We’re excited to announce that our dedicated AI stage program presented by Google Cloud at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is complete and able to launch! It joins fintech, SaaS, and space as other industry-focused stages — all under one big roof.

We couldn’t do TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 with out a deep dive into all points of AI. So without further ado, here’s our final plan for the AI ​​Stage, which can happen all day on Wednesday, October 30. As a classic TechCrunch stage, we’ve got a few of the industry’s emerging powerhouses like Perplexity, Meta, Hugging Face, and Zoox, alongside academics, thought leaders, and our partners like Nebius AI, MongoDB, HP, and Thomson Reuters.

AI Stage program at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

How Generative AI Is Flooding the Web with Disinformation

with Imran Ahmed (CCDH), Brandie Nonnecke (UC Berkeley) and Pamela San Martin (Supervisory Board)

As generative AI tools turn out to be more widely available—and cheaper and even free to make use of—they’re being misused by a spread of actors, including state actors, to create deepfakes and spread disinformation online. In this session, we’ll hear from experts about the varieties of deepfakes currently circulating online and a few possible ways to combat this threat.

“Open” or “Closed” AI — is one really higher?

with Ali Farhadi (Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence), Irene Solaiman (Face hugging), and Shane Witnov (Finish)

There’s a war raging in the AI ​​industry between advocates of open-source AI models—models released under a permissive license that may be tuned and reused across applications—and closed-source models, or models locked behind paid services and APIs. Is one approach higher than the other? The answer isn’t as straightforward because it might sound.

AI Cloud Race: What’s Happening Behind the Scenes

with Roman Chernin (Nebius AI)

The rapidly growing AI market will not be only giving rise to latest AI startups, but additionally fostering the emergence of specialised providers. The competition between cloud providers in the AI ​​space is fierce. Roman will discuss how Nebius is doing on this race, what’s driving the company’s rapid growth, and what it takes to support AI innovators.

AI on Wheels with Zoox

with Jesse Levinson

Before generative AI became mainstream, the burgeoning autonomous vehicle technology industry was home to many machine learning and AI experts. Zoox Co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson, who has been on the subject for a decade, is now preparing Amazon’s autonomous vehicle company for its next big adventure.

Navigating the Legal and Ethical Minefield of Artificial Intelligence

with Aleksandra Pedraszewska (ElevenLabs), Sarah Myers West (AI now), Jinna Zhang (Tsar)

The explosion of AI has created latest ethical dilemmas and exacerbated old ones, while lawsuits are pouring in left and right. This threatens each latest and established AI corporations, in addition to the creators and employees whose work powers the models. A panel of experts on AI, copyright, and ethics weighs in on this complex and rapidly evolving issue.

What does artificial intelligence management appear to be today, tomorrow and in the future?

with Elizabeth Kelly (US Department of Commerce) and Scott Wiener (California Senate)

AI advances at a breakneck pace, but how briskly is just too fast? In this focus, US AI Safety Institute Director Elizabeth Kelly and California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), architect of California’s controversial AI safety bill SB 1047, discuss the must balance AI innovation with safeguards.

From Search Engines to Knowledge Engines: Perplexity Moves Towards an AI-Enabled Web

with Aravind Srinivas (Embarrassment)

Perplexity’s AI-powered search engine could also be the next step in how we interact with the web and knowledge on the whole—or it might not. But the company is actually risking every part to make that future a reality, even when it does cause a number of irritations along the way. Hear how the CEO plans to tackle all comers on this latest tech category.

But is it art? The evolving role of generative AI in music and video production

with Amit Jain (Forward AI), Mikey Shulman (sunny) and Kakul Srivastava (Tangle)

Generative AI is increasingly capable of making video, music, and other media on demand. But who actually wants it, and why? This panel of AI startups will discuss the growing markets for generative media and the way they will serve them without harming or displacing the artists they supposedly empower.

About TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is the place to seek out innovation at every stage of your startup journey. Whether you’re a first-time founder with a revolutionary idea, a seasoned startup seeking to scale, or an investor in search of the next big thing, TechCrunch Disrupt offers unparalleled resources, connections, and expert insights to assist your enterprise thrive. More than 10,000 startup, tech, and VC leaders will attend this 12 months’s event October 28–30 at Moscone West in San Francisco.

We can’t wait to listen to from these AI leaders at this 12 months’s show. Get your tickets here before prices go up at the door.

Peak XV Partners, the largest enterprise capital fund operating in India, has realized about $1.2 billion in profits since separating from Sequoia last year, two sources accustomed to the matter told TechCrunch.

The investor has sold stakes in nearly a dozen portfolio corporations that went public in the past year, including food delivery company Zomato, cosmetics retailer Mamaearth and anti-spam company Truecaller.

It has also sold stakes in some private startups, including K12 Techno, Pocket Aces, and PingSafe, through secondary deals and M&A. The company’s current funding totals $2.85 billion.

Peak XV declined to comment.

The wave of exits comes as the Indian stock market hits record highs and the country’s stocks are trading at a big premium to other emerging markets. Macquarie analysts said in a recent note that India’s price-to-earnings ratio is about 21 times, compared with 10 times for emerging markets overall, 14.5 times for global markets, 17 times for the U.S. and eight times for China.

The IPO window has also opened in the country, whilst the market for brand spanking new listings stays subdued in the U.S. and far of the world. Indian corporations have raised about $9 billion through IPOs this year, and more are expected to list before the end of the year, Bank of America analysts estimate.

The $500 million block trade in Peak XV portfolio company Five-Star Business Finance, which was initiated on Thursday, was accomplished at mid-11.30 am (India time).

Peak XV’s dominance in the region has generated a variety of interest and has piqued interest as a result of its scale and aggressive approach to investment. The company’s Surge program, which offers favorable terms and extensive resources for early-stage startups, has turn out to be a coveted entry point for young startups in India and Southeast Asia, somewhat eclipsing the appeal of Y Combinator.

Earlier this year, Peak XV informed its partners about the launch of an endowment fund supported by its own partners, which is an expression of great confidence in the company’s long-term strategy and the potential of the region.

The company’s journey, which began greater than a decade ago under the Sequoia banner, has culminated in a staggering $9 billion in assets under management, with a further $2 billion waiting to be distributed. Its portfolio includes greater than 400 corporations, greater than 50 of that are unicorns, and about 40 of which have annual revenues in excess of $100 million.

Peak XV has also facilitated more IPOs than another India-focused enterprise capital fund. Since 2020 alone, 15 corporations from its portfolio have gone public.

Last year, Sequoia split its China and India-Southeast Asia funds amid geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. The firms said they agreed to the split to avoid “increasing market confusion” and “portfolio conflicts between entities.”

The move sent shockwaves through the industry. Peak XV has since expanded beyond India and Southeast Asia, and has also expanded its team to the U.S.

In June this year, enterprise capital firm Matrix said it might also change the names of its subsidiaries in India and China.

OpenAI Research Director Bob McGrew and Research Vice President Barrett Zoph left the corporate hours after OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced her departure.

CEO Sam Altman revealed two recent resignations in fasting on Wednesday evening, with plans for a leadership change.

“Mira, Bob and Barrett made these decisions independently and amicably,” he said, “but the timing of Mira’s decision was such that it made sense to do it all at once so that we could work together to ensure a smooth transition to the next generation of leadership.”

Vice President of Research Mark Chen can be promoted to the brand new senior vp of research at OpenAI, leading the corporate’s research division in partnership with Jakub Pachocki as chief scientist, Altman said.

Matt Knight, previously head of security, can be OpenAI’s chief information security officer. And Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil and Vice President of Engineering Srinivas Narayanan will proceed to guide OpenAI’s applications team, which is accountable for delivering the corporate’s technology to each enterprise and consumer customers.

Josh Achiam, a research scientist, will tackle a brand new role as head of mission alignment. Altman says he’ll “work across the company to make sure all the pieces and culture are right to get to a place where the mission is successful.”

“Mark, Jacob, Kevin, Srinivas, Matt, and Josh will report to me,” Altman added. “For the past year or more, I’ve spent most of my time on the nontechnical parts of our organization; now I’m looking forward to spending most of my time on the technical and product parts of the company.”

In his post, Altman tried to guarantee staff — and outsiders — that leadership changes are simply the conventional course of events.

“Changes in leadership are a natural part of businesses, especially those that grow so quickly and are so demanding,” he said. “I certainly won’t pretend it’s natural that this happened so suddenly, but we’re not a normal company, and I think the reasons Mira explained to me (there’s never a good time, anything that wasn’t sudden would leak, and she wanted to do it while OpenAI was still in growth mode) make sense.”

McGrew simply said that “it was time for him to take a break.”

“The last eight years of OpenAI have been a journey of humility and awe for me,” he added in his speech. fasting on X. “The small nonprofit I joined in January 2017 has grown into the most important research and implementation company in the world… I have great confidence in (OpenAI)’s leadership.”

McGrew joined OpenAI in 2017 as a member of the technical team and was promoted to vp of research in 2018 before becoming director of research.

Zoph, who joined OpenAI in 2022, said in fasting that “(it) seemed like a natural moment” to “explore new opportunities beyond OpenAI.”

Zoph led the post-training team tasked with training and refining OpenAI models before deploying them in products corresponding to ChatGPT and the OpenAI API, in addition to other internal OpenAI research teams.

“It’s a personal decision based on how I want to develop the next phase of my career,” he continued.

OpenAI’s departing executives can publicly say the splits are amicable. But their moves come on the heels of reports that OpenAI is on the verge of transitioning from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity, with Altman set to receive a 7% stake in OpenAI.

With a brand new round of financing set to shut soon, valuing the corporate at $150 billion, disagreements over the corporate’s direction could prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

We’ll actually learn more details tomorrow when OpenAI holds a staff meeting.