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☆ The wealth of middle class and lower-income Americans grew at faster rate than high earners early in the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The median wealth of lower-income households shot up 101% between December 2019 and December 2021, while the middle class enjoyed a 29% increase. High earners had a median net worth of $803,400 in December 2021, while the middle class and lower-income households had nest eggs of $204,100 and $24,500, respectively, Pew found. Half of these households had a net worth of $500 or less in December 2021, compared to a net worth of $0 two years earlier. Poorer Hispanic households had a median net worth of $0, compared to a negative net worth of $1,100 at the end of 2019. Other government reports show that lower-income Americans lost ground in 2022.

Persons: Pew, ”, Rakesh Kochhar Organizations: CNN, Pew Research Center, Pew, Census Bureau Locations: White

☆ OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap talks about ChatGPT launch, Dev Day and how Sam Altman thinks
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +23 min

And I think that's just a testament to the world being really big and messy, and that these systems are still evolving, they're still really in their infancy. That may be a thing that's useful in your work, or maybe a thing that's useful in your life, or it may just be a fun thing – it may just be that you create a funny GPT and it's a cool thing to have. High-level, we always knew that we wanted to have a structure that, at its core, retained the original OpenAI – the OpenAI nonprofit. So that's the first thing to understand, I think, about OpenAI: It's not a normal company in that sense. We have shared that we have an initial board now, and expect to add more board membersWhat's the general mood like at the company right now?

Persons: OpenAI, Sam, Altman, Brad Lightcap, Lightcap, ChatGPT, OpenAI's, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo, Dev Day, DALL, we'd, doesn't, haven't, they've, – there's, There's, …, We're, we've, Dev, It's, You've, Sam Altman, reappointment Organizations: CNBC, Fortune, Microsoft, ChatGPT Enterprise, OpenAI, OpenAI's Locations: San Francisco

☆ Walmart and Target are looking increasingly similar these days
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Walmart and Target appear to be borrowing pages from each other's playbook. Some specific features seemingly borrowed from Target include the new "Dollar Shop" and "Grab & Go" sections near the front entrance. AdvertisementFresh produce sections at Walmart (left) and Target (right). For starters, Walmart is still much bigger than Target, and a supercenter is typically about 50% larger than a Target store. But the company says it is finding success in its effort to attract higher-income shoppers, while Target continues to emphasize affordability in its offerings.

Persons: —, Burger King, Dominick Reuter, Christina Henninton's, Wrangler Organizations: Walmart, Service, Pepsi, McDonalds, Ford, Target, Business, Brands, Reebok, Apple Locations: Burger

☆ Beyoncé ’s platinum ‘Renaissance’ look was triggering for some in the Black community. Here is why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Nicquel Terry Ellis Cnn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“Her music is unapologetically, boundlessly and globally Black,” Thomas said. In many cases, lighter skinned slaves were the product of sexual violence by White men against enslaved Black women. Lighter skinned Black women were often deemed “redbones,” a term that for some undermined their Black heritage by implying that the women were mixed non-Black ancestry. A 2023 survey by nonprofit Catalyst found women with darker skin tones were more likely to experience workplace racism than women with lighter skin. “I also get to be critical of Beyoncé,” Thomas said.

Persons: Queen Bey, “, Tina Knowles, ” Knowles, “ Brown, Geneva Thomas, ” Thomas, ”, JeffriAnne Wilder, Wilder, White, ” Wilder, Beyoncé, India Arie, ” Arie, Arie, ” Beyoncé, Kevin Mazur, Oscar, Octavia Spencer, Thomas, she’s Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles, Catalyst, University of Chicago Press, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Locations: America, New York, Black America, London, England

WASHINGTON (AP) — One fall day in 2010, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor slipped into the courtroom where she worked for nearly 25 years to take in an “amazing” sight. That was pretty amazing.”O’Connor lived to see four women serve at the same time on the Supreme Court. Political Cartoons View All 1277 ImagesO’Connor, who left the court in 2006, died Friday in Phoenix of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, the Supreme Court said. “I had never expected or aspired to be a Supreme Court justice. —-Richard Carelli, a former Supreme Court reporter for The Associated Press who is now retired, contributed to this story.

Persons: Sandra Day O’Connor, O’Connor, “, ” O’Connor, Ronald Reagan, Samuel Alito, wasn’t, John, Donald Trump's, Alito, O'Connor, ”, Sandra Day, Bill Clinton, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “ I’m Sandra, Ruth, ” Ginsburg, Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, David Souter, “ It’s, Obama, Elena Kagan, Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Ketanji Brown Jackson, she'd, SCOTUS, ” Ruth McGregor, O’Connor’s, Mary, David Letterman’s, Jon Stewart, John O’Connor, Scott, Brian, Jay, Potter Stewart, Richard Carelli Organizations: WASHINGTON, New York Times, Iraq, College of William, CBS, Supreme, Associated Press Locations: Phoenix, Arizona, Washington, United States, Virginia, Los Angeles

☆ 2023 Hurricane Season Ends, Marked by Storms That ‘Really Rapidly Intensified’
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( William B. Davis | Judson Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

During the Atlantic hurricane season, 20 storms formed, seven of which reached hurricane strength, meaning sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour. Storms that experienced rapid intensification Rapid intensification Atlantic storms Extremely rapid intensification Lee 150 m.p.h. wind speed Hilary Lidia 100 50 0 4 0 6 8 2 10 12 14 16 Days since start of storm Atlantic storms Rapid intensification Extremely rapid intensification Lee 150 m.p.h. Despite its strength, the slightly cooler waters near Mexico’s Baja Peninsula would rapidly weaken Hilary to a tropical storm. The background graphic shows the storm moving from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall on Oct. 25.

Persons: El Niño, ” James P, ”, Kossin, Otis, Hilary Lidia 100, Philip Klotzbach, Klotzbach, Hurricanes Lee, Idalia, Hilary, Hurricane Hilary, “, Eric Blake Organizations: Canada New York United States Houston, Canada New York United States, Houston, Canada New York United, Canada New York United States Los, PACIFIC, ATLANTIC, Eastern, OCEAN United, OCEAN United States Los, OCEAN United States Los Angeles Houston mexico Mexico City, Atlantic, University of Wisconsin, El, Pacific, National, Colorado State University, East, Hurricanes, Hurricane, U.S, National Hurricane Center Locations: Canada, Canada New York United States Houston Miami mexico Cuba Mexico, Houston Miami mexico Cuba Mexico, Canada New York United States, PACIFIC OCEAN, Miami mexico Cuba Mexico, Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, OCEAN United States, OCEAN United States Los Angeles Houston mexico Mexico, Eastern, North America, Pacific, Madison, Florida, United States, Florida’s Big Bend, Cuba, Caribbean, Cancun, Gulf, Mexico, Bend, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida , Georgia, North Carolina, California, Peninsula, Baja California, Southern California, Death, Acapulco

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (AP) — From underwater drones to electronic warfare, the U.S. is expanding its high-tech military cooperation with Australia and the United Kingdom as part of a broader effort to counter China’s rapidly growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with defense chiefs from Australia and the United Kingdom at the U.S. military’s defense technology hub in Silicon Valley on Friday to forge a new agreement to increase technology cooperation and information sharing. The three nations have laid out plans for the so-called AUKUS partnership to help equip Australia with a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He added that as an island nation, Australia has a need for improved maritime drones and precision strike capabilities.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, ” Austin, Richard Marles, Grant Shapps, Austin, Marles, Shapps, we’ve, aren’t, Adam Bry, Alex Horn, Horn Organizations: Pacific . Defense, Australian Defense, Defense Innovation Unit, Britain, U.S, Australian Navy, Solomon Islands, warfighters, Air Force, Morris Air National Guard Base Locations: California, U.S, Australia, United Kingdom, Silicon Valley, United States, Virginia, Adelaide, China, Pacific, South China, Beijing, Solomon, Taiwan, DIU, Arizona

Atlanta CNN —Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys in the Georgia election subversion case are set to defend their client in a Fulton County courtroom for the first time on Friday as they try to have the charges thrown out on First Amendment grounds. This is the first time Trump’s attorneys will appear in court in the Fulton County case, though their client won’t be with them. Trump hasn’t yet been in the Atlanta courthouse – he previously waived his right to an arraignment hearing – though he was processed at the Fulton County jail in late August. She used a similar legal strategy in a 2014 RICO case in Fulton County, according to a source familiar with the matter. Despite his mounting legal debt and the fact that he is almost 80, sources close to Giuliani said he intends to fight the Georgia case.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, ” Drew Findling –, Steven Sadow, Jennifer Little, Sadow, “, ” Sadow, Scott McAfee, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Chesebro, Powell, McAfee, Trump’s, Fani Willis, ” Willis, Jack Smith, Smith, ”, Willis ’, Eastman, John Eastman, Fulton, Donald Trump, Willis, Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, Clark, Meadows, ” “, Bob Cheeley, Cheeley, Robert Cheeley, Cheeley’s, Buddy Parker, Rudy Giuliani –, haven’t, Giuliani, Allyn Stockton Jr, David Shafer, ” Shafer, Rudy Giuliani’s, Robert Costello, Giuliani groped, CNN Giuliani, Brian Tevis, David Wolfe, CNN’s Paula Reid, Evan Perez, Marshall Cohen Organizations: Atlanta CNN —, Trump, United, Fulton, Republican, Prosecutors, Washington Post, “, U.S, CNN, Trump Trump, Trump White House, Secret, Justice, Appeals, DC, Georgia’s, Senate, Atlanta Public Schools, Georgia Republican Party, Georgia State Senate, Electoral College, New, Atlanta Locations: Georgia, Fulton, Atlanta, United States, Fulton County, Washington , DC, Meadows, ” Meadows, Washington, Trump, State of Georgia, New York, Aidala, Stockton, Rabun County

☆ Ford reinstates 2023 guidance, says UAW deal to cost $8.8 billion over life of the contract
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The guidance calls for $10 billion to $10.5 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, and adjusted free cash flow of between $5 billion and $5.5 billion. That compares to its previously announced guidance of adjusted-EBIT of between $11 billion and $12 billion and adjusted free cash flow of $6.5 billion to $7 billion. Ford said the new UAW labor agreement is expected to cost $8.8 billion over the life of the contract, which expires in April 2028. Ford further confirmed on Thursday that the UAW deal is expected to add about $900 in costs per assembled vehicle by 2028. GM's forecast called for net income attributable to stockholders of $9.1 billion to $9.7 billion; adjusted EBIT of $11.7 billion to $12.7 billion; and adjusted earnings per share of roughly $7.20 to $7.70.

Persons: Ford, John Lawler, Lawler, We've Organizations: United Auto Workers, UAW, Crosstown, General Motors, Barclays, GM, Chrysler, U.S

☆ More than 500 companies had perfect scores on top advocacy group's LGBTQ+ index
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Courtney Reagan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

(Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)In a year stained by boycotts, protests and heightened consumer choice, hundreds of companies came through for LGBTQ+ equality, according to a leading advocacy group. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation awarded 545 companies with a perfect score on its annual Corporate Equality Index, which evaluates U.S. based companies that opt into the survey on their policies for LGBTQ+ equality. More than 800 of the 1,384 companies scored earned at least 90 of the possible 100 points. When the index first began in 2002, only 13 companies earned the highest score. Target scored a 95 this year, while Anheuser-Busch scored a 75.

Persons: Rodin Eckenroth, they're, Kelley Robinson, Robinson, JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce, Busch, Target, Brian Cornell, we've, Bud, influencer Dylan Mulvaney Organizations: Rights, Foundation, Employees, Cola, JPMorgan, HRC, Target, Anheuser, Nike Locations: Hollywood , California

☆ How a tax break of up to $3,200 can help heat your home more efficiently this winter
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Steve Smith | Tetra Images | Getty ImagesHow the tax break worksWestend61 | Westend61 | Getty ImagesThe Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022, extended and enhanced a prior tax credit available for home efficiency upgrades. The tax credit is worth 30% of the cost of qualifying projects. The combined tax break for these projects is capped at $1,200 a year. Altogether, taxpayers can get a maximum overall credit of $3,200 a year, if they combine projects worth up to $1,200 and $2,000. The IRS published a fact sheet that gives examples of the overall tax break consumers can expect for specific upgrades.

Persons: Steve Smith, Joe Biden, Kara Saul, Rinaldi, Saul Organizations: Westend61, AnnDyl, Environmental Protection Agency, IRS

☆ Graphene: The world’s strongest material could be used to make clean drinking water
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Often referred to as a “miracle material,” graphene is one million times thinner than a single human hair and stronger than steel. The two-dimensional carbon material, made from single layers of graphite, a material mined from the ground, is extremely lightweight, conductive, and flexible, and has the potential to deliver transformational technologies across industries, from electronics to transportation. Now, researchers at Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are exploring another use for graphene: producing drinking water. That’s where graphene comes in: Arafat is working on a graphene-enhanced membrane that could make the process more efficient and cheaper. “Even in small quantities, these graphene materials significantly improve the performance of the membranes in terms of their water production,” he adds.

Persons: ”, Hassan Arafat, Arafat, “, Arafat isn’t, Molymem, Christophe Viseux, RIC2D, James Baker, Baker, You’re, ” Baker Organizations: CNN, Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates, United Arab, Research, Innovation, UK’s University of Manchester, University of Manchester, Bloomberg, Getty, Graphene@Manchester, European Union Locations: UAE, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Abu, Turkish, Emirates

☆ GM says union labor deals will increase costs by $9.3 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

General Motors expects new labor contracts with the United Auto Workers and Canadian union Unifor to increase its costs by $9.3 billion and add approximately $575 in costs per vehicle during the terms of the deals. GM disclosed the expected labor deal impact as part of a business update Wednesday in which it initiated a $10 billion accelerated stock buyback program, increased its dividend and reinstated its full-year 2023 guidance. GM said the $9.3 billion in labor cost increases are expected to occur as follows: $1.5 billion in 2024; $1.8 billion in 2025; $2.1 billion in 2026; $2.5 billion in 2027; and $1.1 billion from January-April 2028. GM's expected vehicle cost increase includes $500 per vehicle in 2024. Chrysler parent Stellantis , which was the second of the so-called Big 3 U.S. automakers to reach a deal with the UAW, has not disclosed expected costs of its labor pact with the union.

Persons: —, Mary Barra, John Lawler Organizations: Motors, United Auto Workers, Canadian, UAW, GM, Detroit, Ford Motor, Ford, Chrysler, CNBC PRO Locations: —, U.S

☆ UAW launches union campaigns at Tesla, 12 other automakers in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The United Auto Workers union is launching an unprecedented campaign to organize 13 non-union automakers in the U.S. after securing record contracts with the Detroit automakers. As part of the campaign workers are signing electronic cards in support of union efforts to potentially organize U.S. plants from those automakers. It is not guaranteed that the union would push to organize every plant or automaker that participates in the campaign. UAW President Shawn Fain has said the union's next mission after ratifying record contracts with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis was to expand its ranks. Still, the UAW has a poor track record with trying to organize non-Detroit automakers.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Fain, —, Stellantis Organizations: United Auto Workers, Detroit automakers, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Benz, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo, UAW, General Motors, Ford Motor, Detroit, Ford, GM, Lexus, " Workers Locations: U.S, Fremont, California, Georgetown , Kentucky

☆ This is the commentary Cramer wants to hear most when Salesforce reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Now, with the Club holding set to report earnings, Jim Cramer wants to hear whether its AI endeavors are really on track to boost its financials. "We want to hear that numbers must be raised next year because of the new business that [Salesforce is] getting now" as a result of AI, Jim said Tuesday. It's been a year since OpenAI's ChatGPT went viral and accelerated investment into generative AI applications, which can create human-like text sentences and images in response to user queries. Since then, Salesforce and other software companies have raced to incorporate generative AI capabilities into their existing products or launch new ones all together. Still, the analysts reiterated their buy-equivalent rating on Salesforce stock and a $250-per-share price target.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Marc Benioff, Jim, It's, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Salesforce, Piper Sandler, Jim Cramer's, Stefan Wermuth Organizations: Club, Adobe, Microsoft, LSEG, Oppenheimer, CNBC, Salesforce, Economic, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: Davos, Switzerland

☆ Southeast Asia is on the cusp of a 'supercharged' digital payments revolution, PwC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Widespread mobile ownership, together with rapid digitalization after the pandemic, helped spur the expansion of digital financial services in Southeast Asia, said PwC. PwC"This enhanced availability and convenience of digital payments will see the bulk of the regional population leveraging mainstream digital financial products, such as e-wallets, further expediting the expansion of financial services," said PwC. watch now"Consumers are adopting digital financial services at a rapid pace. Cash is no longer king, as digital payments now make up more than 50% of the region's transactions," a recent Google, Temasek and Bain & Company report wrote. "In some regions such as Southeast Asia, [digital payments via e-wallets] are already more common than physical card payments and set to dominate point-of-sale [systems] overall," wrote Dan Jones and Alex Walker of OliverWyman.

Persons: PwC, hawkers, —, Cash, Dan Jones, Alex Walker of OliverWyman Organizations: Banking, Getty, Careem, Mercado Libre, Temasek, Bain & Company Locations: China, East Asia, Shanghai, Banking Asia, Asia, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Paytm, India, AliPay, Latin America

☆ How Jewish People Built the American Theater
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +46 min

Let Us Tell You A Story How Jewish people built the American theater as we know it. The theater, which for many Jews was a major way of becoming American in the first place, seems unable to acknowledge that the danger that American Jews face is not just historical, and not just onstage. (Both of Adler’s parents were Yiddish theater stars — her father, Jacob Adler, was a renowned Shylock in 1903.) Embedding their own observation and experience within Stanislavsky’s, along with the best of Yiddish theater and a generous dollop of Freud, they converted the American theater to Judaism. Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThe Jewish contribution to the creation of the American theater was built on the acknowledgment of a larger humanity alive within each of us, available to some, with natural empathy and rigorous training.

Persons: Glocca, “, Lerner, Loewe, ”, Isidore Hochberg, Burton Lane, né Burton Levy, William Goldman, “ Killybegs, Sammy Davis Jr, Julie Andrews, Connie Francis, Rosemary Clooney, Tommy Dorsey, Davis, —, Arthur Miller’s “, joyously, Jason Schmidt, Christine Jones, Miller, I’ve, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Brustein, Neil Simon’s, ” Cynthia Ozick, Sholom, Philip Roth, Simon, Leonard Bernstein, Matt Nadel, Bradley, Bernstein, “ Maestro, Shylock, William Shakespeare’s “, Venice ”, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe’s, Farah Karim, Cooper, Bard ”, “ Merchant, Tom Stoppard’s, Sara Krulwich, Ansky’s, Stella Adler, Bessie Berger, Clifford Odets’s, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Francis Joseph Bruguière, Billy Rose, Eugene Smith, Roth, Arthur Schnitzler, Juliet Stevenson, Ruth Wolff, Lorraine Hansberry’s, Sidney’s, Alex Edelman’s “, Leo Frank, Bernard B, Frank, Mandy Patinkin, James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim’s, George, Martha Swope, outspokenness, creatives, Oscar Isaac, Sidney, “ Sidney Brustein, Isaac, Stevenson, Robert Icke, Roman Catholic Cooper, Rachel Brosnahan, Maisel, Joan Rivers —, Brosnahan, Sidney Brustein’s, Alec Guinness, Fagin, “ Oliver Twist, I’m, Micaela Diamond, Ben Platt, Lucille, Alfred Uhry, Jason Robert Brown’s, Rivers, Wolff, Robert, Republic ”, isn’t, LEE Strasberg, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s, Fyodor Ivanovich, Strasberg, Israel Strassberg, Zalmon, Srulke, Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock’s “, Bette Midler, Jackie Hoffman, Photofest Stanislavsky, Theater’s, Isaac Butler, Stanislavsky, Harold Clurman, George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, Clurman, Adler, Jacob Adler, Freud, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ruthie Rivkin, Jerome Weidman, Harold Rome’s “, John Weidman, disown Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, Bobby Lewis, né, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Meisner, Robert Duvall, Lewis, Meryl Streep, Clifford Odets, Jacob Garfinkle, Jules Garfield, Odets, Sam Feinschreiber, Garfield, Ralph Berger, wasn’t, John, Tovah Feldshuh, Golda Meir, William Gibson’s, Aaron Epstein, exigencies, Bessie, Feinschreiber —, loveless, William Fox, Louis B, Mayer, Jack Warner, Marjorie Morningstar ”, Morgenstern, Marjorie, Natalie Wood, Anne Frank ”, Millie Perkins, Audrey Hepburn, Susan Strasberg —, Ibsen, Sholom Aleichem, August Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Thomas Jefferson, Lin, Manuel Miranda’s “ Hamilton ”, Adrian Lester, Emanuel Lehman —, Barbra Streisand, Marmelstein, George Silk, Miller’s, Sophie Okonedo, Elizabeth Proctor, Ben Whishaw, John Proctor, Jan Versweyveld, Don’t, — Bernstein, Stoppard, Schnitzler, Jeanine Tesori, Tony Kushner’s “ Caroline, Sharon D Clarke, Adam Makké, Noah Gellman, Leo, Stoppard —, Hermine, ” Leo Frank, there’s, Matthew Broderick, Eugene Jerome, it’s, Edelman’s, Queens bigots, David Yosef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven Alexander Halevi Edelman, Woody Allen, Joshua Harmon’s, — George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Porgy, Bess ”, Barns, Alex Edelman, Paula Vogel, Harvey Fierstein, Jordan Taylor Fuller, — that’s, Wendell Pierce, Friedman, Jacobs, Hirschfeld, Gershwin, Rodgers, PAULA VOGEL, BRANDON URANOWITZ, DAVID CROMER, MICAELA DIAMOND, TONY KUSHNER, Diamond, Monica Rich Kosann, Marco Bicego, JESSE EISENBERG, MATTHEW BRODERICK, AMY HERZOG, LESLIE RODRIGUEZ KRITZER, JOEL GREY, Herzog, Michael Kors, Kritzer, Marco, HARVEY FIERSTEIN, LIEV SCHREIBER, ETHAN SLATER, IDINA MENZEL, TINA LANDAU Organizations: Broadway, Broadway’s Lyceum, “, of Venice, New York Times, Defamation League, New York Public Library, Performing, Vandamm, Billy, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Performing Arts, New, Jacobs, Empire State, Nazi, Goyim Defense, The New York Public Library, Roman Catholic, New York City, Street, Moscow Art, Group, Hollywood, Disney, Everett, The New York Times, Philadelphia, Brit, Times Locations: Poland, American, kilts, E.Y, Harburg, Kilkerry, Kildare, Philadelphia, New York, Polish, Massachusetts, Vichy, Biloxi, Venice, Malta, of, ”, Germany, playgoers, Sweden, England, United States, Pittsburgh, Nazi, Brustein’s, Greenwich, Georgia, Gutenberg, “, Atlanta, Republic, New, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Moscow, Russian, America, Moscow, Stanislavsky’s, Clurman, Eastern Europe, Czech, Austrian, Auschwitz, Heini, Southern, Brighton, Rivers, French Republic, “ Brigadoon

☆ Google, Symphony unveil AI JV to help banks manage voice calls compliance risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The logo of Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in New York City, U.S., January 20, 2023. Symphony, which counts banks like Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan (JPM.N) among its 1,000-strong client base, will use Google Cloud's generative artificial intelligence platform, Vertex AI, to enhance its Cloud9 voice product with more sophisticated speech-to-text and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. Phil Moyer, VP of Google Cloud's Global AI Business, said the platform would make compliance more "ambient". So there's 180 zettabytes of data on the planet Earth right now, 90% of which has been created in the last two years." And so tools like these transformers and generative AI are really helping to manage that massive data that's being created," Moyer said.

Persons: Shannon Stapleton, Goldman Sachs, Zac Maufe, Brad Levy, Phil Moyer, Moyer, Sinead Cruise, David Evans Organizations: Google, Chelsea, REUTERS, Reuters, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, JPMorgan, Communications, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S

Scientists have said carbon removal is needed to keep climate goals alive. Otherwise, the enormous price tag for world-scale carbon removal would need to fall to governments if there is any chance of these projects surviving. A major concern is that DAC technology is both expensive and unproven at scale. More mature carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which traps emissions at a point source like a smokestack, also requires a rapid scale up to make a difference. Their money will be made instead by marketing carbon removal credits to corporations not involved in fossil fuels that wish to offset unavoidable emissions, or to governments seeking to stay on track with climate targets.

Persons: Climeworks, ”, Vikrum Aiyer, Sultan al, Jaber, Vicki Hollub, Mike Avery, Christoph Gebald, Richard Valdmanis, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Occidental Petroleum, BlackRock, U.S ., Occidental, 28th United, OPEC, United Arab, International Energy Agency, IEA, Global CCS Institute, Stratos, DAC, Department of Energy, Thomson Locations: Tracy , California, Texas, In Louisiana, 28th United Nations, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Louisiana, Iceland, California, U.S, UAE, Occidental

An advanced geothermal project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the Nevada grid to power Google data centers there, Google announced Tuesday. Getting electrons onto the grid for the first time is a milestone many new energy companies never reach, said Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Google's geothermal partner in the project, Houston-based Fervo Energy. Political Cartoons View All 1267 ImagesFervo is using this first pilot to launch other projects that will deliver far more carbon-free electricity to the grid. Google and Fervo Energy started working together in 2021 to develop next-generation geothermal power. Google announced back in 2020 that it would use carbon-free energy every hour of every day, wherever it operates, by 2030.

Persons: Tim Latimer, ” Latimer, Michael Terrell, We’re, ”, Terrell, “, ” Terrell, Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Sarah Jewett, Latimer, DCVC, Rachel Slaybaugh, Fervo, Slaybaugh, it’s, Jewett Organizations: Google, Energy, International Energy Agency, Fervo Energy, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Energy Department, DOE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AP Locations: Nevada, Houston, Utah, Winnemucca , Nevada, Las Vegas, Reno, United States, California , Nevada , Utah, Hawaii , Oregon , Idaho, New Mexico, Latimer, Fervo, Beaver County , Utah

Sports Illustrated is the latest media company to see its reputation damaged by being less than forthcoming — if not outright dishonest — about who or what is writing its stories at the dawn of the artificial intelligence age. The once-powerful publication said it was firing a company that produced articles for its website written under the byline of authors who apparently don't exist. Earlier this year, experiments with AI went awry at both the Gannett newspaper chain and the CNET technology website. On Monday, the Futurism website reported that Sports Illustrated used stories for product reviews that had authors it could not identify. At the end of each such story is a note that explains technology's role in its production, a spokeswoman said.

Persons: ”, Tom Rosenstiel, ” Rosenstiel, “, Jeff Jarvis, Drew Ortiz, “ Drew, AdVon, AdVon wasn't, LedeAI, Jarvis, Gannett, Connie Guglielmo, ” Guglielmo, Emma Heegar, ” Buzzfeed, ” ___ David Bauder Organizations: Gannett, CNET, University of Maryland, Arena, Time Inc, “, AdVon Commerce, Sports Illustrated Union, Staff, Associated Press, NBA, Data Locations: Santa Barbara, Calif, Sportradar

☆ Steve: The aurora-like light show you can help research
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The purple-pink streak of light indicative of Steve is shown in this image captured by Canadian photographer Neil Zeller. “It can eventually migrate south … toward the equator side of aurora and form a Steve,” Lach said. A Steve will always appear alongside an aurora, Lach and Zeller said, but not all auroras include a Steve. The Steve phenomenon is most likely to be captured around the equinoxes in the spring and fall, according to Zeller and Lach. The photos contributed by members of the public constantly help scientists improve their understanding of these light shows, she said.

Persons: CNN —, It’s, Steve, Elizabeth MacDonald, MacDonald, “, ” MacDonald, Neil Zeller, ” Zeller, … we’d, I’d, Dr, Eric Donovan, Zeller, Donovan, Chris Ratzlaff, ” Ratzlaff, Steve —, —, Donna Lach, Lach, ” Lach, Steve Earth, “ It’s, Steve I’ve, ” Organizations: CNN, Northern Hemisphere, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight, Kilkenny, Facebook, NASA, University of Calgary, DreamWorks, SAR, “ Locations: United Kingdom, Calgary , Alberta, Alberta, Canadian, Canada’s Manitoba, Manitoba, Kp0, Wyoming, Utah, Turkey, Greece, Slovakia, China, Canada

An Israeli Merkava tank manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, as seen from southern Israel, November 28, 2023. "You cannot have the sort of scale of displacement that took place in the north, replicated in the south. The official said the campaign needed to be "deconflicted" from power, water, humanitarian sites and hospitals in south and central Gaza, meaning avoid attacks on those types of infrastructure sites. A second U.S. official said Washington would like to see the humanitarian pause extended as long as possible. The officials said aid deliveries to Gaza were currently running at about 240 truckloads a day but this was nowhere near enough to meet needs.

Persons: Alexander Ermochenko, Israel, Joe Biden, Antonio Guterres, Steve Holland, David Brunnstrom, Mary Milliken, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, United Nations, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Israeli, Israel, Gaza, U.S, Qatar, Washington, Sinai, Egypt

☆ This is the best place to park cash to use for your next stock buys
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

According to money market tracker Crane Data , the average yield of the 100 largest money market funds is 5.19%. Money market funds vs. money market accounts Not to be confused with money market accounts (and other types of deposit accounts), money market funds are low-risk investments — and as such, they are not backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Forbes put together a list of top money market funds from some of the biggest brokerages in the nation. To be sure, as CNBC Select points out, there are high-yield savings and money market accounts out there with yields approaching those from money market funds. But we want to emphasize that these were rare events and money market funds are considered very low-risk investments.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Louis P, Forbes, you'll, Jim Cramer's, Jim Organizations: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, CNBC, Jim Cramer's Charitable, New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: New York, U.S

☆ Snowfall is changing across the globe, new maps show
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | Eric Zerkel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Snowfall is declining globally as temperatures warm because of human-caused climate change, a new analysis and maps from a NOAA climate scientist show. There has already been a 2.7% decline in annual global snowfall since 1973, according to Brettschneider’s analysis of data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The increase in snowfall in the Northeast seen on the maps illustrates the complicated nature of changing precipitation patterns with climate change, scientists told CNN. “Even though the total snowfall trend was positive, the days per year with snowfall trend is negative,” Brettschneider told CNN. Managing water with less snowUnderstanding the implications of less snowfall on the global water supply is far more complicated than simply saying less snow falling means less available water, Mankin said.

Persons: ”, Brian Brettschneider, ” Snow, Justin Mankin, haven’t, ” Mankin, Jessica Lundquist, Lundquist, ” Lundquist, ” Brettschneider, Brettschneider, Mankin, “ Organizations: CNN, NOAA, Northeast, National Weather Service, Dartmouth College, University of Washington Locations: Alaska, Northern, California, American, “ California, snowpack, South Asia, Spain, Italy, Greece, North Africa, Morocco

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