As bankers and venture capitalists nibbled on caviar sushi and sipped champagne and sake this week at Nobu Malibu, there was a gleeful mood at the beachside closing dinner of the Jefferies Private Internet Conference. IPOs and M&As are finally back, and on top of that, there is an exciting new catalyst for rising tech valuations — generative AI. "We surveyed a lot of the 140 entrepreneurs that are coming here and found 'IPO' is not a dirty word anymore," said Cameron Jefferies, Co-Head of Technology, Media and Telecom Investment Banking at Jefferies.