announced any news this morning that would impact the share price, so it's possible that investors are just showing a bit more excitement for the quantum computing space. Experts believe the space has the potential to transform computing as we know it, although debates persist about how far we are from widespread practical uses for quantum computing. It's worth noting that while all three of the above quantum computing companies are enjoying a rally this week, shares in Quantum Computing Inc. and Rigetti are both down significantly year to date: 36.94% and 39.75% respectively. Only time will tell if these three stocks will continue on their upward path this week and into the future. For now, enjoy the quantum leap. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: 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
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Agentic AI is the future of customer service. Here's how you need to prepare for it
Twenty-four-hour customer support with zero hold time, infinite personalization, customized care, and behavior-based response are all aspects of the customer experience that will be expected sooner rather than later from every one of your customers. All of this is becoming reality, thanks to agentic artificial intelligence. Zillow: Housing market to see first annual U.S. home price drop since 2011 This ex-Tesla employee just launched a cheap electric motorcycle 4 free Coursera courses to jump-start your AI journey Agentic AI is the most advanced form of artificial intelligence to date. It works autonomously, can understand natural language, sets goals and plans workflows, and makes decisions in real time based on the data it collects and examines. It learns from results and then teaches itself a new way to satisfy the needs of those that interact with it, immediately. Agentic AI agents never need a break, never need vacation, and don't need benefits or mental health days. They can work without respite for as long as your company exists. This is important because your customers hate waiting. Waiting for a mere two minutes will cause 60% of potential customers to hang up and call a competitor, and if your competitor deploys agentics before you, your customers will become their customers. You'll either want to outsource to a top-end team or to use your more talented in-house programmers to finalize design and create your AI guardrails before deployment. This one implementation will free up revenue dedicated to customer service agents, alleviate time your current team has to spend solving mundane simple questions and issues, and leave your top talent free to solve customer challenges that actually require a creative solution. People will become increasingly accustomed to advertising and products tailored to feel exclusive to them. A staggering 91% of people will shop with a company that provides personalized, relevant offers and recommendations, and 68% of people have increased brand affinity due to personalization. On the flip side, 62% of customers will abandon a brand if they are not delivered a personalized experience. The days you could rely on simple generic offers in an ad or subject line are dead. Remember, you're not sending an email to an inbox; you're sending it to a person. Think of your inbox every morning, filled with dozens of emails you've been meaning to unsubscribe from that don't speak to you. Every email you send is being seen exactly as the ones you receive. The surface level fear around agentic AI centers around loss of jobs, but a deeper dive shows employee fears are far more complex. A recent survey revealed that 47% of employees feel AI lacks emotional intelligence, 40% are not comfortable submitting AI-generated work, and 34% don't think AI-produced work will be as good as theirs. Involve your most trusted employees throughout the duration of your AI development. This will make them a part of the process, giving them a sense of ownership. Additionally, the better they understand the process from start to finish, the more likely they are to trust it—and trust that your use of the technology isn't just to save costs or cut jobs, but for their benefit as well. They will become the ones that can sell the rest of your workforce on your new processes and technology. The message must be that this technology is being used to better serve customers, stay ahead of the competition, and grow the business. With that growth comes opportunity for current employees to grow and advance. Stricter audits and bias-free practices need to come first for any AI system implementation. All components that enter the system need careful planning, such that each instruction and training parameter reflects focused ethical direction. Assemble a cross-functional advisory group—comprised of trusted leaders and high-performing team members—to collaboratively design, test, and evaluate your AI tools. This internal coalition acts as a safeguard, ensuring that your deployment adheres to both ethical standards and your company's values. The adoption of AI should always be in service of your workforce, not in place of it. Before rolling out any system, ask: Does this enhance or hinder the employee experience? AI systems deliver their best results when organizations prioritize human needs at the start of their integration efforts. From the outset, align your AI strategies with your organizational culture and principles. Engage your team in open conversations about the role of AI, and how it will enhance the customer experience and lighten the load on the workforce. Present clear background information while scheduling question-and-answer discussions, or an open office hour, accepting feedback from the team. Reinforce that AI is not a replacement but a reinforcement—designed to improve working conditions and to elevate team performance and customer satisfaction. The use of agentics will only increase across industries in the months and years to come. As its prevalence grows, any end user that interacts with it will become accustomed to the experience. They will start to expect quicker complaint resolution, zero wait times, personalized communication, and tailored product and service recommendations, and they will reject any generic approaches from companies. Ultimately, as business leaders, we bear a collective responsibility to uphold excellence—not only in our products and services but also in the systems we use to build and support our teams. Your willingness to embrace this technology for the benefit of your clients, your employees, and ultimately your business are what will keep you ahead of your competition and on a clear path to growth and increased relevancy. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter:
NDTV
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- NDTV
Tesla Employee Claims He Was Sacked For Criticising Elon Musk Amid Plummeting Sales
A now-former Tesla staff program manager has claimed that he was fired from the job after he called out CEO Elon Musk for hurting the company and the car sales. Matthew LaBrot, who joined the company in 2019, calling it his dream job, took to LinkedIn to share his story. "I was let go from Tesla nearly two weeks ago," wrote Mr LaBrot, adding that it was his anonymously created website called "Tesla Employees Against Elon" where he demanded that Mr Musk step down, led to his axing. In April, Mr LaBrot created the website where he laid out his manifesto against Mr Musk and his leadership that has led to plummeting car sales. The ex-Tesla employee said the company was at a crossroads and that a decision needed to be made. "The damage done to Elon's personal brand is now irreversible and as the public face of Tesla, that damage has become our burden. We are now at a crossroads: continue with Elon as CEO and face further decline as customers abandon the brand, or move forward without him and allow our products and mission to succeed or fail on their own," wrote Mr LaBrot. Calling Mr Musk's recent decision to "refocus" on Tesla as tone-deaf, Mr LaBrot said the billionaire's lack of attention towards the company had led to the current predicament. "Our products are not the problem. Our engineering, service, and delivery teams are not the problem. The problem is demand. The problem is Elon," he said. "The sustainable energy movement that Tesla helped bring to the mainstream will continue, but if we don't act now, it will continue without us." Tesla in turmoil? In April, Tesla reported a 13 per cent drop in first-quarter auto sales amid lower production during factory upgrades and blowback over Mr Musk's work for the Donald Trump administration. In France, Tesla EV sales plunged by 59 per cent, the company's third-biggest market in the European Union. Overall, the first quarter sales in Europe fell by 37 per cent, despite overall EV sales rising by 28 per cent. Additionally, the automaker's net income during this period tumbled by a staggering 71 per cent.
NBC News
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC News
GM hires ex-Tesla, Aurora exec as chief product officer
DETROIT — General Motors has hired Sterling Anderson, a former Tesla executive and cofounder of autonomous vehicle company Aurora Innovation, as its chief product officer. In the newly created position, Anderson will oversee the 'end-to-end product lifecycle for both gas- and electric-powered vehicles, including hardware, software, services, and user experience,' GM said on Monday. Anderson, who worked at Tesla for two years before forming Aurora in 2017, will start with the Detroit automaker on June 2. He will report to GM President Mark Reuss, who's been the automaker's longtime product head, or resident 'car guy.' Anderson is the latest ex-Tesla executive to join GM, which continues to roll out new technologies and electric vehicles despite slower-than-expected adoption across the industry. GM previously brought on former Tesla executives Kurt Kelty to lead batteries; Jens Peter 'JP' Clausen, who recently left the automaker after leading manufacturing for roughly a year; and Jon McNeill as a member of the company's board. GM is attempting to balance its rollout of EVs with gas-powered models at the same time it's advancing technologies such as its Super Cruise advanced driver-assistance system to better compete against Tesla — the U.S. EV and software leader — as well as emerging auto startups from China. 'Sterling brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering and transformative software innovation to his new role and is the right leader to help GM continue leading now and into the future,' Reuss said in a release. GM CEO and Chair Mary Barra added: 'Sterling will help accelerate the pace of progress — he shares our passion and vision for beautifully designed, high-performing, and technology-forward vehicles.' Anderson was most recently chief product officer at Aurora, which he cofounded with CEO Chris Urmson and others. Aurora disclosed he would be leaving the company, effective June 1, in a regulatory filing last week. At Tesla, Anderson led teams for the Model X SUV and Tesla's controversial 'Autopilot' advanced driver-assistance system.
CNBC
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNBC
GM hires ex-Tesla, Aurora exec as chief product officer
DETROIT – General Motors has hired Sterling Anderson, a former Tesla executive and cofounder of autonomous vehicle company Aurora Innovation, as its chief product officer. In the newly created position, Anderson will oversee the "end-to-end product lifecycle for both gas- and electric-powered vehicles, including hardware, software, services, and user experience," GM said on Monday. Anderson, who worked at Tesla for two years before forming Aurora in 2017, will start with the Detroit automaker on June 2. He will report to GM President Mark Reuss, who's been the automaker's longtime product head, or resident "car guy." Anderson is the latest ex-Tesla executive to join GM, which continues to roll out new technologies and electric vehicles despite slower-than-expected adoption across the industry. GM previously brought on former Tesla executives Kurt Kelty to lead batteries; Jens Peter "JP" Clausen, who recently left the automaker after leading manufacturing for roughly a year; and Jon McNeill as a member of the company's board. GM is attempting to balance its rollout of EVs with gas-powered models at the same time it's advancing technologies such as its Super Cruise advanced driver-assistance system to better compete against Tesla — the U.S. EV and software leader — as well as emerging auto startups from China. "Sterling brings decades of leadership in automotive engineering and transformative software innovation to his new role and is the right leader to help GM continue leading now and into the future," Reuss said in a release. GM CEO and Chair Mary Barra added: "Sterling will help accelerate the pace of progress – he shares our passion and vision for beautifully designed, high-performing, and technology-forward vehicles." Anderson was most recently chief product officer at Aurora, which he cofounded with CEO Chris Urmson and others. Aurora disclosed he would be leaving the company, effective June 1, in a regulatory filing last week. At Tesla, Anderson led teams for the Model X SUV and Tesla's controversial "Autopilot" advanced driver-assistance system.
