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☆ New parents in South Korea are getting $750 every month as Seoul launches its 'birth encouragement' gambit to slow population decline
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Seoul officials on Tuesday announced a new "birth encouragement" program to raise fertility rates. New parents in South Korea are eligible for $750 per month until their baby turns 1 year old. After their child turns 1, parents will also be eligible for an allowance of $375 a month for one year. Nearly a fifth of South Korea's entire 51 million population lives in Seoul, where the fertility rate was 0.59 in 2022, per the latest government statistics. AdvertisementThe entire country's birth rate, by comparison, was 0.78 that year.

Persons: —, Yonhap, childrearing Organizations: Service, South Korean, Yonhap, South, Business Locations: Seoul, South Korea, China, Japan, South

☆ Equinix is arming its data centers with the latest cooling technology to prepare for the AI boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-11 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Equinix is preparing for the generative-AI boom by arming more than 100 of its data centers with advanced liquid-cooling technologies. Its 250 data-center facilities rent space, hardware, and broadband to other companies to store data and run workloads in the cloud. The data centers will include new liquid-cooling technology, which helps lower the temperatures of Equinix's machines. The first of the company's data centers to host the new technology will be completed in the first quarter of 2024. Lin said Equinix already offers in-rack heat exchangers at most of its locations and has typically provided more advanced technologies on a "bespoke" basis.

Persons: Jon Lin, Lin, Equinix Organizations: San, San Francisco Bay Area, Business Locations: London, San Francisco Bay, Singapore, Equinix

☆ CDW misses third-quarter revenue estimates as customers lower tech spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 1 (Reuters) - CDW (CDW.O) reported third-quarter revenue below estimates on Wednesday on lower demand for the company's information technology solutions as customers struggling with high borrowing costs cut back spending and defer projects. The company, however, beat third-quarter profit estimates on the back of higher margins and reduced discretionary spending. CDW posted adjusted earnings of $2.72 compared with analysts' estimates of $2.60 per share. The Vernon Hills, Illinois-based company reported lower sales from its corporate and small business segments and also at its UK and Canadian operations. Its public unit was the only outlier, with healthcare and education customers driving sales up 1.5% compared to the year before.

Persons: CDW, Harshita Mary Varghese, Tasim Zahid Organizations: Thomson Locations: Vernon Hills , Illinois

☆ Morgan Stanley says investors are overlooking a $4 trillion opportunity in AI. These are the top stocks to play it
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The growth of artificial intelligence is creating a multitrillion dollar opportunity poised to benefit these software and technology stocks, according to Morgan Stanley. Nvidia shares have more than tripled this year as investors bet on the promise of its graphics processing units fueling many AI models. For Alphabet, Morgan Stanley forecasts that every 2% of AI spending could drive 5% upside to the company's cloud platform, and account for $3 billion in incremental revenue by 2026. Within the software space, the Morgan Stanley also highlighted Adobe as a long term beneficiary, noting that generative AI could accelerate EPS growth back toward the mid-high teens. "Generative AI functionality into existing workflows of a broad base of subscribers, enabling stickier customer engagement and opportunity to monetize incremental productivity provided to users," the firm said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Keith Weiss, Morgan Stanley's, Joe Moore, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, NVDA

☆ How 'RuPaul's Drag Race' queen Mrs. Kasha Davis gave up an 18-year career to become a drag queen
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Popil began spending his nights performing as drag queen Mrs. Kasha Davis in 2004, and appeared on "RuPaul's Drag Race" in 2015 at age 43. I got to get on stage, have fun and create the character of Mrs. Kasha Davis: married lady, international celebrity housewife. "RuPaul's Drag Race" is like the Olympics of drag, and "All Stars" comes with even higher expectations from fans. I've seen some contestants of "RuPaul's Drag Race" spend thousands, up to $10,000 per look, in order to compete on the runway. Mrs. Kasha Davis

Persons: Ed Popil's isn't, Popil, Kasha Davis, Stephen Levins, Davis, there'd, Pandora Boxx, —, There's, they're, Let's, I've, who's, He's, it's, What's Organizations: CNBC, Hallmark Locations: Rochester , New York, Rochester —, Darienne

☆ This little-known data center servicer could see A.I. tailwinds, says Bank of America
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Vertiv is well-positioned for gains as its margins recover due to the artificial intelligence boom, according to Bank of America. Analyst Andrew Obin upgraded the data center servicer's shares to buy from underperform and raised his price target 54% to $40 from $26. Artificial intelligence adoption within data centers adds incremental demand for Vertiv's thermal management products," Obin wrote in a Wednesday note. Vertiv's strong portfolio in thermal management , which helps protect IT spaces and data centers, also leaves it better-positioned than its peers to see upsides from AI tailwinds, Obin said. Adoption of AI will drive more graphics processing unit chips into data centers, generating more heat and requiring thermal management, said Obin.

Persons: Vertiv, Andrew Obin, Obin, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Bank of America, Emerson Network Power, Emerson Electric, Platinum Equity

☆ Applied Digital confident on annual revenue as AI drives up data center demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 24 (Reuters) - Applied Digital (APLD.O) forecast annual revenue above market estimates on Monday, as the rise of artificial intelligence drives up demand for its data center services, sending the company's shares 18% higher in early trading. "We will accelerate our focus on non-crypto use cases and leverage capabilities of our next-generation proprietary data center assets for HPC applications," said CEO Wes Cummins. The company expects annual revenue in the range of $385 million to $405 million, compared with analysts' average expectations of $308.8 million, according to Refinitiv data. The company reported revenue of $22 million for the three months to May 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of $26.4 million. Its loss per share was 7 cents, compared with 4 cents a year earlier.

Persons: Wes Cummins, Jaspreet Singh, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Applied Digital, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Zoom invests in AI startup Anthropic in latest effort to spruce up offerings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) said on Tuesday it has invested an undisclosed sum in Anthropic and will integrate the artificial intelligence start-up's technology into its video-conferencing platform. The move marks the latest effort by Zoom to spruce up its offerings with AI as it competes against Microsoft Teams, the dominant video-conferencing tool for enterprises. Under the collaboration, Anthropic's Claude - a large language model that competes directly with offerings from Microsoft-backed OpenAI - will be integrated with Zoom's platform. In March, Zoom had announced a partnership with OpenAI to add AI-driven capabilities such as conversation summaries and message drafts to its Zoom IQ assistant. Reporting by Akshita Toshniwal in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Millions of student-loan borrowers will face 'catastrophic consequences' like delays in debt relief if Congress doesn't give Biden's Education Department more money, 17 Democratic lawmakers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Seventeen Democrats wrote a letter to lawmakers asking them to increase Federal Student Aid funding. The Democrats said lack of funding is "catastrophic" for millions of borrowers relying on relief. Congress didn't increase FSA funding last year, causing delays in repayment reforms. They called on the subcommittee to provide $2.7 billion in funding for FSA in fiscal year 2024, consistent with President Joe Biden's budget request. "The lack of adequate resources creates more barriers for students to continue their education," the lawmakers wrote.

☆ Private-Equity Firms Snap Up Data Centers as Cloud Demand Soars
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Private-equity firms bought data centers in near-record numbers last year, defying a broad deal-making slowdown in a bid to capture ever-growing demand for data storage and cloud computing. Data centers are warehouse-sized facilities that lease space in networks of computer servers to customers ranging from individual businesses to giant cloud-computing providers. As the underlying infrastructure for cloud-based digital tools, data centers support everything from video streaming and online gaming to workplace and remote work enterprise software, 5G networks and Internet-of-Things systems. In December, DigitalBridge Group Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla., private-equity firm, and investment services firm IFM Investors closed an $11 billion acquisition of Dallas-based data-center operator Switch Inc. “Large private-equity investors are clearly attracted to the continued robust take-up of data-center space by large hyperscale and social-media companies,” Mr. Lynch said.

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