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☆ The hidden expense that's sucking $74 billion out of the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Bartie Scott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

They said rising costs kept the board from expanding amenities residents wanted, such as a shared composting system. jhorrocks/Getty ImagesRising price for peace of mindIn the constellation of household costs, insurance is often one of the lesser-noticed line items. But recently the rising cost of repairs and the frequency of damaging weather events have made the deal go sour. Rising insurance costs could inflict more pain on another bruised area of the economy: housing affordability. For this reason, insurance companies could decline to cover them or require costly upgrades before agreeing to a policy.

Persons: that'd, Mark Pauly, Tim Quinlan, you'll, Quinlan, it's, Francesco D'Acunto, D'Acunto, Pauly, they've, Nature, John Coletti, That's, Bartie Scott Organizations: Insurance, Research, Bank of America, Global, American, Casualty Insurance Association, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, Insurance Information Institute, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Social Security, National Flood Insurance, Business Insider's Locations: Logan, Chicago, Florida, Wells Fargo, California

☆ Private-asset binge exposes insurance to new risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The concept is not new: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) has used its insurance premiums to help fund everything from railways to cowboy-boot makers. The prospect of insurance companies buying risky loans or private equity investments has raised eyebrows. Many private credit assets, for example, rely on so-called private letter ratings based on confidential data. Given the private nature of private credit, it’s hard to see from the outside how big these risks are, or where they lurk. Besides, even if the share of life insurance assets that are mis-rated or undercapitalized is tiny, smaller insurers could carry more concentrated risk.

Persons: Blackstone, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Fitch, Kroll, Egan, Jones, DBRS Morningstar, Banks, SVB, Jonathan Guilford, Neil Unmack, Peter Thal Larsen, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Apollo Global Management, KKR, Global Atlantic, Investments, National Association of Insurance, England’s Everton FC, Rivals, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Athene, P Global, Insurance, SVB, Thomson Locations: Global, Delaware , New York, Iowa, New York, London

☆ Bosses are having to teach employees to say 'hi' before discussing business, workplace expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A negotiation coach says some workers don't greet each other before diving into work, WSJ reports. 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 . AdvertisementSome employees would rather skip all the pleasantries and get straight to business when talking to their coworkers. AdvertisementNo matter the reason, the social disconnect happening in many offices indicates a lack of trust, Cohen said, according to WSJ.

Persons: aren't, —, Moshe Cohen, he's, they've, that's, Cohen, Slack pings, Hubert Palan, lurk, Cohen didn't Organizations: Service, Wall Street, Microsoft

Social media users, often influencers, invite viewers to watch them get ready to do something or go somewhere. Think “Clean with Me” videos where users watch people clean their homes for inspiration or pleasure. On TikTok, videos with the hashtag “grwm” have been viewed more than 157 billion times. Often, behind the “getting ready” content lurk other, more commercial messages. “I could sit there all day and watch Get Ready with Me videos from different creators.

Persons: they're, ”, Earnest Pettie, Sofia Richie Grainge, TikTok, whatever’s, Nicla Bartoli, who've, Bartoli, Alix Earle, Alisha Rei, Rei, she'd, didn't, Goldman Sachs, Allie Pribula, Pribula, ” Camilla Ramirez Diaz, Diaz, ” Diaz, “, They’re, Hadero Organizations: Social, YouTube, Influencer Marketing, Associated Press Locations: Toronto, Philadelphia, Burlingame , California, London

These deals help banks meet capital requirements more efficiently, allowing them to keep lucrative businesses that would otherwise become unprofitable. Investors in these deals include lightly-regulated entities like hedge funds, shifting risk to the shadow banking sector. Credit risk transfer is another tool for them to pursue after the Fed’s clarification on what is allowed, said Cory Wishengrad, head of fixed income at Guggenheim Securities. That means Merchants sold the riskiest tranche of the loan portfolio, maximizing the capital relief it could get on it. Whether U.S. regulators will allow such insurance deals to qualify for capital relief is still untested, Staudinger said.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, Jill Cetina, Jon, Claude Zucconi, Zucconi, Michael Barr, Barr, Banks, Missy Dolski, Sam Graziano, Graziano, Cory Wishengrad, Jed Miller, Taft, Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, Deborah Staudinger, Hogan Lovells, Staudinger, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Paritosh Bansal, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Blackstone Group, JPMorgan Chase, Merchants Bank of Indiana, US Bancorp, Investors, JPMorgan, Merchants Bank, Federal Reserve, Varde Partners, Financial, Guggenheim Securities, U.S . Bank, Fed, Reuters, Merchants, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wickersham, Europe, Indiana

☆ Giving Thanks When the World is on Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I am thankful that my children have never felt the pain of burying a beloved sibling. Thankful that if we needed a hospital, it would have electricity and sterile equipment and supplies like anesthesia available. Thankful that my children are alive. But also sad and angry that we live in a world where these things are blessings to be counted, and where so many cannot do so. I want to hear about things you have read (or watched or listened to) that have had the biggest impact on you this year.

Persons: Jenny Sidhu, Barbara Kingsolver, Beth Macy, Dopesick Organizations: Purdue Pharma Locations: Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Rocklin, Calif

☆ Are US Treasurys still a safe-haven asset? An epic bond-market crash and rising default fears are sowing doubts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Financial markets have been engaged in a growing debate over the risks that lurk in Treasurys, with prominent voices raising doubts. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn March, a Richard Bernstein Advisors note said spreads on credit default swaps have climbed for Treasurys since since 2011, when the federal government was issued its first credit downgrade. Then came this spring's debt-ceiling drama and the US credit downgrade in August from Fitch, which cited the rising debt burden and political dysfunction. If a downgrade follows, then US debt wouldn't be in the safest category for default risk at any of the three major ratings agencies. Several auctions for long-dated Treasurys have seen weak demand, and buyers are demanding higher compensation for the risk of carrying Treasurys.

Persons: —, Moody's, they've, Mohamed El, Erian, Asset's Seema Shah, Treasurys, Richard Bernstein, Gennadiy Goldberg isn't Organizations: Service, Federal, CNBC, Dallas Federal, Richard Bernstein Advisors, Fitch, Penn Wharton Budget, Securities Locations: Treasurys, there's, US

☆ Florida Man Chases Poachers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Lydia Millet | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Though Babauta was a law-enforcement officer, Renner recounts, he often felt a kinship with the poachers he was tasked to bring in. Or the developers and politicians who cater so eagerly and profitably to that voracious demand. Rather, they crawl toward us out of the dark ooze, slowly opening long jaws lined with sharp teeth. They lurk in the murk like primordial fear and sometimes find themselves on the wrong side of a golf course fence. GATOR COUNTRY: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades | By Rebecca Renner | Flatiron | 277 pp.

Persons: Renner, Jeff Babauta, finessing, Babauta, Karen Russell, Lauren Groff, Rebecca Renner Organizations: Flatiron Locations: Florida, South Florida

☆ A modern etiquette guide for group chats
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Michael Venutolo-Mantovani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A recent poll of 1,005 US adults found the average American spends 26 minutes a day reading and responding to group chats. For us to survive and thrive as humans, it's time to agree on the Definitive Etiquette of the Group Chat. The ultimate appeal of group chats — their necessity, really — is that they've become the only social media that's actually social. Group chats can become overwhelming, of course, especially as they creep into other apps and especially as they often duplicate participants. Don't talk about the group chat outside the group chat.

Persons: who's, Sam Bankman, Fried, siphoning, Emily Post, they've, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Hua Hsu, e Organizations: Bank, Democratic, Street, Wall, Mets, New York Giants, Facebook, Adidas, Nazi, Yorker Locations: Bankman, Silicon, Indonesia, American, Business, Politics, Netherlands, Rome, Tucson, le

☆ The Strange Omission of Slavery from a Charleston Ghost Tour - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Colin Dickey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

(The church discourages these stories; a plaque on the grounds reads: “The only ghost at St. Philip’s is the Holy Ghost.”)Leaving race out of any history is a striking blind spot — even in a ghost tour. Born into slavery, Vesey had purchased his freedom in 1799 after winning a lottery, and became a prosperous carpenter. Some websites will tell you to look for Vesey’s ghost at the Old Charleston Jail, a structure that’s stood since 1802. Long after my own tour, I tracked down two longtime ghost tour guides, Joy Watson and Randy Johnson, who regularly take visitors up to the old jail. They told me that they had never heard of any Vesey ghost sightings there.

Persons: Stede Bonnet, Harriet Mackie, Sue Howard, Philip’s, Denmark Vesey, Vesey, Emanuel ”, Long, Joy Watson, Randy Johnson Organizations: Old, Philip’s, African Methodist Episcopal Church Locations: Holy, St, Charleston, Denmark, Haiti

A street sign for Wall Street is seen in the financial district in New York, U.S., November 8, 2021. Wells Fargo, which has reduced headcount for every quarter since the third quarter of 2020, said it still sees more opportunities for layoffs. Investment banking powerhouse Morgan Stanley also disclosed a near 2% drop in its total headcount on Wednesday, compared to the prior quarter. At the investment banks Goldman and Morgan Stanley expenses rose 18% and 5% in the quarter, compared to a year earlier. The bank in January dismissed 3,200 employees, its biggest round of layoffs since the 2008 financial crisis.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Jeremy Barnum, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Thomas DiNapoli, Goldman Sachs, Denis Coleman, That's, Coleman, Manya Saini, Niket, Lananh Nguyen, David Evans Organizations: Wall, REUTERS, JPMorgan, PNC Financial, Citigroup, Bank of America, Investment, Banks, Citi, Goldman, BofA, PNC, New York, GOLDMAN, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Wells Fargo, Wells, GOLDMAN SACHS BUCKS, headcount

☆ How Wonder Bread has survived competition and the fall of white bread
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Ryan Baker | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

With an increasingly health-conscious U.S. population and a bread industry that looks immensely different from what it was just a few decades ago, it may come as a surprise that Wonder Bread is still around. In fact, it makes up a sizable portion of its parent company Flowers Foods' overall portfolio, alongside Nature's Own and Dave's Killer Bread, Flowers Foods' two most popular brands. In the first half of the 20th century, white bread accounted for as much as 30% of the American diet. The rise of industrial white bread mirrored World War II-era fears of immigrants, many of whom owned small bakeries at the time. While Wonder Bread has somewhat fallen out of favor, people do still eat white bread, and Wonder Bread remains a profitable part of the Flowers Foods portfolio.

Persons: Nature's, Jim Salera, Stephens, Connor Rattigan, Aaron Bobrow Organizations: Flowers Foods, Foods, Whitman College Locations: Circana

☆ Halloween in New York: Things to Do in October
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Erik Piepenburg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A Halloween without horror movies is like a Christmas without Hallmark movies about big-city women falling for small-town bookstore owners. New scary films in theaters now are the Agatha Christie-inspired “A Haunting in Venice”; the twisted sister tale “The Nun II”; and “Saw X,” the tenth film in the franchise. For a sneak peek at what horror fans will be drooling over next, check out the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (Oct. 12-19), at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. Stine’s horror books for teenagers (Disney+, Oct. 13). Back to scare again are new seasons of the killer doll show “Chucky” (Peacock, Oct. 4) and the anthology series “Creepshow” (Shudder, Oct. 13).

Persons: Agatha Christie, Hitchcock’s Marlene Dietrich, ”, moviemaking Adams, “ Michelle, Usher, ” Mike Flanagan’s, Edgar Allan Poe, Chucky ”, John, Ed Gein, “ Organizations: Hallmark, Brooklyn Horror Film, MGM Locations: Venice, Nitehawk, Williamsburg, Prospect, California, Texas

☆ Danger lurks behind 'every bush' for brigade in Ukrainian counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Anna Voitenko | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Ukrainian servicemen of the Spartan Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine prepare a shell for a D-30 howitzer at a position at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 13, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak Acquire Licensing RightsSummary Spartan brigade fighting in Ukrainian counteroffensiveSoldiers encounter vast minefields and trenchesSpartan brigade says Russians know the terrain wellZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine, Sept 14 (Reuters) - For soldiers in Ukraine's "Spartan" brigade, danger could lurk behind every bush and in every field as they fight in Kyiv's counteroffensive against deeply entrenched Russian forces. Progress through vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified defences has been slower than many Ukrainians had hoped since the counteroffensive began in early June. Just our boys," he said at a location in the Zaporizhzhia region. Stepan, 38, was a metal worker before he joined the Spartan brigade, which is part of Ukraine's National Guard, and was apprehensive at first.

Persons: Oleksandr Ratushniak, Jordan, Stepan, Ron Popeski, Timothy Organizations: Spartan Brigade, National Guard, REUTERS, Ukrainian, Ukraine's, Spartan, Reuters, Ukraine's National Guard, Brigade, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia region, Russian, Zaporizhzhia, Stepan

☆ Jim Cramer says this legacy tech stock is the 'star of the show' in AI. Here's what to expect from its earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In the three months that ended May 31, Oracle cloud infrastructure unit revenue jumped 76% on an annual basis, to $1.4 billion, roughly 10% of the company's total. Analysts at UBS struck a similar tone last week when they also upgraded Oracle stock to buy. We expect that, over time, Oracle's AI execution and growing cloud share should attract new investors to the stock and convince more analysts of its potential. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Persons: holding's, Jim Cramer, Jensen Huang, Jim, OCI, Oracle, —, Jim Cramer's, Tom Brenner Organizations: Oracle, LSEG, Nvidia, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Web Services, Google, Barclays, UBS, Wall Street, UBS –, Microsoft, Semiconductor, Broadcom, CNBC Locations: U.S, Wilson, Arlington , Virginia

☆ In U.S.-China AI contest, the race is on to deploy killer robots
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +26 min

In this high-tech contest, seizing the upper hand across fields including AI and autonomous weapons, like Ghost Shark, could determine who comes out on top. This could become critical if the United States intervened against an assault by Beijing on Taiwan. Cheap and expendableThe AI military sector is dominated by software, an industry where change comes fast. Still, the available disclosures of spending on AI military research do show that outlays on AI and machine learning grew sharply in the decade from 2010. The Costa-Mesa, California-based company now employs more than 1,800 staff in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Persons: America’s, Shane Arnott, Anduril, ” Arnott, Arnott, ”, “, Mick Ryan, Eric Schmidt, hasn’t, Lloyd Austin, –, Stuart Russell, Russell, Kathleen Hicks, “ We’ll, Palmer Luckey, Luckey, ” Arnott didn’t, Biden, Tsai Ing, Frank Kendall, Datenna, Martijn Rasser, Feng Yanghe, Feng, Palmer, ” Anduril, Arnott wouldn’t, David Lague, Edgar Su, Catherine Tai, Peter Hirschberg Organizations: Australian Navy, Ghost Sharks, Sharks, Reuters, Defense, Australian, Chinese Communist Party, Beijing, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Department of Defense, Pentagon, Australia’s Department of Defence, Australian Defence Force, Technologists, University of California, U.S ., U.S, Teledyne FLIR, Facebook, VR, Military, . Air Force, FH, U.S . Central Intelligence Agency, Department, Statistics, Harvard University, Biden Administration, Special, Command, Ministry of Defense, Veteran Locations: China, Australia, United States, Sydney, Britain, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Europe, Asia, Ukraine, ”, America, U.S, Taiwan, East Asia, Beijing, Russian, Berkeley, Fort Campbell , Tennessee, Kenya, “, Russia, Colorado, Zhuhai, Netherlands, Costa, Mesa , California, United Kingdom, Virginia, Canberra, Washington

☆ Morning Bid: Strikes, system failures and a slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, August 2, 2023. Workers at Toyota plants in Japan were idle, meanwhile, as a systems malfunction crippling component orders brought output to a standstill for the world's top automaker. That comes on the heels of tech woes at British air control on Monday that disrupted flights. FTSE futures suggest a positive return from a day's holiday in London, while U.S. and European futures were flat. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (.HSI) was up 2% by mid-session and mainland blue chips (.CSI300) were up 1.5%.

Persons: Tom Westbrook, Gina Raimondo, it's, Hewlett Packard, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Staff, Workers, Chevron, Toyota, Japan's Nikkei, U.S . Commerce, Tourism Holdings, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, Australia, Japan, Asia, London, Beijing

Here are the meanings of the least-found words that were used in (mostly) recent Times articles. Works by Agatha Christie, Robert Louis Stevenson and P. G. Wodehouse all featured tontine members plotting to kill one another in hope of a big payoff. — Dog Ziggity: New Jersey’s Own Hot Dogs (Sept. 24, 2013)And a bonus: arrant — total or extreme:It constitutes a dismissal of eager and innocent articulateness. And as such, it is an arrant and thoughtless injustice that must be stopped. — Opinion: A Language Test That Stigmatizes Black Children (Oct. 7, 2022)The list of the week’s easiest words:

Persons: tantara, orotund, Lorde, tontine, Agatha Christie, Robert Louis Stevenson, G, Wodehouse, today’s, Melmoth ’, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy Buchanan, Ross Douthat, —, Umberto, monocracy, Sarkozy, ” — Sarkozy, viand Organizations: Umberto Eco, Socialists, Drinks Locations: New York, Prague, Texas

☆ Thousands of Brides in India Are Abandoned by Husbands Overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The situation, they said, often plays out like this: Parents arrange to marry their daughter off to a returning Indian. They pay a dowry, a practice long banned in India but still common. The husband flies out, and the wife waits for a visa while living with her in-laws. In a number of cases, men have used dowry money to pay immigration agents to land in wealthy countries like Canada, where Sikhs make up about 2 percent of the population. “The boys come, they enjoy, and leave with the dowry money,” Mr. Garg said.

Persons: Kaur, ”, Rakesh Kumar Garg, ” Mr, Garg Locations: India, Canada, Punjab

☆ First Favorite Songs Are Like Sonic Baby Pictures
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

— my dad gamely taped the closing credits for me on a blank VHS. You can learn a lot about a person from asking about their first favorite songs — it’s the sonic equivalent of looking at someone’s baby pictures. (Petty also co-wrote “Cheer Down,” and Jeff Lynne helped produce both of those songs — so clearly the Traveling Wilburys had a hold on my musical taste from an early age.) U2: “Zoo Station”After it came out in late 1991, U2’s angsty, glammy “Achtung Baby” was an absolute staple in my parents’ steel-blue Ford Taurus. No matter what U2 does or how many albums it forcefully installs on my iPhone, “Achtung Baby” will always have a special place in my heart for being one of the first records to freak me out — in a good way.

Persons: gamely, ’ ”, Harrison, —, Cat Stevens, “, Stevens, Tom Petty, Mulholland, ”, Petty, Jeff Lynne, glammy, Brian Eno’s, Bono Organizations: Spotify, YouTube, “ Locations: New Jersey, West Coast, Ventura, Reseda, ”

Here are the meanings of the least-found words that were used in (mostly) recent Times articles. Because the pull of gravity varies everywhere, this model, called the geoid, resembles a lumpy potato. — A Side-Effect of China’s Strict Virus Policy: Abandoned Fruit (Feb. 5, 2022)5. boogaloo — a genre of Latin music and dance popular in the 1960s:Afro-Cuban jazz was pioneered in the 1940s by Mario Bauza in Harlem. — A Vegetable Soup That Delicately Balances Sweet and Sour (Feb. 17, 2023)8. vivace — musical direction to play in a brisk manner:In her Op. — 36 Hours in Oslo (Jan. 26, 2023)And the list of the week’s easiest words:

Persons: geoid, finitude, infinitude, Richard Powers’s, Hope, longan, Worakanya, boogaloo, Mario Bauza, —, deadeye, Diego State’s, Scholl, galangal, vivace, Mitsuko Uchida, tacet, Marina Abramovic, Igor Levit’s, ‘ Goldberg Organizations: New, Diego, Huskies, Aztecs, pla Locations: U.S, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cuban, Harlem, South Bronx, New York, saunas, Oslo

☆ Here are 5 questions that are top of mind for investors as the S&P 500 wavers and the Fed enters its next policy phase
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Barclays outlined the top questions investors are asking as the S&P 500 looks stuck in a tight trading range. The S&P 500 is likely to remain rangebound in the short-term, Krishna said. Tail risks aside, markets may be lulled into thinking hurdles - just as the current earnings recession – can be cleared in record time. That scenario tilts the balance of risk toward its base case of a shallow recession base case and an S&P 500 price target of 3,725. The S&P 500 during Tuesday's session was at 4,125.

☆ I'm a bear when it's called for, like in 2007. But this stock market belongs to the bulls
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

I have not been bombarded with as many warnings about how we are about to embark upon a wave of failures of all sorts — shadow banks, regional banks, commercial real estate lenders, real estate investment trusts — at any time since 2007. Let's take commercial real estate. I mention SL Green because it may be the most challenged of the REITs, real estate investment trusts, other than Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), a historically fine New York real estate concern, which just delayed its dividend. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ When you're talking to a chatbot, who's listening?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And just last week, regulators in Italy issued a temporary ban on ChatGPT in the country, citing privacy concerns after OpenAI disclosed the breach. Google and Microsoft have since rolled out AI tools as well, which work the same way and are powered by large language models that are trained on vast troves of online data. When users input information into these tools, McCreary said, “You don’t know how it’s then going to be used.” That raises particularly high concerns for companies. The privacy policy states it may provide personal information to third parties without further notice to the user, unless required by law. “We also have guardrails in place designed to prevent Bard from including personally identifiable information in its responses,” Google said.

☆ Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

And the Chinese government’s authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. People rallied during a "Stop Asian Hate" march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Foley Square in New York, on April 4, 2021. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment. “Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect.

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