Silicon Valley Tech News Roundup – January 14th

Microsoft becomes the world’s most valuable company – 1/12

On Friday, at the end of the U. S. trading session, Microsoft became the world’s most valuable company and replaced Apple at the top spot.

Microsoft shares experienced growth of 3% during the week, with the market cap at $2.89 trillion. Meanwhile, Apple shares dropped over 3%, and the company’s market cap stands at $2.87 trillion. Apple was the most valuable public company for over a year.

On Thursday, Microsoft participated in a developers’ event in San Francisco. The topic was artificial intelligence capabilities and some of its more mature AI products.

James Cordwell (analyst for the Redburn Atlantic Equities) downgraded Apple shares from buy to neutral. Cordwell expects an “underwhelming March quarter” and “little room for upside over the next few years” in iPhone growth.

Furthermore, in a statement released on Thursday, Apple announced former Vice President Al Gore will retire from the company’s board in February after holding the position since 2003.

OpenAI softens its ban on military use – 1/12

This week, OpenAI quietly changed its policy on use of its technology for military purposes.

According to the report published by the Intercept, until January 10th, the usage policy for OpenAI included a ban on “activity that has high risk of physical harm, including,” “weapons development” and “military and warfare.” It meant that the Department of Defense of any other state military could not use OpenAI technology for military application.

The new usage policy still prohibits to “use our Service to harm yourself or others“ (and gives an example of „develop or use weapons.“) However, the ban on „military and warfare“ has been removed.

According to the company, the new usage policy is meant to be clearer than the previous one. Niko Felix (the spokesperson for OpenAI) released a statement to the Intercept that says: „We aimed to create a set of universal principles that are both easy to remember and apply, especially as our tools are now globally used by everyday users who can now also build GPTs… A principle like ‘Don’t harm others’ is broad yet easily grasped and relevant in numerous contexts. Additionally, we specifically cited weapons and injury to others as clear examples.“

Further, he added: „Any use of our technology, including by the military, to ‘[develop] or [use] weapons, [injure] others or [destroy] property, or [engage] in unauthorized activities that violate the security of any service or system,’ is disallowed.“

Google layoffs hundreds of jobs across the company – 1/12

In a statement released on Wednesday, Google confirmed it cut hundreds of jobs across the company. Google laid off workers from the company’s central engineering and hardware teams, Google Assistant team (the voice-activated software product), and other parts of the company. Following the news, Google shares toppled 1%.

It is the latest cost-cutting effort by the company following expansive headcount growth during the pandemic. In January last year, Google let go of over 12,000 workers (or approximately 6% of its workforce). The company is also focusing on development in artificial intelligence to keep up with the competition from the likes of Amazon and Microsoft.

In a statement to CNBC, a spokesperson for Google confirmed the news: “To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities… Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally.“

SEC approves the first Bitcoin ETFs – 1/10

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs will be available to investors (from BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, and others).

For the past ten years, the SEC rejected the attempts to create Bitcoin ETFs by saying they are unsafe for investors. In April last year, the court ruled the SEC’s decision rejecting Grayscale’s ETFs was “arbitrary and capricious.“

A Bitcoin ETF is a bundle of assets similar to a mutual fund. However, ETFs trade on exchanges where investors can easily buy and sell them, making it easier for traditional investors to invest in cryptocurrency.

Gary Gensler (the Securities and Exchange Commission’s chairman) stated: “While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse Bitcoin… Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.“

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, someone hacked into the SEC’s X account and falsely claimed the regulator approved Bitcoin ETFs.