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☆ Elon Musk's Twitter X rebrand is actually quite popular among users
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

When Elon Musk unveiled the X rebranding of Twitter earlier this week, howls of complaint echoed across the social-media platform. CivicScience conducted an online survey after the X announcement and got more than 5,000 responses, including over 1,000 responses from Twitter users. Results from a recent CivicScience survey CivicScienceThere's even some positive news regarding Threads, Meta's recently launched Twitter rival. There are roughly 250 million daily average users of Twitter, and CivicScience's poll got results from a few thousand people. 40% of daily Twitter users and a 51% of weekly users are not currently interested in using X with its expected new features, "so the move is likely to be disruptive," CivicScience reported.

Persons: Elon Musk, CivicScience, Meta's, Musk Organizations: Twitter, CivicScience, Morning

☆ Japan down Costa Rica to put one foot in last 16
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Playing through Mina Tanaka in an advanced midfield role rather than playmaker Yui Hasegawa as they had against Zambia, Japan were already well in the ascendant before the double blow that knocked the stuffing out of the Central Americans. Costa Rica, who were beaten 3-0 by Spain in their opener, were barely able to land a blow on their opponents and it looked from then on only a matter of many goals Japan would rack up. Despite having 25 attempts on goal, however, Japan were unable to add to their tally - a shortcoming that might concern coach Futoshi Ikeda with tougher challenges lying ahead. Japan face Spain in Wellington on Monday in a match that will almost certainly decide which of the two sides top the group, while Costa Rica will play Zambia in Hamilton at the same time as both sides continue to seek their first World Cup win. Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aoba Fujino, Yui Hasegawa, Molly Darlington, Mina Tanaka, Hikaru Naomoto, Maria Paula Coto, Daniela Solera, Solera, Futoshi Ikeda, Nick Mulvenney, John Stonestreet Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, Costa Rica, Forsyth Barr, Costa, Dunedin, Central Americans, Zambia, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Japan, Costa, Dunedin , New Zealand, Molly Darlington DUNEDIN , New Zealand, Costa Rica, Zambia, Spain, Wednesday's, Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Sydney

☆ Google's water use is soaring. AI is only going to make it worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Its latest environmental report shows a 20% jump in water consumption in its data centers. Google just published its 2023 environmental report, and one thing is for certain: The company's water use is soaring. The numbers provide a stark reminder of the environmental cost of running huge data centers, which often require vast amounts of water to stay cool. The majority of the water Google is consuming right now is "potable," clean enough to be used as drinking water. In its latest report, Google said it takes "local water stress" (another way of saying scarcity) into account, and said 82% of its freshwater withdrawals in 2022 came from regions with low water stress.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren, Alistair Barr Organizations: Google, University of California Locations: Riverside, Mesa , Arizona, Arizona, Mesa

☆ Switzerland sour Philippines' World Cup debut with 2-0 win
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I wasn't that nervous, but I knew it was an important moment," Bachmann told reporters. Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Switzerland's top scorer and most capped player, fired over from close range before Bachmann's penalty put them ahead. "To come to this level and play against players from Europe, against a team like that is miraculous." Switzerland top Group A on goal difference ahead of co-hosts New Zealand, who upset Norway 1-0 on Thursday. Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ramona Bachmann, Coumba Sow, Seraina Piubel, Molly Darlington, Ramona Bachmann's, Inka, Bachmann, Olivia McDaniel, Alen Stajcic, Katrina Guillou's, Ana, Maria Crnogorcevic, deservedly, Piubel, McDaniel, Crnogorcevic, Stajcic, Hritika Sharma, Peter Rutherford, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, Forsyth Barr, Seraina Piubel REUTERS, debutants, Dunedin, New Zealand, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Philippines, Switzerland, Dunedin , New Zealand, Seraina, Molly Darlington DUNEDIN , New Zealand, Europe, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin, Norway, Hyderabad

☆ Trump could easily wrap up the GOP nomination before his classified documents trial begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump's classified documents trial is now set for May 20, 2024. The former president now has the opportunity to sew up the GOP presidential nomination before it begins. On Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon set the classified documents trial date for May 20, 2024. It's now increasingly likely that Trump's legal woes bleed into the general election calendar, provided Trump wins the nomination. Arguably, it's the classified documents case that could sting the most.

Persons: Donald Trump, Aileen Cannon, Trump, It's, Iowans, wouldn't, Letitia James, E, Jean Carroll, Bill Barr, Trump's, Nikki Haley, Joe Biden Organizations: Service, Republican, Trump, Mar, New York, GOP Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York

☆ Junk fees, medical debt and artificial intelligence: CFPB chief lays out regulatory agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Medical debtChopra said that tens of millions of Americans are battling medical debt. The crisis is compounded by debt collectors that add medical debt to credit reports as a means of coercion. The agency's crackdown on junk fees has prompted some policy changes at big banks, he added. "Many of them are getting rid of their reliance on junk fees and making their fees much more reasonable," Chopra said. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., has said the CFPB has "no authority" on the issue because junk fees is not a legal term.

Persons: Rohit Chopra, Tom Williams, Andy Barr, Chopra, servicers, We're, Experian, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Luetkemeyer Organizations: Consumer Financial Protection, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs, Cq, Inc, Getty, Consumer Financial, Bureau, Federal Reserve, Governors, CNBC, Education Department, U.S, Kaiser Family Foundation, Bank of America, Biden, GOP, Rep, Financial Services Locations: Ky

The proposal, which will kick off an ambitious agenda for Barr, plans to fully implement the globally agreed Basel bank capital agreement. BANKING OPPOSITIONThe banking industry is not waiting for details before trying to disrupt the effort, arguing it could hinder economic activity, curb lending, and kill lines of business. The criticism is also emerging among some Republican bank regulators, who appear likely to oppose the plans. Regulators will have to digest numerous and voluminous comments from the banking industry dissecting their plans. And in the meantime, banks are expected to continue hammering that higher capital requirements means a smaller economic role for banks and are not needed.

Persons: Michael Barr, Barr, Michael Barr's, Isaac Boltansky, Spokespeople, Kevin Fromer, Jerome Powell, Powell, Republican Andy Barr, Bill Foster, Tim Scott, Michelle Bowman, Barr's, Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, Pete Schroeder, Megan Davies, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Banking, Fed, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office, FDIC, Financial Services, Financial Services Committee, Republican, Senate, Committee, Regulators, White, Thomson Locations: Basel

☆ Llamas don't drink much water. Meta's new AI version is damn thirsty.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta just released a big new AI model called Llama 2. Meta didn't disclose how much water it used to train this AI model. Ren took that and looked at how efficient Meta data centers are when it comes to using energy and water. That yielded his estimate, which he said is almost double the water footprint of Meta's previous big AI model, Llama 1, which came out earlier this year. Meta's data centers used just over 5 million cubic meters of water in 2021.

Persons: Meta, Shaolei Ren, Ren, He's, didn't Organizations: Alpaca Association, UC Riverside, Meta Locations: Arizona

☆ What if AI models like GPT-4 don't automatically improve over time?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GPT-4 users have complained that the OpenAI model is getting 'dumber.' Their findings, published on Tuesday, challenge the assumption that AI models automatically improve. One of the bedrock assumptions of the current artificial intelligence boom is that AI models "learn" and improve over time. This is what users of OpenAI's GPT-4, the world's most-powerful AI model, have been experiencing lately. This recent GPT-4 research paper provides a healthy dose of skepticism to the assumptions that are driving these wild swings in value.

Persons: OpenAI's, OpenAI, Matei Zaharia, Zaharia, Gary Marcus, Marcus Organizations: Twitter, Microsoft Locations: OpenAI

☆ Tech giants are supposed to be spending less. Nvidia is selling boatloads of GPUs. Both things can't be happening at once.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Big tech companies have been trying to keep a lid on spending plans. 2023 was supposed to be the year of austerity for Big Tech. So how can these tech giants be keeping a lid on spending, while Nvidia sales are surging? And the expectation is that Big Tech is going back to splurging again. That will be driven by a 31% jump in technical infrastructure spending this year, and a 15% increase next year.

Persons: Mark Shmulik, Morgan Stanley, ROIC Organizations: Big, Nvidia, Morning, Big Tech, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Bernstein Research Locations: splurging

☆ The AI behind ChatGPT really does seem to be getting dumber — but no one can quite figure out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's not just you: new research suggests ChatGPT's AI model really is getting dumber. There's been a growing feeling for a while now that the AI model behind ChatGPT is, frankly, getting dumber. No one can quite figure out why GPT-4 is changingWhat the research doesn't seem to identify is why this performance drop has happened. As the AI model underlying a more advanced version of ChatGPT, one that paying subscribers get access to, that's a bit of a problem for OpenAI. That said, it's hard to ignore the questions of quality surrounding GPT-4 when a whole community of AI devotees is asking them.

Persons: It's, There's, OpenAI, Ethan Mollick, Wharton, OpenAI hasn't, Peter Yang, Alistair Barr, Peter Welinder, tweeting, Matei Zaharia, —, Arvind Narayanan Organizations: Stanford, UC Berkeley, Morning, Stanford University, UC Berkeley — Locations: Princeton, GPT

☆ Self-healing metal? It's not just the stuff of science fiction
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Self-healing metal is still just science fiction, right? Metal fatigue can cause catastrophic failures in areas including aviation - jet engines, for instance - and infrastructure - bridges and other structures. It occurs at the nanoscale, and we have yet to be able to control the process," Boyce added. Scientists in the past have fashioned some self-healing materials, mostly plastics. Study co-author Michael Demkowicz, a Texas A&M University professor of materials science and engineering, predicted self-healing in metal a decade ago.

Persons: Ryan Schoell, Khalid Hattar, Dan Bufford, Chris Barr, Craig ., Read, Brad Boyce, Boyce, Michael Demkowicz, Demkowicz, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: government's Sandia National Laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories, M University, Thomson Locations: New Mexico, WASHINGTON, Texas

☆ US banks' residential mortgages face mandates exceeding global standards - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) logo is seen at the FDIC headquarters. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo(Reuters) - U.S. bank regulators are set to release their plans next week for a sweeping overhaul of capital rules, with the latest draft including requirements for large lenders’ residential mortgages that go beyond international standards, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The changes would be part of the U.S. version of a global accord known as Basel III that followed the financial crisis, according to the report. The OCC and the FDIC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The proposal is the first major rule led by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, who has launched a sweeping review of capital rules and is expected to be tough on Wall Street.

Persons: Jason Reed, Michael Barr Organizations: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, REUTERS, Bloomberg, Basel III, Federal Reserve, Currency, OCC, FDIC, Reuters, U.S . Federal, Banking, Silicon Valley Bank, Fed Locations: U.S, Basel, Silicon

Weeks later, Mr. Trump is the former President Trump. Instead, in a brief televised address shortly before 2:30 a.m., Mr. Trump furiously laid down his postelection lie. For weeks, Mr. Trump had been peppering him with tips of fraud that, upon investigation by federal authorities, proved baseless. The cavalry “is coming, Mr. President,” Kylie Kremer tweeted to Mr. Trump on Dec. 19. On Jan. 15, Mr. Trump acquiesced to an Oval Office meeting with Mr. Lindell, who arrived with two sets of documents.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Joseph R, Biden, Justin Clark, Rudolph W, Giuliani, Clark, Weeks, Mitch McConnell, McConnell, Jared Kushner, McConnell’s, Biden’s, William P, Barr, Mr, Trump’s, Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, sleuths, MyPillow, Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, Stephen K, Bannon, Michael T, Flynn, platformed, Jared Taylor, Enrique Tarrio, Doug Mills, Eric, “ We’re, ”, Fox, Eric Trump, Newt Gingrich, Joe Biden’s, Kevin McCarthy, Laura Ingraham, Obama, Dennis Montgomery, Thomas McInerney, McInerney, John McCain, Bannon’s, “ it’s, Paul Gosar, Doug Ducey, Roy Blunt of, Roy Blunt, Anna Moneymaker, —, “, ” Mr, Mark Meadows, Josh Holmes, Kushner, — Mr, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Lindsey Graham, Sean Hannity, Lindsey Graham of, Sean Hannity’s, — I’ve, Let’s, Graham, Pat A, Axios, Brendan Smialowski, “ Hannity, Thomas, Jenna Ellis, Matt Morgan, Al Gore, George W, Bush, Brooks, Stefan Passantino, Powell, Lynsey Weatherspoon, Gore, William H, Rehnquist, Giuliani —, Kris Kobach, Mark Martin, Lawrence Joseph, Kobach, Uncle Sam, Mr . Biden, Ken Paxton, Jeffrey M, Landry, Paxton, Kyle D, Hawkins, Jacquelyn Martin, Joseph, Richard L, Chris Carr, Carr, Mike Johnson of, Mike Johnson, McCarthy, Privately, Ted Cruz of, John Sauer, ’, ” James E, Nicolai, North, Wayne Stenehjem, Stenehjem, Wayne, Tasos Katopodis, MAGA, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Marsha Blackburn of, Ms, Blackburn, Amy Kremer, Ann Stone, Roger Stone, Amy Coney Barrett, Kremer’s, Kylie Jane Kremer, Jennifer Lawrence, Dustin Stockton, Lawrence, Stockton, I’ve, Lindell, they’d, Taylor, Greg Locke, Covid, Michael McKinney, Tucker Carlson, Carlson’s, “ Donald Trump, ” Ms, Meadows, Georgia runoffs, Byrne, Cipollone, he’d, Martin, Mike Pence, reconvene, ” Kylie Kremer, James Yeager, Kylie Kremer, Yeager’s, Lawrence whooped, John Kennedy, James Lyle, Josh Hawley, “ You’ve, Lyle, Couy Griffin, Kennedy, Pete Marovich, Kremer, Julie Jenkins Fancelli, Alex Jones, Caroline Wren, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr, Katrina Pierson, Brad Raffensperger, Jeffrey A, Rosen, Department’s, Jeffrey Clark, Scott Perry, Hawley, Cruz, Year’s, Tom Cotton of, Cotton, Cindy Chafian, Chafian, Jones, Stone, Locke, Jan, “ You’ll, Gosar, Griffin, Robert O’Brien, I’m, ’ ”, Kenny Holston, Donald Trump, ” Mark Walker, Ben Margot, Stefani Reynolds, Samuel Corum, Erin Schaff, David J, Ted Cruz, John Bazemore Organizations: Twitter, Dominion Systems, Trump, Biden, Dominion, New, New York City, The New York Times, Senate, New York, Republican Party, Capitol, White, Times, The Times, America News Network, Fox, America, Boys, New York Times, American, Air Force, Electoral College, Republicans, Joe Biden’s Democratic Party, Republican, Facebook, Democrats, Associated Press, “ Fox & Friends, White House, West Wing, “, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Veritas, Justice Department, Postal Service, York Daily, Agence France, Zignal Labs, Amistad, Thomas More Society, Mr, Electoral, Supreme, Lawyers, General Association, Associated, State, University of California, Republican House, Women, Tea Party, Trump -, Breitbart, of, Credit, SPAN, Tea Party Express, Republican National Committee, Internet, Army, Des Moines Register, Marine, General Services Administration, Swedish, Cowboys, Capitol ., Street Journal, Save, General Association ., Law Defense Fund, Freedom, Coalition, Proud Boys, Willard, Homeland Security, Party, Getty, Georgia Electoral College Locations: Detroit, Arizona, Georgia, New York, America, China, Trump, Grand Rapids, Mich, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Santa Cruz ,, Arizona —, Russia, North Vietnam, United States, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Kentucky, Utah, Alaska, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Erie, Pa, Pennsylvania, Long, Bush, Florida, tightest, Kansas, North Carolina, Ken Paxton of Texas, Texas, State of Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Irvine, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Ted Cruz of Texas, Missouri, Washington, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Trump’s, Hudson, Stockton, Tennessee, Des Moines, Meadows, White, fistfights, Nashville, West Monroe, La, Louisiana, drumbeating, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Delaware

☆ Morning Bid: Retail, housing and banks test jaunty July
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike DolanThe benign July investment environment gets tested on Tuesday by updates on U.S. retail sales and housing while the corporate earnings season kicks back into gear with another sweep of bank reports. Consensus forecasts are for a modest rise in retail sales and industrial output last month, while the NAHB homebuilder index is expected to have ticked higher in July to underline the recent housing market recovery more broadly. U.S. stock futures were flat going into the open and 10-year Treasury yields ticked down to their lowest level of the month so far. Crude oil prices tried to find their footing after Monday's sharp drop and continue to sustain year-on-year losses of more than 25%. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Mike Dolan, Wall, HSI, Evergrande, Goldman Sachs, Janet Yellen, Morgan Stanley, Lockheed Martin, Charles Schwab, JB Hunt, Michael Barr, Christina Fincher Organizations: New York Federal, Bank of America, Bank of New, Mellon, Novartis, Sandoz, Bank of New York Mellon, Lockheed, PNC Financial, Synchrony, JB, Federal, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Hong Kong, Treasuries, Canada

☆ Llama copyright drama: Meta stops disclosing what data it uses to train the company's giant AI models
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The company didn't disclose what training data was used to train Llama 2. The AI industry typically shares many details of AI training data sets. One way to avoid the issue is to just not tell anyone what data you used to train your AI model. Until now, the AI industry has been open about the training data used for models. That last data set made up more than two-thirds of the information Meta used to train LLaMA.

Persons: Meta, Rupert Murdoch, Sarah Silverman's, OpenAI, Halimah DeLaine Prado, Meta's, Sharon Zhou Organizations: Publishers, Wall Street Journal, Big Tech, Microsoft, SEC, European Union, Google, Meta Locations: EU

All eyes are onJudge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the first pretrial hearing Tuesday in the DOJ's prosecution of Donald Trump. Since the confirmation, a least one other Cannon case made national headlines. Judge Aileen Cannon gave her confirmation testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee over Zoom on July 29, 2020. There, she prosecuted cases involving narcotics, fraud, firearms, and immigration cases, according to her Senate confirmation document. Cannon during her confirmation hearing thanked Rubio as well as fellow Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida for their "continued support."

Persons: Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump, Cannon, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Department's, Trump, Jack Smith's, Bill Barr, behead, Mercedes Cubas, Federalist Society —, Steven Colloton, Gibson, Dunn, Crutcher, Josh Lorence, Ron DeSantis, Lynne Sladky, Lorence, Bobby Flay, DeSantis, Republican Sen, Marco Rubio, Rubio, Rick Scott of, " Rubio, Democratic Sen, Dianne Feinstein, they'd, Pelosi, Paul Hoeffer, Hoeffer, Cannon's, Fort, Paul G Organizations: Trump, Lago, Service, US, Justice Department, Department, FBI, Fox News, Senate, Democratic Rep, Zoom, Committee, Duke University, El, El Nuevo Herald, Miami Herald, University of Michigan Law School, Federalist Society, Crutcher LLP, Southern, Southern District of, GOP, White, Republican, Democratic, Rogers, CNN Locations: Mar, Wall, Silicon, Trump's, Lago, Florida, Alexandria, Cortez of New York, Cali , Colombia, Miami , Florida, Cuba, Spain, El Nuevo, Iowa, Washington ,, Southern District, Southern District of Florida, Athens, Greece, Vero Beach , Florida, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rick Scott of Florida, Cortez, Fort Pierce , Florida, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach

☆ Fed banking regulator warns A.I. could lead to illegal lending practices like excluding minorities
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Barr, vice chair for supervision of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, testifies during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Oversight of Prudential Regulators, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2023. The Federal Reserve's top banking regulator expressed caution Tuesday about the impact that artificial intelligence can have on efforts to make sure underserved communities have fair access to housing. Michael S. Barr, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, said AI technology has the potential to get credit to "people who otherwise can't access it." As an example, he said AI can be manipulated to perform "digital redlining," which can result in majority-minority communities being denied access to credit and housing opportunities. Barr said work being done by the Fed and other regulators on the Community Reinvestment Act will be focused on making sure underserved communities have equal access to credit.

Persons: Michael Barr, Michael S, Barr Organizations: Federal, Financial, Prudential Regulators, Capitol, National Fair Housing Alliance, Community Locations: Washington ,

☆ Twitter's new rivals suffer similar problems: Threads to use rate limits due to spam and Bluesky missed racist slurs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta's Threads will use rate limits to tackle an increase in spam. "Spam attacks have picked up so we're going to have to get tighter on things like rate limits, which is going to mean more unintentionally limiting active people (false positives). Twitter users howled their disapproval and many commentators said the spam reasoning was bogus. "I seem to waste half my time blocking bots pushing gambling and crypto sites," one Threads user posted, following Mosseri's update. On Sunday, Mashable reported that Bluesky users protested after several accounts used racial slurs in their usernames because the platform failed to block the ability for users to register such names.

Persons: Elon Musk, Adam Mosseri, Musk, It's, Bluesky Organizations: Twitter, Mashable

Potential buyers and sellers are also being deterred by the long wait for deal approvals by regulators, the experts said. The uncertainty over capital rules has created a "chilling effect" that could put a lid on mergers, while rising interest rates and a looming economic downturn could also damp activity, Adams said. That compares to $3.9 billion in bank deals for non-stressed institutions, the lowest seen over the first half of a year since 2010. "Instead of evaluating mergers based on competition and the needs of the community, political factors have become too important," she said. Regional banks will "have incentives to merge and reach larger scale since they will be subject to more regulatory scrutiny and capital,” Johnson said.

Persons: ”, Timothy Adams, Adams, Michael Barr, “, Meg Tahyar, Davis Polk, Janet Yellen, Tim Johnson, ” Johnson, Tatiana Bautzer, Saeed Azhar, Nupur Anand, Pete Schroeder, Lananh Nguyen, Deepa Babington Organizations: YORK, Institute of International Finance, Global, Federal, Treasury, Dominion Bank, First, KPMG, Thomson Locations: U.S, Canada's Toronto

☆ School's out for summer, and if ChatGPT usage is falling because students are off, that's a bad sign for OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ChatGPT usage recently fell. If that's the reason, it's a bad sign for OpenAI and AI-powered chatbots. ChatGPT usage has fallen. Churn rates, which measure the percentage of users who stop engaging with a service, have also spiked into the 20% range for ChatGPT, according to Bernstein Research. "This idea that if the ChatGPT drop-off is due to students on summer break, that implies a narrower audience and fewer use cases."

Persons: ChatGPT Bernstein, ChatGPT, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Shmulik, It's, chatbots, OpenAI, Garry Tan Organizations: Morning, Bernstein Research, ChatGPT Bernstein Research, Microsoft, Enterprise, insider.com Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley

☆ OpenAI executive says the company hasn't 'made GPT-4 dumber,' after Insider reported users complaining about degraded performance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

GPT-4 users have been complaining about worse performance, Insider reported earlier this week. Several users of OpenAI's GPT-4 have been complaining for weeks that the AI model is performing worse, with some calling the system "lazier" and "dumber." Another user pointed to a recent post from Nihit Desai, a startup co-founder, who reported that performance degraded for data labeling tasks. Yet another user on Twitter pointed to OpenAI's own developer forums, where many GPT-4 users have vented frustrations and posted examples of worse performance. Many hours before publication, Insider asked OpenAI for comment on all this, and the company didn't respond.

Persons: Peter Welinder, OpenAI's, Ethan Harris, Nihit Desai, OpenAI Organizations: Twitter, Army

☆ Dimon says private equity giants are 'dancing in the streets' over tougher bank rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, testifies during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled Annual Oversight of the Nations Largest Banks, in Hart Building on Sept. 22, 2022. "This is great news for hedge funds, private equity, private credit, Apollo , Blackstone ," Dimon said, naming two of the largest private equity players. Banks face requirements to hold more capital as a cushion against risky activities from both U.S. and international regulators. Authorities are proposing higher capital requirements for banks with at least $100 billion in assets after the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March. But that also coincides with a long-awaited set of international rules spurred by the 2008 financial crisis referred to as the Basel III endgame.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Wells, Mike Mayo, Michael Barr, Blackstone, Dimon, Apollo didn't, Banks Organizations: JPMorgan, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs Committee, Nations Largest Banks, Federal, Silicon Valley Bank Locations: Wells Fargo, Silicon, Basel

☆ What the most powerful people in tech and media are discussing at 'summer camp for billionaires'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter. Power players like Apple's Tim Cook and Disney's Bob Iger have descended on Idaho's Sun Valley Lodge for the annual and ultra-exclusive Allen & Co. conference. Allen & Co.'s annual conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, often referred to as "summer camp for billionaires," is a who's who of the biggest players in media and tech. But just because we're not there doesn't mean we can't speculate on what the biggest topics of discussion might be. I talked to Alison Brower, our LA bureau chief, and Alistair Barr, Insider's global tech editor, about what some of the most powerful people are talking about behind closed doors.

Persons: Tim Cook, Bob Iger, Discovery's David Zaslav, OpenAI's Sam Altman, we're, Alison Brower, Alistair Barr Organizations: Allen, Co, Warner Bros, Milken, Sun Locations: Sun Valley , Idaho, Davos

Federal banking regulators are expected to introduce proposals in the coming weeks requiring banks to keep more cash on hand to ensure the financial system remains stable. The nation's largest lender may increase prices or abandon some products as a way to offset the higher capital costs, Barnum said. One key new expected rule would require banks to hold more capital against certain trades. Meanwhile, banks are staying cautious and preserving capital until there is more clarity around the rules. Wells Fargo was expecting capital requirements to climb and weighing the potential effect on stock buybacks, CEO Charlie Scharf told investors on its call.

Persons: Michael Barr, Jeremy Barnum, Barnum, Jane Fraser, Wells Fargo, Charlie Scharf, Blackstone, Jamie Dimon, Pete Schroeder, Nupur Anand, Saeed Azhar, Tatiana Bautzer, Lananh Nguyen, Megan Davies, Susan Heavey Organizations: WASHINGTON, Federal, JPMorgan Chase's, JPMorgan, U.S, Treasury, Industry, Blackstone, Apollo, JPMorgan Chase, Thomson Locations: Washington, New York

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