Nick Clegg left Meta weeks before tech titans lined up at Trump's inauguration—timing he says wasn't coincidental. The former UK deputy PM warns AI power is concentrating without voter consent, creating a democracy problem few see coming.
Gen Z flocks to blue-collar jobs as white-collar hiring plummets—but is AI really to blame? Switzerland's data suggests the real culprit might be our obsession with university degrees. The countries pushing everyone toward college show worse youth employment.
Meta chose licensing over acquisition with Midjourney, tapping the profitable AI lab's aesthetic technology while preserving its independence. The deal signals a new model for successful AI startups to monetize expertise without surrendering control.
Discover how the "Vibe Coding" revolution, powered by AI, is creating $10M companies with teams of less than 10. Unlock business potential now.
Y Combinator's latest batch of startups is growing at an unprecedented pace, with the entire cohort achieving 10% week-over-week growth for nine straight months. CEO Garry Tan attributes this remarkable performance to artificial intelligence, according to CNBC. Silicon Valley's newest flex: having robots write your business plan.
At YC's annual demo day in San Francisco, Tan revealed that AI has fundamentally changed how early-stage companies operate. Startups can now automate repetitive tasks and generate code through "vibe coding" – letting AI models write software. For about 25% of current YC companies, AI wrote 95% of their code. Somewhere, a computer science professor is quietly weeping into their algorithms textbook.
This AI advantage means founders need fewer engineers. Companies are reaching $10 million in revenue with teams smaller than 10 people, stretching capital further. "You don't have to raise as much. The capital goes much longer," Tan explained to CNBC.
The growth-at-all-costs mindset has vanished, replaced by a focus on profitability. While tech giants implement layoffs, Tan sees opportunity. Engineers rejected by Google or Meta can now build standalone businesses worth millions with minimal staff.
About 80% of presenting companies were AI-focused, with robotics and semiconductor startups making up the remainder. Unlike previous cohorts riding on hype, these startups have proven commercial validation early. "If you're an investor at demo day, you'll be able to call a real customer, and that person will say, 'Yeah, we use the software every single day,'" Tan noted.
Y Combinator, founded in 2005, invests $500,000 in startups for equity. The accelerator has funded over 5,300 companies collectively worth more than $800 billion. Despite increasing competition from specialized incubators, Tan believes YC's broad network and flexibility give it an edge.
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CNBC: Y Combinator startups are fastest growing, most profitable in fund history because of AI
AI startup Perplexity bids $34.5B for Google's Chrome—nearly double its own valuation—as federal judge prepares antitrust ruling. The timing isn't coincidental. Browser control becomes the new battleground in AI search competition.
While AI music rivals face billion-dollar lawsuits for copyright infringement, ElevenLabs took a different approach: they asked permission first. Their new music generator launched with licensing deals already signed.
Chinese startup Z.ai's new AI model costs 87% less than DeepSeek while running on half the chips. Built despite US trade restrictions, GLM-4.5 uses 'agentic' approach that breaks tasks into steps—potentially reshaping how AI works.
Chinese startup Moonshot AI released Kimi K2, an open-source model that matches GPT-4.1 performance while costing five times less. Silicon Valley's response? OpenAI delayed their planned open-source release hours after K2 launched.
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