>> THIS QUARTER WE’RE EXCITED TO
THE ANNOUNCE OUR COLLABORATION
WITH LEADING A.I. COMPANIES
INCLUDING OPENAI AS WELL AS
ANTHROPIC, AND WE’RE GOING TO
LEVERAGE A FED RATED APPROACH TO
A.I. WHICH ALLOWS US TO USE OUR
LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS AS WELL AS
LEVERAGE THOSE OF THE COMPANIES
LIKE I JUST MENTIONED AND ALLOW
OUR CUSTOMERS TO THE LEVERAGE
THEIR MODELS AS WELL.
LIZ: SO JUST HOURS AFTER ZOOM’S
CFO TALKED WITH THE COUNTDOWN
YESTERDAY ABOUT THEIR NEW
PARTNERSHIP WITH ANTHROPIC AND
ITS CHAT BOT ASSISTANT CLAUDE,
ANTHROPIC, JUST A FEW HOURS
LATER, ANNOUNCED IT COMPLETED
ITS SERIES C FUNDING ROUND
RAISING $450 MILLION.
ZOOM WAS A PARTICIPANT, BUT IN
THIS A.I. ARMS RACE, SO WERE
GOOGLE AND SALESFORCE WHOSE
DIVISION COMPETES WITH SOO. AS
THE INVESTOR CROWD LEAPS INTO
ALL THINGS A.I., WHAT DOES A
VETERAN TECH, VC GUY THINKS?
LET’S BRING IN ERIC HIPPEAU WHO
WAS AN EARLY INVESTOR THIS
HUNDREDS OF COMPANIES RANGING
FROM FIN-TECH VENMO TO NEWS SITE
AXIOS.
HE’S HERE THIS A FOX BUSINESS
EXCLUSIVE.
NOW YOU’VE GOT THIS FUNDING
ROUND THAT INCLUDES RIVALS, IT
ALMOST FEELS LIKE VELOCIRAPTORS
SNIPING AT EACH OTHER, ALL
TRYING TO GET A PIECE OF ONE
TYPE OF PIE.
>> HI, LIZ.
I THINK IT’S JUST A REALIZATION
THAT IF YOU ARE GOING TO BUILD A
BASIC LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL LIKE
OPENAI, LIKE ANTHROPIC, YOU’RE
GOING TO NEED HUNDREDS OF
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IF NOT
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO THE BUILD
AND MAINTAIN THOSE MODELS.
SO VERY FEW COMPANIES ARE GOING
TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS.
OF COURSE, YOU’VE GOT THE BIG
ONES, YOU’VE GOT GOOGLE, META,
YOU’VE GOT MICROSOFT.
BUT YOU ALSO HAVE SOME START-UPS
LIKE OPENAI AND ANTHROPIC, AND I
THINK PEOPLE LIKE ZOOM ARE
REALIZING THAT THEY BETTER KIND
OF JOIN THE CROWD AND BE ALLIED
AND INVESTORS IN SOME OF THEM
BECAUSE THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO
BUILD IT THEMSELVES.
LIZ: WHAT HAPPENS, SAY, ERIC --
JUST GIVE US A SENSE, BECAUSE
YOU’VE DEALT WITH THIS OVER
MANY, MANY DECADES, WHEN GOOGLE
WAKES UP ONE DAY AND MAYBE
DECIDES WE WANT TO TO SWALLOW UP
ALL OF ANTHROPIC, WE WANT TO BUY
THE WHOLE THING.
>> WELL, GOOGLE CERTAINLY COULD
AFFORD IT.
BUT THEY THEMSELVES HAVE BARD,
THEIR OWN LLM, THEIR OWN
GENERATIVE A.I. MOLD.
I’M NOT SURE WHAT THE BENEFIT
WOULD BE OF THAT.
AND IT WOULD PROBABLY BE UNDER A
LOT OF SCRUTINY FROM THE
REGULATORS.
SO I KIND OF THINK IT’S DOUBTFUL
THAT THEY’LL DO IT.
LIZ: YOU KNOW, IT WAS JUST A
COUPLE QUARTERS AGO THAT THE
VENTURE CAPITALISTS WERE VERY
CONCERNED.
THEY HAD STARTED TO CLOSE THEIR
WALLET, THEN THE REGIONAL
BANKING CRISIS HAPPENED AND
EVERYBODY SHUT DOWN, AND
SUDDENLY IF THERE IS ANY MONEY
TO BE HAD TO INVEST, THEY’RE
THROWING IT AT A.I.
HOW MUCH OF A BELIEVER ARE YOU
IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?
>> I AM AND MY TEAM, WE’RE HUGE
BELIEVERS.
WE THINK THAT IT’S THE, YOU
KNOW, I’VE WORKED LONG ENOUGH
THAT I REMEMBER THE PC
REVOLUTION AND THE MOBILE
REVOLUTION.
THIS IS BIGGER.
IT WILL AWE AFFECT PRETTY MUCH
EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE WHETHER
IT’S CULTURE OR BUSINESS OR
PERSONAL.
SO IT’S VERY BIG.
BUT IT’S EARLY.
AND I THINK IT’S EARLY TO THROW
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
AS WE’VE SEEN MARLEY FROM THE
WEST -- PARTICULARLY FROM THE
WEST COAST VCs AT WHAT, YOU
KNOW, ARE CREDIBLE TEAMS BUT
BASICALLY KIND OF IDEAS AT
STAGE.
AND WE DON’T REALLY KNOW, YOU
KNOW, IT’S HARD TO PICK THE
WINNERS WHEN IT’S THAT EARLY.
WE DON’T REALLY KNOW WHICH
PRODUCTS, WHICH FEATURES WILL
ACTUALLY BE FEATURES THAT ARE
BASIC TO THE, YOU KNOW, TO THE
MAIN PLATFORM SUCH AS OPENAI OR
REALLY VIABLE STAND-ALONE,
GROWING BUSINESSES.
I THINK T IT’S TOO EARLY.
IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU CAN’T
MAKE SOME BETS, BUT I SEE PEOPLE
MAKING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF
COLLARS WORTH OF BETS.
LIZ: -- DOLLARS WORTH OF BETS.
LIZ: YOU JUST CLOSED LAST
SEPTEMBER TWO FUNDS WITH ABOUT
$230 MILLION ALTOGETHER, AND YOU
USED THAT MONEY TO SEED SOME OF
THESE COMPANY.
YOU AND I TALKED LAST YEAR I
WANT TO TO SAY, AND -- YEAH, IT
WAS LATE LAST YEAR.
YOU SAID, LIKE, YOU HAD SO MANY
VCs IN THE EARLY PART OF 2022
AND THE LATE PART OF 2021
POURING SO MUCH MONEY INTO EARLY
STAGE COMPANIES THAT THEIR
VALUATIONS GOT WAY TOO EXPENSIVE
FOR SMALLER VCs LIKE MAYBE YOU
GUYS.
YOU KNOW, DOES THAT SEND A
WARNING SIGNAL AT ANY POINT IF
IT’S SO SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON
ONE SINGLE SECTOR?
>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, WE ALWAYS
FIND A WAY IN, YOU KNOW?
WE ALWAYS FIND TEAMS THAT ARE
DEVELOPING WITH PRODUCTS THAT --
UNDERSTAND THAT IF YOU START UP,
IF YOU START MANY LIFE
OVERVALUED, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE
A LOT OF PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE
IN TERMS OF RAISING MONEY AT
VALUATIONS THAT MAKE SENSE TO
INVESTORS --
LIZ: WHAT ARE SOME OF COMPANIES
THAT YOU’RE USING FUND MONEY TO
SEED?
>> WELL, WE ARE DOING SOME A.I.
INVESTMENTS.
WE ARE VERY FOCUSEDDED THESE
DAYS ALSO ON CLIMATE,
ELECTRIFICATION, ENERGY IN
GENERAL.
WE DO A LOT OF WORK AND WE
CONTINUE TO DO A LOT OF WORK
WITH ROBOTICS, AUTOMATION OF ALL
KINDS.
CERTAINLY, HEALTH CARE.
YOU KNOW, WE’RE LESS FOCUSED ON
CONSUMER RIGHT NOW.
WE, AS YOU REMEMBER, WE WERE
PIONEERS IN DIRECT TO CONSUMER
COMMERCE AND WERE ABLE TO GET
SOME OF THE MOST ICONIC BRANDS
THERE.
THAT’S NOT SOMETHING WE’RE VERY
FOCUSED ON.
BUT I THINK THAT THE CONSTANT
FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS WILL BE
A.I.
LIZ: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS,
AND IT HAPPENED TODAY AT "THE
WALL STREET JOURNAL" CONFERENCE
IN LONDON WHERE ERIC SCHMIDT,
THE FORMER CEO OF GOOGLE -- AND
HERE’S THE QUOTE, HE SAID A.I.
COULD POSE EXISTENTIAL RISKS.
WE’VE HEARD THAT BEFORE.
BUT HE ALSO SAID IT COULD HARM
OR EVEN KILL PEOPLE.
AS SOMEONE WHO IS HELPING FUND
THE INDUSTRY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT
HE’S TALKING ABOUT?
DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?
>> I THINK HE WAS SPECIFICALLY
TALKING ABOUT SECURITY IN THE
SENSE THAT, YOU KNOW, WITH A.I.
IT WILL BE A LOT EASIER TO
CREATE FAKE CONTENT.
WE JUST SAW A VIDEO THIS WEEK
ABOUT A FAKE EXPLOSION AT THE
PENTAGON WHICH FOR A QUICK
MOMENT KIND OF CRASHED THE
MARKET.
THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE
ICEBERG.
I THINK THAT WE’RE GOING TO SEE
A LOT MORE OF THAT, AND I THINK
THAT’S WHAT HE’S REFERRING TO.
AND IF YOU CONSIDER THAT WE ARE
GOING TO HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION NEXT YEAR, IF WE DON’T
GET OUR ARMS AROUND THIS AND ARE
ABLE TO IDENTIFY FAKE CONTENT
MUCH FASTER, THEN, YES, THERE’LL
BE -- WHETHER THIS WILL KILL
PEOPLE, I THINK IT MIGHT BE A
LITTLE HYPERBOLE.
LIZ: I AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT,
DEEP FAKES COULD CAUSE DEEP