CrowdStrike Holdings ended the week with a bang, or more like a whimper from system administrators around the world, as it sort of broke the internet by issuing an update to its software with a defect that took down Windows computers everywhere.
The cybersecurity company issued a workaround, but the incident, which affected banks, airlines and many other businesses, highlighted how fragile information technology systems can be. CrowdStrike’s stock plunged 11% today. Not more? Dan Primack notes that’s because it’s now seen as “integral to the entire internet.”
Raising the stakes for CrowdStrike, consolidation is continuing in cybersecurity. Alphabet may buy Wiz, as big tech companies such as Google and Cisco look to make a play in cybersecurity versus pure plays.
Also on the acquisition front, GitLab reportedly could get bought by Datadog. DevSecOps and observability may be a good match, though with a market cap of $8.5 billion now, GitLab would be a big gulp for Datadog, so a deal isn’t certain. Other exits such as initial public offerings remain scarce, which makes OneStream’s IPO plans interesting: Is it a one-shot wonder or will it open up software-as-a-service company offerings?
Generative artificial intelligence got the side eye this week from a number of quarters, but big money keeps rolling in. It’s certainly juicing the profits of chip and server makers, as Gartner just upped its server market forecast on gen AI business. Meantime, OpenAI is apparently talking with Broadcom to design an AI chip. At the same time, though further restrictions this week on chip tech going to China tanked semiconductor stocks.
And then there was Elon Musk, who said he will move X and SpaceX from California to Texas, using what’s surely an economic decision to make political attacks. Speaking of Musk, he and his cronies Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Peter Thiel and a few others giving millions to Trump got a lot of coverage. I don’t believe this is core Silicon Valley by any means, and a survey by The Information shows tech folks favor Biden 59% to 27%, so take the stories of a conservative wave in the Valley with a grain of salt — these folks were always leaning Trump.
Next week, tech earnings season gets underway with a raft of big names, including SAP, NXP Semiconductor, Alphabet, Tesla, IBM, Check Point Software and Juniper Networks.
This and other news will be discussed in depth on John Furrier’s and Dave Vellante’s weekly podcast theCUBE Pod, out this afternoon on YouTube. Also, don’t miss Vellante’s weekly deep dive, Breaking Analysis, due out this weekend.
And the following week is our own editorial event, Supercloud 7: Get Ready for the Next Data Platform. We’ve got lots of great guests planned, with more to come. Register for the free, live and on-demand event.
Here’s all the big news this week from SiliconANGLE and beyond:
AI and data: Gen AI gets the side eye but big bucks keep flowing in
UK antitrust watchdog launches probe into Microsoft’s Inflection AI partnership
Report: Anthropic, Nvidia, Apple and Salesforce used YouTube transcripts to train AI
Corey Quinn doesn’t think much of AWS’ generative AI obsession
Big tech hopes to keep AI secure: OpenAI, Nvidia, Google and others launch AI cybersecurity consortium
SiliconANGLE and theCUBE Research covered the CDOIQ Symposium again this year, digging deep into the role of the chief data officer and other data issues: From data governance to AI: TheCUBE analysts discuss challenges and solutions in data management You can see all the interviews on theCUBE’s event page, and watch for more interview summaries on SiliconANGLE.
Money matters
Gartner revises server spending forecast sharply upward as generative AI effect kicks in
AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li reportedly raises $100M for new spatial intelligence startup
Pindrop Security raises $100M funding to fight deepfakes with AI-powered voice authentication tech
With Brev.dev, Nvidia expands AI Cloud capabilities with fourth acquisition this year (per CRN)
Nvidia joins $80M funding round for Israeli AI disease model company CytoReason
Hybrid cloud data management startup CTERA Networks targets AI workloads after raising $80M
Open AI chiplet startup DreamBig Semiconductor raises $75M in funding
Vectara raises $25M, debuts new RAG-optimized Mockingbird model
Legal AI startup Leya AB raises $25M to help lawyers boost their productivity
Kindo raises $20.6M to secure enterprise AI management
Mira raises $9M in seed funding to develop accessible decentralized AI infrastructure
AiXplain nabs $6.5M to simplify AI agent development
New products and services
OpenAI reportedly holding talks with Broadcom and others to develop new AI server chip
OpenAI, Mistral AI debut new cost-efficient language models
Former OpenAI and Tesla exec Andrej Karpathy dives into education with AI-native school
OpenAI researchers pit two AI models against each other in a game of deception to improve AI explainability
Google rolls out a host of new features for AI developers
Microsoft’s experimental SpreadsheetLLM helps AI to better understand spreadsheets
Salesforce introduces autonomous AI customer service agent powered by Einstein
C3 debuts generative AI platform for government agencies
DeepL launches newest dedicated translation large language model for business users
Cerabyte launches prototype ceramic-based data storage tech for low-cost, long-term archival data
Kore.AI’s new platform GALE helps to advance experimentation with LLMs using no-code tools
Tribble AI assistant for RFP process automation launches analytics capability
Juniper Networks unveils Ops4AI Lab and designs to help customers fast-track AI deployments
A view from GitLab: Rethinking productivity measurement in the age of AI
Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean: AI needs ‘algorithmic breakthroughs,’ and AI is not to blame for brunt of data center emissions increase (per Fortune)
There’s more AI and big data news
Around the enterprise: CrowdStrike bricks the internet
Analysis of the big internet outage Friday from theCUBE Research: World reboots as CrowdStrike update cripples global systems running Microsoft Windows And the reaction of other observers to the incident, which raises new questions about the stability of our IT infrastructure: Faulty CrowdStrike update causes one of the largest-ever IT outages
Money matters
Report: GitHub rival GitLab could be acquired by Datadog
Report: Collaboration software firm Smartsheet discussing potential buyout with private equity
TSMC tops quarterly expectations with 40%+ revenue growth
ASML bookings surge as AI chip demand boosts purchases of its critical semiconductor tools (per CNBC)
Financial software provider OneStream files for $465.5M IPO
Chip stocks suffer biggest single-day loss on threat of tougher restrictions on Chinese exports
Figma confirms undisclosed funding round that brings its value to $12.5B
Retirement startup Human Interest valued at $1.33B in new $267M financing round
Dutch chip manufacturing quality control startup Nearfield Instruments raises €135M
Logistics software startup Alvys raises $20.5M to become the de facto operating system for supply chain management
In other news
IBM’s $6.4B HashiCorp acquisition faces FTC antitrust review
HP debuts AI-optimized OmniBook Ultra laptop, two new all-in-one desktops
Red Hat enhances OpenShift with better support for diverse workloads
There’s plenty more news on cloud, infrastructure and apps
Cyber beat: Google wants Wiz
Headline news
Alphabet reportedly in talks to acquire Israeli cloud security firm Wiz for $23B
Neovera acquires Emagined Security to strengthen cybersecurity services
Enhanced R&D and service in focus as Exabeam and LogRhythm finalize merger
Kandji raises $100M on $850M valuation to enhance Apple endpoint management solutions
Kaspersky to shut down US operations following Commerce Department ban
Attack and response
AT&T reportedly pays $370K to hackers to delete stolen customer data
Hacktivist group ‘NullBulge’ claims breach of Disney’s Slack, releases 1TB+ of data
15M email addresses stolen from Atlassian’s Trello shared on hacking forum
Multiple crypto domains hijacked from Squarespace due to Google Domains migration flaw
Protect AI warns of increasing security risks in open-source AI and ML tools
New services
Okta unveils new tools to strengthen identity security management
Druva debuts new cybersecurity capabilities for its data protection platform
Blackberry unveils CylanceMDR Pro to boost AI-powered cybersecurity for busineses
OpenText launches AI-powered Fortify Aviator to enhance code security and vulnerability remediation
New Cyber Defense Platform from BlueVoyant aims to enhance enterprise security postures
Normalyze launches new Snowflake native app to strengthen data access security
Rezonate launches new identity security platform for human and nonhuman identities
More cybersecurity news here
Elsewhere in tech
Co-founders of Andreessen Horowitz give full support to Trump campaign So it really is all about the money for some Silicon Valley oligarchs. So much for changing the world.
Elon Musk is moving X and Space X to Texas, claiming it’s over a new California gender law I’m sure it’s nothing to do with taxes at all.
Meta reportedly in talks to acquire minority stake in eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica
Indian crypto exchange WazirX falls victim to $235M security breach
Enterprise blockchain data platform Allium raises $16.5M led by Theory Ventures
Magic Leap reportedly lays off its sales and marketing teams amid pivot to tech licensing
And check out more news on emerging tech, blockchain and crypto and policy
Comings and goings
Intel veteran exec Lisa Spelman will become CEO at chipmaker’s networking spinoff Cornelis Networks.
Cloud networking firm Aviatrix hired former Google, VMware and Cisco exec Anirban Sengupta as chief technology officer and senior VP of engineering.
Cyber warranty firm Cork Protection appointed former AWS and Dell executive Dan Candee to be CEO. Founding CEO Carlson Choi will be chief product and technology officer, per CRN.
More than 11 years after leaving Advanced Micro Devices, Dell Technologies exec Rahul Tikoo is returning to lead AMD’s PC processor business, per CRN.
Kyndryl named Kim Basile CIO, succeeding Michael Bradshaw, who will lead its Applications, Data and AI practice. Nicolas Sekkaki was also named practice leader for Kyndryl’s Cloud practice.
Firefly Aerospace CEO Bill Weber is out after almost two years. During a board search for a new CEO, director Peter Schumacher will be interim CEO.
What’s coming next
July 30: Supercloud 7: Get Ready for the Next Data Platform: Our latest Supercloud editorial event will look at the foundation for the new AI era, with lots of executives, practitioners, analysts and entrepreneurs from startups to established companies. Here are some of the topics we’ll be exploring. And get up to speed with our special section ahead of the event.
Earnings
July 22: SAP and NXP Semiconductor
July 23: Alphabet, Texas Instruments, Tesla and Seagate
July 24: IBM and Check Point Software
July 25: Juniper Networks and Pegasystems
Image: SiliconANGLE/Ideogram
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