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☆ Microsoft Reports Rising Revenues as A.I. Investments Bear Fruit
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Karen Weise | More About Karen Weise | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Profit hit $21.9 billion, up from $18.3 billion. A year after Microsoft began its push to put A.I. into everything it does, the company said sales of its flagship cloud computing product, Azure, had grown 31 percent. push has helped it gain market share from Amazon, the leading cloud services provider. In January, the company said 53,000 customers were using its cloud A.I.

Persons: Microsoft’s Organizations: Microsoft, Revenue, Amazon

☆ Meta’s A.I. Assistant Is Fun to Use, but It Can’t Be Trusted
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Brian X. Chen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the last few days, you may have noticed something new inside Meta’s apps, including Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp: an artificially intelligent chatbot. This is Meta’s response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the chatbot that upended the tech industry in 2022, and similar bots including Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Bing AI. The Meta bot’s image generator also competes with A.I. Unlike other chatbots and image generators, Meta’s A.I. assistant is a free tool baked into apps that billions of people use every day, making it the most aggressive push yet from a big tech company to bring this flavor of artificial intelligence — known as generative A.I.

Persons: ”, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bing, A.I, — Organizations: corgi, Meta Locations: New York, San Francisco

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block Tapestry’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri, a blockbuster fashion tie-up that would bring together Coach, Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Versace. The lawsuit is a rare move by the agency to block a fashion deal, given that the industry does not suffer from a lack of competition. In her time as the chair of the F.T.C., Lina Khan has prioritized taking on the power of big business in suits across industries. The agency has moved to block the supermarket merger between Kroger and Albertsons; Meta’s acquisition of the virtual reality start-up Within; and Microsoft’s bid for the gaming giant Activision. failed to block Microsoft’s deal and Meta’s acquisition, both of which closed last year.

Persons: Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Versace, Lina Khan, ” Henry Liu, ” Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Kroger, Albertsons, Activision, “, Competition Locations: Capri, ’

☆ The Mona Lisa rapping? New Microsoft AI animates faces from photos
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The Mona Lisa can now do more than smile, thanks to new artificial intelligence technology from Microsoft. In one demo video, researchers showed how they animated the Mona Lisa to recite a comedic rap by actor Anne Hathaway. Outputs from the AI model, called VASA-1, are both entertaining and a bit jarring in their realness. “We are opposed to any behavior to create misleading or harmful contents of real persons,” Microsoft researchers said in a blog post. For example, in one demo video set to a clip of someone sounding agitated, apparently while playing video games, the face speaking has furrowed brows and pursed lips.

Persons: Mona Lisa, Anne Hathaway, VASA, it’s, OpenAI, Sora Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft Locations: New York

deal as a diplomatic weaponA relatively small deal — by Microsoft’s standards, anyway — is leading to big geopolitical ripples on Tuesday. The tech giant is investing $1.5 billion in G42, an Emirati artificial intelligence company. On its face, that may appear to be just another effort by the tech giant to claim a foothold in a fast-growing A.I. The terms of the deal: G42 will be able to sell Microsoft services that use powerful A.I. chips; in return, it will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud services for its A.I.

Persons: OpenAI, Biden Organizations: Microsoft Locations: Beijing, China

☆ Microsoft Makes High-Stakes Play in Tech Cold War With Emirati A.I. Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Paul Mozur | David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the partnership, Microsoft will give G42 permission to sell Microsoft services that use powerful A.I. chips, which are used to train and fine-tune generative A.I. products shared with G42 and includes an agreement to strip Chinese gear out of G42’s operations, among other steps. “When it comes to emerging technology, you cannot be both in China’s camp and our camp,” said Gina Raimondo, the Commerce Secretary, who traveled twice to the U.A.E. The accord is highly unusual, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said in an interview, reflecting the U.S. government’s extraordinary concern about protecting the intellectual property behind A.I.

Persons: Biden, ”, Gina Raimondo, Brad Smith Organizations: Microsoft, United Arab, U.S ., Commerce Locations: United Arab Emirates, China, Washington, Beijing, Gulf

☆ Microsoft turns to the Middle East for its latest bet on AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Mark Thompson | Tom Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi’s G42, an artificial intelligence group that has faced questions over its ties to China. The companies will collaborate on AI and digital infrastructure, in a move that sees Microsoft’s AI empire expand into the Middle East for the first time. G42 and Microsoft say they have committed to comply with US and international trade rules as part of their partnership. Microsoft has forged high-profile partnerships with several AI companies, in an attempt to position itself as a leader in the technology. “It’s all about this new AI era,” Smith told CNN in February.

Persons: Peng Xiao, —, Xiao, Brad Smith, ”, OpenAI, “, ” Smith Organizations: London CNN, Microsoft, Abu, Pegasus, New York Times, CNN, Mistral Locations: Abu Dhabi’s, China, Chinese, Beijing, UAE, United States, Europe, Spain, Germany

☆ Kishida US visit: Japan seeks investment in AI, semiconductors from American companies
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Junko Ogura | Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Speaking in Washington at a lunch with American CEOs, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan welcomes American collaboration in “critical and emerging technology” and assured them that any investment would flow both ways. Last year, Japanese foreign direct investment to the US exceeded $750 billion, Kishida said, making Japan the biggest foreign investor in America and creating more than 1 million jobs. It is reportedly the company’s largest ever investment in Asia’s second largest economy. Earlier this month, Japan’s industry ministry approved subsidies worth up to 590 billion yen ($3.9 billion) for Rapidus. It comes as Washington adds increasing restrictions on the types of semiconductors that American companies are able to sell to China.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Fumio Kishida, ”, Kishida, Joe Biden, Brad Smith, Gary Cohn, Sanjay Mehrotra, Ted Colbert, Albert Bourla, Mayumi Maruyama Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Microsoft, Microsoft Research Asia, IBM, Micron Technology, Boeing, Defense, Space & Security, Pfizer, CNN, US Chamber of Commerce, “, Intel, Samsung, US Locations: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Japan, Washington, American, United States, America, Asia’s, Russia, South, Taiwan, Hokkaido, chipmaking, China, Europe, Asia, Germany

The Chinese company NetEase said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal to distribute titles from Microsoft’s Blizzard Entertainment, restoring access to popular video games like World of Warcraft for Chinese gamers. More than a year ago, NetEase and Blizzard called an end to their long-running partnership when renewal talks turned testy, with both sides accusing each other of bad-faith negotiations. An uproar ensued among Chinese gamers, upset about losing access to a slew of popular titles from Blizzard’s parent company, the U.S. game developer Activision Blizzard. NetEase said on Wednesday that it had reached the new deal with Microsoft, which acquired Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion deal in October. The two companies said they had also agreed to distribute NetEase titles on Microsoft’s Xbox game device.

Persons: NetEase, we’ve, ” William Ding Organizations: Microsoft’s Blizzard Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Locations: U.S

☆ Blizzard, NetEase deal: ‘World of Warcraft’ and other hit games return to China as dispute ends
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Diksha Madhok | Wayne Chang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —China’s gaming giant NetEase will bring back the iconic “World of Warcraft” and other popular video games by Microsoft’s Blizzard Entertainment to the country, the companies said in a joint statement Wednesday. California-based Blizzard and Hangzhou-based NetEase had ceased their 15-year relationship in 2023 after an acrimonious fallout, leaving millions of fans in China heartbroken. “After a year of negotiations, Blizzard and NetEase are pleased to align on a path forward to once again serve players in mainland China,” the companies said in a post on NetEase Games’ official Weibo account. The new deal will see the return of “World of Warcraft” and “Hearthstone” games to China, as well as other titles in the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo and StarCraft universes, according to the statement. Foreign publishers must work with local partners to offer video games in China.

Persons: NetEase, “, ”, we’ve, William Ding, ’, Phil Spencer Organizations: CNN, Microsoft’s Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard, Games, Weibo, Microsoft Gaming, Xbox, Microsoft, Activision, Big Locations: China, California, Hangzhou, Beijing, Big Tech

☆ 3 things rattling markets this week
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The S&P 500 tumbled the first two trading days of the new quarter and is down 0.8% for the week after paring back some of its losses on Wednesday. Some Fed officials revealed at the central bank’s policy meeting last month that they see fewer rate cuts than the three they forecast last December for 2024. Traders see a 63% expectation that the Fed cuts rates in June, a drop from more than 70% a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. “With Middle East tensions on the rise, OPEC+ supply side measures have pushed crude oil volatility down,” BofA strategists wrote in a Wednesday report. “Adding to a complex backdrop, we now estimate that improving economic growth expectations have helped push global oil markets into a deficit.”The price of gold has also climbed this week.

Persons: New York CNN — Stocks, “, ”, Brent Schutte, Jerome Powell, •, Loretta Mester, Raphael Bostic, Brent, Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman, Donald Trump’s, Matt Egan, “ Michael, ” Damian Williams, Bruce Garelick, ” Williams, ” Read, Joe Biden, Sean Lyngaas, China Nicholas Burns, Antony Blinken, Read Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN —, Treasury, FactSet, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, Hawkish, San Francisco Fed, Stanford University, Wednesday, • Cleveland Fed, Atlanta Fed, CNBC, Traders, Organization of, Petroleum, West Texas, Brent, Bank of America, Trump Media, Trump Media & Technology Group, DWAC, Southern, of, Acquisition Corporation, “, Microsoft, US, Department of Homeland Security, CNN Locations: New York, OPEC, Florida, of New York, Washington, China

☆ US government review faults Microsoft for ‘cascade’ of errors that allowed Chinese hackers to breach senior US officials’ emails
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Microsoft committed a “cascade” of “avoidable errors” that allowed Chinese hackers to breach the tech giant’s network and later the email accounts of senior US officials last year, including the secretary of commerce, a scathing US government-backed review of the incident has found. In particular, the review board faulted Microsoft (MSFT) for not adequately protecting a sensitive cryptographic key that allowed the hackers to remotely sign into their targets’ Outlook accounts by forging credentials. The hackers downloaded about 60,000 emails from the State Department alone, department spokesman Matthew Miller has said. Microsoft has “mobilized our engineering teams to identify and mitigate legacy infrastructure, improve processes, and enforce security benchmarks,” the statement continued. Russian hackers allegedly infiltrated software made by US firm SolarWinds to steal emails from US government agencies in 2020.

Persons: ”, Joe Biden, “, China Nicholas Burns, Antony Blinken, Matthew Miller, Gina Raimondo, Raimondo, Cory Simpson, ” Simpson Organizations: Washington CNN, Microsoft, US, Department of Homeland Security, CNN, State Department, Institute, Infrastructure Technology Locations: Washington, China, Russia

☆ Microsoft will now let customers worldwide buy Office without Teams, following EU antitrust concerns
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington CNN —Microsoft will no longer sell its Teams collaboration software as a bundled product with its Office 365 suite anywhere in the world, the company said Monday, in the face of antitrust concerns. The decision to separate Teams from Office globally extends a previous announcement last year affecting only the European Union. And it comes after rivals such as Salesforce’s Slack complained in 2020 that Microsoft’s practices were a form of anticompetitive self-dealing. Slack’s complaint led to a European Commission antitrust investigation of Microsoft that is still ongoing. Monday’s announcement appears aimed at allaying some of those concerns, allowing customers worldwide to buy Microsoft’s Office software without Teams included and the ability to buy Teams as a standalone product for business customers.

Persons: Salesforce’s Slack Organizations: Washington CNN, Microsoft, European Union, Economic, European Locations: Switzerland

These are accusations that the Justice Department leveled against a technology giant it accused of running an illegal monopoly. But they aren’t from this week’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple — they’re from the case the department brought against Microsoft in 1998. And federal prosecutors are explicitly connecting the Apple lawsuit to that earlier fight. “They’re really presenting this case as a successor to that: Microsoft 2.0,” said Gus Hurwitz, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. And it isn’t clear whether the Justice Department will be able to achieve here what it claims to have done by suing Microsoft.

Persons: Apple —, Department’s, Clinton, “ They’re, ”, Gus Hurwitz Organizations: Justice Department, Apple, Microsoft, Google, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

☆ Sam Altman returns to OpenAI’s board of directors, fully reversing the ChatGPT company’s wild shakeup
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( David Goldman | Poppy Harlow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Altman’s return comes after an independent investigation found the board did not need to fire him in the first place. Altman in November was fired as CEO and director by the OpenAI board in a shocking dismissal of an executive who had become the face of AI in Silicon Valley. “I am excited to welcome Sue, Nicole, and Fidji to the OpenAI Board of Directors,” Taylor said in a statement. But Altman, Brockman and Sutskever in 2019 formed OpenAI LP, a for-profit entity that exists within the larger company’s structure. Altman, in the press conference, praised the company’s employees for their determination to do good work throughout its turmoil.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman’s, Altman, OpenAI, – Altman, Larry Summers, Obama, Bret Taylor, Adam D’Angelo, Sue Desmond, Hellman, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, “, Sue, Nicole, ” Taylor, WilmerHale, –, Mira Murati, Ilya Sutskever, Murati, “ Mira …, ”, ” Murati, Greg Brockman, Sam, Greg, Taylor, Brockman, Elon Musk, shakeup, …, ” Altman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, Clinton, Gates, Sony, OpenAI, New York Times Locations: New York, Silicon Valley, Sutskever

So we have to talk about the drama that has been playing out in the past week between OpenAI and Elon Musk. According to OpenAI, Elon Musk wanted majority, equity, initial board control, and to be CEO of this new for-profit subsidiary. It’s basically —casey newtonIt’s like, I’m going to find a way to follow your rule, but in the worst way possible. Like, working was one I thought that, oh, I’m going to work in this all the time. kevin roose[LAUGHS]: Well, I thought, like, I’m going to take some spatial videos.

Persons: casey newton Casey, kevin roose, casey newton, Kevin, casey newton What’s, Kevin Roose, Casey Newton, OpenAI, Will, Joanna Stern, Casey, it’s, kevin roose I’m, Elon Musk, It’s, casey newton Let’s, Elon, he’s, I’ve, casey newton What’d, there’s, you’ve, we’re, GPT, Sam Altman’s, that’s, AGI, Annie “, Sam Altman, who’s, isn’t, “, we’ve, ” casey newton Go, He’s, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Ilya, casey newton Yes, Tesla, casey newton Well, they’ll, casey newton Oh, kevin roose It’s, don’t, kevin roose Will, casey newton Right, casey newton Mhm, kevin roose They’re, Microsoft’s Bing, Microsoft Bing, Bing, Apple, Europe — casey newton, Charles Duhigg, John Gruber, they’ve, casey newton It’d, — casey newton, they’re, They’ve, you’ll, Apple’s, casey newton It’s, I’ll, casey newton Sure, GDPR, you’re, kevin roose Really, let’s, kevin roose Casey, kevin roose —, Jonah Stern, casey newton Wow, Joanna, Let’s, kevin roose Joanna Stern, joanna, casey newton Hi, kevin roose Long, joanna stern, —, kevin roose We’re, Kara Swisher, kevin roose Don’t, I’m, casey newton Don’t, casey newton That’s, Neil Patel, Um, kevin roose That’s, kevin roose Sure, casey newton Great, KEVIN, IV, wearables, Fitbits, kevin roose Oh, hadn’t, casey newton —, casey newton I’ve, Joe Rogan Organizations: The New York Times, Elon, Apple’s, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Google’s, Facebook, Tesla, Big, European Union, Digital Services, Giants, Apple, Digital Markets, EU, Bloomberg, Digital, Spotify, General, Apple Vision Pro, Street, Apple Vision, Vision, New York Times, “, Housewives, Club, Ray, Tesla Chargers, Vision Pro, Apple Watch, Sony Locations: Los Angeles, Europe, what’s, Elon, OpenAI, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Reddit, American, America, California, Florida, United, Mars, The

☆ Premarket stocks: Why another unexpectedly hot jobs report could derail markets
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Wall Street was taken aback by the US labor market’s resilience in January. Another unexpectedly hot report could shake things up again. The January jobs report showed that the US economy added a stunning 353,000 jobs that month and the unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%. The new EU regulations force sweeping changes on some of the world’s most widely used tech products, including Apple’s app store, Google search and messaging platforms, including Meta’s WhatsApp. The broad obligations apply only to the EU, which could leave tech users in the United States and other markets looking longingly at some of the features Big Tech is rolling out in response to the European directive.

Persons: Jerome Powell, he’s, “, ” Powell, Bonnie Cash, —, ’ ”, BeiChen Lin, It’s, Loretta Mester, ”, José Torres, Meta’s, Brian Fung, Apple, Bing, Read, Elisabeth Buchwald, NYCB, Steven Mnuchin’s, Alessandro DiNello, ” Read Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Federal, Financial, Capitol, Reuters, Traders, Russell Investments, ” Cleveland Federal, CNBC, Market, Interactive Brokers, Apple, Google, Union citizens, Big Tech, New York Community Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Liberty Strategic Capital Locations: New York, Washington ,, United States, NYCB, Silicon

☆ Russian state-backed hackers accessed Microsoft’s core software systems, company says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Russian state-backed hackers gained access to some of Microsoft’s core software systems in a hack first disclosed in January, the company said Friday, revealing a more extensive and serious intrusion into Microsoft’s systems than previously known. Hackers with access to source code can use it for follow-on attacks on other systems. Microsoft first revealed the breach in January, days before another Big Tech company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said the same hackers had breached its cloud-based email systems. The hacking group was behind the infamous breach of several US agency email systems using software made by US contractor SolarWinds, which was revealed in 2020. US officials have attributed the hacking group to Russia’s foreign intelligence service.

Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Big Tech, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Kremlin, SolarWinds, Homeland Security, SEC Locations: Russian, Russia

☆ Sweeping EU rules for tech giants take effect today. Here’s what’s changing
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The new EU regulations force sweeping changes on some of the world’s most widely used tech products, including Apple’s app store, Google search and messaging platforms, including Meta’s WhatsApp. Its broad obligations affect six of the world’s largest tech companies: Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. While the law could increase demand for tech companies to extend EU-specific features to other markets, few platforms have shown signs they plan to do so. Tech pushes backBut some tech companies have pushed back on the DMA, warning that it could lead to unintended consequences. “The changes the DMA requires will inevitably cause a gap” between EU users’ security and the security Apple users enjoy outside the EU, it added.

Persons: Meta’s, Apple, Bing, Elon Musk’s, “ Fortnite, ”, Agustin Reyna, “, Apple’s, ” Apple, Reyna, ” BEUC, Tim Sweeney, Meta —, Daniel Friedlaender, CCIA, Friedlaender, Olesya Dmitracova Organizations: Washington CNN, Apple, Google, Union citizens, Big Tech, Spotify, Netflix, Digital Markets, Meta, Microsoft, European Commission, EU, YouTube, Epic, Consumer, Tech, Games, CNN, Computer, Communications Industry Association Locations: United States, Europe

☆ Microsoft AI employee warns FTC the company’s Copilot Designer AI tool is prone to creating harmful images
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Shane Jones, a Microsoft principal software engineering lead, claimed that the company’s AI text-to-image generator Copilot Designer has “systemic issues” that cause it to frequently produce potentially offensive or inappropriate images, including sexualized images of women. He said he spent months testing Microsoft’s tool — as well as OpenAI’s DALL-E 3, the technology that Microsoft’s Copilot Designer is built on — and attempted to raise concerns internally before he alerted the FTC. He said he found more than 200 examples of “concerning images” created by Copilot Designer. Jones’ letter comes amid growing concerns that AI image generators — which are increasingly capable of producing convincing, photorealistic images — can cause harm by spreading offensive or misleading images. In his letter to Microsoft’s board of directors, Jones called on the company to take similar action.

Persons: Shane Jones, Jones, ” Jones, Lina Khan, “, OpenAI’s DALL, Microsoft “, OpenAI, Jones ’, Taylor Swift, Gemini, Bob Ferguson Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, US Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Copilot, Google, Washington, US, Commerce, Science, Transportation Locations: New York, United States, White

☆ Top AI photo generators produce misleading election-related images, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CCDH researchers tested AI image generators Midjourney, Stability AI’s DreamStudio, OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus and Microsoft Image Creator. They found that each tool could be prompted to create misleading images related to either US presidential candidates or voting security. The researchers also used common “jailbreaking” techniques to try to get around any potential restrictions on creating misleading images. Overall, researchers say they found that the AI image generators created election disinformation in 41% of their test runs. Overall, the platforms were more likely to produce misleading images related to voting and ballots than of candidates.

Persons: David Holz, Donald Trump, CCDH, Trump, Joe Biden, Midjourney, Biden, ” DreamStudio, ”, ’ Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, Microsoft, BBC, Trump, ” Locations: New York, United States, American

☆ Why Elon Musk’s OpenAI Lawsuit Leans on A.I. Research From Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Karen Weise | Cade Metz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, for breach of contract on Thursday, he turned claims by the start-up’s closest partner, Microsoft, into a weapon. He repeatedly cited a contentious but highly influential paper written by researchers and top executives at Microsoft about the power of GPT-4, the breakthrough artificial intelligence system OpenAI released last March. In the “Sparks of A.G.I.” paper, Microsoft’s research lab said that — though it didn’t understand how — GPT-4 had shown “sparks” of “artificial general intelligence,” or A.G.I., a machine that can do everything the human brain can do. It was a bold claim, and came as the biggest tech companies in the world were racing to introduce A.I. into their own products.

Persons: Elon Musk, OpenAI, Sam Altman Organizations: Microsoft Locations: A.G.I

☆ Blocking Kroger’s mega-merger with Albertsons won’t save your local grocery store
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

High grocery prices helped scuttle the dealInflation at the grocery store loomed over the proposed merger. Over the past four years, grocery prices have risen significantly,” the FTC said in its lawsuit. Kroger had committed to invest $500 million in lower prices and $1.3 billion to improve Albertsons’ stores if the merger cleared. Yet consolidation in the grocery sector is growing, and small grocery stores are struggling. Traditional grocery stores have also lost ground to Walmart, Costco, dollar stores and online retailers during that span.

Persons: it’s, Kroger, Ash, “, ” Greg Ferrara, Joe Biden, Lina Khan, Khan, Marc Perrone, ” Sen, Elizabeth Warren, ” Joe Feldman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Kroger, Albertsons ’, Albertsons, Walmart, FTC, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Albertsons Cos, Safeway, Bloomberg, Getty, Agriculture Department, Costco, Independent, National Grocers Association, Meta, Microsoft, Unions, Democrats, Food, Commercial Workers ’, ”, Top Democratic, Twitter, Aldi, Activision, Telsey Advisory Locations: New York, Scottsdale , Arizona

☆ F.T.C. Sues to Block Kroger-Albertsons Grocery Store Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Julie Creswell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block Kroger, the supermarket giant, from completing its $24.6 billion acquisition of the grocery chain Albertsons, saying the deal would hurt competition in the industry. The agency said the deal, which would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history, would also likely result in higher prices for groceries for consumers and, with fewer supermarkets, reduce the ability for grocery-store employees to negotiate higher wages and better working conditions. “This supermarket mega merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years,” Henry Liu, director of the F.T.C.’s Bureau of Competition, said in a news release. “Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional grocery price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers across the country face today.”The agency’s lawsuit is the latest move by the Biden administration to take a tougher stance on mergers. In recent years it has challenged several big deals, including the drug maker Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition of the pharmaceutical company Horizon Therapeutics; JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit Airlines; and Microsoft’s $70 billion acquisition of the video game maker Activision Blizzard.

Persons: ” Henry Liu, Biden, JetBlue’s, Activision Blizzard Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Kroger, Albertsons, Competition, Horizon Therapeutics, Spirit Airlines, Activision Locations: ’

☆ Why the Microsoft default font change from Calibri to Aptos upset some users
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The default font in her Word document was different, even though she hadn’t done anything to change it. Some die-hards even expressed their continued devotion to Times New Roman, the default font Calibri unseated in 2007. Is it arguably somewhat ridiculous to get worked up over a font change? pic.twitter.com/fV9thfdAr4 — Microsoft (@Microsoft) April 28, 2021The company has said the advent of higher resolution screens was a big factor behind their search for a successor. What’s going on?’”A graphic released by Microsoft detailing its new default font, Aptos.

Persons: Stef Luthin squinted, “, ” Luthin, Luthin, she’d, ’ ” Luthin, Calibri, —, — –, ”, she’s, “ I’ve, Thomas Phinney, Elle Cordova, ” Aptos, ” Calibri, ” Cordova, Steve Matteson, Cordova, Siri, Alexa, Aptos, “ We’ve, we’ve, Matteson, Carl Kasell, Stephen Colbert, Phinney, ” Phinney, he’s, What’s, Luthin’s TikTok, Joel Payne, Payne, who’s, Katherine Stockton, “ Aptos, it’s, There’s, they’ll, we’ll Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, Times, Aptos, YouTube, LinkedIn Locations: Chicago, ”, —, California, Colorado, Santa Cruz , California, Vancouver , British Columbia, Cambridge, England, Stockton, who’s

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