Investing in AI: Goldman Sachs conference roundup

AI is a topic that has dominated the headlines at Goldman Sachs’ annual ‘Communacopia’ tech conference this week. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi spoke to analysts and top executives from the technology, media, and telecommunications landscape in San Francisco regarding AI integration across the industry.

Nextdoor (KIND) is utilizing AI to help users compose posts and keep communities better connected. Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar said, "Nextdoor is doing some pretty cool things on the AI front with its assistant ... with that data we can do things like help a neighbor compose a post.

Zoom (ZM) announced some new integrations including Zoom AI companion. Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg explained, "There are things like chat compose ... There are things like meeting summaries, which after the fact help categorize and capture not only what happened in the meeting, but also the true sentiment."

Hasbro (HAS) is planning to adopt AI within its digital gaming sector. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said, "I think any creative would admit that AI is transformative to how they think about and how they concept new ideas. So I think it's gonna be very exciting."

Okta (OKTA) CEO Todd McKinnon discussed Okta's adoption of AI models, like ChatGPT, and the impact of AI across the industry. McKinnon explained, "There's a lot of hype in our industry. I think this may be under hyped. I think it impacts things at so many levels."

News Corporation (NWSA) CEO Robert Thomson explained the impact of AI on the media industry. Thomson stated, "We're facing another wave, in this case a tsunami potentially, of job losses because of the impact of AI ... It's important that all media companies understand the impact, but it's also incumbent on the big AI players to understand their impact."

Intuit (INTU) is launching 'Intuit Assist,' a generative AI assistant. Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi explained that it's "really a personalized, intelligent assistant in your pocket."

Grindr (GRND) CEO George Arison explained the impact of AI and how the company plans to utilize it within its app. Arison said, "AI is gonna change this whole industry completely. And so we're thinking a lot about how do we use AI to match people a lot better and to support the conversations that are happening."

Video highlights:

00:00:12 - Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar

00:00:38 - Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg

00:01:12 - Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks

00:01:24 - Okta CEO Todd McKinnon

00:01:43 - News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson

00:02:09 - Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi

00:02:34 - Grindr CEO George Arison

Video transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Goldman Sachs analyst and top executives from across the technology media and telecoms landscape are gathered in San Francisco for its annual Communacopia and technology conference.

SARAH FRIAR: Nextdoor, there's doing some pretty cool things on the AI front with our assistant and also with Vitality. For us, it actually starts to unleash unique data. We are the local knowledge graph. So I think the value of what we do starts to really shine forth. We're the only platform where you're finding out what's going on around you locally in real time.

So with that data, we can do things like on the platform help a neighbor compose a post in a way that is more engaging. So the assistant or the AI actually does that for you.

KELLY STECKELBERG: There's lots of interesting discussions we can have around AI. So we announced just this morning, Zoom AI companion, which is our answer to how generative AI is going to be included in our platform.

And there's all kinds of really cool features that come with that for our paid subscribers. There are things like chat compose, if you're in the chat thread and you want to be able to respond to that. There are things like meeting summaries, which, after the fact, help categorize and capture not only what happened in the meeting, but also the true sentiment.

CHRIS COCKS: I think any creative would admit that AI is transformative to how they think about and how they concept new ideas. So I think it's going to be very exciting. It's still early innings. And we've got to figure out how to do it right.

TODD MCKINNON: There's a lot of hype in our industry. I think this may be underhyped. I think it impacts things at so many levels. It impacts how we interact with computers and how they seem personal. It generates how art and media is created. It's really a breakthrough in computer science. And it impacts not only the products, but it impacts how software is created.

ROBERT THOMSON: There certainly needs to be a lot of debate about AI and journalism. 57% of newsroom jobs in the United States have been lost. We're facing another wave, in this case, a tsunami potentially of job losses because of the impact of AI. And these are not just jobs lost, but it's inside lost. It's important that all media companies understand the impact. But also, it's incumbent on the big AI players to understand their impact.

SASAN GOODARZI: We launched Intuit Assist. An Intuit Assist is really a personalized intelligent assistant in your pocket. It's also powered by AI-driven human experts. So that when you are getting assistance from Intuit Assist, if you ever need to talk to an expert, no matter what it is that you're doing, you're able to do that. So there's always a gateway to help.

GEORGE ARISON: AI is going to change this whole industry completely. And so we're thinking a lot about how do we use AI to match people a lot better and to support the conversations that are happening.

I think conversational AI is also a big opportunity because people do produce all these messages. So helping them craft those messages, make it easier to communicate, I think, is something people will really appreciate as well.