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Brian Vitagliano

Why Nvidia, Tesla are betting on AI-powered humanoid robots

A new wave of humanoid robots is threatening to shake up the labor market. Built like humans and fueled by artificial intelligence, the machines are learning to tackle complicated tasks at a rapid rate. The advancement of generative AI is supercharging how quickly humanoids can learn, backed by vast amounts of data and high-powered chips. Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) has doubled down on its future, building out an ecosystem that enables robotics makers to customize their products. The Isaac robotics platform, which includes generative AI foundation models and tools, allow developers to simulate real- world movements in the digital world, while Nvidia’s Thor system-on-a-chip (SOC) provides the computing power needed to drive the transformation. Already, Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN) and others are incorporating humanoids in their work spaces. At a recent shareholder meeting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the machines had the potential to propel the EV maker into a $25 trillion market cap company. Tesla is looking to capture the market by integrating its Optimus humanoid into factory floors. Musk has said two robots have already been deployed at the company’s Fremont, California factory and predicted “a few thousand” Optimus robots to be working by 2025. But the company faces plenty of competition. Austin-based Apptronik has already signed partnerships with logistics firm GXO and Mercedes-Benz to deploy its humanoids to their floors, while Amazon has begun using Agility’s Digit robot in its test facility. Watch to see what’s NEXT in humanoid robots. If you’re going to future-proof your portfolio, you need to know what’s NEXT. In this series, Yahoo Finance will feature stories that give a glimpse at the future, and show how companies are making big moves today that will matter tomorrow. For more on our NEXT series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday.

3 months ago
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank is back. What investors need to know

It’s an old adage on Wall Street that not all CEOs are founders, and not all founders are CEOs. Such has certainly been the case with Under Armour, the upstart retail conglomerate founded 1996 by former college football player Kevin Plank. Plank began the business from his grandmother’s house selling t-shirts out of the trunk of his car. The company went public in 2005 reaching an all-time-high share price of $52.00 ten years later. Flash forward to 2024: Under Armour stock (UA, UAA) is off by more than 85% from record highs. The company's market cap stands at $2.8 billion, versus $45 billion for Lululemon and $142 billion for Nike, according to Yahoo Finance comparison data. As many can attest, not everyone is cut out for the CEO role. Plank stepped down as head of the company in 2019 amid financial missteps and public controversies. Analysts who follow the company say Under Armour was slow to keep up with market trends and embrace the athletic leisure market, something its competitors were quick to jump on. While out as CEO, Plank still held 65% of the voting rights when retail apparel executive Patrick Frisk filled the role until late 2022 when first-time CEO and longtime Marriott International executive Stephanie Linnartz was brought in to right the ship. Linnartz's goal? To turn things around both culturally and financially and clean up the struggling sports apparel company. She sat down with Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi at the end of 2023 to talk about her progress and her “Protect This House 3” three-year plan. But by April 2024, just over a year into her tenure, Linnartz was gone. Plank, who still owns 65% of the company, surprised both Wall Street and Main Street with news that he was returning to his former CEO post. Neither Plank nor Linnartz responded to Yahoo Finance’s requests for a comment or interview on the shakeup. Whether Linnartz’s plans to turn Under Armour around come to fruition will never be completely known. What will be known sooner than later is whether Plank’s return to the CEO role pays off. So far, investors and analysts are proving an impatient lot: while no one knows for sure how much time and patience Wall Street will extend to Plank, the consensus is that he will need to show what the company's next big play will be sooner than later.

7 months ago
GM's Mary Barra on leading through crisis

General Motors (GM) Chair & CEO Mary Barra has overcome a host of issues over her 10 years as leader of the 100-year-old plus company. At the time Barra took over as CEO, General Motors was still emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy and reeling from an ignition switch recall that led to over one hundred fatalities. Barra was tasked with completely overhauling GM's siloed culture and changing how the public viewed the company’s cars, as well as regaining their trust. "A crisis is the time you really demonstrate to the entire team that you're going to live your values," Barra told Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi in a recent exclusive sit-down interview -- as well as a spin in the newly designed E-Ray Corvette on GM’s technical campus in Michigan. Barra shares with Yahoo Finance how she has led GM through crises, as she did when she took over the helm, as well as how she intends to make good on her bets to become the leader of electric and autonomous vehicles despite stiff competition from Tesla (TLSA) and skepticism from shareholders. Lead This Way is an interview series that features frank conversations with today’s leaders. The series gives consumers and investors an inside look into the innovative thinking and diverse life experiences of some of the biggest players in business to find out how they lead through change, and how they define success for themselves and their organizations. For more on our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday. Editor's Note: This article was written by Brian Vitagliano

7 months ago

XPEV

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GM's Mary Barra on winning over shareholders

General Motors (GM) Chair & CEO Mary Barra has overcome a host of issues over her 10 years as leader of the 100-year-old plus automaker. At the time Barra took over as CEO, GM was still emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy and reeling from an ignition switch recall that led to over one hundred fatalities. Barra was tasked with completely changing GM's siloed culture and changing how the public viewed the company’s cars, as well as regaining their trust, which she eventually did. Now, contrary to other automakers who are scaling back their immediate plans to convert their car and truck lineups to all-electric in response to slowing consumer demand, she is at it again, this time with GM shareholders. Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor Brian Sozzi got the rare opportunity to sit shotgun with Barra in the newly designed E-Ray Corvette on GM’s technical campus in Michigan to hear what Barra believes are the most important things the company needs to focus on to win over investors. As well as how she intends to make good on her bets to become the leader of electric and autonomous vehicles despite stiff competition from Tesla (TLSA) and skepticism from shareholders. Lead This Way is an interview series that features frank conversations with today’s leaders. The series gives consumers and investors an inside look into the innovative thinking and diverse life experiences of some of the biggest players in business to find out how they lead through change, and how they define success for themselves and their organizations. For more on our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday. Editor's Note: This article was written by Brian Vitagliano

7 months ago

GM

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GM's Mary Barra is going all in on EVs

Contrary to other automakers, who in response to slowing consumer demand are scaling back plans to convert their car and truck lineups to all-electric, General Motors (GM) Chair & CEO Mary Barra is still all in on EVs. "We will be selling more EVs in this country than anyone else, including Tesla," Barra told Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi in an exclusive interview at GM's technical campus in Michigan.It's a fitting stance for a leader who has overcome a host of issues over her 10 years at the helm of 100-year-old plus GM - by taking a different approach and applying a different vision than others before her. At the time Barra took over as CEO, General Motors was still emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy and reeling from an ignition switch recall that led to over one hundred fatalities. Barra was tasked with completely changing GM's siloed culture and simultaneously changing how the public viewed the company’s cars, as well as regaining their trust. And now she's looking to take GM into a future that she believes includes cars and trucks that run on batteries. Yahoo Finance got the rare opportunity to sit shotgun with Barra in the newly designed E-Ray Corvette to hear how the change-maker CEO intends to make good on her bets to become the leader of electric and autonomous vehicles, despite stiff competition from Tesla (TLSA) and skepticism from shareholders. Lead This Way is an interview series that features frank conversations with today’s leaders. The series gives consumers and investors an inside look into the innovative thinking and diverse life experiences of some of the biggest players in business to find out how they lead through change, and how they define success for themselves and their organizations. For more on our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday. Editor's Note: This article was written by Brian Vitagliano

7 months ago

GM
AI-powered Technology Helps Fight Retail Crime

In response to the escalating challenge of retail shrink, which rose to over $112 billion in 2022, retailers including Target (TGT), Walgreens (WBA) and Home Depot (HD) are investing in AI-powered technology. The goal? To preserve a good shopping experience while also fighting theft, a problem that’s impacting margins and causing safety concerns. The scope of the theft problem is hard to measure, though mentions of organized retail crime rose by 43% on earnings calls in the first half of 2023. To find clarity on this issue, Yahoo Finance explores a first of its kind, AI-driven heat map that could empower retailers to share real-time crime data with each other, and gets an exclusive look at the Department of Homeland Security’s response to the rise in organized retail crime, which they say is about much more than petty shoplifting. If you’re going to future-proof your portfolio, you need to know what’s NEXT. In this series, Yahoo Finance will feature stories that give a glimpse at the future, and show how companies are making big moves today that will matter tomorrow.For more on our NEXT series, click here, and tune tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday.

8 months ago
Social Security alone is not a retirement strategy: Experts

The decisions we make today, whether it’s the careers we pick or where we choose to live, can make the difference between thriving or barely surviving in retirement. If you plan on solely relying on Social Security, that could be the case. Some 58 million Americans were eligible for Social Security in 2022 - a number that is expected to rise to 75 million by 2035. However, reserves are expected to dry up by 2033, potentially leaving many without much-needed basic benefits to rely on. To examine the future of social security and its impacts, Yahoo Finance’s Rachelle Akuffo sits down with some of the leading experts in the field of financial security and retirement planning: Bob Powell, Editor of the The Street’s Retirement Daily, Teresa Ghilarducci, Labor Economist and Retirement Security Expert, and Surya Kolluri, Head of TIAA Institute. The panel provides answers to the important topics necessary to plan for your golden years, like social security, along with caregiving, and preparing younger generations for retirement. They also share their insights on how we as Americans need to reimagine our financial future and the steps needed to be better prepared for what lies ahead. For the latest information on how to set yourself up for financial success, tune into Yahoo Finance Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. ET.

11 months ago
Steve Ballmer: How to be a good listener

Steve Ballmer started at Microsoft as Bill Gates’s assistant in 1980, when he was employee number 30. He later went on to become its CEO at the height of the DOT com bubble. His unmatched energy and passion for all things Microsoft was on full display at his infamous product launches. Unfortunately for Ballmer, Microsoft’s stock price did not match that energy. He announced his retirement in 2013, after losing billions of dollars in acquisitions and on the Surface tablet. Microsoft's stock price rebounded on the news, in part contributing to the billions he ultimately made in Microsoft employee stock options - enough to buy the Los Angeles Clippers. You can now find the 67-year-old mostly courtside, rooting for his team. As leader of the Clippers, Ballmer says: "Tone gets set at the top. We're hardcore, we're going to win. We're about maximizing our chance to win championships." Ballmer is also focused on government transparency through his non-profit, USA-Facts. Ballmer talks with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi about how to be a good listener as a leader. "People want to be acknowledged for what they said, to make sure, you know, paraphrase back to them so they know you heard them. That's, that's one. And part of that then becomes when I think people don't understand something they just haven't had it thought through. I'll explain it then," Ballmer said. For the full conversation with Ballmer, click here. For more of our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

11 months ago

MSFT
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer shares his leadership style

Steve Ballmer started at Microsoft (MSFT) as Bill Gates’ assistant in 1980, when he was employee number 30. He later went on to become its CEO at the height of the dot-com bubble. His unmatched energy and passion for all things Microsoft was on full display at his infamous product launches. Unfortunately for Ballmer, Microsoft’s stock price did not match that energy. He announced his retirement in 2013, after losing billions of dollars on acquisitions and on the Surface tablet. Microsoft's stock price rebounded on the news, in part contributing to the billions he ultimately made in Microsoft employee stock options - enough to buy the Los Angeles Clippers. You can now find the 67-year-old mostly courtside, rooting for his team and leading the charge at non-profit USAFacts, which aims to provide in-depth insight into the country's economy. "Tone gets set at the top. We're hardcore, we're going to win. We're about maximizing our chance to win championships," Ballmer said of the Clippers. Ballmer is also focused on government transparency through USAFacts. Ballmer talks with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi about his leadership style and how it has evolved over the years. “I've decided I want to be more like an executive chairman than like a CEO in my new life. That means we have people who really run things,” Ballmer said. For the full conversation with Ballmer, click here. For more of our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

11 months ago

MSFT