Tech

In this articleNVDAIn February, as cryptocurrency prices spiked, Nvidia released new processors specifically for mining crypto. They can’t power a computer monitor, but they can generate valuable ether coins.On Wednesday, the company provided an update on how its cryptocurrency, or CMP, cards are faring in the market. It booked $155 million in revenue from CMP cards in its fiscal first quarter, which ended May 2, and expected sales of $400 million in the current quarter — impressive numbers for a brand new product line.But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang talks about the new product line not as an exciting frontier for the company, but as a bone thrown to cryptocurrency obsessives to protect gamers. As it turns out, gaming processors — Nvidia’s original and core business — are still its most important, generating $2.76 billion in revenue, an increase of 106% from last year.The reason Nvidia is now dabbling in crypto chips is to save the supply of graphics processing units, or GPUs, for gamers, Huang explained. While GPUs can be used for mining, the CMP chips can’t be used for gaming, and it’s easier for Nvidia to manufacture the CMP chips.The CEO says its core gaming market is the largest

In this articleSNOWView through Montana ranch entrance to rangeland with a view of central Montana’s snow covered Crazy Mountains in the background, The Crazy Mountains rise to over 11,000 feet and are located north of Interstate-90 between Billings and Bozeman Montana; they can be seen for many miles along this stretch of Interstate. (Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Education Images | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesSnowflake, the cloud data analytics vendor that held the biggest U.S. software IPO ever last year, has become the latest tech company to jettison California.In its earnings press release on Wednesday, Snowflake’s dateline showed up as “No-Headquarters/BOZEMAN, Mont.” As recently as May 3, when the company announced the date of its first-quarter earnings report, that same line said “SAN MATEO, Calif.”Snowflake’s SEC filing on Wednesday showed an address in Bozeman for its executive office. The company explained why in a footnote:”We are a Delaware corporation with a globally distributed workforce and no corporate headquarters. Under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules, we are required to designate a ‘principal executive office.’ For purposes of this report, we have designated our office in Bozeman, Montana as our principal executive office, as that is

In this articleAMZNAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces the co-founding of The Climate Pledge at the National Press Club on September 19, 2019, in Washington.Paul Morigi | Getty Images | AmazonJeff Bezos on Wednesday stewarded his last shareholder meeting as CEO of Amazon, highlighting the company’s successes in the previous year, while acknowledging it has many challenges ahead.Bezos announced he’ll formally step down from his role as CEO on July 5, which is the date Amazon was incorporated 27 years ago. He’ll move into the role of executive chairman and hand the reins over to cloud-computing boss Andy Jassy, who Bezos assured investors is well-equipped for the task.”He has the highest of high standards and I guarantee Andy will never let the universe make us typical,” Bezos said during the meeting, which was held virtually for the second year in a row, due to the coronavirus pandemic. “He has the energy needed to keep alive in us what has made us special.”Bezos was asked whether Amazon will have any trouble innovating now that it has grown so large and diversified. He acknowledged that Amazon under its new leader Jassy will have to manage newer bets that have no guarantee of being

Even in a post-pandemic world, celebrities with millions of fans — as well as those with just a few hundred fans — are turning to platforms where they can control their relationships, data and the content they create. Patreon, which has amassed a $4 billion valuation in just eight years, is a platform for doing just that.”This is such a great time to be a creative person,” co-founder and CEO Jack Conte said in an appearance on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. “Creators have incredible leverage now that they haven’t had for many years because these platforms were so focused on driving content production instead of getting creators paid.”The company, ranked No. 48 on this year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list, allows illustrators, authors, podcasters, musicians and other independent creators to receive crowdfunding directly from their audience.”I think now people are starting to realize ‘oh, these are real businesses and creators ought to be making money like everyone else’,” Conte said. “We’re hyper-focused on providing the business infrastructure to allow creators to be successful in growing and running their businesses.”More coverage of the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50Meet the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 companiesWhy Robinhood is the No. 1 companyA look back

Snowflake banners decorate the New York Stock Exchange to market the debut of the software company’s shares in New York on Sept. 16, 2020.Source: SnowflakeSnowflake shares fell as much as 8% in extended trading on Wednesday after the data-analytics software company barely met analysts’ expectations for product revenue, the company’s main source of total revenue, for the full fiscal year.Here’s how the company did:Earnings: Loss of 70 cents per shareRevenue: $228.9 million, vs. $212.9 million expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.Revenue grew 110% year over year in the fiscal first quarter, which ended on April 30, according to a statement. In the previous quarter revenue increased by 117%. The company’s net loss swelled to $203.2 million from $93.6 million.Renegotiations with cloud providers benefited the company’s gross margin, Mike Scarpelli, the company’s finance chief, said on a conference call with analysts. He said that in April Snowflake implemented a storage compression change that will widen margins.He also said the company is working on new chip technologies that could bring performance gains. “That’s more next year,” Scarpelli said.With respect to guidance, Snowflake said in the fiscal second quarter it expects to generate $235 million to $240 million in product revenue, which delivered

In this articleNVDAJen-Hsun Huang, CEO, NvidiaDavid Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesNvidia reported first quarter results for its fiscal 2022 on Wednesday, with sales growing 84% compared to last year. Earnings and sales both beat Wall Street expectations, but the shares were basically unchanged in extended trading.Here’s how the chipmaker did, versus Refinitiv consensus estimates:Revenue: $5.66 billion versus $5.41 billion estimatedEarnings: $3.66, adjusted, versus $3.28 per share estimatedNvidia’s earnings come during a period of sustained, massive growth in its business amid a shortage of semiconductors worldwide.The number-crunching graphics processors Nvidia makes are essential for PC games, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency mining. Nvidia said it expected $6.30 billion in revenue in the current quarter, which would be a 62% increase over last year. Its graphics segment, mostly graphics cards, was up 81% to $3.45 billion in revenue. Nvidia said that sales of its consumer GeForce GPUs drove the increased revenue, in addition to chips it sells to game console makers.Broken down by market platform instead of reportable segment, Nvidia said its Gaming products were up 106% on an annual basis to $2.76 billion in sales.The compute and networking segment, which includes chips for data centers, was up 88% to $2.21

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about Apple Pay during an Apple special event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, California.Getty ImagesApple is looking for a lead negotiator to strike partnerships with “alternative payment” partners, according to a job listing posted on Tuesday.The role, according to the listing, would include screening potential partners, negotiating and signing deals, and launching new programs and features for Apple’s Wallets, Payments, and Commerce team. It will also work with Apple Pay teams.”Lead the partnership program with key players in the Alternative Payments ecosystem, covering the complete process of partner identification, business case development and socialization, partnership negotiation, contract signing and execution, go to market launch and continued partnership value growth,” the job listing says.Like most Apple job listings, it doesn’t mention specific products or partnerships that the role would work on. But it does mention some examples of alternative payments experience that Apple is looking for, including digital wallets, BNPL (buy now pay later, like Affirm), fast payments and cryptocurrency.Apple has a digital wallet app built into the iPhone, called Wallet. When it started in 2012, it could hold digital boarding passes. Over the years, it has

In this articleMGMMGM Studios Plaza entrance on February 28, 2015 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.Raymond Boyd | Michael Ochs Archives | Getty ImagesIt finally happened. After years of waiting, a large technology company finally acquired a significant legacy media company. Amazon has purchased legendary MGM Studios for $8.45 billion.So why do I feel so empty inside?Perhaps it’s because this is, in essence, a bolt-on acquisition for Amazon. There’s nothing about the MGM deal that’s particularly revolutionary or leans into cutting-edge technology. Rather, Amazon needs more content for Prime Video to stay relevant against Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max and the many other streaming services competing for eyeballs. Buying MGM not only gives it library favorites like “James Bond,” “Rocky,” “Real Housewives” and “Survivor,” but it also improves its odds of making better originals with a fully-fledged studio that has made recent hits such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Fargo.”Perhaps it’s because the essence of this deal isn’t about media or technology at all. Amazon is playing a different game from every other entertainment company. The primary rationale behind buying MGM is getting more consumers to pay for Prime. More than 175 million Prime subscribers have streamed TV shows and movies

Amazon said Wednesday that it will acquire MGM Studios for $8.45 billion, marking its boldest move yet into the entertainment industry and turbocharging its streaming ambitions.The deal is the second-largest acquisition in Amazon’s history, behind its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017.Amazon said it hopes to leverage MGM’s storied filmmaking history and wide-ranging catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows to help bolster Amazon Studios, its film and TV division.”The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a statement. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”In a statement, MGM Chairman Kevin Ulrich said: “The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.”Shares of Amazon barely moved on the announcement.The deal emphasizes Amazon’s willingness to spend deeply to remain competitive in the crowded streaming market. Amazon, Netflix, Disney and other video streaming services have been looking to beef up their content libraries to win over subscribers, committing billions toward licensing content and developing original programming.Meanwhile, media

In this articleTSLAA photo illustration depicting the cryptocurrency bitcoin.Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe price of bitcoin climbed back above $40,000 on Wednesday morning, a week after its price tumbled 30% to around $30,000.The world’s most popular cryptocurrency was trading at $40,344.50 at 5:24 a.m. ET on Wednesday, up over 5% over the last 24 hours, according to Coin Metrics data.All the other major digital coins were also in the green Wednesday. Ethereum’s price has risen over 10% in the last 24 hours to $2,865.61, while Dogecoin’s price has climbed a little over 2% to 36 cents a coin.Last week’s crypto sell-off came after authorities in China and the U.S. moved to tighten regulation and tax compliance on cryptocurrencies. Chinese authorities called for tighter regulation on crypto mining and trading on Friday, reinforcing rules announced in 2017, and the U.S. Treasury announced Thursday that it would require stricter crypto compliance with the IRS.But the cryptocurrency market is trying to recover some of the losses this week after it plunged again on Sunday to almost $31,000.Bitcoin’s latest price rise comes after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Monday he spoke to bitcoin miners in North America about renewable energy solutions.