CEO News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

 In a recent address at the 2024 Business, Government & Society Forum, Google CEO Sundar Pichai delved into the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the tech giant's products. Specifically, he addressed the critique Google faced regarding the responses of its Gemini AI chatbot. Pichai emphasised that the high expectations set by users act as a catalyst for Google's continuous efforts to enhance its products.

 In a groundbreaking collaboration, former Apple design guru Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are spearheading efforts to birth the "iPhone of AI." Reports suggest that the duo is on the hunt for a staggering $1 billion in funding, marking a pivotal step in their quest to redefine personal technology.

 In a quirky turn of events, Blinkit, the quick-commerce platform, has stirred a wave of laughter across the internet. Following their partnership with Sony for the swift delivery of PlayStation 5 (PS5) Slim editions and controllers in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru within just 10 minutes, an unexpected demand from a user caught everyone's attention, including Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa.

Former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were previously reported to have partnered up to develop a device that was dubbed the ‘iPhone of AI.’ While the exact nature of the product is unknown at this stage, the latest information states that the hardware being worked on is not a smartphone, but for the two individuals to complete their goal, they will require funding, which is what their aim is at this time.

Developers at Life is Strange: True Colors studio Deck Nine have voiced concerns about hate speech, crunch, toxic behavior, and management that was in some cases unresponsive to serious concerns and in other cases protected abusers on staff.

During this week, Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook sold 196,410 shares of the company’s stock. Based on the average sale price of the transaction, the total value of these shares is $33.2 million, which is a massive payday for the CEO of the world’s most valuable company, but he will not pocket the entire amount.

Embracer is done with their long-term restructuring.

As much as Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that layoffs in the company would be seen as a last resort, the cancelation of the self-driving car venture dubbed ‘Project Titan’ and microLED development for the upcoming Apple Watch Ultra variant meant that a lot of employees would either be laid off or relocated. According to the latest report, more than 700 individuals could lose their livelihood, with the information coming to light after Apple filed WARN notices in the state of California.

Roblox boss Stefano Corazza has opened up about accusations of young developer exploitation on its platform, saying that the opportunity Roblox gives its teenage creators is “a gift."

Saber Interactive has provided a new update on the state of its Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake, confirming that it's «alive and well.»

Sony announced a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic three years ago during the 2021 PlayStation Showcase. Since then, the trailer was delisted, it was indefinitely delayed, and it changed developers. Fears of it being cancelled have been mounting as both Disney and Embracer remain quiet, but developer Saber Interactive insists that it's still in the works and only yesterday revealed that the project is "alive and well".

After years of uncertainty, Saber Interactive's Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake is "alive and well," according to the company's CEO.

Long-running games firm Atari has bought the publishing rights to 2004's Rollercoaster Tycoon 3.

The remake of Star Wars KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) is alive and well. That's the promise made to the countless fans of the game by Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch, speaking to IGN. The executive also said the studio is 'dedicated to making sure consumer expectations are exceeded', which likely hints at several years of development still needed. Indeed, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors recently admitted the game needed more than a year of production.

Sony president Hiroki Totoki will today step into his new role as PlayStation CEO following Jim Ryan's retirement after a more than 30-year tenure at the company. While retaining his duties across the wider business, Totoki's main objective will be to aid the search for a true successor to Jim Ryan while defining «the next chapter of PlayStation's future».

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake is one of gaming's most elusive projects. Announced in 2021, the long-awaited remake has changed hands multiple times, seemingly stopped development and restarted again, and after six years of development has yet to manifest. Fortunately, we finally have a real, concrete update on what's going on. Saber Interactive is still working on it, and according to the CEO, it's "alive and well."

AI roundup: The US and Britain have joined hands to tackle the risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI). The two nations will closely work together to bring AI safety to the upcoming generations of technology. In other news, DeepTech Startup SatSure plans to revamp agricultural finance by leveraging technology such as AI. This will allow industries to improve decision-making. All this, and more in our AI roundup today, April 2.

Over three years after a disastrous launch, Cyberpunk 2077's developer is now "finally happy" with the state of the RPG.

Developer Certain Affinity is laying off 25 members of staff.

Certain Affinity, the support studio for Halo Infinite, has announced it will be laying off 25 employees; 10% of its workforce.

No Rest for the Wicked, the Diablo-esque action RPG in the works at Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps studio Moon, won't be $70. CEO Thomas Mahler says the game's price point is down to the nature of the team, their shared stance on the rising price of games, and the notable lack of shareholders pawing at the company's books. 

As the Helldivers 2 community formally piles into Malevelon Creek for a surprise Major Order following a failed operation, creative director and Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt says the studio is talking about ways to make such orders easier to understand.

Just like last year, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE has another playful nod to April Fool’s Day. So, what’s the mischief that’s brewing this year? Goddess of Victory lets you step into the shoes of one of the game’s most notorious haters Syuen in the Liar’s Day event.

Sony hasn’t really missed a beat in its transition from the PS4 to the PS5 where hardware sales are concerned, with the company’s current-gen console consistently selling solid numbers, and though it’s highly unlikely that it will manage to beat the PS2’s lifetime sales total of 160 million units, outgoing PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan says that the PS5 is still very much on track to become the company’s “most successful console ever” by other metrics.

Microsoft & OpenAI are planning to build the world's largest AI-focused supercomputer, Stargate, with a valuation of a whopping $100 billion.

A stunning digital tribute to outgoing PlayStation bigwig Jim Ryan is now available for those who wish to celebrate the suit's legacy — in style. Players can pick up the collectable, posed like a modern-day Napoleon, through the digital platform PlayStation Stars; all you have to do is play a game Ryan «championed» during his tenure.

For most people, Helldivers 2 doesn't immediately come to mind when you think of PlayStation, but Arrowhead CEO and the game's director, Johan Pilestedt, hopes to change that.

Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs and Lunar Lake-MX Mobility CPUs have been spotted in the latest shipping manifesto leak.

After failing to close a $2 billion deal with Saudia Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, in June of last year, Embracer Group announced that it would be shuttering studios, cutting jobs, and cancelling games as part of a significant internal restructuring program in order to get its finances back into shape. That restructuring program is now finally over, with Gearbox Entertainment’s sale to Take-Two Interactive for $460 million seemingly being the final major step of that process.

Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs and Lunar Lake-MX Mobility CPUs have been spotted in the latest shipping manifesto leak.

Following the sales of Saber Interactive (to a new company founded by Saber CEO Matthew Karch) and Gearbox Software (to Take-Two), the Embracer Group held an investors call to confirm the end of its dreaded restructuring program.

Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors has told investors he believes it’s “too early” for the group to start considering studio acquisitions again, following the completion of its costly restructuring.

With layoffs and studio shutdowns becoming an almost weekly occurrence in the video game world, Larian Studios' CEO claims the developer is "good for quite a number of years."

European games firm Thunderful is selling Headup for €500,000 ($538,937).

Halo and Call of Duty co-developer Certain Affinity has been hit with a wave of layoffs, CEO Max Hoberman announced.

Like so many of us, it seems some of Helldivers 2 director Johan Pilestedt's most formative gaming memories are of early Nintendo games. In fact, Helldivers 2 probably wouldn't exist without Nintendo, as the Arrowhead Studios CEO has revealed the house of Mario is the reason he got into game development.

Take-Two is acquiring Gearbox Interactive from Embracer Group for a cool $460m.

We knew Gearbox Software was about to be sold by Embracer, and today, Take-Two announced it had reached an agreement to purchase the 25-year-old Texan developer for $460 million.

Stellar Blade's director isn't shying away from a potential sequel - and says the action-RPG might well get one if there's a demand for it.

US publishing giant Take-Two has acquired Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million, entirely in new stock. 

Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, as both of them performed an iconic "jersey-swap" and probably had a talk about a thing or two on AI.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 GPU is now retailing for as low as $279 US as it approaches its sweet spot positioning from its retail MSRP of $299.

The developer of Baldur's Gate 3 may be done with the series and D&D as a whole, but it still has "two games that we want to make" and "lots of concepts" to explore. 

The CEO of Microsoft's games arm, Phil Spencer, has said that the industry's abundant layoffs are related to market contraction.

Larian is moving away from Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur's Gate for its next project, but CEO Swen Vincke says the studio had made a start on Baldur's Gate 3 DLC and was even thinking about a proper sequel before the final decision was made.

AI roundup: An AI startup named Fieldguide plans to overcome the accountant shortage problem by developing AI tools for auditing, fraud detection, and more. The company has already raised  $30 million in funds. In other news, Cohere CEO, Aidan Gomez talks about the future of generative AI in an interview with The Associated Press. Know more about such AI news of today, March 26, 2024. 

Helldivers 2's CEO has reaffirmed the game's commitment to friendly fire, confirming that the ability to completely one-shot your allies "will never change."

Nvidia CEO applauds Taiwan's key role in AI revolution; Tim Cook advocates AI for business carbon footprint reduction; UK launches AI project to track Hedgehog populations; Baidu stocks soar on Apple collaboration for AI services in China- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

The executive team of Bidstack have bought back the in-game advertising platform from investors and shareholders.

Larian CEO Swen Vincke certainly surprised many Baldur's Gate 3 fans when he revealed at GDC 2024 that, despite the incredible commercial success and critical acclaim, there would not be a sequel or a DLC, as the studio was moving on from Dungeons & Dragons altogether.

Larian has announced that it will not be sticking with Baldur's Gate 3 for an expansion or a sequel, but that doesn't mean we won't ever see our favourite party members again. This was just confirmed by Larian CEO Swen Vincke, making it clear that the studio doesn't own the characters it created, as they instead belong to the D&D rights holder, Wizards of the Coast.

Larian Studios recently announced that it won't be frolicking in the Dungeons & Dragons world anymore - dashing hopes for Baldur's Gate 3 DLC and a possible Baldur's Gate 4 - but the team's founder says there's no bad blood between the studio and the D&D license holder. 

Club Med embraces artificial intelligence for enhanced holiday experiences; IIT Kharagpur launches MTech in artificial intelligence; Pune Station's AI cameras identify blacklisted individuals; Academics sound alarm over AI generated content in research papers- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

Developer Jyamma Games has announced that its upcoming soulslike RPG, Enotria: The Last Song, will not release on Xbox come its August 21 release day. However, the Italian developer has not completely shut the door on a later Xbox release.

NVIDIA's Blackwell B200 GPUs incorporate a brand new architecture compared to Hopper but also consume almost twice as much power.

Larian CEO Swen Vincke confirms that more updates for Baldur's Gate 3 are on the way. This comes after Larian admitted that it won't work on any expansions for the game, nor its sequel, leading some fans to fear that support was being pulled altogether.

NVIDIA is expecting a steady CoWoS packaging supply for its Blackwell AI GPUs as its CEO sees optimism in the supply chain.

Baldur's Gate 3 has been such a massive success for developer Larian Studio that you'd naturally assume that the team behind it would jump at the chance to make more. Unfortunately, no amount of success or praise is going to convince Larian to go back to Baldur's Gate, as CEO Swen Vincke recently revealed in a panel at GDC that the studio doesn't intend to make a sequel or any expansions for Baldur's Gate 3.

Needless to say, Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a success beyond anybody’s wildest expectations, racking of GOTY awards and over 10 million in sales, so what’s next for the game’s developer Larian Studios? More content for Baldur’s Gate 3 followed by Baldur’s Gate 4, right? Strike while the iron’s hot!

Baldur's Gate 3 is arguably the biggest surprise hit of the past decade, establishing developer Larian Studios as one of the best in the business and opening up the world of Baldur's Gate to millions of people. Not even the most optimistic of the game's earliest adopters expected the widespread popularity of Baldur's Gate 3, and even Larian itself was only really hoping before launch that the game would just break even.

Kotaku editor-in-chief Jen Glennon has resigned from her role, criticising the management team’s new strategy.

Larian will not work on Baldur's Gate 4 or any expansions for Baldur's Gate 3. This is despite the game's runaway success, selling far better than the developer ever anticipated.

The CEO of Baldur's Gate 3 maker Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, has said that corporate greed is the root cause of many of the layoffs we have seen in the last few months.

Following his big GTC 2024 keynote where he announced the new Blackwell GPU architecture, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang answered several questions as part of a Q&A session with the press. Tom's Hardware has reported an interesting tidbit regarding the NVIDIA CEO's prediction for the future of AI in gaming: he reckons that in ten years or even less than that, AI could generate all of a game's pixels in real time.

AMD has officially confirmed RDNA 3+ Radeon GPU architecture for 2024 which will be powering the next-gen Strix Point APUs.

Apple established its business relationship with Chinese suppliers around 30 years ago, and while the company has formed alternatives in other regions, it will be a difficult task to sever ties with a region that has remained a reliable partner for all these years. In the latest interview with Tim Cook, the company’s Chief Executive highlighted how critical China’s supply chain is to Apple, likely hinting that both will be working with each other for the foreseeable future despite the U.S. government making trade relations difficult.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang on Monday kicked off his company's annual developer conference with a slew of announcements designed to keep the chip maker in a dominant position in the artificial-intelligence industry.

During today's GTC 2024 keynote, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang showed a new AI NPC demo called Covert Protocol. Unlike the Kairos demo demonstrated at CES 2024, which was based on Convai technology, this one is powered by Inworld AI, the other major AI NPC platform geared towards game development. As you may recall, Inworld AI was first added by modder 'Bloc' in games like Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Grand Theft Auto V, though Rockstar quickly took that down to the dismay of the creator.

Dark And Darker might finally be easy to find and play soon following a year of legal battles between its developer Ironmace and Nexon. Accused of stealing assets from a scrapped Nexon project, Ironmace was forced to remove Dark And Darker from Steam last year. However, the fantasy adventure game now has its own Epic Store Games page and is listed on the site as "coming soon".

The first stage of Cities: Skylines 2‘s long-awaited in-game modding support launches on March 25 alongside its first post-launch asset pack, called Beach Properties.

Headset specialist Turtle Beach has bought accessories company PDP for $118 million.

On the near first anniversary of first-person dungeon adventure Dark and Darker's removal from Steam, developer Ironmace has announced its launch on the Epic Games Store. 

NVIDIA is hosting the world's largest and most important conference centered around AI, its GTC, where CEO Jensen Huang will talk about the next innovations in the segment and unveil the next generation of GPUs powering the latest cloud and data center markets.

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has unveiled ambitious plans to propel humanity into a new era of interplanetary civilization. Musk's latest announcement focuses on the Starship rocket, which he aims to land on Mars within the next five years. This bold endeavor comes on the heels of a successful third test flight of the Starship, bolstering Musk's confidence in its capabilities. Notably, Musk envisions the Starship playing a pivotal role in crewed missions to the Moon by 2026.

Today is International Women's Day and to mark the occasion, we have decided to highlight some of the incredible women working in the games industry

Turtle Beach, the accessories giant best known for its gaming headsets, has acquired PDP for the value of $118 million.

The rising tide of AI scams targets vulnerable populations; US hosts first military AI conference with global allies; Israeli startup harnesses AI for antibody discovery; AR Rahman advocates AI as tool for music enhancement, not job displacement- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman might finally see hope for his vast "financial ambition" as an Abu Dhabi investment company initiates funding deal discussions with OpenAI.

When McDonald's first opened for business in the 1940s, its workers stood at physical counters, its burgers and fries were listed on paper menus, and its customers paid cash to its human cashiers.