TNB Tech Minute: ‘China’s Instagram’ Targets $70 Billion Valuation in Hong Kong IPO
WSJ Tech News BriefingJune 17, 202600:02:23

TNB Tech Minute: ‘China’s Instagram’ Targets $70 Billion Valuation in Hong Kong IPO

Plus: UK antitrust officials say Google must make its search results more fair. And Allbirds announces new name and CEO in AI pivot. Imani Moise hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: UK antitrust officials say Google must make its search results more fair. And Allbirds announces new name and CEO in AI pivot. Imani Moise hosts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00] Many companies are struggling to scale their AI deployments or even move them past the pilot stage. Often the problem isn't technology, but organizational misalignment around goals, processes and incentives. At the break, join Caroline Roach, senior partner IBM Consulting, to learn why.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_01] Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, June 17th. I'm Imani Moise for The Wall Street Journal. Chinese social media platform Xiao Hongxiu is planning a Hong Kong IPO as early as the end of this year. People familiar with the matter say major investors want to value the Shanghai-based company above $70 billion, up from its most recent valuation of $50 billion from private secondary trades.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_01] According to one of those people, the company's net profit could top $3 billion this year after earning more than $2 billion last year. Anti-trust officials in the UK say Google must make its search rankings fairer and more transparent. The Competition and Markets Authority issued the requirements after receiving complaints from businesses claiming that the tech giant's ranking systems were unfair and harmful.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_01] The new rules stipulate that Google must provide six months' advance notice of any major changes and bring in a clear process for businesses to raise concerns so they can be addressed. A Google spokesperson said the company's rankings were fair, transparent, and showed the most relevant and highest quality results. And the company formerly known as Allbirds said it's changing its name to Smartbird and bringing in a new CEO. The name change is the company's second this year.

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_01] It changed its name to Newbird AI in April and said it would pivot its business model from selling shoes to buying high-end servers and renting them out. Smartbird's new CEO, Nadia Carlson, previously launched an AI supercomputer in partnership with NVIDIA and will be responsible for overseeing the company's transformation. And that's your TNB Tech Minute. We'll be back this afternoon with more.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00] Scaling AI successfully requires more than the right technology. Here again is Caroline Roach, Senior Partner, IBM Consulting.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_02] The biggest thing that we were talking about a year ago is what model to use. And the biggest thing that I'm talking about with my clients now is how do I drive change within my organization.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00] Companies able to identify, correct, and then avoid misalignment will be best positioned to deliver meaningful business value from AI.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_02] The organizations that are the most successful set very clear targets and have several priorities that are very clear across the enterprise. The technology is really good, but if you're not changing your organizational alignment, not incentivizing your people correctly, not looking at workflows, you're not going to see real value with it.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00] Visit ibm.com slash think slash leadership to learn how building organizational alignment can help deliver AI deployments that scale and drive growth.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_01] This content was created by custom content from WSJ, a unit of the Wall Street Journal Advertising Department.