Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, CEO and co-founder of The Next Web, discusses why he and his co-founder created the company and how much it has grown today.
In 2006, the two founders were looking for an event to showcase their new start-up, and when they couldn't find one, they decided to create their own. When they needed a place to promote the conference, that is how thenextweb.com was created.
Today, TNW receives 8-10 million readers monthly and is host of the "Tech5" competition and a new B2W platform "The Next Web X," which works as a super connector that bridges the gap between tech, enterprise, and government.
An internet outage on Monday morning highlights the reliance on Amazon's cloud services. This incident reveals vulnerabilities in the concentrated system. Cloud computing allows companies to rent Amazon's infrastructure instead of building their own. Amazon leads the market, followed by Google and Microsoft. The outage originated in Northern Virginia, the biggest and oldest cloud hub in the U.S. This region handles significantly more data than other hubs. Despite the idea of spreading workloads, many rely on this single hub. The demand for computing power, especially for AI, is driving a construction boom for data centers.
Ashley Fieglein Johnson, CFO & President at Planet, joins us to share the story behind the Owl launch—and how strategy, tech, and vision are fueling liftoff.
OpenAI has announced that ChatGPT will soon engage in "erotica for verified adults." CEO Sam Altman says the company aims to allow more user freedom for adults while setting limits for teens. OpenAI isn't the first to explore sexualized AI, but previous attempts have faced legal and societal challenges. Altman believes OpenAI isn't the "moral police" and wants to differentiate content similar to how Hollywood differentiates R-rated movies. This move could help OpenAI, which is losing money, turn a profit. However, experts express concerns about the impact on real-world relationships and the potential for misuse.
Ten philanthropic foundations are committing $500 million across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of artificial intelligence's rapid integration into daily life.
