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The Generative AI Race Has a Dirty Secret

By lucidcapitalism | February 10, 2023

(Wired) Integrating large language models into search engines could mean a fivefold increase in computing power and huge carbon emissions. In early February, first Google, then Microsoft, announced major overhauls to their search engines. Both tech giants have spent big on building or buying generative AI tools, which use large language models to understand and…

Nextracker raises $638 million in year’s largest IPO

By lucidcapitalism | February 9, 2023

(Axios) Why it matters: This is the largest U.S. IPO since Mobileye went public last October, and the largest solar energy IPO in more than two years. It also comes on the same week that three other companies are planning to raise at least $150 million in IPOs of their own, suggesting something of a…

Rescuing ESG from the Culture Wars

By lucidcapitalism | February 9, 2023

(HBR) In the past year, ESG investing has become caught up in America’s culture wars, as prominent GOP politicians claim that it is a mechanism investors are using to impose a “woke” ideology on companies. Former Vice President Mike Pence has railed against ESG in speeches and in an op-ed. A variety of Republican governors…

AI is the next frontier — but for whom?

By lucidcapitalism | February 8, 2023

(TechCrunch) A few weeks ago, a founder told me it took three hours of endless clicking to find an AI-generated portrait of a Black woman. It reminded me, in some ways, of a speech I saw three years ago when Yasmin Green, the then-director of research and development for Jigsaw, spoke about how human bias…

Americans’ Climate Migration Has Begun

By lucidcapitalism | February 2, 2023

(The American Prospect) The first generation of climate migrants tries to cling to the places they call home, but bureaucrats, wallets, and an overheating planet have the final say. After natural disasters that render areas or regions uninhabitable, Bittle argues, many people will seek out deeply resourced cities that can recover faster than rural areas.…

stripe plans to go public in next year or make a deal to resolve employee stock squeeze

By lucidcapitalism | January 26, 2023

(The Information) Stripe plans to either go public or make a deal that will allow employees to sell stock within the next year, the company told employees and investors Thursday, moves that would be aimed at easing a looming stock crunch for some veteran employees. Read more here.

new york pension seek stricter climate emissions rules from bank portfolios

By lucidcapitalism | January 24, 2023

(Reuters) Shareholder resolutions filed by New York City’s top pension official will ask top Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) to set stricter 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for portfolio companies. If the advisory proposals come to a vote at bank shareholder meetings this spring they would test investors’ climate…

big tech layoffs are hitting diversity and inclusion jobs hard

By lucidcapitalism | January 24, 2023

(Bloomberg) At Twitter, the diversity, equity and inclusion team is down to just two people from 30, one former employee said. A DEI worker who was let go from a popular ride-share company said their job search has stalled as other technology companies assess their finances. And just before getting the axe at separate tech…

ceos who are all talk and no action on inclusion still benefit

By lucidcapitalism | January 19, 2023

(Bloomberg) Corporate leaders who talk the most about diversity may benefit from greater investment in their companies by socially conscious funds, even if hiring and promotion efforts are lackluster. The biggest braggarts may benefit the most from what researchers call “diversity-washing.” Read more here.

U.K. to toughen new social-media law, threatening ceos with jail time

By lucidcapitalism | January 17, 2023

(Wall Street Journal) British legislators are set to approve a draft of an extensive new social-media bill that could see the chief executives of major tech firms held criminally liable if they don’t protect children from certain content online. As the U.K. moves closer toward enacting new legislation that technology companies say is too restrictive,…