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☆ Can Kim Kardashian save private equity?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Jeffrey Cane | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

SuperReturn conference gets underway at a time of challenges for private equity. Kim Kardashian joins Harvey Schwartz, Orlando Bravo, and other leaders in speaking at the conference. The uncertainty has made it more difficult for both private equity and venture capital firms to raise money for their funds. Those are bold-faced names in Wall Street's world, but they can't compete with the star power of another conference speaker: Kim Kardashian. It remains to be seen if private equity can keep up.

Persons: Kim Kardashian, Harvey Schwartz, Orlando Bravo, Kardashian, dealmaking, there's, Carlyle's Harvey Schwartz, David Rubenstein, Julian Salisbury, Goldman Sachs, Robert Smith, Orlando Bravo of Thoma, Bennett Goodman, Jay Sammons, Rubenstein, It's, Sammons, Dre Organizations: equity's, Private, SuperReturn International, Vista Equity Partners, Orlando Bravo of Thoma Bravo, SKKY Partners, Bloomberg, Financial Locations: Berlin

☆ Polish president to sign Russian influence bill despite opposition protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, May 29 (Reuters) - Poland's president said on Monday he would sign off on a bill authorising a panel to investigate Russian influence despite opposition criticism it is witch hunt against government opponents in an election year. Opposition figures call a bill to set up an investigative commission the "Lex Tusk", using the Latin term for "law". PO lawmaker Marcin Kierwinski condemned Duda's decision to sign the bill. "In a normal democratic country, somebody who is president of that country would never sign such a Stalin-esque law," he told private broadcaster TVN 24. Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna Koper; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Polish president signs 'Tusk Law' on undue Russian influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Opposition figures have nicknamed it Lex Tusk, using the Latin word for law. "In a normal democratic country, somebody who is president of that country would never sign such a Stalin-esque law," PO lawmaker Marcin Kierwinski told private broadcaster TVN 24. CONCERNSThe Polish Judges' Association Iustitia said the law breached European Union values and could prompt more punitive EU measures over democratic backsliding in Poland. Poland's dependence on Russian energy has progressively declined, even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, allowing the import of non-Russian gas, started when Tusk was in power.

☆ People with podcasts can't stop talking about AI, Spotify's CEO says, citing a 500% rise in episodes about it in the past month
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Spotify's CEO said the number of daily podcast episodes about AI have soared 500% in the last 30 days. But Daniel Ek added that he thinks AI will become "a big thing on the platform" as more tools come out. As the hype around AI continues to soar, Spotify podcasters are getting in on the action. The number of daily podcast episodes about AI has gone up by almost 500% on Spotify in the last 30 days, CEO Daniel Ek tweeted Thursday. As one example of the latest boom, all six of computer scientist Lex Fridman's podcast episodes in the last 30 days discuss AI, their descriptions show.

☆ Tim Cook says AI is 'huge,' but flags the need to be 'deliberate and thoughtful' on how Apple deploys it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AI is "huge," but Apple will remain careful folding it into products, CEO Tim Cook said Thursday. Cook said Apple has already been incorporating AI technology into some of its products. "It's very important to be deliberate and thoughtful on how you approach these things," Cook said during the company's earnings call Thursday. "We view AI as huge and we'll continue weaving it in our products on a very thoughtful basis." Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has himself been among those in the field sounding concerns about the potential directions generative AI technology could take.

☆ He's played chess with Peter Thiel, sparred with Elon Musk and once, supposedly, stopped a plane crash: Inside Sam Altman's world, where truth is stranger than fiction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Melia Russell | Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

But, "you do at some point need to start having contact with reality," he told Insider. The plan was still only a rough sketch, Blania told Insider, but that didn't seem to matter to his host. "He always wanted to understand everything at a very deep level," Thrun told Insider in an email. (When asked about guns, Altman told Insider he'd been "happy to have one both times my home was broken into while I was there.") When asked about this, Altman told Insider in an email: "i can guess what that's about; these stories grow crazily inflated over the years of getting re-told!

☆ Sam Altman is building his utopia, whether you want it or not
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Melia Russell | Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

Altman told Insider, "We debate our approach frequently and carefully." "I don't think anyone can lose your dad young and wish he didn't have more time with him," Altman told Insider. Altman told Insider that his thinking had evolved since those posts. (When asked about guns, Altman told Insider he'd been "happy to have one both times my home was broken into while I was there.") When asked about this, Altman told Insider in an email: "i can guess what that's about; these stories grow crazily inflated over the years of getting re-told!

☆ Credit Suisse lodges $440 mln London claim against SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view shows the logo of Credit Suisse on a building near the Hallenstadion where Credit Suisse Annual General Meeting took place, two weeks after being bought by rival UBS in a government-brokered rescue, in Zurich, Switzerland, April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Pierre AlbouyLONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has lodged a $440 million claim against Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) in London as it presses ahead with formal proceedings in a dispute borne from the failure of Greensill Capital, a finance firm. A SoftBank spokesperson accused Credit Suisse of trying to shift blame for its own poor investment decisions and said the case was entirely without merit. "Credit Suisse continues to prioritize maximising recovery for investors in the supply chain finance funds," a spokesperson for the Swiss lender said. Credit Suisse is the biggest name to date to become ensnared in market turbulence unleashed by the collapse of U.S. lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

☆ Advanced AI keeps Sundar Pichai up at night and makes Sam Altman a bit scared. Here's why some tech execs are wary of its potential dangers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here's what tech executives are saying about the potential dangers of advanced AI tech. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Musk said AI had the potential to destroy civilization. Sam AltmanOpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said he's a "little bit afraid" of AI. "And I think it'd be crazy not to be a little bit afraid, and I empathize with people who are a lot afraid." In an earlier interview with ABC News, Altman said that "people should be happy" that his company was "a little bit scared" of the potential of artificial intelligence.

☆ As Gen Z flounders at work and millennials struggle to buy a house, boomers are enjoying a golden moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This week's dispatchThe Metals Company; Greenpeace; Luis Alvarez/Getty Images; Karl Hendon/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/InsiderOptimists don't just dream — they do. Gen Zers and young millennials have soured on work just as much as everyone else — and that's bad news for companies everywhere. Also read:Tyler Le/InsiderOver the past few years, Lex Fridman has gone from an unknown academic researcher to a social-media celebrity and member of Elon Musk's inner circle. But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing and powerful sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness." More on the rise of Lex Fridman.

☆ After gaining control of our reporter's phone, a hacker ripped her off for $10,000. She set out to find them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

You can see pictures of the massive meatball here — but I warn you, it looks exactly how you would expect. Now, before the scientists start serving up Dinosaur DNA, let's take a look at the top tech stories this week. Once the hacker had control of Hartmans' phone, they didn't waste any time. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk plans to build a town named "Snailbrook" — but he isn't the only billionaire creating their own utopia. Some of Lee's friends and colleagues, including Elon Musk, have lambasted the "violent crime in SF."

☆ Fact Check-Digitally-made great white mistaken for real shark on North Carolina’s Outer Banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A series of images claiming to show a large great white shark washed up on the beach in Outer Banks, North Carolina were digitally created by a social media user. The text in one post (here) reads, in part, “A giant great white shark found washed out on the Outer Banks beach, North Carolina. While great white sharks can be seen in the beaches of the Outer Banks (here), the only recent news report of a shark washing up onto shore is from February 2022 and involves a 6-foot shark (here). In February 2018, social media users were tricked into believing another one of Lex’s images showed a real large shark washed up on shore at Outer Banks, according to a local news report (here). The images were digitally created and do not show actual photographs of a great white shark washed up to the shore in Outer Banks, North Carolina.

☆ Elon Musk's $1 million Twitter bounty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's $1 million bounty. Twitter CEO Elon Musk has some kind of bounty out for whomever is behind the botnets that he says target certain users and suppresses the reach of their tweets. Million dollar bounty if convicted" in response to a Twitter user who claimed that botnets "silence" certain accounts. Musk and the user were referring to a thread where another user analyzed Twitter's recently open-sourced algorithm. Twitter users called attention to the difficulty in seeing direct messages that mention "gay", "queer", and "trans."

☆ The UFC-WWE deal could be the boost the M&A market needs to get back into gear
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America were among the banks advising on the deal. Earlier this year, some pegged the merger market getting back into the swing of things by mid-year. When you think about it, the WWE-UFC deal might be the best way to get the market going again. Fight for media rights: Both UFC and WWE have streaming deals with ESPN and NBCUniversal's Peacock, respectively. The crypto community is now pitching itself as playing a key role in AI development thanks to its decentralized nature.

☆ Peace, love, and Hitler: How Lex Fridman's podcast became a safe space for the anti-woke tech elite
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Seemingly overnight, episodes of Fridman's podcast began racking up millions of views. YouTube/Lex FridmanIn his podcast, Fridman asks world-renowned scientists, historians, artists, and engineers a series of wide-eyed questions ("Who is God? But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing — and powerful — sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness" and cancel culture. Twitter"The Lex Fridman Podcast" offered a rare opportunity to listen to four-hour conversations with luminaries of tech and science. Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder and publisher of the socialist magazine Jacobin who appeared on Fridman's podcast in December, praised Fridman's interviewing style.

On TikTok, trans adults and supportive parents of trans youth have spoken emotionally about the heartbreaking decision to move. I moved to 3 major cities, each time with $400 or less in my pocketIn 2010, I moved to Chicago for college at 19 years old. Five years later, in 2015, I moved to New York City with no job, housing plans, or savings. Call LGBTQ organizations in your desired state to find housing supportMany LGBTQ organizations across the country, like the Los Angeles LGBT Center, offer social services and housing for people experiencing homelessness or housing instability due to these anti-trans bills. When you arrive to your destination, connect with local LGBTQ organizations or organizations that help the unhoused in that city.

☆ OpenAI CEO says it's not 'a big dunk' that he fears super intelligent AI, and its risks are 'far beyond anything we're prepared for'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"I think it's weird when people think it's like a big dunk that I say, I'm a little bit afraid," Altman told Fridman. Companies like Khan Academy, which provides online classes, are already tapping into the technology, using GPT-4 to build AI tools. "In the spirit of building in public and, and bringing society along gradually, we put something out, it's got flaws, we'll make better versions," Altman told Fridman. It was more inclined to answer questions about where to buy unlicensed guns, or about self-harm, whereas the version launched declined to answer those types of questions, according to OpenAI's document. "I think we, as OpenAI, have responsibility for the tools we put out into the world," Altman told Fridman.

☆ OpenAI's Sam Altman says his 'hero' Elon Musk is 'obviously attacking' the company on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Elon Musk is "obviously attacking" his company on Twitter. Speaking on an episode of Lex Fridman's podcast, released on March 25, Altman said: "Elon is obviously attacking us some on Twitter right now on a few different vectors." Musk, an OpenAI cofounder who has since severed ties with the company, has made a series of digs at OpenAI in recent months. "I believe he is, understandably so, really stressed about AGI safety," Altman said, describing Musk as one of his heroes. Representatives for Musk and Altman did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

☆ The unraveling of fintech darling Vise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +28 min

It was April, and more than two dozen salespeople who worked for the fintech startup Vise had been ordered to a multiday off-site at the W Hoboken hotel in New Jersey to share exhaustive reports on their performance. Even salespeople at bigger, established, top-tier investment-management firms typically wouldn't close $250 million in a year, multiple sales employees said. (K-means clustering is an unsupervised machine-learning algorithm often referred to as a form of AI, Vise's founders said). (Vise's founders disputed this, saying the company received updated financial data only once a day for its portfolio-construction engine.) And to address its "leaky funnel" of overestimating prospective sales, Vise was to stop outreach to new clients while it onboards and upsells to existing clients, the document said.

☆ Swiss watchdog finds Credit Suisse 'seriously breached' obligations in Greensill affair
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) "seriously breached its supervisory obligations" in connection with its business relationship with financier Lex Greensill and his companies, Swiss financial watchdog FINMA concluded on Tuesday. It its review, FINMA said that Credit Suisse "seriously breached its supervisory obligations in this context with regard to risk management and appropriate organisational structures." Credit Suisse Chief Executive Ulrich Koerner said he welcomes the "conclusion of FINMA's work." So far 74% of the fund's $10 billion net asset value at the time of its suspension has been collected. Reporting by Kirsti Knolle and Noele Illien, Editing by Louise Heavens Editing by Paul Carrel and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Credit Suisse 'seriously breached' obligations in Greensill case, Swiss regulator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The logo of Credit Suisse Group in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.Credit Suisse "seriously breached its supervisory obligations" in the context of its business relationship with financier Lex Greensill and his companies, Swiss regulator FINMA concluded Tuesday. Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner welcomed the conclusion of the FINMA investigation in a statement Tuesday. In March 2021, Credit Suisse closed four supply chain finance funds at short notice related to Greensill companies. FINMA announced Tuesday that it has ordered remedial measures and opened four enforcement proceedings against former Credit Suisse managers. Credit Suisse noted that all of the requirements identified by the regulator "are being addressed through the organizational measures already underway."

☆ Here's how to invest in the AI craze, according to ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"There are several ways to invest in AI," ChatGPT answered. "Purchase shares of private AI companies," it also responded. ChatGPT's charm stems from its natural-language ability, so I asked it:What companies can I invest in for exposure to natural language processing? Microsoft (MSFT): Microsoft has a number of different NLP products, including Microsoft Cognitive Services and the Azure Machine Learning platform. But I asked ChatGPT anyway: Can I invest in ChatGPT?

☆ The US Navy is offering its most experienced special-operations sailors up to $100,000 to stay in uniform
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Steve Balestrieri | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Now the Navy is offering experienced Naval Special Warfare sailors with bonuses up to $100,000. Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia in July 2010. Phase Two of the program targets NSW sailors that are E-8s who have between 24 to 26 years of service. They can earn up to $50,000 in retention bonuses, with $25,000 offered each year. Phase Three of the program targets NSW sailors that are E-9s and have between 26 to 28 years of service.

☆ MrBeast's girlfriend showed him guzzling raw egg whites with chocolate syrup as part of his supposed productivity "grind"
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

MrBeast's girlfriend, Thea Booysen, filmed him swigging egg whites and chocolate syrup. The YouTuber has been open about lifestyle habits he believes are required to be the most successful YouTuber in the world. And on Wednesday, Donaldson's girlfriend – the Twitch streamer and author Thea Booysen – gave a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into what his unusual life can look like. In a since-evaporated Instagram Story on Wednesday, Booysen filmed the YouTuber guzzling raw egg whites straight from the carton. In a subsequent story, Donaldson poured chocolate syrup into a cup filled with a yellowish-white liquid – presumably the egg whites, before swigging that down as well.

☆ Tycoon Who Blew Up a Finance Company Is Now Fighting Over Hedgerows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Julie Steinberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SAUGHALL, U.K.—Inveterate deal maker Lex Greensill has another project to sell: convincing neighbors that he can revitalize a patch of northern England by planting 100,000 trees. The financier is best known for his disastrous bid to reinvent the dull-but-important business of supply-chain finance, through the now-bankrupt Greensill Capital. The business imploded nearly two years ago, spawning a thicket of regulatory investigations, scrutiny of his political ties, accusations of fraud and headaches for partners such as Credit Suisse Group AG.

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