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Google has been consolidating its AI efforts and power around one man: Demis Hassabis. As one of the most respected leaders in the space, the DeepMind co-founder has a track record of critical AI breakthroughs. But can an academic also pave the way for Google’s genAI commercialization and monetization? Hassabis is the key to Google’s lead in AI but his biggest challenge lies ahead.

Google has been consolidating its AI efforts and power around one man: Demis Hassabis. As one of the most respected leaders in the space, the DeepMind co-founder has a track record of critical AI breakthroughs. But can an academic also pave the way for Google's genAI commercialization and monetization? Hassabis is the key to Google's lead in AI but his biggest challenge lies ahead. This week on TechCheck, the real test. Can Google and Hassabis show Wall Street, investors, and the public that it can turn AI into actual products?

Money is continuing to flow into AI startups in the private market, with new reports of funding deals for Elon Musk’s xAI at a $18 billion valuation and the French AI startup Mistral’s valuation tripling to $6 billion. It signals that companies that can raise money in the private markets will continue to do so, especially as the kind of scrutiny that goes along with being a public company is exactly what some startups and founders want to avoid.

Stanley Druckenmiller says rate cuts should be entirely off the table and that the Fed fumbled the football on the 5-yard line with the game on the line. We’ll look at the path forward for the Fed. Plus, Disney nearly broke even on streaming, but missed revenue estimates for a fourth consecutive quarter. We’ll ask Oscar-winner Brian Grazer about the future of Hollywood. And Apple unveiling its first iPads since 2022, but today’s news is only an appetizer for next month’s big event.

Uber had a banner year in 2023 – profitability turned a corner, S&P inclusion, and it became free cash flow positive. But what’s next for the stock, especially as it has underperformed other gig names in the last three months? Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb are all set to report quarterly results this week for a check on the gig economy. We take you through what to expect and what’s next.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was the world’s best-performing major stock market in April and has continued to move up another 5% this week. It may be part of a broader market theme, the unwinding of the “long AI, long Japan, short China” trade, but China is a world leader in AI research too, according to a new study from Georgetown University.