03:48 PM EDT, 10/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Tech stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising 0.9% and the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1.4%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 1.8%.

In corporate news, Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI said Wednesday it raised $6.6 billion in new funding at a post-money valuation of $157 billion. Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were down 0.5%.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) plans to increase advertising on Prime Video in 2025, adding more ad slots to its shows and movies, the Financial Times reported. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares added 0.2%.

iCoreConnect (ICCT) shares surged 75%. The company said late Tuesday that it signed an agreement to divest its managed service provider division to The 20, through an asset sale.

Alphabet's (GOOG) unit Waymo is offering tests of its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas. Separately, Alphabet's Google ( GOOG ) is developing artificial intelligence software with capabilities similar to OpenAI's o1, which is described as having human-like reasoning abilities, Bloomberg reported. Alphabet shares were shedding 0.3%.