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☆ Amazon's biggest generative AI product launch was rushed and flawed, leaving insiders looking for answers
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

"Q should be more polished, given how far behind we are," one of the Amazon employees told BI. An Amazon spokesperson said Q is not based on a single AI model, and its launch followed standard operating procedure. They said Q primarily used Claude Instant 1.2, a cheaper, lighter, and faster version of the AI model that was released in August. More approachable, but too simpleCurrently, Amazon Q is only offered in preview mode to select customers. Some AWS employees, however, say it feels like the company is in a mad dash to release new products, even if they are subpar.

Persons: —, Q, That's, Anthropic's Claude, It's, Google's Bard, Claude, Andy Jassy, Richard Brian Bedrock, Dario Amodei, Anthropic, Randall Hunt, Hunt, Corey Quinn, Quinn, Amazon's Trainium, Adam Selipsky, Selipsky, Amazon's Organizations: Service, Amazon, Business, Microsoft, Google, Claude, AWS's, Oracle, Duckbill, Nvidia, AWS

☆ Ackman's bet against US Treasuries pays off with $200 mln profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ackman said on Monday on X, "we covered our bond short" some 12 weeks after he announced the bet on the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter. "The economy is slowing faster than recent data suggests," Ackman said in the post, adding "There is too much risk in the world to remain short bonds at current long-term rates." The yield on the 30-year Treasuries was around 4.16% when he announced his bet against them. He said the Treasury yield, which moves in the opposite direction of prices, could rise to 5.5%. But the conflict between Islamist group Hamas and Israel is unnerving investors and suggests Treasuries could become a safe investment option.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Richard Brian, Ackman, Treasuries, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Pershing Square Capital Management, REUTERS, Companies, Billionaire, U.S, Financial Times, Inc, Restaurant Brands, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, Pershing Square, Treasury, Hamas, Svea, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Israel

☆ Billionaire investor Ackman says 'covered our bond short'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Ackman, chief executive officer and portfolio manager at Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during the SALT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Richard Brian/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 23 (Reuters) - Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management has covered its bond short position, the billionaire investor posted on Monday, saying it was too risky to remain short bonds at current long-term rates. Pershing Square Capital Management did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for additional comment. "The economy is slowing faster than recent data suggests," Ackman wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. One of Wall Street's most voluble investors, Ackman has been using the social media platform to express his opinion on economic policy and presidential politics.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Richard Brian, Bill Ackman's, Ackman, Jaiveer Singh, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Pershing Square Capital Management, REUTERS, Capital Management, U.S, Pershing, Twitter, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Explainer: How Bill Ackman's SPARC differs from a SPAC
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here's how a SPARC differs from a SPAC:DEAL VISIBILITYOne of the biggest differences is a SPARC doesn't require up-front money from investors like a SPAC does. SPAC investors are then given the option to vote down an acquisition or redeem their shares once a deal has been announced. SPARC will only ask for money from investors once it has clinched and disclosed a deal to buy a company. CAPITAL FLEXIBILITYUnlike a SPAC, the amount of money SPARC seeks from investors will vary based on the size of the deal it pursues. This means that SPARC investors will not be diluted by such warrants and will get to keep more of the company.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Richard Brian, Bill Ackman's, Ackman, Tontine, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Pershing Square Capital Management, REUTERS, Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, SPARC, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Pershing, Tontine Holdings, Universal Music Group, SPACs, Svea, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, New York, Rhode Island

☆ Ackman's SPARC is seeking new deals with private companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Ackman, chief executive officer and portfolio manager at Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during the SALT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Richard Brian/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 1 (Reuters) - Pershing Square SPARC Holdings Ltd, said that it will pursue business combinations with privately-held companies after receiving regulatory approval from U.S regulators for distributing special purpose acquisition rights. The SPARC, an affiliate of billionaire investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd, is targeting companies that seek to raise a minimum of $1.5 billion of capital, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday. Ackman's SPARC is a variation of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the market for which has cooled since its peak in 2021 as investors nursed losses on many deals. Ackman added that he has no idea if X is interested and would still need to determine whether or not a deal is doable.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Richard Brian, Bill Ackman's, Elon Musk's, Ackman, Elon Musk, Jose Joseph Organizations: Pershing Square Capital Management, REUTERS, Pershing Square SPARC Holdings Ltd, SPARC, Tontine Holdings, Wall, Elon, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Weinstein group revises Sculptor bid after board's concerns -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Boaz Weinstein, founder and chief investment officer at Saba Capital Management, speaks during the SALT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Richard Brian Acquire Licensing RightsSept 6 (Reuters) - Wall Street investor Boaz Weinstein and his group of bidders have revised their offer to buy hedge fund firm Sculptor Capital Management (SCU.N), Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The group, called Bidder J, which includes Bill Ackman, Marc Lasry and Jeff Yass, as well as Weinstein, made the offer for Sculptor last month. Sculptor Capital Management and Weinstein's Saba Capital Management didn't immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Wednesday. Sculptor chose to stay with Rithm's $11.15 per share bid, saying the Bidder J offer had "significantly less certainty of closing."

Persons: Boaz Weinstein, Richard Brian Acquire, Bill Ackman, Marc Lasry, Jeff Yass, Weinstein, Dan Och, Rishabh, Sandra Maler, Leslie Adler Organizations: Saba Capital Management, REUTERS, Wall, Capital Management, Bloomberg, Sculptor Capital Management, Weinstein's Saba Capital Management, Rithm, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Boaz Weinstein's trade looks set to flourish on Credit Suisse demise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Boaz Weinstein, founder and chief investment officer at Saba Capital Management, speaks during the SALT conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Richard BrianLONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein pinned hopes on Credit Suisse's survival, but also money on its demise. At the time Weinstein told Reuters he thought the derivatives were mis-priced because he believed Credit Suisse's problems would be resolved, either way, more quickly. As the trade is both long and short, Weinstein stands to profit from the short leg of his trade much more than he will lose from the long side. Weinstein led a proprietary trading fund at Deutsche Bank which was spun out to start Saba Capital Management in 2009.

☆ We asked ChatGPT to write a layoff memo and it turns out this is 'a difficult time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider asked ChatGPT, the AI chatbot, to draft a layoff memo for a pretend tech company, Gomezon. After a little prodding, the chatbot wrote a layoff memo just as formulaic as the others. Surely it could compose a layoff memo of reasonable quality, right? ChatGPT can write a layoff memo InsiderThat wasn't the answer I'd expected, but in some ways it made me feel somewhat better about the technology. Maybe I should have accepted the technology's initial reluctance to write the layoff memo.

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