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"High level, we want this to become something like your personal AI friend," said developer Div Garg, whose company MultiOn is beta-testing an AI agent. The race towards increasingly autonomous AI agents has been supercharged by the March release of GPT-4 by developer OpenAI, a powerful upgrade of the model behind ChatGPT - the chatbot that became a sensation when released last November. GPT-4 facilitates the type of strategic and adaptable thinking required to navigate the unpredictable real world, said Vivian Cheng, an investor at venture capital firm CRV who has a focus on AI agents. OpenAI itself is very interested in AI agent technology, according to four people briefed on its plans. There are at least 100 serious projects working to commercialize agents, said Matt Schlicht, who writes a newsletter on AI.

Persons: Siri, Alexa, Tony Stark's, Kanjun Qiu, Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman, Qiu, OpenAI, Vivian Cheng, CRV, Aravind Srinivas, Jarvis, Yoshua Bengio, Satya Nadella, Apple's Siri, it's, Google, Edward Grefenstette, Jason Franklin, WVV Capital, Hesam Motlagh, Matt Schlicht, Anna Tong, Jeffrey Dastin, Kenneth Li Organizations: Microsoft, Google, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Reuters, FTC, OpenAI's, Financial Times, Amazon, Alexa, Investors, WVV, Google Ventures, Entrepreneurs, Thomson Locations: Silicon, Jarvis, GPT, Cognosys, San Francisco, Palo Alto

☆ Rupee to rise after dollar's biggest fall in over three months
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Sethuraman N R | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Non-deliverable forwards indicate the rupee will open at around 81.93-81.96 to the U.S. dollar, compared with its spot close of 82.1750 in the previous session. Meanwhile, the dollar index hit a five-week low on Thursday and saw its worst one-day session since March 13 after a hawkish European Central Bank (ECB) signalled more rate hikes. The rupee should see some appreciation on Friday, which should also benefit from the yuan's move, a trader with foreign bank said. The rupee has gained about 0.35% so far this week, benefiting from likely corporate dollar inflows. 14** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $2.5mln worth of Indian bonds on Jun.

Persons: Srinivas Puni Organizations: U.S . Federal, U.S ., European Central Bank, QuantArt, Brent, Sethuraman NR, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Bengaluru

☆ Marc Benioff says he has a successor. A leaked Salesforce org chart identifies the likely candidates.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Marc Benioff's succession plan appeared to fall apart when co-CEO Bret Taylor resigned on Nov. 30. "I always have a succession plan," Benioff told Insider. A leaked Salesforce organizational chart identifies the likely candidates who are next in line. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he has a successor in mind and a leaked Salesforce organizational chart identifies the likely candidates who are next in line. "I always have a succession plan," Benioff told Insider in an interview.

☆ Instant View: Here’s what experts think of India's surprise rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

The monetary policy committee (MPC) retained the key lending rate or the repo rate (INREPO=ECI) at 6.50% in a unanimous decision. With the likely softening of CPI to the low- to mid-5% levels in the coming month, the current repo rate of 6.5% implies that India’s real policy rate will hover around 1% during 2023-24, while maintaining a policy rate differential of about 1.5% with the US. Room for additional rate hikes has been retained with MPC’s policy stance continuing to remain unchanged at ‘withdrawal of accommodation’. We believe the bar for future rate hikes has increased, especially since near-term prints of CPI will be sub 6%. Scope for further hikes is limited given our growth-inflation outlook and impact of the past rate hikes on the same.

[1/2] Bottles of Campa Cola and Coca Cola are displayed at a Reliance Smart supermarket in Mumbai, India March 20, 2023. Other well known tycoons have tried to go toe-to-toe with the drinks giants, and failed, most notably Richard Branson with his Virgin Cola. The smallest bottles of Campa Cola and Coke both cost 10 rupees, while Pepsi starts from 12 rupees. Reliance did not respond to a request for comment, while Pepsi said it doesn't comment on competition as a policy. Another city store employee said 30 Campa bottles were being sold for every 100 of Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

☆ Exclusive: Buzzy generative AI-powered search engine Perplexity AI taps NEA to lead funding round at a $150 million valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AI search engine startup Perplexity AI is raising a funding round led by NEA, Insider has learned. The deal aims to raise between $20 and $25 million at a $150 million post-money valuation, according to sources. The fundraise continues the trend of large rounds and valuations in the buzzy generative AI space. AI search engine startup Perplexity AI is in talks to raise a funding round led by NEA, according to three people with knowledge of the financing who were not authorized to speak publicly. Perplexity AI cofounder and CEO Aravind Srinivas declined to comment.

☆ Amid 'Velma' pushback, Mindy Kaling is a 'lightning rod' held to impossible standard, some critics say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

In 2021, South Asian women made up 0.3% of onscreen representation in television and film, according to a study by the Nielsen company. Srinivas sees why the South Asian community feels incorrectly represented by Mindy, Devi, Bela or Velma. “When her characters have become so popular with the mainstream audience, I think it’s understandable that the South Asian community feels somewhat outraged by this portrayal of a South Asian individual,” she said. “It’s not inauthentic to the experience of South Asian kids growing up in this society. “They are very much the same as the characters Mindy portrays.”

☆ The M&A market just went out with a bang after a terrible year, and it could be a sign of good times to come
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

(Hint: it's not on Wall Street.) Meanwhile, the largest deal of the year — Microsoft's $68.7 billion bid for Activision — might not even happen, thanks to regulators. But credit unions and community banks aren't happy with the new terms, The Wall Street Journal reports. Big tech nabs from Wall Street. Company culture on Wall Street: not great!

☆ Cyberattack on top Indian hospital highlights security risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI — The leading hospital in India’s capital limped back to normalcy on Wednesday after a cyberattack crippled its operations for nearly two weeks. Online registration of patients resumed Tuesday after the hospital was able to access its server and recover lost data. The attack was followed by a series of failed attempts to hack India’s top medical research organization, the Indian Council of Medical Research. “We are digitizing (everything), but then there is an attack on the country’s most important medical institute,” he said. Altaf Qadri / APOn Nov. 30, there were repeated but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to breach the website of the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

☆ Indian billionaire Adani’s firm wins bid to develop vast Mumbai slum
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The real estate unit of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises has won the right to redevelop India’s largest slum, Mumbai’s Dharavi neighborhood, with a 50 billion rupee ($612 million) bid, a state official said on Tuesday. Adani’s winning bid of 50 billion rupees was more than double that of real estate group DLF, which bid 20 billion rupees ($244.87 million), said SVR Srinivas, CEO of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, a government enterprise in the western state of Maharashtra. There have been no major protests to date against the Dharavi redevelopment. The redevelopment of Dharavi will be the fourth project Adani Realty has taken on in Mumbai and the 24th across four cities, according to its website. A spokesperson for the Adani group did not respond to a request for comment on the Dharavi bid.

Another group project, a $900 million port redevelopment in Kerala state, has been stalled for months by protesters. There have been no major protests to date against the Dharavi redevelopment. The redevelopment of Dharavi will be the fourth project Adani Realty has taken on in Mumbai and the 24th across four cities, according to its website. A spokesperson for the Adani group did not respond to a request for comment on the Dharavi bid. ($1 = 81.6750 Indian rupees)Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar in Mumbai and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Leaked Salesforce org chart shows the 12 most important execs under Marc Benioff and and outgoing co-CEO Bret Taylor
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-18 | by ( Matthew Lynley | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce co-CEO and heir apparent Bret Taylor is leaving the company. A leaked organizational chart shows who the top execs under Taylor and Marc Benioff are now. A leaked Salesforce organizational chart viewed by Insider shows most of the company's top executives report directly to Taylor, and only two reporting to Benioff. That's compared to 2021, when Insider viewed an org chart that showed Benioff with 13 direct reports, including then-COO Bret Taylor. Read on for the details on how these 12 execs became the new leaders of Salesforce as co-CEO Taylor exits the company.

☆ India: O Nouă boală misterioasă face tot mai multe victime. Ce a fost descoperit în sângele pacienților
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-08 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +2 min

India a convocat o echipă de experți medicali în sudul statului Andhra Pradesh, după ce o boală misterioasă a ucis o persoană și a trimis în spital câteva sute, transmite digi24.ro. Andhra Pradesh a fost unul dintre cele mai afectate state, cu peste 800.000 de cazuri, a treia cea mai mare cifră din țară. Srinivas a spus că probele de sânge ale pacienților nu au evidențiat nicio dovadă a unei infecții virale. „Am exclus contaminarea apei sau poluarea aerului drept cauză, după ce oficialii au vizitat zonele în care oamenii s-au îmbolnăvit", a spus el. Experții Organizației Mondiale a Sănătății (OMS) sunt, de asemenea, așteptați să sosească în Eluru pentru investigații suplimentare.

Persons: Janata, Alla Kali Krishna, Srinivas, Sănătății, Jaganmohan, Desam Organizations: BBC News, Sănătății, Științe, Organizației Mondiale a Sănătății ( OMS Locations: India, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Eluru

☆ O nouă boală misterioasă a apărut în India: Sute de oameni au ajuns la spital; Medicii descriu simptomele bizare
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-07 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +1 min

Andhra Pradesh a fost unul dintre cele mai afectate state, cu peste 800.000 de cazuri, a treia cea mai mare cifră din țară. Guvernatorul statului, Jaganmohan Reddy, a declarat că echipe medicale speciale sunt trimise la Eluru pentru a investiga cauza bolii. Ministrul Sănătății a spus că probele de sânge ale pacienților nu au evidențiat nicio urmă a unei infecții virale. „Am exclus contaminarea apei sau poluarea aerului drept cauză, după ce oficialii au vizitat zonele în care oamenii s-au îmbolnăvit", a spus el. Cu toate acestea, partidul de opoziție Telugu Desam a cerut o anchetă, susținând că o contaminare a fost cauza bolii misterioase, relatează digi24.ro.

Persons: Alla Kali Krishna, Desam Organizations: Sănătății, Indian Express Locations: India, Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh a fost unul dintre cele mai afectate state, cu peste 800.000 de cazuri, a treia cea mai mare cifră din țară, citează Digi24. Guvernatorul statului, Jaganmohan Reddy, a declarat că echipe medicale speciale sunt trimise la Eluru pentru a investiga cauza bolii. Ministrul Sănătății a spus că probele de sânge ale pacienților nu au evidențiat nicio urmă a unei infecții virale. „Am exclus contaminarea apei sau poluarea aerului drept cauză, după ce oficialii au vizitat zonele în care oamenii s-au îmbolnăvit", a spus el. Cu toate acestea, partidul de opoziție Telugu Desam a cerut o anchetă, susținând că o contaminare a fost cauza bolii misterioase.

Persons: Alla Kali Krishna, Desam Organizations: BBC News, Sănătății, Indian Express Locations: Eluru, India, Andhra Pradesh

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