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☆ A year after bankruptcy concerns, Carvana is leaner and ready for its Wall Street redemption
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Carvana over the last 18 months aggressively restructured its operations and debt amid bankruptcy concerns to pivot from growth to cost-cutting. Carvana puts each vehicle it intends to sell through a lengthy inspection, repair and sale preparation process. A Ford F-150 is prepped for a painting booth at Carvana's vehicle reconditing center outside Phoenix. The Wall Street Journal in December 2021 detailed a network of Garcia companies that do business with DriveTime, Carvana or both. Carvana sells such warranties or other service-related protections to customers, and DriveTime takes them over, giving Carvana a commission.

Persons: Michael Wayland, Ernie Garcia III, Ernie Garcia II, Garcia, Carli, Carvana, There's, Richard, Dick, Nixon, there's, Ernie Garcia, pathing, Rajat Gupta, Doug Guan, we've, CNBC Guan, Coldplay, Neil Diamond, Teresa Aragon, DriveTime, Duckling, Garcia II, Charles Keating's Lincoln, hasn't, – Organizations: CNBC PHOENIX, CNBC, Ford, Ford Motor, Nissan, State, Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings & Loan, Street Journal, DriveTime Locations: Tempe, Ariz, Tempe , Arizona, Phoenix, Carvana, Florida, reconditioning, Silicon Valley, Aragon, DriveTime, Drivetime

☆ China is building its own AI at a rapid pace
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese tech giants are racing to catch up with US firms like OpenAI in the AI arms race. Over 40 AI models have been approved for public use by the government, per local news reports. China has tight controls on AI , with tech companies required to "adhere to socialist values." Unlike their US rivals, Chinese companies that develop their own chatbots face political as well as technological challenges. That has meant that many of the country's most advanced AI models have a tendency to avoid sensitive topics, such as the status of Taiwan.

Persons: —, Ernie, OpenAI's, Bytedance, China's, Ernie Bot Organizations: Service, Reuters, Baidu, Google, Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Bloomberg Locations: China, Taiwan

☆ Baidu's Ernie AI chatbot to power Samsung's new Galaxy S24 smartphones
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S24 smartphones during a media preview event in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Samsung, the world's most prolific smartphone maker, is leaning into artificial intelligence as the key to unlocking greater sales this year. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBaidu AI Cloud will be integrating its Ernie chatbot into Samsung's Galaxy S24 smartphones, allowing users to translate calls in real time, among other features. Ernie is the Chinese tech giant's answer to OpenAI's ChatGPT, a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence technology that's able to generate humanlike responses to users' prompts. Baidu claims it is the "most powerful version of Ernie foundation model to date," with the full capabilities of understanding, generation, reasoning, and memory.

Persons: SeongJoon Cho, Ernie chatbot, Ernie, OpenAI's, Apple Organizations: Samsung Electronics Co, Samsung, Bloomberg, Getty, Baidu, Samsung's, Apple, IDC, Vivo, Huawei Locations: Seoul, South Korea, China

NEW YORK (AP) — British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns the Tottenham Hotspur soccer club, pleaded guilty Wednesday to insider trading and conspiracy charges in New York. The 86-year-old businessman entered the plea in Manhattan federal court six months after he was charged in the case. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the plea deal includes the largest financial penalty for insider trading in a decade. Broad Bay Limited, which Lewis owns, will pay more than $50 million in financial penalties, the prosecutor said in a release. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison sentence of between 18 and 24 months, though Lewis can seek less than that.

Persons: Joe Lewis, Lewis, Damian Williams, —, Joseph Lewis, Williams, Forbes, Lewis ’, Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Woods, Ernie Els, Justin Timberlake, Prosecutors, Jennifer Peltz Organizations: Tottenham Hotspur, Broad, U.S, Premier League, Lewis ’ Tavistock Group, Associated Locations: British, New York, Manhattan, United States, oceanside

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic for a record fourth time after reeling in Cameron Young early in the final round then holding off Adrian Meronk down the back nine to seal a one-stroke victory on Sunday. Among his 38 wins as a professional, he had also won the Tour Championship and Wells Fargo Championship three times. Young started Day 4 with a two-stroke lead but was trailing McIlroy — his playing partner in the final group — after making bogey at No. McIlroy broke a tie with South African great Ernie Els, who had also won the Dubai Desert Classic three times, and has started 2024 with a second and first. “A couple little things still to work on,” McIlroy added, “but these weeks are great.

Persons: — Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young, Adrian Meronk, McIlroy, Young, McIlroy —, Tommy Fleetwood —, ”, ” Meronk, Ernie Els, “ It’s, ” McIlroy Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Sunday, Wells Fargo, Dubai Invitational, South, Dubai Desert Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Nos, Meronk, European, Dubai

HONG KONG (AP) — Technology company Baidu on Monday refuted a newspaper report that said its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie was linked to Chinese military research. The paper stated that the division had tested its artificial intelligence system on Baidu’s Ernie and on artificial intelligence firm iFlyTek’s Spark, both of which are language-based AI chatbots similar to ChatGPT. “Ernie Bot is available to and used by the general public,” the Chinese company said in its statement. Like ChatGPT, users can pose questions or requests to Ernie Bot, which would then generate content based on the initial prompt. The Beijing-headquartered firm said in December that it had more than 100 million users for Ernie Bot.

Persons: Ernie, Baidu, Ernie Bot Organizations: — Technology, Baidu, Hong, China Morning, People’s Liberation Army cyberwarfare, PLA Information Engineering University, China Morning Post, PLA, Huawei, U.S Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, U.S, China, Taiwan, Beijing

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday, with Tokyo extending its New Year rally, as China’s central bank kept its one-year policy loan interest rate unchanged. China’s central bank opted to keep its one-year policy loan interest rate at 2.5% on Monday while injecting funds into the financial system. Traders are largely betting on the Fed cutting its main interest rate six or more times through 2024. The airline and other travel-related companies were also hurt by a rise in oil prices, which put pressure on their fuel costs. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 10 cents to $72.78.

Persons: Zhaopeng Xing, Raymond Yeung, “, Ernie, Baidu, Lai Ching, Lai, Taiwan’s Taiex, Australia’s, It's, Yemen’s Houthi, Brent Organizations: ANZ, Baidu, Democratic Progressive Party, Dow Jones, UnitedHealth Group, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Treasury, Traders, Fed, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Cruise Line Holdings, U.S Locations: HONG KONG, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, China, Taiwan

☆ I visited T.J. Maxx's outdoorsy sibling Sierra, the most interesting brand in the TJX family
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sierra is TJX's outdoor lifestyle brand, selling apparel, gear, home goods, and pet products. Business Insider visited a store for a closer look at T.J. Maxx's younger, sportier sibling. The Sierra store in Madison, Wisconsin, is just two doors down from a T.J. Maxx location. Dominick Reuter/Business InsiderSierra's tiny stature means it barely receives individual mention in TJX earnings calls beyond annual announcements of planned store openings, per AlphaSense. AdvertisementTJX's fingerprints are all over Sierra's stores, and the combination of its tried-and-tested playbook with this retail category make the small-but-mighty brand an exciting one to follow.

Persons: —, Dominick Reuter, I'm, TJX, Placer.ai, Ernie Herrman, Stanley, Dick's, REI, Sierra Organizations: Business, Service, Sporting, Sierra, Trading, Marshalls, Public Lands Locations: Wisconsin, Sierra, Madison , Wisconsin, Reno , Nevada, Wyoming, Denver, Burlington , Vermont, Framingham , Massachusetts, Maxx, REI

The final round of the Sony Open might give him a good idea of how far he has come. Murray got up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 18th on for birdie and a 6-under to share the lead with Keegan Bradley going into the final round at Waialae in a Sony Open that is hardly a two-man race. Bradley, a former major champion who has played in two Ryder Cups, is going for his third PGA Tour title in the last 16 months. Murray's only PGA Tour win was an opposite-field event more than six years ago. Murray dedicated himself to the Korn Ferry Tour last year, won and was among the top 30 who earned PGA Tour cards.

Persons: Grayson Murray, Murray, Keegan Bradley, Bradley, Murray's, Kevin Na, It's, Korn, ” Murray, “, Sam Stevens, Chris Kirk, Justin Thomas, Ernie Els, Kirk, Chris, Tiger Woods, ” Semikawa, Semikawa, ” Bradley, I've, ” Organizations: Sony, Ryder, he's, Sentry, Japan Locations: HONOLULU, Bermuda, Waikiki, Japan

☆ TikTok's owner is working on a rival chatbot builder to OpenAI, a new report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

ByteDance is launching a chatbot-building service to rival OpenAI, per the South China Morning Post. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementByteDance is joining the AI arms race as it reportedly prepares to launch a rival to OpenAI's "GPTs." ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider made outside normal working hours.

Persons: OpenAI, —, Sam Altman, ByteDance Organizations: China Morning, Service, South China Morning, South China Morning Post, Baidu, Business Locations: Silicon, Montana

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 34.45 billion yuan ($4.72 billion), compared with analysts' estimates of 34.33 billion yuan, according to LSEG data. Baidu has in recent years focused increasingly on AI, creating a self-driving vehicle and investing heavily in generative AI, which is capable of creating text, images and other media. Baidu's Chief Financial Officer Rong Luo said the firm will continue to prioritise AI investments, especially in generative AI and foundation models, to power its growth. Baidu's online marketing revenue rose 5% in the third quarter to 19.7 billion yuan. During the quarter, Baidu reported adjusted net income of 7.27 billion yuan, up 23% from 5.89 billion yuan for the same period last year.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Ernie, Rong Luo, Luo, Alibaba, Yuvraj Malik, Varun H, Miral Fahmy, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Baidu, REUTERS, HK, Tuesday, International Monetary Fund, Nvidia, Reuters, Huawei, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Washington, Bengaluru, Yelin Mo

During Art Basel Miami next month, St. Fleur said that he intended to visit the art fairs with former N.B.A. players like Deron Williams, Courtney Lee and Amar’e Stoudemire, and that he was arranging a private dinner for some of his athlete clients at a collector’s home on Star Island. There are other signs that the influence of athletes who collect art has been growing in recent years. He served on the board of advisers of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and now serves on the board of the Hirshhorn in Washington. “I wanted to think outside the box and give our players #athletes an opportunity to engage with ART done by African American Artists and respond to the cultural richness of these artists, as well as draw their own interpretation of the works.”

Persons: Kevin Love, Cindy Sherman, Cy Twombly, Ernie Barnes, Fleur, Deron Williams, Courtney Lee, Amar’e Stoudemire, Keith Rivers, Kerry James Marshall, Sonia Gomes, Thaddeus Mosley, Elliot Perry, “, ” Organizations: Miami Heat, Art Basel Miami, Star, Art Foundation, Hammer Museum, Hirshhorn, Memphis Grizzlies, American Artists Locations: New York, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Washington

☆ Carvana CEO: Amazon's online car sales 'validates this is something consumers want'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | 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 EmailCarvana CEO: Amazon's online car sales 'validates this is something consumers want'Ernie Garcia, Carvana CEO, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to discuss Amazon launching its own online car sales business.

Persons: Ernie Garcia

☆ TJ Maxx is no longer just a secret dumping ground for brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

T.J. Maxx is an off-price retailer that offers a treasure hunt shopping experience. T.J. Maxx is known as the retailer that took the inventory other stores couldn't sell. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementT.J. Maxx is often considered the last resort retailer, taking inventory other stores couldn't sell.

Persons: Maxx, —, they've, Simeon Siegel, Siegel, Ernie Herrman Organizations: Service, Marshalls, TJX Companies, Yahoo Finance Locations: Maxx

☆ Baidu CEO warns China's rush to develop AI models risks wasting resources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Men interact with a Baidu AI robot near the company logo at its headquarters in Beijing, China April 23, 2021. "A large language model itself is a basic foundation akin to an operating system, but ultimately developers need to rely on a limited number of large models to develop various native applications. Li said there are many large models in China, but AI applications developed based on large models are still very few. Baidu's own large language model, called Ernie, was opened to public use in August, joining other products that have received government approval for release. Last month, Baidu unveiled the newest version of its generative AI model Ernie 4.0, whose first version was first rolled out in March.

Persons: Florence, Robin Li, OpenAI, Li, Ernie, Yelin, Brenda Goh, Eduardo Baptista, Kim Coghill Organizations: Baidu, REUTERS, Rights, HK, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, Shenzhen, Yelin Mo, Shanghai

Andy Beshear won reelection to Kentucky’s highest office Tuesday by improving upon the path to victory he carved in his successful 2019 bid. Political Cartoons View All 1237 ImagesAlso key to Beshear’s victory were the seven swing counties Trump won in 2020 with less than 60% of the vote. He won 10 of the 21 counties Trump won with 60% to 70% of the vote, up from 6 counties in 2019. He also prevailed in 11 of the 89 counties Trump won with more than 70% of the vote, up from nine counties in 2019. Twenty-one of the counties Beshear carried Tuesday were ones that he not only carried in 2019 but that his father also carried twice.

Persons: Andy Beshear, Beshear, Matt Bevin, cobbling, Donald Trump, Daniel Cameron, Cameron, Jefferson, Joe Biden, Biden, Franklin, Bevin, Steven Beshear, Ernie Fletcher, Andy Beshear’s Organizations: WASHINGTON, — Democratic, Republican, Democratic, Trump, Oldham, Kentucky Democrats, Beshear Locations: Fayette, Jefferson, Lexington, Louisville, Franklin County, Frankfort, Kenton, Warren, Kentucky

☆ Exclusive: Baidu placed AI chip order from Huawei in shift away from Nvidia -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Baidu ordered 1,600 of Huawei Technologies' 910B Ascend AI chips - which the Chinese firm developed as an alternative to Nvidia's A100 chip - for 200 servers, the source said, adding that by October, Huawei had delivered more 60% of the order, or about 1,000 chips, to Baidu. Baidu, alongside Chinese peers such as Tencent (0700.HK) and Alibaba (9988.HK), is known to be a long-time client of Nvidia. Baidu was not previously known to be a AI chip customer of Huawei. Huawei's website says it has since 2020 collaborated with Baidu to make its AI platform compatible with Huawei hardware. Baidu has developed its own line of Kunlun AI chips, which the company says supports large-scale AI computing, but the company has mainly relied on Nvidia's A100 chip to train its LLM.

Persons: Aly, Baidu, Ernie, Yelin Mo, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Josh Ye, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Baidu, Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, Rights, HK, Huawei, U.S ., Nvidia, Huawei Technologies, U.S, HUAWEI, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING, SHANGHAI, U.S, Beijing, Hong Kong

☆ Carvana CEO says it's hard to predict when used car prices will come down
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia told CNBC's Jim Cramer in a Monday interview that it's hard to say when used car prices will come down, even though the company is doing what it can to cut costs and make vehicles affordable for customers. "So we would love for car prices to come down, we expect them to over time — I think the timing is always hard to predict." In 2019, the average car Carvana sold was three years old and cost $19,500, he said. "If rates were to come down that would be great too, but obviously that's certainly not something that's in our control," he said. After a tough couple of years, Carvana has managed to make a comeback, in part thanks to a billion dollar debt restructuring deal.

Persons: Ernie Garcia, CNBC's Jim Cramer, it's, Garcia, Carvana, we're

☆ Jim Cramer goes one-on-one with Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) 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 EmailJim Cramer goes one-on-one with Carvana CEO Ernie GarciaCarvana Co-Founder, President and CEO Ernie Garcia joins 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk quarterly earnings, the company's turnaround, the auto industry and more.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Ernie Garcia Carvana, Ernie Garcia

☆ We hope and expect car prices will come down, says Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) 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 EmailWe hope and expect car prices will come down, says Carvana CEO Ernie GarciaCarvana Co-Founder, President and CEO Ernie Garcia joins 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk quarterly earnings, the company's turnaround, the auto industry and more.

Persons: Ernie Garcia Carvana, Ernie Garcia, Jim Cramer

☆ Baidu launches paid version of ChatGPT-like Ernie Bot
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Baidu sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Chinese search engine giant Baidu launched on Wednesday a paid version of its ChatGPT-like product Ernie bot, charging 59.9 yuan ($8.18) per month. Ernie bot, which like ChatGPT is powered by generative artificial intelligence, was the first of many Chinese AI-powered chatbots to be unveiled this year. ($1 = 7.3191 Chinese yuan)Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aly, Ernie bot, Eduardo Baptista, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Baidu, Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING

☆ 'Sesame Street' will be revamped as Max streaming deal is set to expire
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Laya Neelakandan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie during the presentation of the NDR and Deutsche Post commemorative stamp of 'Sesamstrasse' on March 2, 2020 in Hamburg, Germany. "Sesame Street" will soon have a new format as it turns the page on season 55, ending the children's show's magazine-style structure, Sesame Workshop executives told The Hollywood Reporter. The revamped "Sesame Street" will debut in 2025. Last year, Max yanked about 200 older episodes of "Sesame Street" as the streaming service refined content for its target audience, which isn't children. The show's current deal with Max ends after season 55, which is set to begin about a year from now.

Persons: Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird, HBO Max, Max, Max yanked, Steve Youngwood, Youngwood, Max didn't Organizations: NDR, Deutsche, Sesame, Hollywood, Warner Bros, HBO, Warner Locations: Hamburg, Germany

☆ Amazon's latest warehouse robot is cute, but it's definitely not going to quell workers' fears of being replaced
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon says Digit is designed to "work collaboratively" with employees, not replace them. AdvertisementAdvertisementAmazon recently began testing a new robot in its warehouse operations — meet Digit, a humanoid bipedal robot with a turquoise torso and smiley eyes. However, most of the other warehouse robots have been cart-shaped or robotic arms, not humanoid like Digit. Unlike the company's other warehouse robots, Amazon says Digit is better designed to operate in spaces designed for humans. In community forums, warehouse workers discussed the possibility that Sparrow might result in empty warehouses, with only small teams of human employees to repair the robots.

Persons: —, they'll, — Bert, Ernie, Scooter, Kermit Organizations: Robotics, Service, Agility Robotics, Amazon, Innovation, tote, Workers

☆ Baidu's newest AI model Ernie 4.0 fails to wow investors, but analysts maintain 'buy' ratings
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

ZHEJIANG, CHINA - MARCH 16 2023: A view of the logo of ERNIE Bot, an AI chatbot service developed by Chinese search engine Baidu, March 16, 2023. Analysts are bullish on Chinese tech giant Baidu's latest version of its generative artificial intelligence model, Ernie 4.0, but investors did not react positively to the development. "We came away positively following the announcement of several new products including the official debut of Ernie 4.0," said Citi analysts in a report, after Baidu announced a "significantly improved" version of Ernie 4.0 on Tuesday. The Chinese tech giant claimed Ernie 4.0′s capabilities are on par with those of ChatGPT maker OpenAI's GPT-4 model. "It has been significantly improved compared to the online version of Ernie bot and now it is not inferior to GPT-4," Li told an audience of analysts, investors and journalists.

Persons: ERNIE Bot, Ernie, Robin Li, Li, Jefferies, OpenAI's, Ernie bot Organizations: Baidu, Citi Locations: ZHEJIANG, CHINA

The logo of Baidu's AI chatbot Ernie Bot is displayed near a screen showing the Baidu logo, in this illustration picture taken June 28, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Chinese technology giant Baidu (9888.HK) on Tuesday unveiled the newest version of its generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, Ernie 4.0, saying its capabilities were on par with those of ChatGPT maker OpenAI's pioneering GPT-4 model. He also showed Ernie 4.0 creating advertising posters and videos. Baidu, owner of China's largest internet search engine, is at the forefront of AI models in China amid a global craze over the technology sparked by the introduction of ChatGPT last year. In August, Baidu was among a number of firms to receive government approval to release AI products to the public.

Persons: Ernie Bot, Florence Lo, Ernie, Robin Li, ChatGPT, Baidu, Yelin Mo, Eduardo Baptista, Brenda Goh, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Baidu, REUTERS, Rights, HK, Thomson Locations: Rights BEIJING, Beijing, China, United States

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