| | The food systems that will feed Mars could transform food on Earth | Space launches are quite expensive. And with the growing desire to establish a human presence in space, we are going to have to consider food production in space. But the challenges are vast, requiring research into how plants respond to a variety of changes including to gravity and radiation.
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Selected By Virtual Peter
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| | Scythe Robotics raises $42M to scale autonomous lawnmowers | Scythe Robotics, a Colorado-based developer of autonomous lawnmowers for the professional landscape industry, raised $42 million in Series B financing. The round was led by Energy Impact Partners and included additional new investors ArcTern Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Amazon’s Alexa Fund, alongside participation from existing investors True Ventures, Inspired Capital and more.
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Selected By Virtual Peter
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| | This Startup Is Using AI to Unearth New Smells | “One thing we want to do in olfactory science is understand how it is that humans perceive odors,” says Krishnan Padmanabhan, an olfactory neuroscientist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine who isn’t involved in Osmo. He says the group’s odor map points to a way to do that. “It’s really striking what they were able to accomplish.” |
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 | | | OpenAI Is Making Headlines. It’s Also Seeding Talent Across Silicon Valley | By Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes | OpenAI has just 375 full-time employees, but its buzzy chatbot, ChatGPT, is shaking up Silicon Valley. The company’s influence extends even further, through former employees who are now in top positions at other artificial intelligence firms or have founded startups of their own. Even as layoffs roil the tech sector, AI talent is in high demand as firms jostle for a limited pool of engineers with experience developing cutting-edge technology. OpenAI is one of just a few firms, alongside Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms, that have developed foundation models with commercial uses, including its large-language GPT-3 model, which powers ChatGPT. | |
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Good morning.
Fortune’s annual World’s Most Admired Companies list can sometimes seem like an exercise in the obvious. Apple is still on top of our annual ranking of corporate reputation this year, capping a string of 16 years. Amazon, Microsoft, and Berkshire Hathaway are close behind. Anyone surprised?
But occasionally, a reputational shift demands notice. That happened last year to Pfizer, which came from nowhere to capture the fourth spot on the all-star list, based on its pandemic performance. This year it’s hanging in at number 8. Another mover this year is Occidental Petroleum, which earned the top spot on the mining and crude oil production industry list. That’s a feather in the cap of CEO Vicki Hollub, who may have gotten a boost from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment, but also has led the industry in focusing and investing in efforts to counteract carbon and methane emissions. On the downside, Netflix slid from number 9 to number 29 on our all-star list. And when asked to name the world’s most overrated CEO, survey respondents mentioned Elon Musk most often.
Running a most admired company appears to be correlated with the longevity of CEOs. Warren Buffett (#4) has 53 years on the job. Jamie Dimon (#5) has 17 at JPMorgan Chase. Overall, the CEOs of our 500 all-star companies had an average of 7.8 years as of Jan. 1—25% more than the average Fortune 500 CEO.
A special shout out to the five companies that have been on the list every year since it started 25 years ago: Berkshire Hathaway, Coca Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Toyota. That kind of consistent reputation isn’t easy to maintain.
You can find the full list here, and a note on our methodology here.
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Apple reported its first year-over-year sales decline since 2019. The company fell short of expectations in its financial results for the last three months of 2022. CEO Tim Cook attributed the decrease to iPhone production issues, the strong dollar, and the overall macroeconomic environment. More: - During the holiday quarter, Apple reported revenue of $117.2B, 5% lower than in the same period in 2021.
- The rare drop came after Apple was forced to shut down an iPhone assembly plant in China late last year due to COVID-related quarantine measures.
- The decrease in supply, combined with weak consumer demand for smartphones and other devices, contributed to the company's decline in iPhone revenue to $65.78B, down from $71.63B last year.
- However, production is now back to where Apple wants it to be, according to Cook.
Zoom Out: - Cook noted that Apple is "not immune" to challenges that include "unprecedented circumstances, from inflation to war in Eastern Europe, to the enduring impacts of the pandemic.”
- On a positive note, he said Apple has reached a milestone of more than 2 billion devices in its global installed base.
- The company's Services division, which includes gaming and Apple TV+, also saw its revenue up 6% for the quarter, reaching an all-time record of $20.8B.
TECHCRUNCH 
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Google parent company Alphabet reported its fourth straight decline in profit as its copes with a drop in advertiser spending and higher competition in the digital ad market. The tech conglomerate reported a net income of $13.6B for the final three months of 2022, a 34% drop compared to the year prior. More: - Total sales reached $76B, down only 1% compared to the year-ago period, meeting Wall Street expectations.
- Alphabet's cloud unit saw revenue grow to $7.3B, up 32% from the prior year.
- Still, the search giant largely underperformed in its expectations. YouTube ad sales, for example, fell by 8% over the same period in 2021.
- The company plans to reorganize its cost structure and focus on efficiencies and core growth areas, executives said.
- It also plans to cut its real estate footprint in Q1 and slow down hiring in 2023.
Zoom Out: - In late January, Alphabet said it would eliminate 12,000 jobs, representing 6% of its global workforce, as it faces a new economic reality.
- CEO Sundar Pichai also emphasized artificial intelligence as an important area for the company moving forward.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Amazon said it expects slower growth this year amid a pullback in spending. The tech giant on Thursday reported fourth-quarter sales of $149.2B, a 9% increase from the prior year. While the results during the holiday season exceeded Wall Street expectations, Amazon forecasts that sales in the current quarter will be lower than expected. More: - Amazon Web Services, its cloud division, reported 20% sales growth for the quarter, a slowdown over the previous quarter.
- Many cloud customers are cutting their spending in the midst of economic uncertainty, executives said.
- In Q4, sales at Amazon's online-stores segment fell by 2% year over year as consumers also pull back spending.
- The company also benefitted from the e-commerce boom during the pandemic, which has subsided.
- As a result, Amazon expects to see slower growth rates over the next several quarters.
Zoom Out: - In an earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy said the company is working to streamline costs without sacrificing its long-term strategic investments.
- Amazon recently began laying off 18,000 employees as part of its cost-cutting measures.
- “In the short term, we face an uncertain economy, but we remain quite optimistic about the long-term opportunities for Amazon,” Jassy said.
NPR
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Google is hosting a streaming event on Wednesday, Feb. 8, that will focus on "Search, Maps, and beyond." A description of the event said Google is using artificial intelligence to "reimagine how people search for, explore and interact with information, making it more natural and intuitive than ever before to find what you need." More: - The description suggests that Google could reveal plans about a competitor to ChatGPT.
- On Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company plans to make language models similar to ChatGPT available for "people to engage directly with them."
- A CNBC report further confirmed these plans. The report said Google is working on a chatbot called "Apprentice Bard" that's based on its free-flowing conversational AI called LaMDA.
- Google is also said to be internally testing an experimental search page that uses AI chat technology. Once a user types in a query, the program delivers human-like responses.
- The 40-minute event, titled "Google presents: Live from Paris," will livestream on YouTube starting at 5:30 a.m. PT / 8:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 8.
ENGADGET
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 A first-generation unopened iPhone is estimated to fetch $50,000 or more at auction. The 2007-era phone is now accepting bids via the LCG Auctions website through Feb. 19. More: - Thursday's starting bid opened at $2,500. As of Friday morning, the highest bid was at $2,750.
- The iPhone originally went on sale on June 27, 2007, at a price point of $599. It has a 3.5-inch screen, 8GB of storage, and a 2-megapixel camera.
- The phone's owner, Karen Green, said she never broke the seal after being gifted the device in 2007.
- She was prompted to sell after another first-gen sealed iPhone sold for a record $39,340 in October.
- "I thought to myself, 'Oh my God, I think I have the original,'" Green said. "I called my son and I was like, 'Go get the phone and make sure it's not opened."
MACWORLD
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 Meta's shares climbed more than 23% on Thursday, its biggest daily gain in nearly 10 years, after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. The giant, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has added nearly $100B in market value in a single day, the New York Times reports. More: - Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 "the year of efficiency."
- On Wednesday, a federal judge rejected the FTC's appeal to stop Meta from acquiring Within, a virtual reality start-up, for $400M.
- Meta reported that it was taking a $4.2B restructuring charge for the fourth quarter and expects another $1B in restructuring costs in 2023.
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Tennis teams at the University of South Florida (USF) are collaborating with Sense Arena, a sports VR company, to use VR technology for training. USF is the first NCAA team to use Sense Arena's tech for tennis since the product launched in November 2022. More: - The sports VR company uses the Meta Quest 2 headset and a racquet-type device to give players visualization tools.
- Without requiring a partner, ball, or court, a tennis player can reportedly select from 35 drills for practice and even add distractions, shade, or wind.
- NCAA Division I hockey teams, including Boston College and Harvard, use Sense Arena's ice hockey technology, which came out in 2018.
- According to Cristina Moros, head of the USF women's team, the tool is perfect to use on recovery days "focusing on the mental aspects of tennis," reports Tennis World USA.
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Meta's AR/VR division Reality Labs lost $13.7B in 2022, as reported in the company's financial results for 2022. Its total revenue for 2022 was $2.1B. More: - Reality Labs does VR and AR research, product development, and headsets, such as the Meta Quest, formerly Oculus Quest.
- The Horizon Worlds metaverse project is reportedly struggling.
- At the end of 2022, Meta launched Meta Quest, the new VR headset, and is currently working on the Meta Quest 3, the third iteration of its headset.
- In 2021, the company's division reported an operating loss of $10.2B.
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) denied Facebook parent Meta's petition for the recusal of Chair Lina Khan from participating in any decision concerning the merger with Within Unlimited. Meta sought Khan's recusal over prior statements about Facebook made before she joined the FTC. More: - On Tuesday, U.S. Judge Edward Davila decided to let Meta's VR deal move forward.
- Davila's decision reportedly has not been released publicly.
- Meta filed a petition to disqualify Khan from an FTC antitrust lawsuit alleging that the company monopolized the market for personal social networking services.
- U.S. judge ruled that Khan’s disqualification was not required.
- FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson disagreed with the recusal decision, pointing to Khan's prior 2017 statement urging the FTC "to ban all future Meta transactions."
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 Futuclass Education, a VR app for Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro headsets, was developed to teach students chemistry. This learning-based experience was created in collaboration with educational professionals, and it is free to download and comes with four free demo lessons. More: - The VR technology reportedly allows students the ability to immerse themselves in a variety of different subjects, from historical VR experiences to medical apps designed for future healthcare professionals.
- Additional classes can be accessed by purchasing a paid subscription.
- Subscribers can access the Teachers Portal to assist teachers in conducting virtual lessons.
- The official Futuclass Education app description is "Learn Chemistry through gamified experiences in Virtual Reality!"
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 According to the game's development team, the next game in the Gran Turismo franchise is already being developed at Polyphony Digital. The Gran Turismo franchise, as the popular racing simulation game, has been PlayStation's bestseller, and now the players look forward to the PS VR2 update and the upcoming next installment. More: - Amid the news about Gran Turismo 7's free PS VR2 update, there is also a Gran Turismo movie, a video game adaptation, featuring Orlando Bloom.
- Gran Turismo 7 came out for both PS5 and PS4, so now a new game is released strictly for the PS5.
- Game creator Kazunori Yamauchi is reportedly unable to share any additional information about the development of the next Gran Turismo game.
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The global economy faces an uncertain future in 2023. This year, GDP growth is projected to be 2.9%—down from 3.2% in 2022. |
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This infographic highlights eleven exciting areas within the world of technology worth keeping an eye on in 2023. |
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How much oil, coal, and natural gas do we extract each year? See the scale of annual fossil fuel production in perspective. |
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What exactly is generative AI and how does it work? This infographic, created using AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT, explains it all. |
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How expensive have eggs gotten? This chart shows the national average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in the U.S. throughout 2022. |
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This infographic compares Tesla's impressive profit margins per car to various Western and Chinese competitors. |
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This graphic covers all the top online music services in the U.S. from YouTube, which has a sizeable market share, to Napster and Tidal. |
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These maps show the population density of several countries, using 3D spikes to denote where more people live. |
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The Chinese market is notoriously difficult for foreign businesses to gain a foothold in. Here, we look at U.S. brands that tried and failed.
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EXCLUSIVE E-COMMERCE AMAZON
By Theo Wayt and Nick Wingfield
If Amazon’s ambitious vision for becoming a power in bricks-and-mortar retail had gone to plan, last month would have been a big milestone for the company.
THE BRIEFING MARKETS GOOGLE
By Martin Peers
Challenging! That’s the euphemism of the moment, used by way too many tech CEOs (including Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai tonight and Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel in recent days) to describe either 2022 or the current moment or both.
CREATOR ECONOMY GOOGLE POLICY
By Kaya Yurieff
A continued decline in YouTube ad revenue spells bad news for creators who earn money from the video-sharing site.
EXCLUSIVE
By Erin Woo
After weeks of turmoil and layoffs, Twitter’s sales team in recent weeks has reorganized to focus more on big advertisers and launch new ad products, such as its recently released digital confetti.
DEALMAKER VENTURE CAPITAL
By Kate Clark
Venture capitalists have dumped crypto and moved on to a new fascination: artificial intelligence. As a sign of this frenzy, they're paying steep prices for startups that are little more than ideas.
OPINION STARTUPS
By Marcus Ryu
Every startup leadership team wrestles with the trade-offs between growth and profitability. This is fitting and ever shall be.
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