DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Op-ed: FTC's crackdown against Amazon is necessary for long-term innovation, startup investor argues
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Bradley Tusk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The howls will begin the minute the FTC's lawsuit against Amazon hits the clerk's desk. What you don't see on that list is anything that could attempt to compete with Amazon or Meta or Apple or Microsoft or Google . Whenever we look at a startup that would directly compete with a company like Amazon, the answer to the second question is always, "yes, definitely." I think Amazon is a great company. Luckily, as these earlier giants started to falter, companies like Apple and Microsoft took off, and companies like Google, Amazon and Meta came along.

Persons: Lina Khan, Khan, I'm, we're, Bernie Sanders, it's, there's, Bradley Tusk Organizations: Yale Law, Amazon, FTC, Tusk Venture Partners, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, GE, Google, Meta, Department of Justice Locations: Larchmont , New York, Alma, Manhattan

☆ FBI director urges private sector to lend government more support in cyber intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON, D.C. – FBI Director Christopher Wray said Monday that the federal government is relying more than ever on private sector support to ensure that U.S. infrastructure remains secure. Wray said that artificial intelligence may help China's cyber intelligence operations in their efforts to overpower U.S. defenses, and reiterated that Chinese hackers outnumber the FBI's cyber and intelligence agents by at least 50 to 1. China is poised to "use the fruits of their widespread hacking to power, with AI, even-more-powerful hacking efforts," he added. North Korean hacking groups, for example, often seek to generate revenue for the government while gathering espionage for the state.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, it's, Colonial's Organizations: Commerce, Justice, Science, Capitol, WASHINGTON , D.C, Mandiant's mWise Conference, Google, FBI, Cybersecurity Infrastructure Agency, Colonial Pipeline Locations: Washington , DC, WASHINGTON ,, Washington, China, Korean, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, U.S, East

☆ Microsoft is touting the size and growth rate of its Salesforce rival Dynamics
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft still isn't disclosing the size of its Azure business, providing only the growth rate for the cloud business and leaving investors guessing how its revenue compares to Amazon and Google . But in its much smaller Dynamics business, which includes software for salespeople, marketers and customer-service agents, Microsoft has suddenly opted for greater transparency. In its annual report to investors last week, Microsoft disclosed Dynamics revenue in a table alongside other products for the first time. He also noted that Microsoft Sales Copilot, a tool capable of writing business-oriented email drafts, integrates with Dynamics as well as Salesforce's software. Partly motivated by Microsoft's AI capabilities, some companies are switching to Dynamics from Salesforce, said Manny Medina, CEO of sales software startup Outreach.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Flipkart, Nadella, Manny Medina, Medina, Salesforce, Bret Taylor, Marc Benioff, they're, Doug Burgum, Adam Mansfield, Mansfield Organizations: Microsoft Corp, Microsoft, Google, Dynamics, Products, Cloud Services, Technology, IDC, Oracle, SAP, CNBC, Industry, Marketing, Commerce Cloud, Plains Software, North, Republican Locations: Mumbai, India, MSFT, Marketing Cloud, Commerce, North Dakota, Great Plains

☆ Microsoft must be held responsible for China's U.S. government email hack, Senator Wyden demands
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Chinese hackers accessed the Microsoft-powered email accounts of top China envoys, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Wyden asked that the Justice Department examine whether Microsoft had violated federal law through its negligence; that CISA examine whether Microsoft violated best practices for securing the highly sensitive "skeleton key;" and that the Federal Trade Commission examine whether Microsoft violated federal privacy statutes. Both the State Department and the Commerce Department were targeted by Chinese hackers. Wyden noted it wasn't the first time that a foreign government had hacked government agencies by exploiting Microsoft vulnerabilities. Both Microsoft and federal officials have disclosed relatively little about the hack, though Microsoft has disseminated additional information and made concessions to customers to mitigate the impact of the exploitation.

Persons: Sen, Ron Wyden, Joe Biden's, Gina Raimondo, Antony Blinken, Wyden, Merrick Garland, Lina Khan, Jen Organizations: Democratic, Finance, Justice Department, Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission, Infrastructure Security Agency, Google, FTC, State Department, Commerce Department, Department's Locations: Washington, China

☆ IBM to acquire software company Apptio for $4.6 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna speaks at a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 17, 2023. IBM on Monday announced it will acquire the software company Apptio from Vista Equity Partners for $4.6 billion. IBM said in a release that Apptio will help it advance its application management, optimization and observability offerings. "Technology is changing business at a rate and pace we've never seen before," IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in the release. Apptio will be acquired with cash, and IBM said the deal is expected to close in the latter half of this year.

Persons: Arvind Krishna, Apptio, we've Organizations: Economic, IBM, Monday, Vista Equity Partners, Microsoft, Google Locations: Davos, Switzerland

☆ AWS is investing $100 million in generative A.I. center in race to keep up with Microsoft and Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

But the announcement shows that Amazon Web Services recognizes the significance of the current moment in generative AI and the importance of being in the conversation, alongside rivals Microsoft and Google . However, those rivals have had splashier entrances into generative AI, even though Amazon has drawn broadly on AI for years to show shopping recommendations and operate its Alexa voice assistant. For Amazon, that momentum applies to its Bedrock generative AI service and its Titan models as well as the new innovation center. Really, you need the cloud for generative AI." Also, the way Selipsky sees it, AWS provides a measure of credibility in offering generative AI that eludes others in the space.

Persons: OpenAI, Adam Selipsky, Selipsky, isn't, Jeff Bezos, we're, I've Organizations: Web Services, Microsoft, Google, CNBC, RyanAir, Lonely, Amazon, Nvidia, Fortune, FTC Locations: Twilio

☆ Alibaba to cut 7% of workforce in its cloud unit as it pursues IPO for the division
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing subsidiary of Alibaba, unveiled its ChatGPT-style product Tongyi Qianwen during the 2023 Alibaba Cloud Summit on Tuesday morning. Alibaba is cutting 7% of the workforce in its cloud computing division as the unit gears up for an initial public offering. Last week, the company announced plans for a full spin-off of its cloud computing unit and said it intends for the division to become an independent publicly listed company. Alibaba's CEO Daniel Zhang has long-seen cloud computing as a key part of the e-commerce giant's future but it currently accounts for just 9% of the group's total revenue. TikTok owner ByteDance began moving its international operations off of Alibaba's cloud which continues to weigh on the company's cloud business.

Persons: Alibaba, Daniel Zhang, Zhang, ByteDance Organizations: Alibaba, CNBC, Synergy Research, Microsoft, Google Locations: China, Asia, Pacific

☆ Amazon's Alexa head says company is 'at the forefront of A.I.' as chatbots explode
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That's pressured companies like Amazon to showcase their own capabilities in generative AI. Amazon's biggest entry into the market thus far has been through an AI service for cloud customers. However, Rohit Prasad, Amazon's senior vice president and head scientist for Alexa, said it's wrong to think the e-retailer has missed out in generative AI, which allows people to convert text-based queries into creative and thorough answers. "Alexa has been and is at the forefront of AI for a long time," Prasad told CNBC in an interview. Large language models power generative AI, and Alexa is already powered by Amazon's LLM.

☆ Wiz's rapid ascent to $10 billion valuation in market downturn shows cloud security is 'still huge'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The accelerated shift to cloud computing has boosted adoption of security software that can identify the spots where hackers can wage attacks. Older security companies such as Palo Alto Networks and Rapid7 have widened their portfolios to specialize in securing the cloud. Regardless of how Thomas views Wiz, in February his company added the startup to its list of competitors, putting it alongside Palo Alto Networks . Rappaport called out Palo Alto Networks, which has an offering called Prisma Cloud, as his company's best place to snag business. Rappaport also knows plenty about Microsoft, having sold his prior security startup, Adallom, to the company for $320 million in 2015.

☆ Top cloud providers Amazon, Microsoft and Google face ongoing spending cuts by clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The result is slowing revenue growth at the cloud divisions run by Amazon , Microsoft and Google . AWS saw deceleration in the third and fourth quarters, and last quarter Microsoft finance chief Amy Hood spooked analysts with comments about a slowdown in December that she expected to persist. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said "what we're seeing is enterprises continuing to be cautious in their spending in this uncertain time." At Google, cloud growth slowed to 28% from a year earlier in the first quarter from 32% in the prior period. WATCH: Ongoing deceleration in IT spending not reflected in tech earnings

☆ Signal President Meredith Whittaker learned what not to do from working at Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Meredith Whittaker, a former Google Manager who is now president at Signal. Whittaker has real-world reasons to be skeptical of for-profit companies and their use of data — she previously spent 13 years at Google . Signal app SignalAt Signal, Whittaker gets to focus on the mission without worrying about sales. Beyond just the confusing structure of OpenAI, Whittaker is out on the ChatGPT hype. And she definitely wants people to know that Signal has absolutely no plans to incorporate ChatGPT into its service.

☆ How an obscure legal doctrine called the Henderson test could weaken Section 230 and change free speech on the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The so-called "Henderson test" would significantly weaken the power of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, several experts said in conversations and briefings following oral arguments in the case Gonzalez v. Google . One way the Supreme Court could undercut Section 230 is by endorsing the Henderson test, some advocates believe. The Henderson test came about from a November ruling by the Fourth Circuit appeals court in Henderson v. The Source for Public Data. In other words, once Public Data made changes to the information it pulled, it became an information content provider. Google pointed to the parts of its brief in the Gonzalez case that discuss the Henderson test.

☆ Corvex's Keith Meister says 2023 will be a choppy year, upside in Big Tech is capped
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Corvex Management's Keith Meister said 2023 will be a tricky year for stock investors on the back of the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking campaign. "It'll be a choppy year, if you think about the risk premium for equities," Meister said on CNBC's " Closing Bell " Tuesday. His hedge fund cut exposure in Big Tech names Amazon , Microsoft and Alphabet last quarter as Meister thinks the upside for these names would be limited. He revealed that a better way to own that exposure to Big Tech was by selling, long-dated puts amid elevated volatility in the markets. Put options give holders the right to sell a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified price within a specified time frame.

Vice Media is restarting its sale process after earlier interested bidders balked at the initial price tag, according to people familiar with the situation. The digital media company, which was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017, is now likely to fetch a price of below $1 billion, the people said. Initially, Vice was looking for a valuation between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, one of the people added. A Vice Media spokesperson declined to comment. Meanwhile, Buzzfeed , the only digital media company to IPO, has seen its stock fall roughly 90% since going public in 2021.

☆ Microsoft reportedly plans to invest $10 billion in creator of buzzy A.I. tool ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, the startup behind popular artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, according to a report from Semafor. A bet on ChatGPT could help Microsoft boost its efforts in web search, a market dominated by Google . Brian Nowak, the bank's lead analyst on Alphabet, wrote that language models could take market share "and disrupt Google's position as the entry point for people on the Internet." OpenAI, which was founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sam Altman in 2015, launched its ChatGPT to the public in late November. Five days after OpenAI released ChatGPT, Altman said that the chat research tool crossed 1 million users.

☆ Google vs. ChatGPT: Here's what happened when I swapped services for a day
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Either way, I wanted to see how well the chatbot would work as an alternative to Google's search engine. Instead of Googling my questions throughout the day, I asked ChatGPT. I normally would have asked Google what to do. Instead, I asked ChatGPT. On the other hand, there are also potential limitations to using ChatGPT as a search engine.

☆ Morgan Stanley weighs in on the ChatGPT obession and the risk to Google's search business
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Google and search go together like Kleenex and tissues, Band-Aid and bandages and Crock-Pots and slow cookers. In other words, Google's brand is so connected to search that people talk about googling for information they need, even if they use an alternative search engine. ChatGPT may pose an emerging threat to the artificial intelligence industry, but Google's sheer scale, size, and dominance in the search business positions it well for battle, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak. In the long run, however, don't be surprised if ChatGPT, or other AI competitiors, impact consumer behavior patterns around travel search, he added. "While we believe the near-term risk is limited – we believe the use case of search (and paid search) is different than AI-driven content creation – we are not dismissive of threats from new, unique consumer offerings," Nowak wrote.

Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said Wednesday he was slow to come around to advertising on the streaming platform because he was too focused on digital competition from Facebook and Google . "So Google and Facebook were going to mop up the world — and they have in non-TV advertising." Advertisers were "desperate" for avenues in connected TV and internet, Hastings said, but Netflix was still on the sidelines. "We didn't have to steal away the advertising revenue. There are also free streaming services, such as Paramount's Pluto and Fox Corp.'s Tubi, which make revenue solely through advertising.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says Apple's App Store policies are not 'sustainable or good place to be'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is perfectly willing to return the favor. "Apple has sort of singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control unilaterally what apps get on a device," Zuckerberg said. "They've always made it so you can sideload and have other app stores and work directly with phone manufacturers," Zuckerberg said. "I would guess that not everything is going to work, but I think some things might work," Zuckerberg said. "I tend to think that I don't want one person or one company making those decisions, which is why we pioneered this oversight board for our content decisions," Zuckerberg said.

☆ Tech's reality check: How the industry lost $7.4 trillion in one year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Not one of the 15 most valuable U.S. tech companies has generated positive returns in 2021. In total, investors have lost roughly $7.4 trillion, based on the 12-month drop in the Nasdaq. In the war for talent and the free flow of capital, tech pay reached new heights. Loading chart...SPACs allowed companies that didn't quite have the profile to satisfy traditional IPO investors to backdoor their way onto the public market. A slowing IPO market informs how earlier-stage investors behave, said David Golden, managing partner at Revolution Ventures in San Francisco.

☆ Microsoft faces new EU antitrust complaint on cloud computing practices
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) faces a new antitrust complaint over its cloud computing practices as trade group CISPE, whose members include Amazon (AMZN.O), took its grievance to European Union antitrust regulators on Wednesday. CISPE has alleged that Microsoft's new contractual terms imposed on Oct. 1 together with other practices are irreparably damaging the European cloud computing ecosystem. Amazon is the market leader in the cloud computing sector, followed by Microsoft and Alphabet unit Google . Rivals Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Alibaba (9988.HK) and Microsoft's own cloud services however are excluded from the changes. The Commission could also add another provision to newly adopted tech rules, known as the Digital Markets Act, prohibiting cloud computing gatekeepers from favouring their software applications, CISPE said.

☆ Microsoft launches Designer, its answer to highly valued startup Canva
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft is launching a simple graphic design app called Designer that will be available for free and as part of Office productivity software subscriptions, the company said Wednesday. Microsoft has sought to demonstrate the value of Office subscriptions by adding new capabilities, and earlier this year it raised the prices of some bundles aimed at businesses. With its Designer app, Microsoft is initially aiming at consumers, a spokesperson told CNBC in an email. The launch of Designer might also make Microsoft bump up against Adobe , which fields the free Adobe Express tool that features templates and stock images. Once the app becomes generally available, Microsoft will maintain a free tier, along with a premium version for those with Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions, the spokesperson said.

Search resuls for: "Google ."

22 mentions found