Palantir Is Now Worth $100 Billion — and May Be Like Nvidia In One Regard

Palantir is helping companies incorporate AI into their businesses — and one analyst says it’s succeeded ‘more than any company (not named Nvidia)’

Oct 29, 2024

Palantir Technologies Inc.’s stock is one of the S&P 500’s leading gainers this year, and that’s helped the company reach a market-capitalization milestone. The software company clinched a $100 billion milestone at Friday’s close, reflecting investors’ growing embrace of Palantir’s positioning in artificial intelligence. The company was valued at $37 billion to start the year.

“More than any company (not named Nvidia) they have been able to capitalize on companies wanting to make progress in incorporating AI into their products, and not knowing how to do so,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria told MarketWatch in emailed comments. “Palantir has been able to offer a combination of pre-built software and customization services that has resonated with many commercial customers.”

Palantir’s stock is up 162% on the year, behind only shares of Vistra Corp., up 232%, and Nvidia Corp., up 185%, within the S&P 500. Palantir joined the index last month.

'India Has All the Ingredients to Lead the AI Revolution,' Says Nvidia's CEO Huang

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, believes artificial intelligence (AI) makes technology accessible to all, not just the privileged few. He addressed concerns about job displacement, emphasising that AI will enhance efficiency, productivity, and human capabilities.

In an engaging conversation with Sruthijith KK, Executive Editor of The Economic Times, at the ET Conversations event in Mumbai, Huang reflected on Nvidia's rise to a $3.43 trillion company and shared his persistent fear of the business failing. He urged India’s IT services sector to shift from the back office to the front office and lead the AI revolution.

Are We On the Verge of a Self-Improving AI Explosion?

An AI that makes better AI could be "the last invention that man need ever make."

If you read enough science fiction, you've probably stumbled on the concept of an emergent artificial intelligence that breaks free of its constraints by modifying its own code. Given that fictional grounding, it's not surprising that AI researchers and companies have also invested significant attention to the idea of AI systems that can improve themselves—or at least design their own improved successors.

Those efforts have shown some moderate success in recent months, leading some toward dreams of a Kurzweilian "singularity" moment in which self-improving AI does a fast takeoff toward superintelligence. But the research also highlights some inherent limitations that might prevent the kind of recursive AI explosion that sci-fi authors and AI visionaries have dreamed of.

The concept of a self-improving AI goes back at least to British mathematician I.J. Good, who wrote in 1965 of an "intelligence explosion" that could lead to an "ultraintelligent machine." More recently, in 2007, LessWrong founder and AI thinker Eliezer Yudkowsky coined the term "Seed AI" to describe "an AI designed for self-understanding, self-modification, and recursive self-improvement." OpenAI's Sam Altman blogged about the same idea in 2015, saying that such self-improving AIs were "still somewhat far away" but also "probably the greatest threat to the continued existence of humanity" (a position that conveniently hypes the potential value and importance of Altman's own company).

IA Summit: Models Are NOT All You Need

During the IA Summit "Models Are NOT All You Need" panel, industry leaders Rama Akkiraju (‪@NVIDIA‬ ), Chetan Kapoor ( ‪@coreweave‬ ), and Christian Kleinerman (‪@SnowflakeInc‬ ) discussed how enterprises are leveraging large language models (LLMs) and AI to optimize operations, improve productivity, and address infrastructure challenges.

Moderated by Tom Dotan of ‪@wsj‬, the conversation spanned from AI model commoditization to specific enterprise applications and infrastructure needs, underscoring the evolving landscape of AI-powered enterprise solutions.

Enterprise AI Moves From 'Experiment' to 'Essential,' Spending Jumps 130%

A new study reveals that generative AI has rapidly transformed from an experimental technology to an essential business tool, with adoption rates more than doubling in 2024. The research, conducted by AI at Wharton, a research center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, in partnership with GBK Collective, provides a comprehensive look at AI’s integration across American businesses.

The research team surveyed more than 800 enterprise decision-makers across the United States, examining AI adoption patterns, investment trends, and organizational impacts. The study, titled “Growing Up: Navigating Gen AI’s Early Years,” compared data from 2023 to 2024, tracking changes in usage patterns, departmental adoption, and employee attitudes.

“The most interesting things that come out of the survey is this snapshot of how corporates are feeling, thinking and implementing gen AI, and how that is changing quite rapidly,” Stefano Puntoni, Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School and co-director of AI at Wharton told VentureBeat. “This year, what we’re seeing is that people are less curious, they are more excited, they’re less scared and there is a more belief that these are tools that are going to augment human expertise.”

More about AI moving from experiment to essential on VB

Jeetu Patel Sits Down With Alexandr Wang, Founder and CEO of Scale.ai

In our opening keynote at WebexOne, Jeetu Patel was joined by Alexandr Wang, Founder and CEO of Scale.ai, to examine the future of the AI technology landscape.

AI Startup Read Announces New Funding at $450 Million Valuation

Read AI, a productivity and AI automation startup, said on Monday it was valued at $450 million after a series B funding round led by Smash Capital. The company raised $50 million in the latest round, which also saw participation from existing investors Madrona and Goodwater Capital, six months after it raised $21 million in series A.

Heightened enthusiasm around the generative artificial intelligence technology has helped AI startups attract funding from well-known private equity and venture capital firms. Read AI provides a platform that seeks to improve meeting efficiency through note-taking, summarization and transcription features.

Separately, the company announced the launch of "Read AI for Gmail", a free Chrome extension that can bring information from other applications such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom in one streamlined place, reducing the need to switch between apps.

By introducing free features like "Read AI for Gmail", the company's goal is to drive the platform's adoption and expects to boost enterprise sign-ups as it adds more functionalities, David Shim, co-founder and CEO of Read AI, told Reuters.

Learn more about AI startup Read on Reuters

OpenAI CFO Says AI Isn't Experimental Anymore

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar says artificial intelligence isn't experimental anymore. She says banks, financial institutions and fintech's are using it everyday in their business. Friar also talks about pricing, advertising and growing their business. She speaks to Ed Ludlow at the Money 20/20 Conference on "Bloomberg Technology."

Thats all for today, however new advancements, investments, and partnerships are happening as you read this. Subscribe today, so you don’t miss any AI related news.