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Yahoo CFO: Possible Buyers ‘Signaling’ In Media As Talks Drag On

Possible buyers of Yahoo ( YHOO ) are “signaling” in the media as they negotiate to purchase the Web portal, Yahoo’s chief financial officer said at a financial conference Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Verizon or private equity firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion for Yahoo, when analysts had been estimating bids in the $4 billion to $8 billion range. CNBC’s David Faber on Friday, in a tweet, declared that report “completely wrong.” Verizon Communications ( VZ ) has been viewed as the front-runner to buy Yahoo. There’s also speculation Microsoft ( MSFT ) has been in talks with private equity firms. “It is a robust process. Our collective goal is that we find a way, wherever this ends up, that ultimately Yahoo will do better,” Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman said at a JPMorgan financial conference in Boston. “I think it’s going very, very well. I sort of laugh sometimes at the press — at the signaling that people seem to try and do out there from a negotiating point of view,” he said. “But I think we’re working tirelessly to get to the right place.” Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. SoftBank, which owns U.S. wireless firm Sprint ( S ) ( IBD ), is the biggest shareholder in Alibaba and in Yahoo Japan. Japan-based SoftBank might play a role in Yahoo’s expected sale, observers say. Yahoo recently added four new independent directors to its board under pressure by activist investor Starboard Value. Others in the hunt for Yahoo include big private equity firm TPG Capital and a group comprising investment firms Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway  ( BRKA ) Chairman  Warren Buffet , a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid.

Verizon, Yahoo Both At JPMorgan Event — But It’s Not A Date, Yet

Verizon Communications ( VZ ) and Yahoo ( YHOO ) are both slated to appear at the JPMorgan ( JPM ) Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston on Tuesday morning, with the phone company still viewed as the front-runner to buy the struggling Web portal. While it’s unlikely either company will comment on any such marriage, either one might comment on their strategy going forward if a deal falls through. Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion last June. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam is scheduled to give the morning keynote address. Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman is expected to take part in a question-and-answer session at 9:20 a.m. EST. McAdam doesn’t appear on Verizon earnings calls, leaving that chore to CFO Fran Shammo, but he did speak at Verizon’s annual shareholders meeting on May 5. When McAdam appear at venues such as Goldman Sach’s annual Communacopia conference in September, there’s usually news. At Communacopia, McAdam touted Verizon’s plans for 5G wireless services. Verizon CFO Shammo last week said that a six-week strike by nearly 40,000 wireline workers is beginning to impact Verizon’s financials . Yahoo’s Goldman might in general comment on Yahoo’s sale process, as he did at a Morgan Stanley conference in March. At that meeting, Yahoo’s Goldman defended the Internet pioneer’s strategy. Yahoo recently added four new independent directors to its board under pressure by activist investor Starboard Value. One question is whether Starboard will still push for a sale if reports prove accurate that bids are coming in lower than expected. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Verizon or private equity firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion  for Yahoo, when analysts had been estimating bids in the$4 billion to $8 billion range. CNBC’s David Faber on Friday, in a tweet, declared that report “completely wrong.” Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKA ) Chairman Warren Buffet , a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid. Yahoo stock was up 1% in early afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 37, while Verizon stock was down nearly 1%.

Google’s Pichai Sees ‘Move From Mobile-First To An AI-First World’

Apple ( AAPL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and other rivals of Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google had better raise their game in artificial intelligence. While Apple, Facebook ( FB ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) have AI research projects underway, the field is one where Google aims to set itself apart from rivals. So said Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, Thursday in an open letter. Google founders  Larry Page and Sergey Brin normally write the founder’s letter , in the tradition of Berkshire Hathaway ’s ( BRKA ) Warren Buffett. But Pichai wrote this year’s note. Pichai says that AI is key not only to its core search business and mobile computing, but also to Google’s push into the enterprise (corporate) market and cloud computing. “A key driver behind all of this work has been our long-term investment in machine learning and AI,” Pichai wrote. Google has pushed Android software-based mobile phones into a global power vs. Apple’s iPhone. (The Oracle ( ORCL ) vs. Google copyright battle over the Android OS is slated to resume with a second trial on May 9.) Pichai says that Google’s AI will be a difference maker. “Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the ‘device’ to fade away. Over time, the computer itself — whatever its form factor — will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day. We will move from mobile-first to an AI-first world,” he said. While Apple and Google have dominated in the world of mobile apps, there could be competition down the road. Facebook recently introduced “chatbots,” while Microsoft ( MSFT ) launched its “Bot Framework” software tools for developers. Both rely on AI. Google also aims to capitalize on AI in the enterprise market vs. Microsoft and others. “Google started in the cloud and has been investing in infrastructure, data management, analytics and AI from the very beginning. We now have a broad and growing set of enterprise offerings: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Apps, Chromebooks, Android, image recognition, speech translation, maps, machine learning for customers’ proprietary data sets and more,” Pichai said. “As we look to our long-term investments in our productivity tools supported by our machine learning and artificial intelligence efforts, we see huge opportunities to dramatically improve how people work. Your phone should proactively bring up the right documents, schedule and map your meetings, let people know if you are late, suggest responses to messages, handle your payments and expenses, etc.”