US senators call out Big Tech's new approach to poaching talent, products from smaller AI startups
Three U.S. Senators are calling for action against a new practice big technology companies are using to swallow up the talent and products of innovative AI startups without formally acquiring them
By MATT O'BRIEN and SARAH PARVINI
Published - Jul 12, 2024, 03:12 PM ET
Last Updated - Jul 12, 2024, 03:12 PM EDT
In the race to stay ahead in artificial intelligence, the biggest technology companies are swallowing up the talent and products of innovative AI startups without formally acquiring them.
Now three members of the U.S. Senate are calling for an investigation.
San Francisco-based Adept announced a deal late last month that will send its CEO and key employees to Amazon and give the e-commerce giant a license to Adept’s AI systems and datasets.
Some call it a “reverse acqui-hire.” Others call it poaching. Whatever it's called, it's alarming to some in Washington who see it as an attempt to bypass U.S. laws that protect against monopolies.
