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☆ UK tech darling Darktrace rallies 17% after agreeing $5.32 billion private equity sale to Thoma Bravo
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration a DarkTrace logo is displayed on a smartphone with stock market percentages in the background. LONDON — British cybersecurity firm Darktrace on Friday announced it had agreed a sale to U.S. private equity giant Thoma Bravo, for an all-cash offer of $5.315 million. Darktrace shares were 17% higher at 10:26 a.m. London time. Darktrace was founded in 2013 and is based in the U.K. city of Cambridge, which has attracted a cluster of tech firms over the last decade. Darktrace on Friday said it had rejected previous unsolicited proposed offers from Thoma Bravo because the tech company assessed they did not fairly value the business.

Persons: Darktrace, Thoma, Thoma Bravo, Mike Lynch Organizations: Thoma Bravo, London Stock Exchange Locations: London, U.S, Asia, U.K, Cambridge, Darktrace, Thoma

☆ 'Hard to Ignore': Jefferies says this cybersecurity stock could double after 75% rise in the past year
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

After two consecutive dreadful years of returns, investment bank Jefferies is forecasting a rebound in the share price of Darktrace , a British cybersecurity company. DARK-GB 1Y line The cybersecurity company reported third-quarter results on April 11 that exceeded expectations. Following the better-than-expected results, Jefferies raised its price target for Darktrace to 890 pence from 550 pence, reiterating its "buy" rating. The consensus price target of analysts polled by FactSet points to a 24.4% upside potential for the stock. Brennan's price target is the biggest among all analysts covering the stock.

Persons: Darktrace, Charles Brennan, —, Jefferies, FactSet Organizations: Jefferies, Revenue Locations: British, London, U.S

☆ Elon Musk is in the UK for a pivotal summit on AI — here's who's going
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Here's who's goingMajor names in the technology and political world will be there. They range from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose private jet landed in the U.K. late Tuesday, to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. What the summit seeks to addressThe main objective of the U.K. AI summit is to find some level of international coordination when it comes to agreeing some principles on the ethical and responsible development of AI models. The summit is squarely focused on so-called "frontier AI" models — in other words, the advanced large language models, or LLMs, like those developed by companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. Loss of control risks refer to a situation in which the AI that humans create could be turned against them.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mandel Ngan, Rishi Sunak's, ChatGPT, Here's who's, Kamala Harris, Musk, Elon, Brad Smith, Demis, Yann LeCun, Global Affairs Nick Clegg, Adam Selipsky, Sam Altman, Dario, Jensen Huang, Rene Haas, Dario Gil Darktrace, Poppy Gustaffson Databricks, Ali Ghodsi, Marc Benioff, Cheun Kyung, Alex Karp, Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Olaf Scholz, Sunak, Will Organizations: Senate, Intelligence, U.S, Capitol, Washington , D.C, Afp, Getty, Bletchley, Microsoft, Tesla, CNBC, Global Affairs, Web, Rene Haas IBM, Marc Benioff Samsung, Technology, South, Sony, Joe Biden Canadian Locations: U.S, Washington ,, China, U.K, South Korean, Chesnot

☆ Inside the implosion of dark kitchen startup Kbox Global, another pandemic-era boom beginning to bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In 2019, after years of investing in and setting up food and beverage brands internationally, she founded dark-kitchen startup Kbox from London. But two years after this funding, large for an early-stage European startup, Vellani exited the business suddenly, citing health issues. "You're only judged on food quality, but if the chef is doing 10 times the work for same money, then it's a fundamental problem." Both Uber Eats and Deliveroo, after an initial burst of interest, would eventually go on to cut back on virtual brands. In an email comment, Vellani acknowledged her lack of direct technical experience but said she sought to fix this through other C-suite hires.

Persons: Salima Vellani, Uber, Travis Kalanick, Vellani, Butler, CloudKitchens, Kbox, MrBeast Burger, YouTuber MrBeast, Jimmy Donaldson, Influencer Jimmy Donaldson, Burger, Brexit, Vellani didn't, Karim Vellani, Karim, Ben Schultz, Nick Holloway, I've Organizations: Balderton, Hoxton Ventures, Reef Technologies, Lean, Network, United, Advisory Locations: London, Saudi, Revolut, COVID, Kbox, Sydney

☆ AI fears overblown? Theoretical physicist calls chatbots ‘glorified tape recorders’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The public’s anxiety over new AI technology is misguided, according to theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. “Mother Nature computes on electrons, electron waves, waves that create molecules. Quantum computing is an emerging technology utilizing the various states of particles like electrons to vastly increase a computer’s processing power. Instead of using computer chips with two states, quantum computers use various states of vibrating waves. We’re powerless to cure these diseases because we have to learn the language of nature, which is the language of molecules and quantum electrons.”

Persons: Michio Kaku, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, ”, ’, chatbots, ChatGPT, Gabby Jones, ” Kaku, we’re, Kaku Organizations: New, New York CNN, Darktrace Plc, Bloomberg, – IBM, IBM, Microsoft, Google Locations: New York, Brooklyn, British

☆ AI Scams, Spam, Hacking, Are Ruining the Internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Shubham Agarwal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A report from Europol expects a mind-blowing 90% of internet content to be AI-generated in a few years. A report from Europol, the European Union's law-enforcement agency, expects a mind-blowing 90% of internet content to be AI-generated in a few years. And while AI bots have telltale signs now, experts indicate that they will soon get better at mimicking humans and evading the detection systems developed by Menczer and social networks. While misinformation has long been a problem with the internet, AI is going to blow our old problems out of the water. But security researchers have discovered that the AI bots in your apps and devices might steal sensitive information for the hackers.

Persons: HBO Max, haven't, ChatGPT, Christian Selig, Reddit, Martijn Pieters, He'd, NewsGuard, Gordon Crovitz, NewsGuard's, Filippo Menczer, NewsGuard's Crovitz, Christopher Cowell, Cowell, John Licato, Bing, Florian Tramèr, Toby Walsh, Walsh, Shubham Agarwal Organizations: HBO, Europol, Market, Indiana University's Observatory, Social Media, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, University of South, ETH Zürich, University of New, University of Oxford, Wired, Company Locations: Cambridge, Europol, Portland , Oregon, Etsy, University of South Florida, University of New South Wales, Ahmedabad, India

☆ Darktrace shares pop 26% after EY concludes report into accounting allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — Shares of British cybersecurity firm Darktrace surged 26% Tuesday after the company said that auditing firm EY had concluded a review into the company's financial processes and controls. The cybersecurity firm said its sales got a boost from client interest in generative artificial intelligence. EY conducted a "thorough review" of its policies, processes and controls, Darktrace said. Copies of the EY report are being voluntarily shared with the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Reporting Council, Darktrace said. "We call upon Darktrace to fully unveil the details of the EY review and facilitate an open dialogue on its findings," Quintessential said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Persons: Darktrace, EY Organizations: British, Capital Management, CNBC, Financial, Authority, Twitter Locations: New York

☆ Why this CEO thinks experience can be overrated
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

When it comes to putting together a great team, experience is often high on the list of things you're looking for. Poppy Gustafsson, CEO of cybersecurity company Darktrace, believes that experience can be an overrated quality. "In the earliest days at Darktrace, we were brainstorming about how to reduce the length of our sales cycle. In those days, we were running a three month proof of value because that's what the rest of the industry did," Poppy Gustafsson explained to CNBC Make It. "From that point forward, we were able to reduce our sales cycle by two-thirds," said Gustafsson.

Persons: Poppy Gustafsson, Gustafsson, that's, Poppy Gustafsson's Organizations: CNBC Locations: Darktrace

☆ Kitt designs, builds, and manages office space for the likes of Oatly. Check out the 35-slide pitch deck it used to raise $8 million from Hoxton Ventures.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kitt, which designs, constructs, and manages office space, just raised $8 million. Instead, he was consumed by a quirk of his Kentish Town, London, office space: a leaky AC unit. It was this experience, and the subsequent chasing of the landlord for repairs, that germinated the seed of his next business: managed office space. Kitt has a marketplace of office space to connect landlords and commercial tenants. With the rise of remote work, office space is now seen as a strategic decision, Coulson said.

Persons: Steve Coulson, Coulson, Kitt Organizations: Kitt, Hoxton Ventures, Babylon, New Locations: Kentish, London, Deliveroo, Kitt, New York

☆ 'A very problematic market': As Arm shuns London, tech investors question UK as an IPO destination
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The institutional investors that dominate the London market lack a good understanding of tech, according to several venture capitalists. Numerous tech firms listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, in moves that buoyed investor hopes for more major tech names to start appearing in the blue-chip FTSE 100 benchmark. Since Deliveroo's March 2021 IPO, the firm's stock has plummeted dramatically, slumping over 70% from the £3.90 it priced its shares at. "London is creating, and the U.K. is creating, globally important businesses — Arm is a globally important business. The London Stock Exchange was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

☆ Darktrace says tough market for new customers hitting growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - Cyber-security company Darktrace (DARK.L) said the tough global economy had hit new customer additions and as a result it expected its full-year annual recurring revenue (ARR) to grow by around 29%, towards the bottom of its previous guidance. The British company said on Thursday it added net constant currency ARR of $27.0 million in its third quarter to end-March, a decline of 6.3% compared to the same quarter a year ago. ARR stood at $583.6 million at the end of March, it said, representing year-over-year growth of 33.7%. Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy became the first Western country to ban ChatGPT. Here's what other countries are doing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty ImagesItaly has become the first country in the West to ban ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot from U.S. startup OpenAI. watch nowVarious regulators are concerned by the challenges AI poses for job security, data privacy, and equality. "It's more, if you're using AI, these are the principles you should be thinking about," Holmes told CNBC. Ireland is typically the most active regulator when it comes to data privacy since most U.S. tech giants like Meta and Google have their offices there. The U.S. hasn't yet proposed any formal rules to bring oversight to AI technology.

☆ Darktrace lowers cash-flow guidance, reports 36% rise in H1 revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - British cybersecurity company Darktrace (DARK.L) lowered its guidance for full-year cash flow on Wednesday due to an accounting change related to its listing as it reported a 36% rise in first-half revenue. The company said its 2023 guidance range for free cash flow would be about 50% to 55% of adjusted core earnings, down from a previous 60% to 65%. Darktrace's performance was questioned in January by short-seller Quintessential Capital Management, which said it was "deeply skeptical about the validity" of its financial statements. Darktrace, which listed in April 2021, rejected the claim, and said it was run with "the greatest integrity". Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James and James DaveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ It's not just you: Cybercriminals are also using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ChatGPT can quickly generate targeted phishing emails or malicious code for malware attacks. AI companies could be held liable for chatbots counseling criminals since Section 230 may not apply. Sergey Shykevich, a lead ChatGPT researcher at cybersecurity company Checkpoint security, has already seen cybercriminals harness the AI's power to create code that can be used in a ransomware attack. In dealing with unlawful or criminal content on their sites from third-party users, most tech companies cite Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. In addition, ChatGPT continues to implement guardrails to deter illegal activity, although these guardrails can often be sidestepped with the right script.

☆ Darktrace hires EY for independent review of finances
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - British cyber security company Darktrace (DARK.L) said on Monday it had commissioned a third-party review of its finances by EY, weeks after a short-seller questioned its results. Darktrace said the appointment of the auditor EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, was a sign of its confidence in its financial processes. The group said it was "deeply skeptical about the validity of Darktrace's financial statements," prompting Darktrace to issue a rebuttal. Darktrace said in its statement on Monday that it was appropriate for a third party review to confirm the company's financial position. As a sign of that confidence, we have commissioned this independent third-party review by E&Y," chairman Gordon Hurst said.

☆ Cybersecurity firm Darktrace hires EY to review financial processes after damning short seller report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — Cybersecurity firm Darktrace on Monday said it has appointed auditing firm EY to review its "key financial processes and controls," in a bid to soothe investor fears after a short seller accused the company of manipulating its accounts. "The Board believes fully in the robustness of Darktrace's financial processes and controls. EY will report to the chair of Darktrace's audit and risk committee, Paul Harrison, Darktrace said. Darktrace shares rose more than 2% Monday on the heels of the announcement. The firm said it was "deeply skeptical about the validity of Darktrace's financial statements" and believed sales and growth rates may have been overstated.

☆ Brigad connects hospitality workers to companies offering freelance shifts. Check out the 20-slide pitch deck it used to raise $35 million in fresh funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paris-based Brigad has raised a $35 million Series B round from Balderton Capital. The startup connects freelance hospitality workers to companies that have shift vacancies. Check out the 20-slide deck used to raise the fresh funds. A startup that connects hospitality workers with companies offering freelance work has just raised $35 million in Series B funding from Balderton Capital. When Brigad launched, it was "really focused on small businesses," but "realized that big groups have the same issues," said Malbranche.

☆ Early Deliveroo investor Hoxton Ventures is set to lose one of its founding partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

European venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures, a backer of some of the U.K.'s best-known tech unicorns, is set to lose one of its founding partners. They include food delivery app Deliveroo and cybersecurity firm Darktrace . Some of Hoxton's portfolio companies have seen their public market values sink as investors re-examined their exposure to tech. Babylon Health has lost 95% of its market value since going public via a combination with a special purpose acquisition company. Nonetheless, Hoxton generated a hundredfold return on its early bets on Deliveroo and grew the value of its Darktrace position by fiftyfold since first investing in the company, according to one of the sources.

☆ A prominent UK cybersecurity stock is under attack from short sellers. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Omar Marques | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty ImagesCybersecurity company Darktrace , one of the U.K.'s most prominent tech names, has found itself under attack from short sellers. Short selling is a strategy in which investors bet on the price of a stock going down in value. Darktrace, one of the U.K.'s largest cybersecurity companies, was founded in 2013 by a group of former intelligence experts and mathematicians. "This has been, and remains, a very small part of Darktrace's marketing and the costs of them over the last five years has consistently been substantially below 0.5% of Darktrace's revenue," Darktrace added. The Lynch connectionIt's worth noting that, even before the QCM report, there were clouds hanging over Darktrace's business.

☆ Darktrace begins 75 mln pound share buyback
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - British cybersecurity firm Darktrace Plc (DARK.L) said on Wednesday it was commencing a buyback plan of up to 35 million shares, amounting to up to 75 million pounds ($92.36 million), which would be completed by Oct. 31. The announcement comes a day after Darktrace's shares slumped after a short-selling fund questioned its financial statements, to which the firm responded that it had full confidence in its accounting practices. ($1 = 0.8120 pounds)Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK pulls plug on top tech incubator after setting out to become 'world’s next Silicon Valley'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Created in 2010 under the premiership of ex-Prime Minister David Cameron, Tech Nation was a hallmark of the U.K.'s bid to create billion-dollar tech companies of global significance and rival the likes of Silicon Valley. It claims to have helped produce household names in the U.K.'s tech scene, with a diverse range of alumni on its projects hailing from the likes of Monzo, Revolut, Deliveroo , Just Eat , Darktrace and Ocado . According to Tech Nation, more than a third of all tech unicorns and decacorns created in the U.K. graduated from a Tech Nation program. Tech Nation graduates have also raised more than £28 billion ($35.4 billion) in funding to date. While 80% of startups fail in their first two to five years, over 95% of startups on Tech Nation's accelerator programs have gone on to scale, the group said.

☆ Darktrace cuts revenue outlook as customers turn cautious
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - British cybersecurity company Darktrace (DARK.L) cut its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday after prospective customers turned more reluctant to run product trials due to the worsening macro-economic environment. It said ARR in the six months to end-December had increased by at least 36.5% to a minimum of $556.3 million, but there had been a noticeable slowdown in new customer additions recently. Chief Financial Officer Cathy Graham said profitability had been preserved, helped by operating efficiencies that it would maintain in its second half, resulting in an improvement to its full-year core-earnings margin forecast. "Clearly, however, the current macro-economic environment is creating challenges to winning new customers, with prospects more reluctant to run product trials and, in regions with historically higher conversion rates, those rates starting to decline," she said in a statement. Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tech is 'down but by no means out' — watch these stocks next year, fund manager says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It's been a bad year for tech companies, as investors flee growth stocks in the face of rising interest rates and other headwinds. Growth stocks, such as Big Tech, were an investor favorite in an era of low rates. That would depend on the "data points that come through" when companies report fourth-quarter earnings in the February to March period, tech fund manager Jeremy Gleeson of AXA Investment Managers told CNBC Pro Talks last week. Nevertheless, Gleeson said tech stocks are "down but by no means out." Earnings is a key metric in the tech sector, he said, adding that he prefers firms with strong balance sheets.

☆ These 'recession-resistant' cybersecurity stocks have over 60% upside, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That new trend raises the question: Can cybersecurity companies sustain earnings through a recession? Loukas, whose fund holds cybersecurity stocks such as CrowdStrike and Zscaler , said that as more businesses move into the cloud and cybersecurity threats evolve, companies will continue to prioritize spending on protection regardless of economic conditions. According to FactSet data, analysts expect the London-listed stock to rise by 89% in the next year. Shares in Silicon Valley-headquartered firms Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks are also expected to rise by 62% and 45%, respectively. Meanwhile, analysts at Mizuho said CrowdStrike , a Texas-based cybersecurity firm, is an "unrivaled" market leader.

☆ Ransomware Simulation Debrief
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRansomware Simulation DebriefCol. Sean Hannah joins cybersecurity experts Nicole Eagan and Charles Carmakal on stage to debrief the results of the ransomware simulation and discuss the many layers cyber risk that companies face today. They will recap how the members approached the scenario and the decisions made, as we dig further into how companies and governments can work together to prepare for future attacks. CNBC's Eamon Javers moderates a discussion with Col. Sean Hannah, US Army retired; Charles Carmakal, Mandiant SVP & CTO and CNBC Technology Executive Council member; and Nicole Eagan, Darktrace Chief Strategy Officer, AI Officer and CNBC Technology Executive Council member at the 2022 CNBC CFO Council Summit on November 30, 2022.

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