Latest news with #SnowflakeSummit
USA Today
7 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
OpenAI secures $200 million Pentagon contract to develop technology for national security
OpenAI secures $200 million Pentagon contract to develop technology for national security Show Caption Hide Caption OpenAI's Altman sees 2026 as a turning point for AI in business At a keynote conversation during Snowflake Summit in San Francisco on June 2, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicted that by next year, AI systems will begin helping businesses solve complex problems and even uncover new knowledge. ChatGPT maker OpenAI was awarded a $200 million contract to provide the U.S. Defense Department with artificial intelligence tools, the Pentagon said in a statement on Monday. "Under this award, the performer will develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains," the Pentagon said. The work will be primarily performed in and near Washington with an estimated completion date of July 2026, the Pentagon said. Artificial intelligence: Saying 'please' and 'thank you' to ChatGPT costs millions of dollars, CEO says OpenAI said last week that its annualized revenue run rate surged to $10 billion as of June, positioning the company to hit its full-year target amid booming AI adoption. OpenAI said in March it would raise up to $40 billion in a new funding round led by SoftBank a $300 billion valuation. OpenAI had 500 million weekly active users as of the end of March. The White House's Office of Management and Budget released new guidance in April directing federal agencies to ensure that the government and "the public benefit from a competitive American AI marketplace." The guidance had exempted national security and defense systems. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler
WIRED
12-06-2025
- Business
- WIRED
AI Agents Are Too Cheap for Our Own Good
Jun 12, 2025 7:00 AM AI tools cost a fraction of human labor—and may undermine the jobs needed to build careers. Illustration: Jacqui VanLiew In 2007, Luke Arrigoni, an AI entrepreneur, earned $63,000 at his first job as a junior software developer. Today, he says AI tools that write better code than he did back then cost just $120 annually. The numbers don't sit right with him. Arrigoni, who runs Loti AI, a company that helps Hollywood stars find unauthorized deepfakes, worries that underpriced AI tools encourage companies to eliminate entry-level roles. He wants to flip the incentive structure so people's careers don't end before they begin. 'If you make the AI systems more expensive, then you have an economic incentive to hire someone that is starting out,' he says. AI transforming—or altogether eliminating—jobs has become a perennial anxiety. But the concern is gaining new urgency as demand for AI agents grows. Those AI systems can now make sales calls and write software code, work that was once reserved for humans. So far, the situation isn't dire. Hiring platform ZipRecruiter estimates that this year, summer internships in the US rebounded to roughly the same level as they were before the pandemic. But that might change in the near future. At the Snowflake Summit in San Francisco last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman compared current AI tools to interns. The next-generation technology would be like a more 'experienced' worker, he said. In some companies, managers have already started overseeing 'a bunch of agents' the way they traditionally have 'relatively junior employees,' Altman claimed. OpenAI has talked about mitigation efforts like reskilling programs to stave off a potential jobs crisis—but it hasn't mentioned charging higher prices for its services to slow the transition to AI work. That's what has Arrigoni on edge. Even after accounting for the priciest add-on features, AI coding agents cost a fraction of a junior engineer. If inexperienced workers can't get a gig, Arrigoni believes, they might not gain the expertise needed to lead future teams—whether human or machine. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment. 'Less Than Human' AI pricing has fluctuated since ChatGPT launched as a free chatbot in 2022 and triggered an AI boom. Generally, many AI companies still offer free tiers for limited use, and prices for basic tiers have declined. Top-tier plans for the newest features have grown pricier, though not to the point of generating profits for the companies offering them—or deterring adoption. Startup executives and pricing consultants attribute low prices to intense competition among AI purveyors. 'Their only way to win is mass adoption,' says Ajit Ghuman, CEO of pricing strategy company Monetizely. That means AI companies need to charge the same affordable prices as their rivals. Unless electricity or GPU shortages become major problems, or one company corners the AI market, it's difficult to see prices rising significantly, Ghuman says. Decagon, a San Francisco startup that sells a customer service chatbot used by retailers and tech companies, charges $1 or less per conversation—roughly half the cost of human support. In some cases, the chatbot may be more effective than a person, but Decagon believes its clients would never pay more for it. 'The reason to invest in AI is efficiency,' CEO Jesse Zhang says. 'You're going to be less than human labor. That's kind of like the point of technology.' Zhang says his company makes money on each individual conversation after excluding certain overhead costs, but he declined to comment on the startup's overall profitability. With $100 million raised from venture capitalists including Andreessen Horowitz and Accel, Decagon has the flexibility to prioritize growth over profitability. 'Whether we could be pricing more, it's always like a 'what if?'' he says. 'But in general we're pretty happy right now.' 'So Cheap' Erica Brescia, a managing director at the investment firm Redpoint Ventures, had an epiphany about AI agent pricing last month. The $250 price tag on Google's new AI Ultra plan astounded her. 'All this is so cheap,' she recalls thinking. 'It's disproportionate to the value people are getting.' She felt a price of at least double would make more sense. (That same week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Stratechery that he would hire an AI agent for $100,000 per year 'in a heartbeat.' ) Previously, Brescia worked as the chief operating officer of GitHub, which helped set the bar for AI pricing. GitHub's Copilot coding assistant started at $10 a month in 2022, months before ChatGPT's debut. Brescia says GitHub went with a price that would attract a critical mass of users. The goal was gathering data to improve the service, and GitHub's parent company, Microsoft, didn't mind taking a loss on the new tool to make that happen. In reality, a price 100 times higher would now better reflect the value Copilot provides to software developers, Brescia estimates. (GitHub chief operating officer Kyle Daigle tells WIRED that the company's goal is to support, not replace, developers and that 'pricing reflects a commitment to democratizing access to powerful tools.') Today, Copilot tops out at $21 a month. And similar tools have followed its lead, including Zed, which has received $12.5 million in funding from Redpoint and others. In May, the company started charging a minimum of $20 a month for an AI-assisted code editor it built from the ground up. Zed CEO Nathan Sobo expects AI companies to charge more over time because the current pricing models aren't sustainable. But relative to humans, he wants to keep AI agents affordable so anyone can use them to augment their work, develop better software, and create new jobs. 'I want as much intelligence at my disposal at as low a cost as possible,' he says. 'But to me, included in that is potentially a junior engineer using this technology, ideally at as low a cost as possible.' Decagon's Zhang feels the same way about AI coding tools. 'Would we pay more? Marginally? Yeah,' he says. But '$2,000? Probably not.' He adds 'the hunger for good engineers is infinite.' AI entrepreneurs suggest that agents could command higher prices if they were easier to set up and more reliable to use. For instance, Nandita Giri, a senior software engineer who has worked at Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, says she would pay thousands of dollars annually for an AI personal assistant. 'But strict conditions apply—you can't get frustrated by using it,' she says. Unfortunately, that day feels far away. As a personal project, Giri tried developing an AI agent that could prevent psychological burnout. 'It just canceled all my meetings,' she says. Certainly a solution, but not the ideal one. Now, some companies are hiring 'AI architects' to help oversee agentic systems and cut down on gaffes. The question is who will occupy those roles in the future if early-career workers are cut off from opportunities today. Simon Johnson, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doesn't expect companies to take into account the social cost of career disruption in making their pricing decisions. He suggests governments lower payroll taxes for entry-level roles to encourage hiring. 'The right lever to pull is one that reduces costs to employers,' Johnson says. Arrigoni is choosing a third path. At Loti AI, he has prioritized steadily hiring junior engineers and hasn't employed AI coding tools. If the job apocalypse comes, 'I don't want to be at fault,' he says.
Mint
09-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says AI is like an intern today, but it will soon match experienced software engineers
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says that AI is aking to an intern and predicted that AI agents could help humanity discover new knowledge from next year. The statement by Altman comes at a time when there is growing anxiety over the loss of jobs due to the increasing capabilties of AI models. You may be interested in Speaking at the Snowflake Summit last week, Altman said, 'Today [AI] is like an intern that can work for a couple of hours but at some point it'll be like an experienced software engineer that can work for a couple of days,' 'I would bet next year that in some limited cases, at least in some small ways, we start to see agents that can help us discover new knowledge, or can figure out solutions to business problems that are very non-trivial,' Altman added. Meanwhile, the OpenAI CEO while speaking at the Milken Institute's Global Conference last month said, 'You're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to someone who uses AI,' Notably, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had recently claimed that AI could wipe out almost half of all entry level white collar jobs in the next 5 years as the new technology gets better by time. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, however, seemed more optimistic while speaking at the Lex Fridman podcast last week when he said that the technology will serve as an 'accelerator' and will free up humans to do more creative tasks. The tech leader also stated that Google will be hiring software engineers in the short to medium term. Disagreeing with Anthropic CEO's statement, Pichai said, 'I respect that … I think it's important to voice those concerns and debate them.' Notably, AI companies like Google and OpenAI had launched their software engineering agents earlier in the year which are aimed at replacing software enginners.
Indian Express
05-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
‘Your data stays yours': Sridhar Ramaswamy highlights Snowflake's strong AI guardrails
'When it comes to customer data, we offer a flat guarantee to our customers: customer data is customer data. We never use that data for training any model ourselves. All of our customers can rest assured that their data, and any AI products they build on top of it, will only be used to answer questions for them,' Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy told At the latest edition of Snowflake Summit, Ramaswamy highlighted the company's unswerving commitment to data security and responsible AI implementation. The CEO spoke about the comprehensive measures the company is undertaking to protect customer data while enabling innovative AI capabilities. Addressing the concerns about AI companies and their data usage practices, Ramaswamy said, 'We've built mechanisms that surface security data and alerts to our customers, including visibility into how many of their accounts are not protected with strong authentication. We take these lessons seriously and are dedicated to actively collaborating with our customers to ensure the security of their data. The AI data cloud company has, over time, strengthened its security posture, implementing what it describes as a 'shared destiny' model that places greater responsibility on Snowflake to proactively protect customers rather than relying solely on traditional shared responsibility frameworks. Integral to Snowflake's enhanced security strategy is the mandatory implementation of two-factor authentication across all accounts. 'We announced that we want to make it mandatory for every account to have two-factor authentication,' Ramaswamy explained, adding that the company has also integrated modern authentication methods such as Face ID and other biometric technologies. Brad Jones, Snowflake's chief information security officer and vice president of information security, elaborated on the company's aggressive stance on eliminating single-factor authentication entirely. 'We ultimately believe to be the most secure, we have to take away some of those legacy authentication methods from our customers to really get to that best posture for them.' The security improvements extend beyond basic authentication. Snowflake has introduced passwordless authentication options, including passkeys, programmatic access tokens, and support for various authenticators like Google Authenticator, moving away from its traditional reliance on Duo for multi-factor authentication. Jones shared that Snowflake has implemented the 'leak password protection' – a system that actively monitors the dark web for compromised credentials associated with Snowflake accounts. 'We're looking in the dark web for credentials, usernames and passwords that have been leaked out there through various means like info-stealing malware or other methods, and we're validating if those are active credentials that are active in a Snowflake account. We will go as far as locking that account and really asking questions later,' Jones explained. Over the years, AI has become integral to Snowflake's platform offerings. Considering the meteoric pace of advancements in AI, Snowflake has established comprehensive governance frameworks to ensure responsible deployment. Jones informed that the company recently achieved ISO 42001 certification, an AI governance standard. 'We recently got the ISO 42001 certification, which is the AI governance certification based on the ISO standard that came out. I believe we're one of the first cloud companies, if not the first kind of cloud company, to get that,' Jones noted, explaining that this required developing standard policies and processes for appropriate AI use. Snowflake's approach to AI security uses its unified platform architecture, ensuring that existing data governance and security controls automatically extend to AI workloads. 'Because we are a single, unified platform, all of the rules that you have, whether it is for data access or data masking, work out of the box with the AI products that you create on top,' Ramaswamy explained. 'Of course, AI brings challenges like prompt injection and adversarial input. To counter that, we offer features like Cortex Guardrails to protect against malicious prompts and ensure responsible behaviour,' the CEO added. Snowflake acknowledges that for cybersecurity AI presents both opportunities and challenges. 'AI, everyone sees it as a double-edged sword, right? Any company that doesn't lean into it and adopt it is going to be left behind, but you have to put strong guardrails and guidelines in place,' Jones noted. To address AI-enhanced threats, Snowflake employs comprehensive red team testing and maintains robust detection capabilities. 'I don't believe there are any new, novel attacks that are taking place as a result of AI. It's the same things, but better and faster. So that's incumbent then on security teams to be able to react quicker,' Jones said. The company continues to invest in advanced security capabilities, including machine learning models for detecting suspicious behaviour and enhanced visibility tools through its Trust Centre platform. 'We're never going to stop in this area; as we find things that are going to be useful for our customers that we can use internally to help them or provide directly to them, we will continue to innovate,' Jones concluded. Bijin Jose, an Assistant Editor at Indian Express Online in New Delhi, is a technology journalist with a portfolio spanning various prestigious publications. Starting as a citizen journalist with The Times of India in 2013, he transitioned through roles at India Today Digital and The Economic Times, before finding his niche at The Indian Express. With a BA in English from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, and an MA in English Literature, Bijin's expertise extends from crime reporting to cultural features. With a keen interest in closely covering developments in artificial intelligence, Bijin provides nuanced perspectives on its implications for society and beyond. ... Read More
Barnama
05-06-2025
- Business
- Barnama
Beyond Tariffs: People's Livelihoods Must Be Central To Any Trade Negotiations
Credit : Google Map Beyond Tariffs: People's Livelihoods Must Be Central To Any Trade Negotiations From Nor Baizura Basri SAN FRANCISCO, June 5 (Bernama) -- It was a cold morning in San Francisco, and my stomach was growling for food. As I munched on the snacks available in my hotel room, the day had started early with the sun shining brightly before 6 am. It was not a usual morning as I woke up as early as 3 am due to jet lag. It was 6 pm in Malaysia. My hotel, located next to the Moscone Centre and a university, is supposed to be a busy area normally. But it was a Sunday morning and understandably, far quieter. The Snowflake Summit, hosted by the cloud-based data company and for which I am scheduled to attend and cover, only started on Monday (Tuesday in Malaysia). Looking for halal restaurants, I entered Sixth Street, not knowing it was considered dangerous to wander there at that time of the morning, especially for a woman alone. To my utter shock and dismay, and contrary to the rich capitalist image of America, the street was full of homeless people. Many were living in make-shift tents, quite a number seemingly high on weed (cannabis). They wandered aimlessly, and some of them started to notice me. I became nervous. As my panic attack gradually got the better of me, my instinct was to get out of the area as quickly as I could. As I returned to my room, I turned to Google to get some rational answers to what I had just seen - the dire despair and homelessness in a nation with the world's largest economy. On any given day, the scenes on Sixth Street point to what seems to be the city's perpetual challenge with drug abuse and mental health problems - all of which were out in open display. San Francisco authorities are reportedly taking steps to tackle what seems to be insurmountable issues. I reckon that the problems will be beyond any administration's means to resolve. Recalling the scenes that Sunday morning not only sends shivers down my spine, but also a sense of depression amid the misery the homeless face. For the record, San Francisco has 8,323 homeless individuals in total as of Jan 30, 2024, and some 200 are believed to be living on that street. On Sixth Street, it is common to see lines of homeless people just sitting around outside in temperatures of 13-15 degrees Celsius. Not far from there is a thriving business district and the Moscone Centre, where the Snowflakes Summit is taking place, which brings together participants from all over the world to brainstorm the latest AI developments. It's a paradox to see San Francisco, home of the Silicon Valley and located in the famous Bay Area, facing this situation. For such a developed and modern city, the utter homelessness, wanton drug abuse and helpless individuals grappling with mental issues do not make sense at all. It is a harsh reality that Americans need to consider, and decision makers and the powers that be must instil policies and implement programmes to help all strata of society to prevent a housing crisis which is closely tied to a gamut of issues, including rising population, economic hardships and a lack of resources. This brings into question the current tariff talks between the United States and some 168 countries and what they really represent. Global citizens must ask whether the outcome of these trade negotiations, and for that matter, any trade talks, actually takes into account the realities on the ground. Are these talks by governments helping to alleviate the suffering of the homeless or seeking to improve the livelihoods of people, especially those marginalised? The reality is that it is not just happening in San Francisco and the United States, but it is a global phenomenon. Looking at Malaysia, people are still grappling with the higher cost of living, for which various programmes have been implemented to address the issue and improve people's livelihoods. Addressing the people's housing needs should be a major objective of government projects. Similarly, in other countries, prices of goods are also rising and may escalate due to the debilitating tariffs, which can adversely affect national economies and worsen the situation on the ground. For example, in Argentina, the inflation rate is at a staggering 237 per cent, while in South Sudan it is at 107 per cent. The worst case scenario arising from what is surely uncontrolled price escalations could be economic instability and disruption of supply chains, driving prices of essential goods and services to exorbitant levels. Ultimately, development programmes, policies, and trade talks must benefit people in need. If the trade talks fail and the 168 countries are slapped with sweeping tariffs, it would be a disaster in the making. Life would be made even more unbearable not only on Sixth Street but the world over. The African proverb that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers is apt to describe what's going on in the global arena. In trade disputes and conflicts between the economic superpowers, it is the weak or small countries which suffer. Are we so weak as to allow such a predicament to befall us? -- BERNAMA
