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☆ Google launches first AI-powered Android update and new Pixel 9 phones
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this article GOOG Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTGoogle announced its first smartphone fully powered by its AI "Gemini" system. Google on Tuesday announced new artificial intelligence features that are coming to Android devices. Google doesn't make a lot of money from its hardware business but the latest Android features could help drive new revenue through the company's Gemini AI subscription program. Google previously had some AI features in Android, but this is the first year it's heavily emphasizing new capabilities powered by a large AI language model installed on devices. New Pixel 9 phones and Pixel Watch 3Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards

Persons: Sameer Samat, Samat, Gemini, Siri Organizations: Google, Gemini, Apple, YouTube, Gmail, Apple Intelligence

☆ The Microsoft-CrowdStrike outage could spur a Big Tech trust reckoning and threaten tech giants' plans for AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It also exposes the fragility of those systems and raises the question: Does Big Tech deserve our trust to properly safeguard a technology as powerful as AI? He said Big Tech companies evaluate systems based on if they work "pretty well most of the time," because there's a rush to get products to market. He said big tech companies should have alternative vendors and a multi-layered defense strategy. Big Tech companies, including Facebook, Amazon, and Google, saw the sharpest drop in trust, with an average decline in confidence ratings of 13% to 18%, according to Brookings. Big Tech companies have had "free rein," Patnaik said.

Persons: —, CrowdStrike, Gary Marcus, Marcus, John Schulman, Dan O'Dowd, there's, Javad Abed, Johns Hopkins, Abed, Sanjay Patnaik, Patnaik Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Tech, Business, Microsoft, Geometric Intelligence, Uber, Tesla's, BI, Companies, Google, Adobe, US Department of State, Johns, Carey Business School, Brookings Institution, Facebook Locations: Brookings

☆ Apple needs to show iOS can rival Google's Android in the AI era
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Since the start of the generative AI boom, sparked by the release of ChatGPT, the Apple CEO has remained largely silent on AI. Critically, Google's efforts to weave AI into its mobile operating system have threatened to make Apple look out-of-sync. Android users have been introduced to much-hyped generative AI features, while iOS users have been left to make do with an outdated Siri. During IO, Sameer Samat, Google's Android chief, told my colleague Alistair Barr that AI presented a "once-in-a-generation moment to reinvent what phones can do." Cook will be ready to show everyone that iOS can compete with Android in the AI era.

Persons: —, Tim Cook, Siri, Sameer Samat, Alistair Barr, it's, Cook, Mark Gurman Organizations: Service, Google, Apple, Business, Android, Worldwide Developers, OpenAI, Bloomberg, Apple Intelligence Locations: China

☆ Crypto exchange Gemini returns $2.2 billion to users after pausing withdrawals 18 months ago
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Customers with funds locked up in crypto exchange Gemini's defunct crypto lending program are finally going to start getting their money back. The email adds: "This means that if you lent one bitcoin in the Earn program, you will receive one bitcoin back. At $2.18 billion, the fund distribution represents a 232% recovery for users since Gemini froze withdrawals for customers of its Earn program 18 months ago. Gemini then lent customers' crypto to institutional borrowers through Genesis Global Capital, its lending partner of choice. In November 2022, Genesis Global Capital paused new loan originations and redemptions, forcing Gemini to halt withdrawals from its Earn program.

Persons: Tyler Winklevoss, Cameron Winklevoss, Cameron, Genesis, Gemini, Letitia Organizations: Gemini, Mana Convention, Genesis Global Capital, New York Locations: Wynwood, Miami , Florida, Manhattan

☆ Google criticized as AI Overview makes obvious errors, saying President Obama is Muslim and that it's safe to leave dogs in hot cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

But on social media, users have shared a wide range of screenshots showing the AI tool sharing controversial responses. Here are some examples of what went wrong with AI Overviews, according to screenshots shared by users. When asked how many Muslim presidents the U.S. has had, AI Overviews responded, "The United States has had one Muslim president, Barack Hussein Obama." Attribution can also be a problem for AI Overviews, especially when it comes to attributing inaccurate information to medical professionals or scientists. The news follows Google's high-profile rollout of Gemini's image-generation tool in February, and a pause that same month after comparable issues.

Persons: It's, Barack Hussein Obama, it's, WebMD, they'd, Gemini, Demis Hassabis, Pichai Organizations: Google, Microsoft, UC Berkeley, U.S . Justice Department Locations: United States, German, British, France, ChatGPT

☆ How Google CEO Sundar Pichai shook up his leadership team for the AI era
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

It came almost 12 months after Google combined two key AI groups, DeepMind and Google Brain. Google's AI MVPGoogle DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis GoogleDemis Hassabis might be the most important person at Google right now. Then, in April last year, Pichai announced he would merge DeepMind with Google's in-house AI unit, known as Brain, into a supergroup named Google DeepMind. Reid reports directly to Raghavan, the ads and search senior vice president, and is shepherding a dramatic transition of Google Search. Fears of chatbots eating into Google's search dominance have yet to be realized, giving Google time to reinvent its most hallowed product.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Susan Wojcicki, Demis, Hassabis, Larry Page, DeepMind, OpenAI, it's, accrues, ED JONES, Rick Osterloh, Sameer Samat, he'll, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Osterloh, Prabhakar Raghavan, Siri, Tim Cook, Hiroshi, SAJJAD HUSSAIN, Liz Reid, Reid, Raghavan, Pandu Nayak, Venkatachary, It's, chatbots, Bernstein, Mark Shmulik Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Google's, BI, Research, Hassabis, Android, Apple, Apple's Vision, CNBC, Google Local Locations: Raxium

Meanwhile, OpenAI on Monday launched a new AI model and desktop version of ChatGPT, along with a new user interface. Gemini AI updatesGoogle introduced updates to Gemini 1.5 Pro, its AI model that will soon be able to handle even more data — for example, the tool can summarize 1,500 pages of text uploaded by a user. Generative AI tools such as chatbots and image creators continue to have issues with accuracy, however. New search featuresThe tech giant is launching "AI Overviews" in Google Search on Monday in the U.S. AI Overviews show a quick summary of answers to the most complex search questions, according to Liz Reid, head of Google Search. Google Search found the model of the record player and suggested that it could be malfunctioning because it wasn't properly balanced.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Andrej Sokolow, Anthropic, OpenAI, There's, Pichai, Gemini, Apple's Siri, Prabhakar Raghavan, Liz Reid, you'll, that's, Google's, Tony Stark's, —, ChatGPT, Demis Hassabis Organizations: Google, Getty, Gemini, Monday, Gmail, Astra Project Astra, Marvel, Astra Locations: U.S

☆ Google's Gmail of the future looks incredible
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOne of the big takeaways from Google's big developer conference on Tuesday was just how incredible Gmail looks like it's about to get. But the coming updates and seemingly smooth integration of Google's AI model Gemini could take Gmail to the next level. AdvertisementQ&AThe Q&A function allows Gmail users to simply ask a question that Gemini can answer by referencing all of their emails and attachments. AdvertisementIntegration into other Workspace productsGoogle also showed just how well integrated the Gmail of the future could be with other Workspace products, like Google Sheets. Overall, Google's demonstrations showed just how impressive AI-powered features could be in Gmail.

Persons: —, Aparna Pappu, Pappu, Gemini, Gemini's Organizations: Service, Gmail, Business, Google, Knicks, Gemini

☆ Alphabet CEO: Search uses Gemini's intelligence, and grounds it with what it knows about the world
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAlphabet CEO: Search uses Gemini's intelligence, and grounds it with what it knows about the worldAlphabet CEO Sundar Pichai joins CNBC's Deirdre Bosa at Google I/O developer conference to talk its new AI rollout, project Astra, its response to OpenAI's search competitor and more.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Deirdre Bosa Organizations: Google, Astra

☆ Google CEO responds to 'woke AI' criticisms after Gemini debacle: 'We got it wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google's CEO said "We got it wrong" in response to Gemini's AI debacle. Google has temporarily disabled Gemini's ability to generate images of people. AdvertisementGoogle's CEO reflected in a new interview on the company's Gemini AI image-generation debacle earlier this year, a controversy that drew backlash. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Bloomberg in an interview published Wednesday that "we got it wrong" and it was a case in which good intentions went awry. Following criticism of the issue, Google paused Gemini from generating AI images of people while it corrected the changes.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, —, Pichai, should've, chatbot, Gemini Organizations: Google, Service, Bloomberg

☆ Sundar Pichai just showed the doubters he's the right general for Google's AI battle
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThere's an AI battle raging, and Sundar Pichai appears to be Google's wartime general. With Pichai at the helm, Alphabet just reported blockbuster first-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts' estimates and sent the stock soaring. The CEO told analysts that Google was well "positioned for the next wave of AI innovation and the opportunity ahead," reminding them the company had been "AI-first" since 2016. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Googlers, He's Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Microsoft

☆ Alphabet's cloud event Tuesday could justify the stock's recent records and further upside
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Shares of Alphabet are on the verge of a possible breakout ahead of the company's three-day Google Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas, where artificial intelligence will be a major theme. Shortly after the trade, Alphabet shares ran into a brick wall after some advertising weakness surfaced in fourth-quarter results and was followed by a controversy over Gemini's image generator that caused the company to pull the tool. The conference is expected to show that "Google is not being left behind, not being troubled by Search," Jim said. That said, we expect Tuesday's AI conversation to be limited to how it relates to Google Cloud. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: Thomas Kurian's, Nvidia —, bottoming, Jim Cramer, Jim, Nikesh Arora, Anthropic, Dario Amodei, Ford Yao Ge, Nik Spirin, Oppenheimer, Claude, Jim Cramer's Organizations: Google Cloud, Google, Microsoft, Super, Apple, Nvidia, Management, CNBC, Amazon, Bank of America, Palo Alto, Ford, Apple's Worldwide, Getty Locations: Las Vegas, Palo Alto, Amazon, OpenAI

☆ A chance to 'differentiate' its offering: What analysts expect from Google's cloud event
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Alphabet 's cloud event Tuesday could provide a much needed sentiment lift to investors fretting about the search giant's artificial intelligence potential, according to some Wall Street analysts. "With unique AI assets, including proprietary infrastructure and an advanced LLM model, we believe Google cloud has an opportunity to differentiate its cloud offering, improving market share and street sentiment," wrote Bank of America's Justin Post. This week's event, however, could mark a turnaround in the right direction and help lift sentiment toward the company's AI developments. Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak also highlighted the event as one of five potential catalysts for the stock through the beginning of June. The firm is on the lookout for more examples of how the cloud is benefitting from the AI transformation, he said.

Persons: of America's Justin Post, Post, Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak, Nowak Organizations: of America's, Nvidia, Microsoft, Wall, Rivals, Google Locations: U.S, Monday's, durably

☆ Sam Altman says he doesn't think the world 'needs another copy of Google' because 'that's boring'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI's Sam Altman isn't interested in beating Google at search. Building a better search engine than Google, Altman said, is "boring." "I don't think the world needs another copy of Google," Altman told podcaster Lex Fridman. AdvertisementOpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he isn't interested in beating Google in the search business. Advertisement"I don't think the world needs another copy of Google," Altman told Fridman.

Persons: OpenAI's Sam Altman isn't, Altman, podcaster Lex Fridman, —, Sam Altman, OpenAI's, Fridman, Google hasn't, Apple, Gemini, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Google, Service, Bloomberg, Business Insider

☆ Apple and Alphabet stocks rally on report Google's Gemini could power next-gen iPhones
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bloomberg reported Monday Apple and Google are in talks for iPhones to integrate Gemini AI. "The potential deal is a validation moment for Google's generative AI positioning," Wedbush said. AdvertisementBloomberg reported Monday that Google and Apple are in talks to potentially integrate Gemini's generative AI technology with iPhones, and shares of both companies soared on the news. "The potential deal is a validation moment for Google's generative AI positioning," Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt said in a note Monday. AdvertisementSources told Bloomberg that Apple could license Gemini to support new software coming to iPhones this year, adding that Apple has held similar discussions with OpenAI.

Persons: Wedbush, —, Scott Devitt, Elon Musk, Apple, Devitt Organizations: Bloomberg, Apple, Google, iPhones, Gemini, Service, Bank of America, Al Locations: New York, Cupertino

☆ Disney gets a win in Nelson Peltz board fight. 2 other portfolio stocks mount comebacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Disney gets a win : A major proxy advisor weighed in on the Disney -Trian board battle. Glass Lewis said Monday it recommends Disney shareholders vote for the company's director nominees and not the slate forth by Trian's Nelson Peltz. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Stocks, Glass Lewis, Trian's Nelson Peltz, Jay Rasulo, Nelson, Mondelez, Heinz, Jim, DuPont, Jim said, Stephanie Cohen, Goldman Sachs, Cohen, Jensen Huang, Jensen's, Jim Cramer's, Spencer Platt Organizations: CNBC, Nvidia, Apple, Disney, Procter & Gamble, GE Healthcare, General Electric, GE, Evercore, DuPont, Protection, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, PepsiCo, Constellation Brands, Citi, GEHC, Traders, New York Stock Exchange, Getty Locations: China, New York City

☆ Google says it will restrict Gemini's ability to answer election-related questions 'out of an abundance of caution'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewGoogle will restrict its AI chatbot Gemini from answering questions about elections as a precautionary measure and "out of an abundance of caution," a company spokesperson said. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. AdvertisementIt responds to election-related questions with a generic message: "I'm still learning how to answer this question. The news of how Gemini will handle election-related inquiries comes just a couple of weeks after concerns were raised over its image-generating capability.

Persons: —, Gemini, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Al Jazeera, Christopher Wray Organizations: Service, Economic, Business, Google, FBI Locations: India, OpenAI

☆ Google fires employee who protested Israel tech event, as internal dissent mounts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ahead of an International Women's Day Summit in Silicon Valley on Thursday, Google's employee message board was hit with an influx of staffer comments about the company's military contracts with Israel. The event on Monday in New York featured an address from Barak Regev, managing director of Google Israel. A Google spokesperson said the employee was fired for "interfering with an official company-sponsored event" in an email to CNBC on Thursday. Unfortunately, before the event a series of off-topic and divisive questions and comments were posted to internal forums. WATCH: Google vs. Google

Persons: “, Sundar Pichai, Barak Regev, Regev, Boycotters, Dory, Gemini, Mai Ubeid, Ubeid, didn't Organizations: Google, CNBC, Israel, Defense Department, Amazon Web Services, Hamas, Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry, Tech, Google Israel, Starbucks, Workers United Locations: New York, Israel, Gaza, Silicon Valley, U.S, France

☆ I worked at Google for 7 years and watched the open culture die. The company is doomed to repeat unnecessary embarrassment if they don't fix it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( David Kiferbaum | Big Technology | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He observed the fall of Google's open culture and its impact on Google's product. His controversial memo questioning Google's diversity practices noted that "Google's political bias has equated the freedom from offense with psychological safety, but shaming into silence is the antithesis of psychological safety." Rather than reaffirm Google's culture of open questioning and psychological safety by actively challenging Damore's assertions, leadership fired Damore and ended the discussion. Google leadership did further damage to the company's open culture following employee protests of military contracts and executives' alleged sexual harassment. AdvertisementThe closing of Google's open culture harmed the product.

Persons: David Kiferbaum, —, Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Larry Page, Sergei Brin, James Damore, Damore, Sundar, TGIF, what's Organizations: Google, Big Technology, Service, CNN

☆ Google's Gemini firestorm shows the risks of the company's race to catch up with its AI rivals
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The company has been defending itself against fierce backlash sparked by its AI chatbot's image-generating feature. The product has landed Google at the center of what was described in some circles as a "woke" culture war. AdvertisementGoogle's 'Gemini era' is all about GPT-4Pichai claimed late last year Google was entering its "Gemini era." The model is widely seen as the company's answer to OpenAI's GPT-4, a product heavily backed by Microsoft and already powering many of the company's AI products.

Persons: —, execs, Critics, Andrés, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai, Brin, Alex Heath, Heath, Pichai, OpenAI's, Google's Bard, Bing, Gvirtz, Sandra Wachter, Wachter Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Big Tech, King's Business School, Engineers, Gemini, Microsoft, chatbots, Financial, Oxford Internet Institute

☆ Google can recover from the Gemini flop. Just look at Apple Maps.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google's Gemini flop looks bad from the outside. Ask the folks who worked on Apple Maps. Apple Maps fiasco could point the way forwardBut let's be more positive this time around, with a different echo from the Big Tech Screwups file: Remember Apple Maps? And then, over time, Apple did get its act together, and people did start using Apple Maps, and now there are plenty of normal people who use Apple Maps as a default, and some of them even argue that it's better than Google Maps. Except: The time between Apple Maps' flop and that article I linked to above — headline: "People Have Begun to Love Apple's Most Hated Product" — was more than a decade.

Persons: —, Alex Kantrowitz, wokeness, OpenAI, Hunter, Tim Cook, Cook, Apple's, Gemini Organizations: Google, Big Tech, Apple, Service, Gemini, Microsoft

☆ Sergey Brin says Google 'definitely messed up' after its Gemini chatbot caused a firestorm. He has a lot riding on its success — or failure.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sergey Brin says Google "definitely messed up" with Gemini's image generation. The Google cofounder says he came out of retirement because of AI's "exciting" trajectory. AdvertisementGoogle cofounder Sergey Brin has weighed in on the company's Gemini drama. Speaking at San Francisco's AGI House, Brin said the company had "definitely messed up on the image generation." Since then, Brin has been spotted at Google's Silicon Valley headquarters and has been directly involved with developing the company's AI strategy.

Persons: Sergey Brin, —, Brin, Larry Page, Elon Musk, Adolf Hitler, Gemini, Hitler Organizations: Service, Gemini, Google, The New York Times, Big Tech, BI, Business Locations: Francisco's

☆ Google Gemini product lead retreats from social media after troubled AI product launch led to harassment
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Jack Krawczyk, a Google artificial intelligence product lead, has pulled away from social media sites, including X and LinkedIn, after the troubled launch of the company's AI image generator made him the target of online harassment. Krawczyk, who is typically active on social media, where he's known to solicit user feedback and to praise Google products and colleagues, removed identifying information and made some accounts private. Krawczyk's official title is senior director of product management for Gemini, the company’s main group of AI models. Krawczyk has since removed images of himself as well as any identifying information from social media platforms. WATCH: Google vs. Google

Persons: Jack Krawczyk, Krawczyk, Sundar Pichai, Critics, Elon Musk Organizations: X, Gemini, Google

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailGoogle vs. Google: The internal struggle holding back its AIInstead of a comeback, Google's Gemini AI chatbot and image generator have gone viral for all the wrong reasons – producing inaccurate and offensive responses. The missteps have put Google back on the defensive in the AI race. But the bigger question around Gemini's roll out is whether it underscores a painful but new corporate reality for Alphabet and CEO Sundar Pichai. Is Google's culture sabotaging its AI efforts? We discuss both sides after a week where other mega-caps are making strides in AI: Apple's Tim Cook talks AI strategy; Meta reportedly planning to launch Llama 3; Microsoft announces an investment in Mistral; and Nvidia's market cap touches $2 trillion.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook Organizations: Google, Microsoft Locations: Mistral

☆ Google's Gemini flop raises the question: What exactly do we want our chatbots to do, really?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Internet culture chronicler Max Read has a particularly sharp assessment about all of it: Yes, this is dumb. are all that interesting or enlightening questions compared to something like "well, what did you want the computer to do?" I can't really even come up with situation where Gemini's refusal to say that Hitler is worse than Elon Musk has some terrible downstream effect. And, also — The Gemini debacle really is a debacle. AdvertisementMaybe we can all take a breath and slow down, and figure out what this tech really can, and can't do.

Persons: Elon Musk, Hunter, Ted Cruz, Max Read, Pol Pot, Martha Stewart, Hitler, they've, chatbots, Marc Andreessen Organizations: Big Tech, Google, Twitter Locations: New York

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