Business stories featured on GGD News
GGD Profiles: Pavegen Pavements
GGD Profiles is where we put a spotlight on startups transforming the world. For our very first edition, we are featuring Pavegen; a company that produces renewable energy through electric floor tiles.
Tech Leaders Spend $800M to Build a New City
A group of Silicon Valley tycoons have been quietly buying land near San Francisco’s Bay Area. Their goal is to create a brand new city, complete with residential neighborhoods, a performing arts center, and orchards with over a million trees planted. Key investors include Reid Hoffman (the CEO of LinkedIn), Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. The development project is being carried out by Flannery Associates, led by Jan Sramek a former finance whiz kid and Goldman Sachs trader. Over the past five years, the firm (created by the investor group) has been purchasing land near San Francisco and Silicon Valley in Solano County.
Urbanista’s Light Powered Speaker Drops
The Swedish audio company Urbanista just released its latest Bluetooth speaker; the Urbanista Malibu. Powered through light, the wireless speaker doesn’t need to be plugged in to recharge; and can be used indoors or outdoors. The Urbanista Malibu is made from recycled plastics and fibers, and uses Powerfoyle solar cell technology to function.
After Backlash, Zoom Revamps its AI Policy
After publicizing new AI standards, Zoom has scrambled to updated its Terms of Service (TOS) twice. In late July, the video conferencing company added Artificial Intelligence terms that would require access to “Customer Content” (transcript data from video and audio calls). At first, Zoom didn’t give users the opportunity to option out.
A Flying Taxi Service Takes Off in China
In China’s major cities, flying cars will soon be just another part of busy traffic. SinoJet recently made a deal with Aerofugia, a flying car manufacturer to purchase 100 vehicles for its air taxi service.
Twitter is Now X
Elon Musk and his team have officially rebranded Twitter. The iconic blue bird was ditched in favor of a minimal ‘X’ logo in black and white. The design can already be seen on the social media app and the company’s headquarters in San Francisco.
Unsold: Adidas Stuck with $1.3 Billion Yeezy Inventory
After Adidas and Kanye West discontinued their partnership, the sportswear giant was left with a mountain of unsold Yeezy sneakers. Options to deal with their $1.3 billion inventory are limited.
Playing Netflix Games
Netflix Games has officially launched on iOS and iPad. Are you playing? Through its app, the streaming giant offers five games at no additional cost. Today’s announcement comes a week after first dropping on Android devices. Only two of the games are related to a Netflix show (Stranger Things). After the global success of Squid Game in September (and past experiments with actual gaming), rumors of Netflix launching a gaming vertical became more amplified.