The Pulse #91: The end of US non-competes within sight?
Also: the Humane AI pin flop and how it relates to the “AI goldrush,” and a look at whether developers will move from Redis to Valkey after a license change, or stay.
The Pulse is a series covering insights, patterns, and trends within Big Tech and startups. Notice an interesting event or trend? Send me a message.
Today, we cover:
Industry pulse. IBM buys HashiCorp; Google’s new operating reality; Section 174 still not repealed; Meta’s unexpected AI play, and more.
End of non-competes within sight in the US? The US Federal Trade Commission issued a ruling that would ban almost all non-compete agreements nationwide. If this passes, NDAs could become a lot more important for tech companies. However, the rule passing is far from a done deal: whether or not the rule lives will be decided in the courtroom. A closer look at the proposed changes.
The Humane AI pin flop, and “AI goldrush.” After years of developing hardware for the “new iPhone,” startup Humane suddenly pivoted to an AI use case. This bet was made soon after ChatGPT was released. Did Humane expect ChatGPT to improve much faster than it has?
Redis or Valkey? It’s only been a month since Valkey – a permissively licensed Redis ”continuation” announced its formation. I asked developers if they are planning to switch: and a quarter said they do.