VCs decipher the recent fintech layoffs — and why they’re happening now

Many big companies in the fintech world cut jobs in the past month. And yet Stripe’s announcement it would lay off 14% of its workforce still made a splash, proving that unicorns and decacorns are not immune to the challenging economic and fundraising conditions. The Stripe news closely follows Chime confirming this week that 12%…

Combined HBO Max/Discovery+ service gets an earlier launch date, price hike is to be expected

After Warner Bros. Discovery reported its third-quarter earnings results yesterday, the company told investors and analysts in a call that the forthcoming combined HBO Max/Discovery+ streaming service will now launch in the U.S. earlier than previously announced. CEO David Zaslav said the yet-to-be-named service is now getting a spring 2023 launch instead of in the…

Stability AI backs effort to bring machine learning to biomed

Stability AI, the venture-backed startup behind the text-to-image AI system Stable Diffusion, is funding a wide-ranging effort to apply AI to the frontiers of biotech. Called OpenBioML, the endeavor’s first projects will focus on machine learning based approaches to DNA sequencing, protein folding, and computational biochemistry. The company’s founders describe OpenBioML as an “open research…

A soft landing is a ‘very probable scenario,’ and Fed rate hikes to 5.25% would be a big overshoot, portfolio manager says

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell Alex Wong/Getty Images A soft landing is a “very probable scenario,” according to PGIM Fixed Income Senior Portfolio Manager Michael Collins.  He told Bloomberg TV on Friday that GDP growth slowing to 0%-2% would be a good outcome and would leave rates closer to 4%. Meanwhile, investors are now…