DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, DraftKings, Nike, Snowflake & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Piper Sandler names Microsoft, Snowflake and Oracle top AI picks Piper said that Microsoft, Snowflake and Oracle are the next "all-stars" in AI. Citi adds a negative catalyst watch on Nike Citi said Foot Locker's negative earnings report last week does not portend well for Nike. Citi downgrades Foot Locker to neutral from buy Citi downgraded Foot Locker after its disappointing earnings report last week and says shares are not fully de-risked. Deutsche Bank reiterates Snowflake as buy Deutsche says it's "constructive" heading into Snowflake earnings on Wednesday. Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy Bank of America says the internet search giant is "well positioned for mobile."

☆ SAP and Microsoft to deepen collaboration on generative AI in recruiting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 15 (Reuters) - SAP (SAPG.DE) will deepen collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT.O) on joint generative AI projects in the field of personnel recruiting, the German software maker announced on Monday. SAP's SuccessFactors solutions will be integrated with Microsoft's 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service to access language models and generate natural language, it added. "We're very excited about the opportunities generative AI unfolds for our industry and our customers," SAP's Chief Executive Christian Klein said. In late April, Klein said the firm would embed Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT in its productsReporting by Andrey Sychev, Editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'AI All-Star' Microsoft's rosy earnings spark rally in tech stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant was set to add nearly $160 billion to its market value and replace Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) as the world's second-most valuable company, if premarket gains hold. Microsoft's results bode well for an industry that has laid off tens of thousands of workers recently as demand fades in the face of a sagging economy. The Windows maker's earnings call on Wednesday underscored the growing importance of AI, with CEO Satya Nadella referring to 50 times in a 60-minute event. "Given the significant head start OpenAI has over other generative AI engines and Microsoft has over its hyperscaler (large-scale data center) competitors, we believe that Azure may gain share as generative AI continues to proliferate into many more corners of software and the economy," D A Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The company forecast revenue in its main segments for the current quarter would match or top Wall Street targets. Those results and Microsoft's helped boost shares of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), another major cloud operator, 4.8% in after hours trading. Microsoft revenue rose 7% to $52.9 billion in the quarter ended March, inching past analyst estimates of $51.02 billion, according to Refinitiv. The bulk of Microsoft sales still come from selling software and cloud computing services to customers. The sales drop in the segment was less severe than analysts expected, with Microsoft reporting revenue of $13.3 billion versus analyst estimates of $12.19 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Goldman recommends buying call options in these two tech titans before their earnings reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Goldman Sachs recommends clients buy call options on Apple and Microsoft ahead of each company's earnings reports in two weeks. For Apple, Goldman thinks the mobile app spending portion of the company will beat Wall Street expectations and service revenue will become the main force behind earnings growth. "While app spending growth has slowed, as we lap recent benefits from consumer stimulus and engagement benefits due to the pandemic he expects app spending to resume mid-teens growth in F2024." AAPL YTD mountain Apple could beat expectations in mobile app spending and boost shares as investors look toward earnings, according to Goldman Sachs. "AI-related 12 April 2023 3 Goldman Sachs Weekly Options Watch workloads can also provide a boost to Azure over time.

☆ Want in on the AI boom? These 8 high-quality stocks are already ahead of the pack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

AI-powered technology companies Microsoft Microsoft arguably pushed AI into the mainstream with its unexpected release of its new AI-powered search engine Bing. During its annual conference for developers earlier this month, Nvidia demonstrated the fundamental importance of its role in facilitating the usage AI applications. Also unveiled were four new chips designed specifically for inferencing , which are optimized for various new generative AI applications. To facilitate these operations, AMD provides machine learning and deep learning systems which offer higher-performance computing capabilities to accelerate AI applications. Qualcomm Qualcomm (QCOM) is focused on making AI technology on-device processing more efficient across different industries and products.

☆ A.I. could drive $7 trillion in global growth in 10 years, Goldman estimates. Here's how to play it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Within that, generative AI has a total addressable market of $150 billion, Goldman said. We believe Generative AI can streamline business workflows, automate routine tasks and give rise to a new generation of business applications," Goldman analysts wrote in a recent research report. But generative AI is able to produce new content such as text, video, images or computer code — putting it a step ahead. "Generative AI tools have far-reaching implications across industries, from enterprise software to healthcare, financial services and more," Goldman said. With the tech giants already incorporating it into their products, Goldman sees generative AI boosting sales, productivity and product innovation.

☆ Bill Gates says some people provoke AI and make it look stupid but it poses no threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates told the FT that people try to make AI look stupid but it wasn't a threat to humans. Asked by a Financial Times journalist whether he was worried about AI, Gates said it was "fine, there's no threat." "It's not clear who should be blamed, you know, if you sit there and provoke a bit," Gates told the FT. But according to Gates, the main problem with AI is not the AI itself doing things but the people controlling it. Although he believes AI is set to trigger some labor displacement, it will create more efficiency, he told the FT.

☆ It's not just you: Cybercriminals are also using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ChatGPT can quickly generate targeted phishing emails or malicious code for malware attacks. AI companies could be held liable for chatbots counseling criminals since Section 230 may not apply. Sergey Shykevich, a lead ChatGPT researcher at cybersecurity company Checkpoint security, has already seen cybercriminals harness the AI's power to create code that can be used in a ransomware attack. In dealing with unlawful or criminal content on their sites from third-party users, most tech companies cite Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. In addition, ChatGPT continues to implement guardrails to deter illegal activity, although these guardrails can often be sidestepped with the right script.

☆ Citi names the biggest tech winners in emerging A.I. frenzy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

He sees multiple ways the company can win in generative AI, including the market share gain potential in search. However, whether it can retain its user base and grow engagement will be crucial to realizing the revenue opportunity with advertising, Radke noted. Given Alphabet's investments across AI, Radke expects a more robust user experience across search verdicts and products. Opportunity in the GPU business AI search may create a $4.5 billion annual opportunity in the graphic processing unit market, Radke said. He has a price target of $210 on Nvidia, which implies 6% downside from Monday's close.

☆ Google is making a change to its earnings report next quarter that shows just how important AI has become
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alphabet said in its Q4 earnings press release that it will begin disclosing investments in AI. The move signals the increasing importance of AI to the search giant. "As AI is critical to delivering our mission of bringing our breakthrough innovations into the real world, beginning in January 2023, we will update our segment reporting relating to certain of Alphabet's AI activities," the press release states. It will also incorporate the technology into its Azure cloud offerings so developers can take advantage of the AI technology. Alphabet revealed Google Cloud and YouTube's financial performance for the first time in 2020, for instance.

☆ Microsoft attracting users to its code-writing, generative AI software
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Early evidence is in usage of a little-discussed tool that can write computer code for programmers, called GitHub Copilot. Opened up to the public in June of last year, the tool drew 400,000 subscribers within a month. On Tuesday, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said that more than 1 million people had used Copilot to date. Copilot itself relies on OpenAI's tech, as does a chatbot sensation that Open AI released last year known as ChatGPT. Microsoft has said it will make ChatGPT, which can draft code as well as essays or poetry, available via its cloud.

☆ Microsoft CEO says OpenAI partnership will allow companies to access tools like ChatGPT in workplace emails, slideshows, and spreadsheets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Increased availability of Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service follows AI integration within the company's own products like Excel and Bing. The tech giant announced earlier this week it opened access to its Azure OpenAI Service, which uses Microsoft cloud computing technology to allow companies to use AI tools like ChatGPT, according to a company press release. "With Azure OpenAI Service now generally available, more businesses can apply for access to the most advanced AI models in the world," the announcement states. Nadella went on to say that workers should embrace new AI tools instead of fearing them, the Journal reported. At the Wall Street Journal panel Tuesday, he said AI tools will increase human productivity, in turn bolstering economic growth and wages.

☆ Google's big fear is AI running wild. After ChatGPT, it's too late.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's in Google's financial interest to present itself as a responsible custodian of AI. On Monday, some of Google's most senior executives, including CEO Sundar Pichai, senior vice president James Manyika, and the chief executive of its AI research unit DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, published an explainer on their approach to AI research, titled "Why we focus on AI (and to what end)." This is a "thinly veiled swipe at OpenAI and ChatGPT", according to a research note from Richard Windsor of Radio Free Mobile. In other words: If ChatGPT and its successors cause widespread havoc, it'll ruin AI adoption for everyone, including Google. There'll be more ChatGPT momentsThere is a flood of money pouring into generative AI startups promising real-world applications.

☆ ChatGPT: CEOs at Davos are using it to write work emails
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Davos, Switzerland CNN —Jeff Maggioncalda, the CEO of online learning provider Coursera, said that when he first tried ChatGPT, he was “dumbstruck.” Now, it’s part of his daily routine. He uses the powerful new AI chatbot tool to bang out emails. Maggioncalda is one of thousands of business leaders, politicians and academics gathered in Davos, Switzerland this week for the World Economic Forum. He’s also used the platform to write emails and claims no one has noticed the difference. He even had it perform some accounting work, a service for which Tradeshift currently employs an expensive professional services firm.

☆ Microsoft Expands Access to OpenAI’s Tools to More Customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Tom Dotan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft says the Azure OpenAI service will allow any business to apply for access to the software behind AI tools. Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it is allowing more customers access to the software behind popular artificial-intelligence tools made by OpenAI. The startup has been the center of the tech industry’s recent surge in excitement about AI, thanks to its futuristic products such as chatbot ChatGPT, which can answer questions and write essays and poems, and image generator Dall-E 2, which turns language prompts into novel images.

☆ Microsoft says it will roll out ChatGPT on its own AI service after reports it will invest $10 billion into OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The tech giant plans to make the chatbot available through its Azure OpenAI service. Azure OpenAI is now generally available as part of an expansion of Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft's corporate vice president for AI platforms Eric Boyd wrote. Azure OpenAI is a service through which language tools like GPT-3 and Codex can be used and adapted to specific tasks. ChatGPT — which has been trialed on Azure AI infrastructure — will be available through Azure OpenAI soon, the post said. Microsoft highlighted that companies like KPMG, Al Jazeera, and Moveworks are already using its Azure OpenAI service.

☆ Microsoft to expand ChatGPT access as OpenAI investment rumors swirl
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Monday said it is widening access to hugely popular software from OpenAI, a startup it is backing whose futuristic ChatGPT chatbot has captivated Silicon Valley. The news site Semafor reported earlier this month that Microsoft might invest $10 billion; Microsoft declined to comment on any potential deal. Public interest in OpenAI surged following its November release of ChatGPT, a text-based chatbot that can draft prose, poetry or even computer code on command. ChatGPT itself, not just its underlying tech, will soon be available via Microsoft's cloud, it said in a blog post. Microsoft said CarMax, KPMG and others were using its Azure OpenAI service.

ChatGPT — an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot — is having a viral moment, offering a high-profile glimpse at the maturing technology's capabilities. Like other GPT models, ChatGPT can generate text in a variety of styles and formats, including responses to questions, descriptions, and even entire conversations. The growth of Azure is central to our long-term investment thesis in Microsoft, and artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly prominent role in cloud computing. Additionally, Club holding Alphabet is no stranger to artificial intelligence — and, more specifically, machine learning. While all three models — ChatGPT, Sparrow and LaMDA — have their differences, they share a foundational network architecture known as Transformer.

Search resuls for: "OpenAI Service"

19 mentions found