GM. This is Take Off, the DJ of the tech world. We'll spin the latest tracks, remixes, and mashups that keep your tech knowledge in tune and your portfolio dancing to the beat.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• May the (Sales)-Force Be with You ☁️

• Another AI Godfather feels lost 🤖

• Asteroids ☄️

• ToolBox Thursdays ⚒️

May the (Sales)-Force Be with You ☁️

Salesforce, you know, the cloud-computing behemoth, had a rollercoaster of a day. Despite smashing estimates their stock did a bit of a belly flop, dropping up to 7% in after-hours trading.

The culprit? Surprisingly, those pesky capital costs, which sprinted up 36% and decided to show off at $243 million.

Salesforce has decided to take a bit of a detour from the path of rapid revenue growth and instead, it's strapping on its hiking boots for a trek up Profit Peak.

How did their numbers fare in this quarter’s exam?

• Total Revenue: $8.2 Billion (+11%)

• Sales Revenue: $1.8 Billion (+11%)

• Services Revenue: $2 Billion (+12%)

• Slack and Platform Revenue: $1.6 Billion (+10%)

The gang at CRM decided to keep their full-year guidance grounded, much to the disappointment of those high-flying investors. They're showing a serious commitment to beefing up their bottom line and expanding their margins.

So, while they might be taking a different path, it seems they've got a pretty clear roadmap to Profitville.

Another AI Godfather feels lost 🤖

One of the godfathers of AI, Yoshua Bengio, just said he feels "lost" in the techno-jungle his progeny are creating.

Bengio, who shares the AI godfather title with Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun told the BBC recently that he's a bit taken aback at how rapidly AI is advancing.

If he'd known the speed at which his AI 'children' would grow up, he would've packed an extra 'safety' lunch box for their journey, instead of just focusing on making them super useful.

Echoing the sentiments of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Bengio also believes there should be a 'nanny' (government regulation) watching over the AI family, making sure they don't run amok.

He even signed a statement issued by the Center for AI Safety, which warns about the potential 'end-of-the-world' level risks AI poses.

• This sentiment was shared by godfather number two, Geoffrey Hinton, who has been vocal about his AI regrets, including concerns about job losses and fake news proliferation.

• On the other hand, the third godfather, Yann LeCun, thinks these fears are a tad excessive.

• Dr. Sasha Luccioni, a research scientist at AI firm Huggingface, thinks we should tackle immediate issues like AI bias and misinformation, rather than stressing about AI-induced Armageddon.

Despite these dystopian predictions, AI is also producing a host of benefits. It's finding new antibiotics, and even helping paralyzed folks walk again, which is nothing short of miraculous!

But, on the other hand, AI is also implicated in job displacement and is partly to blame for the current Hollywood scriptwriters' strike.

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

California's considering a bill, AB 316, that requires a trained human in self-driving heavy-duty vehicles on public roads. While aimed at safety and job security, it's criticized for slowing tech progress. 🚛🤖

Google quietly ends support for decade-old Chromecast. Users won't get any more software or security updates and might notice performance issues over time 🔌📉

Google Assistant will lose the ability to integrate with third-party notes apps on June 20th. It's uncertain whether Google Keep will still be usable after the change. 📝🔍

⚒️ ToolBox Thursdays ⚒️

Siit - AI assistant for employee support

Recraft AI - Vector art generation with AI

Shoplift AI - The first A/B testing app that integrates with your Shopify

Tactiq - Use AI prompts to extract key insights from your meetings

Shortform - Summarize anything on the Internet

That’s it from us today folks! If you liked what you read today, please do read the message from our loving and hard-working team below:

“ We all crave the essentials in life - food 🥑🍕, shelter 🏠, and clothing 👕🩳- and we're no exception! Our must-haves? An ever-growing squad of adoring subscribers like you and for more of those lovely subs, we're counting on you to spread the word! So, blast that newsletter across the universe! ”