DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

“America's Team.”The team that much of America loved, and perhaps just as much loved to hate. The title these days has fallen on the Kansas City Chiefs, who play the San Francisco 49ers next weekend in their fourth Super Bowl in five years. Just like so many versions of “America's Team," though, a certain amount of fatigue also is setting in. They can make it four next Sunday, when they play the 49ers in a Super Bowl trending to be the most expensive ticket in history. We’ve got an even bigger target on our back than we did last year,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said.

Persons: Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, ”, Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, Joe Greene, Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, Troy Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, “, Mahomes, he's, Reid, Kelce, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, we've, ” Reid, Pat, Ken Goldin, Jason Sudeikis, Paul Rudd, Eric Stonestreet, Heidi Gardner, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Swift, Brad Pitt, Henry Winkler, Melissa Etheridge, Chris Wallace, Etheridge, I’m, he’s, hadn't, Kermit, Justin Johnson, Johnson, ” Mahomes, We’ve, Justin Reid Organizations: KANSAS CITY, Dallas Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers, Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Hall of Fame, Chiefs, State Farm, Warriors, Wynn Golf Club, Allegiant, NFL, Eagles, AFC, Bengals, Arrowhead, Nielsen, NFL Shop, Raiders, “ Chiefs, Goldin, Kansas City, CNN, Ravens, Baltimore, New England, ” Chiefs Locations: KANSAS, Mo, America, Hollywood, London, Mexico City, Frankfurt, Germany, Italy, Leavenworth , Kansas, Tokyo

☆ For ‘Barbie’ Fans Online, a Bitterly Ironic Oscar Snub
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Joseph Bernstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the 2024 Oscar nominations were announced this morning, the snubs of the two most prominent women involved in “Barbie” — the director, Greta Gerwig, and the lead actress, Margot Robbie — became the breakout story. The top-grossing film of 2023, passing the $1 billion mark worldwide, is based on the imagined life and times of the iconic Mattel doll. A cultural phenomenon on its own terms, “Barbie,” along with “Oppenheimer,” became half of an unusually thoughtful summer blockbuster duo released on the same day in July (“Barbenheimer”): nothing to sneeze at. “Let me see if I understand this: the Academy nominated ‘Barbie’ for Best Picture (eight nominations total) — a film about women being sidelined and rendered invisible in patriarchal structures — but not the woman who directed the film. Okay then,” read a viral X post by the writer Charlotte Clymer.

Persons: “ Barbie ”, Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie —, “ Barbie, “ Oppenheimer, ”, ‘ Barbie ’, —, Charlotte Clymer, Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Ryan Gosling, Gosling, Ken, “ We’re, Jodi Lipper Organizations: Mattel, America Locations: Barbieland

☆ Elon Musk's Cybertruck apocalypse
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In most regards, the sales pitch for Tesla's new Cybertruck doesn't differ in its particulars from the value proposition of any other pickup or SUV. But unlike the Cybertruck, its sales pitch has a curve: Musk has said all along that it's designed to be your go-to vehicle for the End of the World. "The apocalypse could come along at any moment, and here at Tesla we have the finest in apocalypse technology." If you believe in an apocalypse with trucks, you must also believe that someone will be maintaining the necessary infrastructure. In the early 20th century, when cars first came within financial reach of average Americans, the sales pitch focused on freedom of movement.

Persons: Elon, Musk, —, It's, cofound, Ursula K, Le Guin, Ken Liu, Mike Pondsmith, Adam Rogers Organizations: SpaceX, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Cooperation Locations: Francisco, Megacity

☆ DeSantis board accuses Disney of controlling previous one with gifts
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It found the board was "inverted to serve Disney," which held voting control of the prior board of supervisors. The Central Florida Oversight Board will meet Wednesday to vote whether to accept the report, which was prepared for the board by a group of experts. In what Disney described as retaliation, the Florida legislature in February replaced the old board with a new Central Florida Oversight District, whose five supervisors are handpicked by DeSantis. In April, Disney sued Florida in federal court, claiming DeSantis and his allies of "weaponizing" state government to punish Disney for exercising its free speech rights. The DeSantis-appointed oversight board counter-sued in state court, seeking to void the "backroom deals" favorable to the entertainment giant.

Persons: Octavio Jones, Ron DeSantis, Walt Disney's, Disney, DeSantis, flagrantly, John Classe, Dawn Chmielewski, Ken Li, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Walt Disney, REUTERS, Walt, Disney, DeSantis, Central, Central Florida Tourism, Florida Oversight, Reuters, American Express, Florida, Thomson Locations: Orlando , Florida, U.S, Florida, Reedy, Central Florida, New York

☆ Here's how the stock market can build on its best week of the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

These two points blunted anything that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had to say and that was all it took to have the best week in the stock market of the year. He's the union president, which contributes to investor ennui given how unions have produced minus signs in the stock market wherever they prey. But yields looked to break out the wrong way for the stock market for certain. We didn't realize that yields could be peaking: 6% was beckoning on the long end of the bond market yield curve. All I can tell you is that the Apple selling last Friday morning was relentless from 4 a.m.

Persons: Jerome Powell, it's, Joe Biden doesn't, Gina Raimondo –, –, Raimondo, Biden, hasn't, ennui, Stanley Druckenmiller, Tim Cook, Luca Maestri, Apple, that's, halcyon, Cramer, Elon, Mary Dillon, haven't, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Virginia Sherwood Organizations: Treasury, Federal, Twitter, Mutual, Apple, Phillies, Huawei, Nvidia, Trust, CNBC, Jim Cramer's Charitable, NYSE Locations: Israeli, Gaza, China

The puzzle game on his Android phone had been interrupted by a video showing Hamas militants, terrified Israeli families and blurred graphic footage. Reuters has not been able to establish how the ad came to her son's video game, but her family isn't alone. In at least one case, the ads were played inside the popular "Angry Birds" game made by SEGA-owned developer Rovio (ROVIO.HE). Google ran more than 90 ads for the foreign ministry but declined to comment on where it displayed those ads. In the Cassis family's case, the ads appeared in a game called "Alice's Mergeland" made by a developer called LazyDog Game.

Persons: Maria Julia Assis, Hannah McKay, Maria Julia Cassis, Rovio, Lotta Backlund, David Saranga, Saranga, Outbrain, Holland –, Alexandra Marginean, Marginean, Stack's, Raphael Satter, Sheila Dang, Katie Paul, Ken Li, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: REUTERS, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Reuters, SEGA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israeli Foreign Ministry, Google, West Bank, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Holland, Stack's Ubisoft, Subway, SYBO, Apple, Standards Authority, Thomson Locations: Israel, London, Britain, Brazil, Europe, Gaza, France, Austria, Germany, Munich, Austrian, Danish, Washington, New York

☆ With Bamboo and Jade, Silkpunk Rebuilds History
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Shannon Liao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The floating ships in the fantasy role-playing game Honkai: Star Rail are populated with traders, gourmets and literati who surf their texts on jade abacuses. The game, from the Chinese company miHoYo, combines a taste of the Qing dynasty with gifts of the digital age — holographic bonsai and teleportation gateways for instant travel. “We call it Eastern fantasies, silkpunk, that kind of vibe,” Fish Ling, miHoYo’s senior director of global business development, said this year, showing off the ways its newest video game wove cybertech into a tapestry of ancient culture. Cyberpunk and steampunk were terms popularized in the 1980s to describe science fiction or fantasy worlds that explore rebellion against authority and the ramifications of technology, whether through body augmentations in near-future dystopias or brass vehicles in Victorian-era settings. The offshoot silkpunk is a more recent creation by Ken Liu, a speculative fiction author whose Dandelion Dynasty series features a throne made of bamboo and silk with intricate jewel-like clockwork and a kite built from similar materials.

Persons: Fish Ling, miHoYo’s, Ken Liu

[1/2] SAG-AFTRA members walk the picket line during their ongoing strike outside Sony Studios in Culver City, California, U.S. September 29, 2023. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLOS ANGELES, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Santa Claus will not be coming to Hollywood this year. The strike, which has entered its 14th week, is scrambling next year’s film slate and delaying the return of primetime television comedies and dramas. Some have sold rights to film and television libraries to keep the lights on, one buyer told Reuters. Some major studio films scheduled for next year could slip into 2025 if the work stoppage continues, according to the studio executive, raising concern that audiences will get out of the habit of going to theaters.

Persons: Mario Anzuoni, Santa Claus, “, ”, Farrelly, Satan, Bob Marley, Guy Ritchie’s, Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, Doug Creutz, Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine, Ken Li, Rod Nickel Organizations: Sony Studios, REUTERS, Reuters, Media, Warner Bros ., Television, CSI, CBS, Thomson Locations: Culver City , California, U.S, Santa, Hollywood, North America, Spain, Los Angeles

☆ Amazon devices unit morale wanes amid cuts, weak development pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Amazon hopes consumers will install Alexa-enabled devices in more rooms of their homes and become accustomed to using the system throughout the day, the sources said. Amazon has said its devices and services business is not profitable, without providing figures. Amazon is set to name as successor Microsoft's Panos Panay who oversaw development of the Surface, according to Bloomberg. Alexa employees were included in rounds of layoffs beginning last year resulting in 27,000 job cuts across Amazon. For years, Amazon has said it can sell devices for close to production cost and see a profit through services offered on them.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Dave Limp, Alexa, Kinley Pearsall, Amazon, hasn’t, “, ”, Avi Greengart, Limp, Microsoft's Panos Panay, Gregg Zehr, Tom Taylor, Ken Washington, Andy Jassy, Siri, That’s, Bruno Borges, I‘m, Greg Bensinger, Ken Li, Claudia Parsons Organizations: FRANCISCO, Reuters, Alexa, Amazon, Devices, Google, Microsoft, Echo, “, Bloomberg, Astro, Medtronic, Intelligence, Amazon.com, Lightform, Thomson Locations: Amazon’s, Lab126, Alphabet’s, Vancouver, Canada

☆ 'Barbie' review: Margot Robbie stars in Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —“Barbie” comes roaring out of the gate with an inventiveness and energy the movie perhaps inevitably can’t sustain. Still, the closest kin would probably be “The Lego Movie,” which similarly took a familiar toy and built a kind of existential crisis around it. Simu Liu, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in "Barbie." Courtesy Warner Bros. PicturesThe juxtaposition of those more thoughtful elements with the sheer giddiness elsewhere – alternating between the serious and the silly, between art and commerce – doesn’t always quite mesh or feel as fresh as it might. (The film is being released by Warner Bros., like CNN, a unit of Warner Bros.

Persons: CNN — “ Barbie ”, Greta Gerwig’s, Noah Baumbach, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, “ Barbie ”, Ferrell’s, Helen Mirren, Barbie, Ken, Gosling’s Ken, Ariana Greenblatt, Simu Liu, Bird, Gosling, “ Justice League ”, “ Oppenheimer, “, overdoing, ” Organizations: CNN, Mattel, America, Warner Bros, “ Justice League, Warner Bros .

☆ US schools cancel recess, skylines vanish behind Canada wildfire smoke
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. National Weather Service issued quality air alerts from New England to South Carolina. In Bethesda, Maryland, a high school moved its graduation ceremony indoors, while a Brooklyn, New York, elementary school postponed its "Spring Fling" dance party. The smoke is crossing the U.S. northern border from Canada, where wildfire season got off to an unusually early and intense start due to persistent warm and dry conditions. Rochester, New York, near the Canadian border, had the worst air quality in the country, according to IQAir, while six towns along Maryland's Eastern Shore and Delaware were ranked in the bottom 10 for air quality. "This is an unprecedented event in our city and New Yorkers must take precaution," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.

Persons: Eric Adams, Tyler Clifford, Denny Thomas, Ken Li, Nancy Lapid, Joseph Ax, Mark Porter, David Gregorio Our Organizations: YORK, U.S, National Weather Service, D.C, Twitter, East Coast, York City, Thomson Locations: Vermont, South Carolina, East, Ohio, Kansas, Midwest, New England, Washington, Bethesda , Maryland, Brooklyn , New York, Montclair , New Jersey, New York, Canada, York, Delhi, Rochester , New York, Shore, Delaware, Manhattan, New, Toronto, Canada's, Quebec

In their joint venture agreement, Baker Hughes says it uses C3.ai's solutions and also sells the product to companies in the oil and gas industry. CNBC's "Last Call" aired a report Thursday night on the investor lawsuit against C3.ai and the company's relationship with Baker Hughes. The lawsuit says the publicity about the massive Baker Hughes sales force "artificially inflated C3's stock" when the company first went public. Richard Drew | APIn an April 2023 filing, Baker Hughes announced it divested 1.7 million C3.ai shares, bringing its ownership to 6.9 million shares. Kerrisdale pointed to C3.ai's "highly conspicuous growth" in unbilled receivables, largely from Baker Hughes, and wrote that "accounting red flags abound with the Baker Hughes relationship."

Persons: Tom Siebel, Siebel, Thomas M, Chris J, Ratcliffe, it's, Baker Hughes, Logan Roy, Larry Ellison, Yasmin Khorram, Dan Brennan, We've, Brennan, he's, CNBC's, Reed Kathrein, Theranos, —, Kathrein, Richard Drew, they'd, unbilled, receivables, Siebel's, Ken Goldman, Goldman, Gil Luria, Davidson, Luria, Nick Wells, Scott Zamost, Sam Woodward, Tom Siebel's Organizations: Siebel Systems, Oracle, Bloomberg Tech Summit, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Forbes, Siebel, C3, U.S . Department of Defense, Shell, Northern District of, SEC, Twitter, " Traders, New York Stock Exchange, AP, Point Capital Management, Spotify, C3 Energy, Revenue, Wall Locations: London, Redwood City , CA, Redwood City , California, Northern District, Northern District of California, unbilled receivables, Point

May 17 (Reuters) - The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday. More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61% believe it could threaten civilization. ChatGPT has kicked off an AI arms race, with tech heavyweights like Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Google (GOOGL.O) vying to outdo each other's AI accomplishments. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the number of Americans who foresee adverse outcomes from AI is triple the number of those who don't. Those who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 expressed higher levels of concern; 70% of Trump voters compared to 60% of Joe Biden voters agreed that AI could threaten humankind.

☆ HSBC: the global bank faces off with divided shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —HSBC shareholders are expected to vote Friday on demands for a radical overhaul of the bank. Canvassing for supportBut Ken Lui, an activist shareholder in Hong Kong spearheading the resolution, told CNN he was confident his proposal would pass. Ken Lui canvassing for votes in Hong Kong in April. Courtesy Ken LuiThese shareholders have been unhappy with the bank previously scrapping its dividend in 2020, at the request of British regulators. HSBC shares were down about half a percent in Hong Kong afternoon Friday.

☆ Alibaba's breakup lifts hopes China's regulatory winter is thawing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The move represented a light at the end of the tunnel for many investors who had seen a wave of regulatory blitzes as a major cloud hanging over China's private sector. Reuters GraphicsAlibaba said on Tuesday it would split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. He was spotted on Monday in Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, just one day before the company announced the restructuring. Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), China's largest gaming company, saw shares rise as much as 5.1%. Alibaba's split may pave the way for other Chinese tech giants to undergo similar restructuring, CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said.

☆ Alibaba's breakup plan lifts hopes China's tech crackdown is ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The group's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped as much as 16.3%, tracking a 14.3% rally in its U.S.-listed shares overnight . Its e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) rose 7% and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) gained 5%. That compared with a 2.3% jump in benchmark Hang Seng Index (.HSI) and a 3.2% gain for the Hang Seng Tech Index (.HSTECH). Brian Tycango, who tracks China's tech sector at Stansberry Research, says that in addition to enabling higher valuations, the restructuring better protects individual divisions from future government regulation. "Any new regulations will likely not affect the whole company now - just the particular division that that regulation covers," Tycango told Reuters.

☆ Succession 101: Money lessons from TV’s dysfunctional empire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Succession" is filled with instructional business tales – some about what to do and some about what not to do. To tease out key money lessons, we talked to a few leaders in the financial world about their best takeaways. “Someone once told me, ‘All money is green, but not all board members are the same.’ That stuck with me. Liz DavidsonFounder & CEO, Financial Finesse; Author, “Money Strong”Money lesson: Focus on financial independence so you can fulfill your true purpose“The purpose of money is to live your own purpose, but the Roy children are extremely tied financially to their father. You’ll see in Succession where they are compromising on talent by ignoring their paid experts in favor of family.

☆ Thomson Reuters reports higher fourth-quarter sales, profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The news and information company reported adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share. A strong dollar took 2 percentage points off the sales growth. Divestitures reduced sales growth by another 1 point. It expects first-quarter organic sales growth at the lower end of its full-year target of 5.5-6.0%. During the fourth quarter, Thomson Reuters said it would buy SurePrep LLC, a U.S.-based provider of tax automation software and services, for $500 million in cash.

☆ BofA Promoted 93 New MDs in Global Markets — Here Are the Names
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bank of America announced 93 new managing directors in Global Markets on Thursday. The division in 2022 saw sales and trading revenues climb to its highest mark since 2010.Insider has all the names of the newly promoted MDs. On Thursday the bank announced a new class of 360 managing directors, including 93 from the firm's Global Markets division — up from 86 last year. The bank's Global Corporate and Investment Bank promoted 87 new MDs. BofA made $16.5 billion in 2022 from sales and trading — including a fourth-quarter record of $3.7 billion — the highest tally for the firm since 2010.

☆ Musk's Twitter updates app to start charging $8 for blue checkmark
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Rhea Binoy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoNov 5 (Reuters) - Twitter on Saturday updated its app in Apple's App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, in Elon Musk’s first major revision of the social media platform. The change comes a week after Musk took over the social media company in a $44 billion deal. It was not immediately clear how or if Twitter planned to verify the identity of the user beyond charging a fee. Twitter Blue will roll out in India in "hopefully less than a month," Musk tweeted in reply to a question from a follower. As of Saturday, the update to Twitter Blue remained at the old price of $4.99.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at 57 cents, 7 cents ahead of estimates. Thomson Reuters' peers include RELX Group’s (REL.L) LexisNexis, Bloomberg LP, News Corp's (NWSA.O) DowJones, and Wolters Kluwer (WLSNc.AS). Thomson Reuters holds a minority stake in the LSE, worth about $6.3 billion as of Friday. Thomson Reuters will be "quite a bit more aggressive in the next few quarters in looking at acquisitions," he said. Reporting by Ken Li and Nick Zieminski in New York Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Toronto-based company recorded $1.57 billion in sales during the quarter, up 3%, slightly below expectations of $1.59 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 57 cents, 7 cents ahead of analyst estimates. But it noted that 2023 margins were trending towards the lower end of the 39%-40% range amid heightened inflation and investments. Thomson Reuters' peers include RELX Group’s (REL.L) LexisNexis, Bloomberg LP, News Corp's (NWSA.O) DowJones and Wolters Kluwer (WLSNc.AS). Reporting by Ken Li and Nick Zieminski in New York Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Deciding who gets hurt by sweeping new U.S. curbs on selling technology to China will come down in part to what constitutes a "supercomputer," experts told Reuters. Around the world, the semiconductor industry on Friday began to wrestle with wide-ranging U.S. restrictions on selling chips and chip manufacturing equipment to China. Shares of chip equipment makers drooped, but industry experts said a new U.S. definition of a supercomputer could be pivotal to the new rules' impact on China. The new definition is unlikely to change as industry technology improves. "The issue is that the definition of a supercomputer will change over time," he said by email.

Search resuls for: "Ken Li"

23 mentions found